John Legend is the " new " Marvin Gaye

Good morning disciples,believers,non-believers,sceptics and just " don't knows "....welcome to The Soul Guru's " Music For The Soul " ....not just about SOUL music but about music that touches my Soul .
Today's subject does just that....in fact I think he is the " new " Marvin Gaye.....Marvin is my hero,my idol my inspiration so I don't say that lightly . He's also a fine actor too who is great inLa La Land .

Originally I didn't pay him much attention ,thinking he was just another SOUL lover-man whose music was lightweight and insubstantial but in the years since the release of his debut album " Get Lifted " he has matured into a truly great artist who sings songs of social injustice for African Americans in the USA .....his latest album " Darkness And Light " is a great contemporary SOUL album ...but more of that later .

The first time I realised what a great artist he is was when I listened to his album  in collaboration with The Roots " Wake Up " which included covers of seminal SOUL songs .Inspired by the 2008 US Presidential election and includes covers of some of the great 60's and 70's SOUL songs including Marvin's " Wholy Holy " , Donny Hathaway's " Little Ghetto Boy " , and the brilliant " Hard Times " by Baby Huey and The Babysitters ( what a great name for a band ! ) . Here's a great live performance with The Roots and Black Thought

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkxMm0lYx08

If you haven't heard the album I urge you to listen.....it's a classic .

2013's " Love In The Future "  is another good album ,executive Produced by John,Kanye West and Dave Tozer I like it but found it a bit disappointing overall.....here the video to the first singlr from the album " Who Do We Think We Are " featuring Rick Ross

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsYrpNHQ6hg

This brings me to his latest album " Darkness and Light " released in December 2016 . I really LOVE this album !
John Legend has an amazing SOUL voice ,he sounds better on each album . Featuring collaborations with Chance The Rapper , Brittany Howard and Miquel this is his best album so far .
Here's  " Penthouse Floor " featuring Chance The Rapper :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHdBsQFcYrw

The album's first single " Love Me Now " is a beautiful song with great lyrics and outstanding Production by Blake Mills and John Ryan....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmCFY1oYDeM

The more I listen the more I love the album

John and Common collaborated on the Grammy Award winning " Glory " from Selma....a truly GREAT collaboration  from a GREAT movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUZOKvYcx_o

John's career as an actoe is not to overlooked as those of us who have seen La La Land know but this is a post about John Legend's music career....a LEGEND of contemporary SOUL music

The Soul Guru loves YOU xx

Thundercat' s new album " Drunk " is exceptional

Welcome believers,non-believers,sceptics and just " don't knows " to another post from The Soul Guru
Over the past month I've been listening to Thundercat's new album " Drunk " a lot.....and each time I listen I like it more .
Thundercat ( Stephen Bruner ) is a multi-talented musician ( bass player par excellence ) , vocalist and Producer whose list of credits is as long as both my arms but is most well known for his work with Kendrick Lamar,Erykah Badu and Flying Lotus .
He was also in seminal thrash metal band Suicidal Tendencies.....but I haven't a clue what they sound like !

" Drunk " is his finest work to date ,featuring collaborations with the legendary Michael McDonald and Hawaiian shirt expert Kenny Loggins on " Show You The Way "....here it is ( please let me know if these links work ) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62EmHhZSjEI

My favourite track is " Walk On By " featuring the best MC in the world ....Kendrick Lamar , here it is :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV8HYokDWeE

Thundercat has collaborated with Kendrick before,winning a Grammy for " Best Rap/Sung Collaboration " for "These Walls " with Bilal and Anna Crane from Kendricks brilliant " To Pimp A Butterfly " album . Here it is :

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kendrick+lamar+these+walls

His collaborations with Erykah Badu on " New Amerykah  Part One " ....4th World War ( 2008 ) and " New Amerykah Part Two " ..." Return Of The Ankh "( 2010 ) are both exceptional .
He also Produced 2 tracks on Mac Miller's " GO.OD AM " album including " Brand Name :...here it is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuCyrtGQhAk

I urge you to take time to listen to Thundercat's new album " Drunk "....it's well worth it

