Review: Earlier this year, Mr Bongo reissued the 1975 eponymous debut album from Spaceark, an obscure rock and soul outfit from Los Angeles who operated in the years 1973-1979. 1978's sophomore effort 'Spaceark Is' is due to get the same treatment next month, but in the meantime it's the turn of his non-album single from 1975. 'Don't Stop' fuses raw funk with something of the glitz and glamour of a late 50s/early 60s ballroom and features some fine sax work as well as Ms Way's heartfelt, pleading vocal. Like the original release, it comes accompanied by a simple Instrumental.
Review: Spaceark spent considerable time and money recording their eponymous 1975 debut album at Sunset Sound Studio in Los Angeles, yet released it as a self-distributed, private-press LP. Because of that, this brilliant West Coast soul set has become an in-demand item amongst collectors, with original copies changing hands for vast sums online. Here, it finally gets the reissue treatment courtesy of Mr Bongo. Undeniably dreamy, poignant, warm and musically expansive, the album's ten tracks sit somewhere between Steely Dan style jazz-rock, up-tempo soul, all-action jazz-fusion, Curtis Mayfield and Al Green. It's genuinely a forgotten and overlooked gem, with the album sounding as timeless and evocative now as it did back in 1975.
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