Under the Stars: A smooth and silky trip through 40 years of UK street soul

It’s Under The Stars babe. Your weekly rundown of what is popping in The Bay and beyond. A column that presents new music releases, upcoming shows, opinions, and other adjacent items. We keep moving with the changes and thinking outside the margins. From ambient to endless pulsating frequencies.

We bring work. Let’s goooo..

VARIOUS ARTISTS, LOVE & PURPOSE VOLUME ONE (FIRST WORD RECORDS)

UK Street Soul is so smooth, melodic, and undeniably repeatable that it was only from the radio DJ’s information that you, as an American, were first notified that these cats were not from Uptown or the boogie-down. “Tell Me (How It Feels)” by 52nd Street, the British jazz-funk and R&B band formed in Manchester, initially signed to Tony Wilson’s emblematic Factory Records, slid up on WBLS radio in New York City during a British soul invasion of the US in the mid ’80s that included Loose Ends and, later, Soul II Soul.

A new and quite extensive compilation album Love & Purpose, put out by the good folks at First Word Records in the UK, earnestly formulated by label founder Aly Giliani (AKA Gilla), presents 12 tracks that tell the story of underground British soul music over the last 40 years, incorporating street soul, alternative R&B, neo-soul, and lovers rock. And of course “Tell Me (How It Feels)” is in there.

At first, these street soul designs were far away from any media glitz. 

Constructed by communities, sometimes in the estates (public housing), and put together with drum machines, reggae-influenced bass ideas, and synths—maybe it was created on the fly in the club, at a party or at the pirate radio stations—that’s the flavoring in these ear-catching arrangements.

In the press notes Gilla nails the creation of these regional songs and acts, alerting us all, that the compilation is made by people who know that history. 

“The colonial legacy of Britain created uniquely diverse cities—and the music that came from those immigrant communities was equally singular. From the pain and struggle that the various peoples who ended up on these shores endured came a joyful expression that could not be contained.”

With one side of the double album dedicated to the humble beginnings and the other to the new forms this music has taken, Gilla knows regionalism is key in presenting the entire story. He mentions going to Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, and London when he was young to get the “freshest” sounds. It’s in the production, that local culture where ideas and techniques always get produced differently in each particular environment.

From the bouncy and sweet sentiment of “Dazzle You” by Dazzle which is accented with raw, minimal, gold boom, to “Roses” by Lynda Dawn with the XL Middleton Remix, splashing some LA throwback sunshine on those petals, to nu-soul burner “Ghana Emotion,” that could charm elders and chirren in one stanza. True indeed, these selections teach us what resourcefulness can ultimately manifest.

Order it here.

CHUCK JOHNSON, SUN GLORIES (WESTERN VINYL)

Oakland experimental musician-composer Chuck Johnson has announced a new album. On August 16, he’ll release Sun Glories via Western Vinyl. Having previous releases on labels such as Kompakt and Thrill Jockey, to name a few, Johnson explores themes of time, memory, and illusion through ambient orchestrations performed on pedal steel, synths, organs, strings, and drums. 

A former student of Pauline Oliveros’s deep listening program, Johnson has found inspiration for composing while caring for an injured dog in the past—the muse remains adaptable.

Order it here.

WAYNE SHORTER, ODYSSEY OF ISKA (TONE POET)

Sometimes you can be so stubborn that you miss a different type of gem altogether.

We will travel back to times in the Mission when burritos could be purchased without taking out a small property loan. Yep, mid-’90s.

I think I’ve mentioned here before: Saturday Morning thrifting, especially in the Mission, could at times be a full contact sport. Lots of Japanese tourists in the record bins, elbowing me like Draymond in the paint, grabbing all the Alice Coltrane, Charles Mingus, and various elite records indicating they had a great grasp of several cultures.

 In the heated pursuit for a glut of funky jazz fusion records (vinyl albums people, keep up) I wanted those Weather Report early joints, Lonnie Liston Smith joints, Miles fusion jawns, things of that pedigree.

