Consider this a PSA – be careful with leaving your records in your car, patio, or anywhere they can get cooked in this heat 🔥🔥🔥😣. While you’re keeping cool tonight though, go spin some classics from this LP. “Always and Forever,” “Boogie Nights,” and “Sho’nuff Must Be Luv” are where it’s at. #heatwave#alwaysandforever#nowspinning#recordoftheday
Pulled this one off the new Fox Crate Wall to give it another couple spins. @raphael_saadiq is about to drop a new album – so it made me wanna go back and give this personal favorite LP another listen. This album was dropped during the vintage soul/funk/Motown sound revival era – and to me, it was the best of the bunch. As a fellow producer myself, I’m a sucker for when other producers get busy on their own records. That’s the case with The Way I See It. #recordoftheday#thewayiseeit#ohgirl#100yarddash
Rick recently grabbed this record via @fatbeats and he refers to Track A1 – “The Bottle,” as one of those dark themed bangers that really gets a party going. Brian Jackson’s production chops are paired well with Mr. Heron’s message and word-play. That Fender Rhodes piano sounds silky-smooth as usual. Go watch the music video for “The Bottle,” and you’ll be cooler, and more woke, for it. #thebottle#gilscottheron#brianjackson
We had to take a minute to highlight this beautiful LP by @durandjonesandtheindications. If you’ve listened to our first two podcast episodes – you’ve learned that we’ve caught this wave – courtesy of @fatbeats and have seen the rest of our fellow diggers out there promoting this soulful brilliance. The beauty about this cut is how effortless it feels for the band and Mr. Jones to hit all the right notes. 2019 feeling like 1967 #americanlovecall#soulmusic⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Before we move forward into 2019 and keep sharing our wax – we wanted to make our own Top-5 of 2018. This doesn’t mean these records were the best 5 albums released (digital or on wax), but instead they’re just five of our favorites. So here it is…
This dude Protoje brought the 🔥 with his 2014 Ancient Future release…but in 2018 he took it to the next level with his follow-up, A Matter of Time. The production is top notch, courtesy of one of the best in the game today – Mr. Winta James, and the overall vibe is a masterclass blend of roots reggae, hip hop, and soul. Don’t just take our word for it though – go drop the needle on the opening track, “Flames” – orchestrated by the Matt Jones Orchestra, and you’ll see what we’re talking about.
First off, shout out to SF’s @originalsvinylfor giving us a genuine “what the fuck is this?!” moment back in early Nov of ‘18. The “this” we were asking about happened to be a beautifully crafted, curated collection of tracks courtesy of @ghostmcgrady . The landscapes painted by the beats and samples on this record are 💯 certified fresh. Although this release dropped in late 2018, it’s gotten plenty of spins to make it into our top five. #vibes
Coming in at numero tres is this great “debut” double LP by @brandoncoleman . It’s a fresh throwback and feel good funk/r&b/soul record that we just wish had been dropped before the summer. No worries though, as we’ll be putting this instant classic in rotation for many summers to come. Coleman’s vocoder game is strong and @brainfeederrecords continues their 🔥 streak of releases.
This collaboration project @augustgreeneband had been years in the making it seems, and damn was it worth the wait. One of the most underrated to do it (IMO), Lonnie Lynn @common gets busy on the mic – and when you got his rhymes accompanied by the talents of @robertglasper and @karriemriggins – you get a hiphop record that becomes timeless even when the subject matter is as current as anything else out there. We had to wait a minute for the record to drop on wax in 2018, but it’s one that we’re glad to own.
There could only be one for 2018 and we had to go back to @leonbridgesofficialsophomore release, Good Thing, to find it. As we highlighted last year, many folks were caught a little off guard with the flip of the script from his debut album – but damn does this album hold water. This LP still has all the feels of yesteryear a la Sam Cooke, but the production value of today’s music (in a good way). Hats off to @rickyreed for steering the ship.
Man, there was some bewildering push-back when this album first dropped last month, as it was being compared to his first release, Coming Home. Well in the spirit of the #baseballvinylchallenge – we wanted to highlight Mr. Bridges’ sophomore album for being the beautiful “change-up” that it is. You see, anybody can throw heat, i.e. Leon’s debut album, but a real pitcher is someone who knows when to change up speeds, and master pitch location – to fool the hitter. When Primo Rick and I first heard this record, we half-joked about how Leon was gunning for Anderson Paak. Well this album showcases his mixed bag of pitches and makes him a legit ace for years to come.
This 1968 record would be one of the first examples I’d give to anybody who wanted to study Philly soul. William “Poogie” Hart’s soulful falsetto vocals with Thom Bell’s perfectly crafted arrangement is why this song has stood the test of time – even 50 years later.
B-Side: “Can’t Get Over Losing You”