The Soul Guru loves YOU xx

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Alice Russell....a true British SOUL legend

Disciples,believers,sceptics and just don't knows you are all welcome to The Soul Guru's congregation....don't forget to take off your shoes please

Whilst walking by the sea yesterday with my i-pod on " Shuffle " ( I like not knowing what's coming next ) a wonderful female SOUL voice stopped me in my tracks....to my shame I couldn't immediately say who it was so eventually I sneaked a look.....of course,it was the incredible sound of Alice Russell's " Hard Times "from the classic " Under The Munka Moon " album...here it is :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ3g7gk15Tk

I spent the rest of my walk listening to Alice and right now I'm listening to 2005's " My Favourite Letters " album....it's beautiful .
So following last week's post about Lewis Taylor I thought I should redress the balance and write about a great female British SOUL singer.....the one and only Alice Russell .

Alice was born and raised in rural Suffolk...not excatly a hot-bed of British SOUL music ....listening to Aretha,Stevie Wonder and other SOUL greats .

Alice first appeared as a vocalist in the early 2000's via collaborations with TM Juke,Bah Samba and her first album " Under The Munka Moon " was released in 2004 via Rob Louis's outstanding, innovative ( and Brighton-based ) Soul/Jazz label Tru Thoughts...one of my favourite UK Labels .
The album was a compilation of various singles,collaborations and remixes and though covering several styles - SOUL,Jazz,Hip-Hop is a great body of work.

Her debut solo album " My Favourite Letters " was released in 2005,once again on Tru Thoughts - and is a brilliant debut....Alice's SOUL vocals combined with great Production by by TM Juke signalled the arrival of a new British SOUL star .Here's " Humankind " from a truly exceptional album :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqncjHyVVMg

In 2006 " Under The Munka Moon II " was released by Tru Thoughts and was another collection of collaborations,covers and remixes including Alice and Nostalgia 77's excellent  cover of " Seven Nation Army ". Here it is :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ4D273C7Ac

The first time I saw Alice live was at 2006's " Big Chill " Festival -still the best Festival ever I think. Her live show was and remains a fantastic experience...a classic SOUL review in every sense of the word...I've seen her many times since and she's always fabulous,a great entertainer and that voice ! !

In 2008 Alice released " Pot Of Gold " on her own Little Poppet label and  the US Six Degrees Records The album was re-released on Little Poppet and the " Pot Of Gold Remixes " following the collapse of Pinnacle Independent Distribution - an event that caused serious problems for many independent artists . Featuring remixes by ,amongst others, Mr Scruff and DJ Vadim this is a really good album in it's own right .

In 2010 Alice collaborated with David Byrne and Fatboy Slim on "Men Will Do Anything " from the
" Here Lies Love " album.

2013 saw Alice release possible her finest album to date....the simply brilliant " To Dust " via Differ-ant/Tru Thoughts . This is an ESSENTIAL listen for all lovers of SOUL music . More stripped-down in Production Alice sounds better than ever on this collection of great songs .
Here's link to the full album as my gift to you :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ4D273C7Ac

and the video for " To Dust "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKqmdyER5bU

Alice Russell...GREAT British SOUL star....enjoy her wonderful voice and great songs !

The Soul Guru loves YOU xx

Joe Goddard

Dear friends,believer,non-believers and sceptics...you are all welcome here in the Church Of The Poisoned Mind ( copyright Culture Club ) .

This blog is called " Music For The Soul " because it is about all music that moves The Soul Guru's Soul....not just SOUL music . I've been disappointed with the lack of good new SOUL music I've heard recently apart for a couple of albums on Rob Louis' excellent Tru Thoughts label which I will write about later and of course Rag 'n' Bone Man's brilliant and hugely successful " Humans " album .

However that's not to say that there hasn't been any new music I've heard recently of course......
  I've been a huge fan of Joe Goddard's music since I heard Hot Chip and the The 2 Bears who are one of my favourite artists/DJs and when I heard his brilliant Essential Mix on Saturday on Radio 1 for Pete Tong ( who he ? ;-) ) I just knew I had to write about his music . Here it is :

http://stoneyroads.com/2017/03/hot-chips-joe-goddard-delivers-stellar-essential-mix


His new album " Electric Lines " is available on 21st April but the first 2 tracks are on Youtube now.....here's the sublime " Music Is The Answer " a typical piece of cool electronic dance music...truly a master at work ! It's his first solo album sine " Harvest Festival " from 2009 apparently .