But I’ll be dammed if this Wayne Shorter Odyssey Of Iska record keeps popping up in thrift stores for like $2 or $3 bucks. Most of the copies looked clean—no scratches.

 I’d stare at it, and Wayne was just at peace with his mini blow-out, holding the horn, that I passed on it too many times to mention. It didn’t look funky enough.

That “damn, I need to see exactly what in the hell is going on with record” gut instinct wasn’t kicking in. Wayne Shorter was just present on that cover, like a glass of water.

Odyssey of Iska, a tribute to his daughter Iska—who had been born the year before with severe brain damage, was the Wayne Shorter quietly slept-on gem that recently got reissued for the Tone Poet series from Blue Note records. It’s a communique from the early 70s before he assembled the archetype fusion band that is Weather Report.

In this last post-Miles influenced era, Shorter has song titles like “Wind,” “Storm,” and “Calm.”

That’s not funk, it’s feel. And yet it does convey transitional; in the throes of something manifesting further down the line. It’s “Calm” that doubles between a honeyed caramelized ballad meant for sipping and the potential to be that love theme from a cool ’70s flick (RIP Richard Roundtree The One and only SHAFT, sorry Samuel Jackson, I love ya, but we talking bout Shaft) where the couple is getting it on with a ceiling mirror, water bed, and a deep shag rug somebody will be nestling their toes into in the morning before they start their groovy day.

Mr. Shorter punked me with that poker face.

Order Odyssey of Iska here.

ROXANNE & JOHN TEJADA, SURFACE EP (PALETTE RECORDINGS)

Time and time again, always check for house or techno producers who venture into other genres; most of the time, you will be pleased. John Tejada, the Austrian-born American electronic music producer, a house and techno legend, has extended his hand to Roxanne, a veteran of the Los Angeles drum and bass scene, to produce the Surface EP.

Three, count’em, three all killer no filler drum and bass joints that don’t try to do too much, just keep the dance floor busy with clear-cutting vocals—lead track featuring Shaharoh, classic amen break twisting on “Overthinking,” melodic pathways with that jungle grumble on “No Further.”

The Surface EP sees two artists, an icon and a seasoned up-and-comer, uniting for that champion sound.

Solid work. Pick it up here.

JAMES ALEXANDER BRIGHT, COOL COOL (ATHENS OF THE NORTH)

So this is appearing in this column because of the international rep of Athens of The North. 

Outta Edinburgh, UK, it has been a steadfast indie label that puts out quality stuff. Period. What type of stuff? It’s all up in the air, shuffled and faded like a master DJ set—rare undeniable funky soul, disco, and Brazilian jawns—and that’s just a pedestrian Tuesday, which makes the imprint even more impressive. I bet your fave DJ has a 7-inch section in their record bag with the AOTN logo on it. I just trust what they put out and am always willing to give it a listen.

Ok, onto James Alexander Bright.

This dude.

Listen, SF is notorious for the hipster fabulous cat with retro clothing, boogie record crate, and nerd-forward persona. So at first look, I was hesitant… and then I just let the music flow.

“Cool Cool” is beyond the “chill bruh” hang posturing. It’s a charismatic vibe merchant of a record. 

Bright has taste, touch, versatility and even the onions and intellect to just bow out sometimes and let his determined phantasmagoria of heaters do the heavy lifting.

Sure “Your Love” has that cupcakin’ and babymakin’ thang to it, all the hazy enunciations along with the plucky basslines—it’s a jam for sure.

But when Bright leans into his 4/4 bag, that Harvey Sutherland on some boost juice, ya know type of momentum, the record takes off from cool to elevated bizness. Yes indeed, “Aguas Blancas” is what you need to get heart rates pulsating, making those fuzzy synths your super energy source. Bright is not here for the cool points, he’s about the dancefloor. 

Listeners will hear how this vocalist, musician, and producer has taken Eddie Chacon, Beck, and Michael McDonald, as outlined in the presser, and found a middle ground of a record that does all the hipster fashion things, but a greater artist is just waiting to evolve on the next project.

Cool, Cool has me waiting, happily for more, and dammit AOTN strikes again.

Pick it up here.

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