Singer Nicole Willis and Finlands premiere Funk band The Soul Investigators debut album Keep Reachin Up was released last week.
The album is released by Timmion Records, with distribution by Lifesaver Records in Finland and by Groove Attack and BoomBox Distribution in the rest of Europe. The album s lead single If This Ain t Love (Don t Know What Is) was nominated by Gilles Peterson of BBC as one of the best songs of the year 2005. An up-tempo, inspired and deceivingly simple track, If This Ain t Love brings to mind releases by legendary soul labels such as Motown and current music by the likes of Sharon Jones &The Dap-Kings. Peaking at number 4 on the national Finnish charts, If This Ain't Love has been lauded by connoisseurs
Read more for details of upcoming follow on 45 release release, album cover and track listing and links for sound clips of the tracks The sound of this group reminds me of dancing to the new James Brown 7" in the record shop on Clarkson Avenue with my sister when we were 6 &8 years old , the Brooklyn-born Nicole has described the album. The follow-up single, My Four Leaf Clover, released on 45 in the coming weeks, continues in the same style. The album s production courtesy of Didier, the man behind the rough sound that the Timmion label is known for is sparse, but rich in detail, and showcases Didier s knack for keeping the sound cohesive.
Nicole s vocals and the funky backing of The Soul Investigators are a perfect match. Nicole Willis states it plainly. It s her third solo album that sees her pair up with the native Helsinki-New Orleanzified Soul Investigators. She recorded 2 albums fronting acid jazz group Repercussions titled Earth &Heaven &Charmed Life on Warner Brothers &Pony Canyon, respectively. She has since released two solo albums, both on SÃÆ’¤hko/Puu Recordings: Be It (2004) and the critically acclaimed Soul Makeover (2000), which was described by The Face as possibly the best R&B album of the year . Both albums feature production from husband Jimi Tenor, Maurice Fulton, Veikka Ercola, Nuspirit Helsinki &the artist herself, Nicole Willis.
The Soul Investigators, under different guises like Didier s Sound Spectrum, Ostari Njengi and Soultors, have impressed fans of Deep Funk for nearly a decade. Their numerous 45 releases like Chicken, Soulful Trip and U-Bo-Te and LP's Soul Strike! (Soul Fire, 2001) and Home Cooking (Timmion, 2003) have found their way onto the turntables of vinyl enthusiasts all around the globe.
Keep Reachin Up is sure-shot album that is not to be missed.
Contact for Bookings, interviews, etc Manager: Risto Nevanlinna
Tel# +358 504129496
e-mail: risto@lifesaver.net
Links:
Above is a press release
the timmion web site also has sound clips of some of the tracks
tracks listing below
Track listing: (click for MP3 sound clips)
1. Feeling free
2. If this aint love (don't know what is)
3. Keep reachin' up
4. Blues downtown
5. My four leaf clover
6. A perfect kind of love
7. Invisible man
8. Holdin' on
9. No one's gonna love you
10. Soul investigators theme (instrumental)
Edited by mike
Author Profile: Mike
Mike Hughes | Mike
Mike Hughes is the owner and admin of Soul Source which he started up back in 1997. His soul journey started in the mid 1970s via the usual venues and has continued to the present day, along the way enjoying all eras and aspects of soul, events, dj-ing, promoting, writing and looking after Soul Source. Nowadays though his main thrust is simply enjoying the music and life with his wife and family. 'No one ever said it was going to be easy...,'
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