In 2011 Joe released his best track ever I believe...the astonishing " Gabriel " featuring Valentina....GOD I LOVE this tune !

Here's  The 2 Bears from their outstanding " The Night Is Young " album which is HIGHLY recommended !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiAPXiplhlw

Joe has recently featured on Michael Mayer's album " & " ...." For You " is already a club classic and an  EP of mixes by DJ Klose ( whose recent DJ Kicks akbum is excellent ) is now available on Sp0tify ,i-tunes,beatport etc.....here'a KOse's " Mbira Mix "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUEWtg2lCcY

Michael Mayer's " & " album is on Spotify etc and well worth a listen

Joe Goddard is a great,original talent,creating outstanding electronic  music with Hot Chip since 2004's  "Coming On Strong " through til 2015's " Why Make Sense "
The 2 Bears are equally brilliant,from 2012's " Be Strong " through til 2015' wonderful " Bears In Space "

Joe Goddard is a GIANT of British electronic dance music and I can't wait for April 21'st when I'll be able to hear " Electric Lines "

The Soul Guru loves YOU xx

Lewis Taylor...a GREAT British Soul Artist

Good morning my dear believers,non-believers and simply don't knows....it's been way too long since I posted so I apologise as I know just how much you look forward to The Soul Guru's wisdom .

I cannot start without saying how thrilled I am to see Rg 'n' Bone Man get the recognition he deserves for the brilliant " Human " album . His first album,the free download " Wolves " was my Album Of The Year here back in 2014.....I always could spot great original British SOUL talent way ahead of most people .
Here's " Lay My Body Down " from " Wolves "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI1-E6Bm-70&list=PL_MyZJz846m04ISE6AergnSj-RZGzIDqQ

Today I'm going back 21 years to 1996 when I first heard an artist on Island Records called Lewis Taylor when his debut album " Lewis Taylor " was released......I'd never heard of him but was instantly blown away by this incredible talent with a voice like Heaven.....and truly great original songs....an extended version of this brilliant album was released last year....Lewis Taylor ( Expanded Version ) featuring a whole new side of tracks including 3 Kruder & Dorfmeister remixes of " Lucky " which are fantastic .
This album is available on Spotify,i-tunes etc

After 2000's excellent Lewis II - well worth a listen....in 2003 and 2004 Lewis reached his creative peak with the " Stoned,Part 1 " and " Stoned Part II " albums .Reminiscent in style and feel of Marvin Gaye's " Here My Dear " album these two beautiful SOUL albums were inspired by the breakdown of a relationship .....GREAT SOUL MUSIC is often inspired by great personal pain and the pain is laid bare across these albums....they should be in all music lover's collections ,they are certainly both in my Top 50 albums of all time and sound every bit as vital now as they did 13 and 14 years ago .....
( WARNING...I don't recommend you listen if you recently had your heart broken ! )

In January 2004 Lewis released the " The Lost Album " "  on his own  Slow Reality label ....originally intended as the follow up to " Lewis Taylor " it was rejected by Island ....rumour has it that Lewis recorded as a reaction to him being labelled " a new British blue-eyed Soulster " and cites Fleetwood Mac and The Beach Boys as influences ....I think it's a really interesting album.

In 2005 Lewis released " Limited Edition 2004 " on Slow Reality....another very good album and the last release I can find was 2006's " In Session 2005 " which features live versions of 6 songs from " Stoned Part 1 " all exquisitely performed with Lewis's vocal as pure and SOULFUL as ever .

Since then....nothing
Lewis Taylor simply disappeared as an artist and apparently tried to wipe away all references to his career...he did a good job as I can't find any videos anywhere.
However his beautiful SOUL music lives on and is available for you to enjoy and buy on Spotify and i-tunes

I urge you to check it out....it will make your life better I promise !

The Soul Guru loves YOU xx