Incognito - Who needs love: LP (Uni-Japan)

A little while back, rumor had it that Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maunick and the Incognito crew would stop recording and they did (on their English label - Talking Loud) but now they have resurfaced again with a new album called 'Who needs Love' on Universal - Japan.

Bluey's musical thinking is unnerving to come up with such exquisite blends of soul, funk, rhythm and jazz on the album. Those of you who are aware of this brilliant band knows that I'm very fond of their work because you get nothing less than high quality production and the cream of the crop in guest vocalists and this album doesn't fall short in either case. He chose well to work with some of the best in the business.

The likes of Joy Rose on the sultry downtempo groover 'Cant' get you out of my head', Kelli Sae on the jazzy horn influenced 'People at the top' and Tony Momrelle on the funky Cada Dia (Day by Day) are all pure bliss. Joy Malcolm shines on the lovely 'If you want my love' and Brazilian soul legend Ed Motta attends class on the title track 'Who needs Love'

Again it's hard to choose a favourite of the lot but I you know what, I'll let you decide for yourselves (for me it's the entire set). An album of pure quality throughout and fans whether old or new will enjoy listening to this set over and over again so play it frequent and often - a TY-D pick indeed.

Listen to Incognito ft: Joy Malcolm - 'If you want my love'

Listen to Incognito ft: Joy Rose - 'Can't get you out of my head'

TD. 

 

 

 

 

 

It's 1998 and the new sound of soul - the neo soul movement is in full swing. The likes of Erykah Badu, Maxwell and D'Angelo are grabbing our attention span, but beknown to most of us all was 5 Point Plan who had put out a debut self-titled set that same year. The album was a 'quiet' success story with tracks like 'Live today' and 'It don't mean nothing' leading the charge as the songs to listen to.

In the upcoming years the band consisting of Latrice Barnett on lead vocals, Jordan Glasgow (keyboards), Tim Carter (drums, percussion), Michael Cruz (bass, background vocals) and David Metzner (guitar) have shared stage time with the likes of (The Lady) aka Sade, India Arie and Funkadelic veteran funkster George Clinton to name a few. Now four years later the San Francisco natives return with their sophomore set 'Rare' - a collection of 11 songs filled with more of the same rhythmic funk and style that was given on their debut release.

The opening number 'Solid Ground' is just that (solid) - here you have a track that really shines on it's own merit for terrific instrumentation and rich vocals provided by Letrice. Next up is 'Feed your Soul' - very acid jazz oriented with a healthy bass line and well written lyrics. The meat of the order comes in 'Second Time', 'Damn' and 'Tremble' all of which should command radio play. The track that hits home for me though is 'Sign your Name' - very smooth, very soothing, very nice.

The album is in selected stores and you can pick up a copy off their website www.fivepointplan.com so I suggest you go get a copy. A great album that is well deserving of your listening ear, one not to be passed up on - a TY-D Pick through and though. 

Listen to Five Point Plan's - 'Solid Ground '

Listen to Five Point Plan's - 'Sign your name'

TD