New Music: Spanky Wilson & the Quantic Soul Orchestra, Owusu & Hannibal, F.S. Blumm

Spanky Wilson & the Quantic Soul Orchestra - A Woman Like Me - I'm Thankful (Ubiquity 2006)


Spanky Wilson & the Quantic Soul Orchestra – I’m Thankful / Tru Thoughts

In our age of rediscovered re-releases, unearthing an initially overlooked funk classic is nowhere near as rare an occurrence as it was in the past. Now digging up a living, breathing classic funk voice is on a completely new level, and British musician/producer/DJ Will Holland has done just that. Philly soul singer Spanky Wilson emerged in the blooming late-60s funk and soul scene as she devoted her sassy, raw talent to collaborations with musicians from all sorts of backgrounds including Marvin Gaye, Willie Bobo and even the Duke Ellington Orchestra. In the 80s, she left for Paris where she disappeared from the map though her music remained a staple on the DJ scene for many years to follow. Fast forward to present day and after many years of searching, Holland aka Quantic finds Wilson in L.A. where they promptly record two songs for Holland’s solo album. The enthusiastic feedback has led to Wilson’s debut full-length, in which backed by the sparse, JB’s influenced funk backdrop of the Quantic Soul Orechestra, she sounds as youthful and energetic as ever. Joining Sharon Jones as one of the very few premiere soul voices left, Wilson’s sass and femininity take center stage with an album that somehow is both intimate and ready to completely destroy a dance floor.




Owusu & Hannibal - Caroline No - Living with... (Ubiquity 2006)


Owusu & Hannibal – Living with… / Ubiquity

Why the best retro-80s soul music seems to be coming from the Scandinavian region (Nicolay, General Elektriks, etc) I’ll never know, and Danish duo Owusu & Hannibal are doing nothing but cementing that observation. With Ghanaian, Danish, German and American roots Philip Owusu and Robin Hannibal have written, played and produced a dubby collage late 70s/early 80s soul, downtempo cool-out, electro-pop and future-funk. Think Donny Hathaway backed up by Chromeo, Steve Spacek fooling around with the Brothers Johnson or even Jamie Lidell getting down with Scritti Politti and you are getting the idea of what’s bubbling from the mixers of this young producer duo. What I’m most impressed with is the ambition and diversity within the album; in one second you’re hearing a blippy boom-bap ballad, then they’ll hit you with some bumping left-field house and in the next they are copping Beach Boys melodies for a spliff-ready space jam. This is a very mellow (in the best way possible) and a very cool album primed for late night city drives with your fine, fly lady from the block.




F.S. Blumm - Flocke - Summer Kling (Morr Music 2006)


F.S. Blumm – Summer Kling / Morr Music

As the bubbly electro-pop bread & butter of Morr Music begins to stagnate, their excursions into lush chamber-pop have picked up the creative slack. Maybe the most important of these artists is the classically educated guitarist F.S. Blumm, whom after digressions into noise, has completely fell back on his trained melodic ear. In the footsteps of his last album, Zweite Meer, Summer Kling is a gentle lapping of intricately conducted dream-pop but with an emphasis on woodwinds and horns rather than the keyboard-centric sound of Meer. On first listen the music is deceptively simple because Blumm places a heavy influence on the strategic placing and recording techniques of the instruments rather than striving for a large, encompassing sound. The result is a rather peaceful but lush album of meandering melancholy melodies that emphasize the contrasting timbres of separate instruments and the beautiful harmonies they can make together. Consider Kling the perfect soundtrack for frosty winter mornings when you find yourself swathed in blankets and motionlessly staring out your window.