Emotional Rescue

Review: South African Warrick Sony is a ground breaking composer who was behind the Kalahari Surfers project which now gets a vital spotlight courtesy of Emotional Rescue. This compilation shows how effortlessly eclectic his sound was, from jive rhythms to jazz, tabla to political speeches and much more in between. A Hindu pacifist who was once conscripted into the South African Defense Force, he founded this group as a way out getting his ides out there, calling on other musicians as and when he needed them. It was the first radical white anti-apartheid pop in South Africa and as this vital collection shows it explored polyrhythms, slow motorik, dub sound collage and even a goofy cover of Nancy Sinatra.

Played by: MR ABSOLUTT

Review: Emotional Rescue's vital Konduko reissue series sadly comes to an end here with a look at the label's final years. In those days it moved away from reggae, disco and boogie towards an enduring electro sound that had a vast and lasting impact on the Miami scene. The biggest tune from that time was when Noel Williams linked with local songwriter Lawrence Dermer aka Der Mer for the track reissued here. 'Fall Out' soon became a hit with its driving electro-funk rhythms. The original sits next to the later Fresh '86" mix as well as a NAD disco mix from Dan Tyler, best known as one of the Idjut Boys. It's an irresistible package of body-popping electro with hooks for days.

Played by: MR ABSOLUTT, Secret Soul Society

Review: There is always a good backstory to the music that Emotional Rescue releases and this EP is a case in point. It comes from Betty & The Code Red and Betty was the girlfriend of Tunde Obazee, a Nigerian-born artist who used music as a "non-violent tool to express his socio-political opinions on global injustice." The pair would entertain people on campus by playing anything they could get their hands on, informed by the old Edo folk songs they had grown up around. They went on to live in Italy and the US and start a family as well as lay down self-released songs that have become cult classics. A selection of them feature on this, the first of two EPs from the pair.

Played by: Juno Recommends Downtempo

Review: Group Du Jour was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1983 and have had a storied career spanning the decades since. They have always brought together live, ethnic and electronic sounds with folk and modern pop, later getting ever more experimental. Early albums Forgotten Colors in 1986 and Wonderful Vision in 1988 are groundbreaking affairs, the latter of which gave rise to 'Motion Of Waves', which is something of a cult favourite for deep diggers. It is a rich instrumental groove that layers up synthesiser, flute, guitar and haunting vocals sitting over a brilliantly electric beat. The whole thing was a live one-take recording and is perfectly suited to both sunset and sunup moments of dancing pleasure.

Played by: Juno Recommends Electro

Played by: ROMANTO (YSR / DISCO MACHINE), Juno Recommends Disco, Andy Downtown Science

Review: King Sporty is a remarkably versatile artist, a fact not widely known. He embarked on his musical journey in the 1970s, crafting reggae and soul 7-inch records. As the 1980s dawned, he seamlessly transitioned into disco, boogie, hip-hop, and electro, demonstrating his chameleonic musical prowess. With the advent of house music in the 1990s, he once again adapted and evolved. This latest release from Emotional Rescue delves into that later phase of King Sporty's career. "Computer Music" is a pulsating four-to-the-floor track infused with electrifying elements and a laid-back breakbeat that beckons you into its depths. Farsighted chords conjure a tranquil sense of cosmic grandeur, complemented by a filtered vocal that exudes a futuristic aura. The EP also includes a dub version, and the Universal Cave Discomix by the esteemed Philadelphia DJ and production crew. It's a nostalgic yet forward-looking EP that seamlessly fuses the retro and the future.

Played by: Chris Coco, Juno Recommends Downtempo, CHEWY RUBS, LEGO EDIT

Review: As one of the finest and most stylishly eclectic labels out there, you never know where Emotional Rescue will go next. This time out they head into a world of Afro-cosmic, a scene initially pioneered by early and groundbreaking Italian DJ Danielle Baldelli. Boyake's 1990 gem 'Ethno Groove' stands out as a classic of the genre and joins the dots between the early house and techno sounds that were sweeping Italy with new age ideals, Afro drums and chunky tribal percussion next to Balearic synths. It features syncopated analogue beats and live percussion and as well as the original, this EP features two of the further mixes that came in 1994. All are heady, head-turning and mind-melting pumpers.

Played by: Juno Recommends Reggae

Review: Noted reggae vocalist Barry Biggs comes under the Emotional Rescue microscope here with celebrated LA digger Patrick Billard aka DJ Duckcomb remixing one of his cuts. First up is the original version of 'Illusion' which has big pianos over the clean digital dub. The soaring vocal is obscured by plenty of lush effects and melodies. After a version twists and contorts the original, the DJ Duckcomb Discomix slows things down and ups the dazzling disco vibes but keeps the dub dubby bottom end to ensure plenty of dance floor impact. This is a classy one as ever from this label.

Played by: Juno Recommends Reggae

Review: The sounds of 80s dub reggae coming out of the alternative and post-punk scenes of a rebuilt but divided (West and East) Germany is explored on a sampler of The Vision. A consciousness dream built by Hanover homegrown, Felix Wolter aka Dubvisionist with cohorts Sister Natty and Tygrr, they explored the meeting of cultures of that moment, combining their background in and love of rock, krautrock, punk and post-punk, diving deep into an adoration of reggae and dub, especially emanating from discovering On-U Sound. Later encouraged by Adrian Sherwood himself during a pilgrimage to London, The Vision was born. Working from riddims rather than songs, jamming continuously before vocals are added, arranging and then dubbed live on the mixing desk, utilised as instrument over a mere sound tool. Their debut '10 Tracks Of Reggae & Dub Music', from which this release is culled, was released in 1987, seeing the band go on to release and tour for the following decade, with spin off bands, projects, producing and a studio continuing up until today. A live band exploring the studio with their interpretation of dub reggae in all its forms, the songs Far Away, Different Language and Whirl showcase Sister Natty's conscious style atop roots and steppers riddims. The African Headcharge-inspired Natty Vision, possibly the release highlight, opens to percussion jams before the spoken words of Fear and speaker shacking, On-U-dubs-clash-crash of No 4 complete this EP sampler with ears wide.

Played by: Juno Recommends Downtempo

Review: The label is delighted to present Mataya's Golddigger, an aptly named diggers' delight of the last few years that has been causing a stir, licensed and remastered from the original tapes, offering a previously unreleased Tape Mix (plus additional unreleased Digital Bonus) and wonderful disco dub mix from (Isle Of) Jura Soundsystem. Mataya Clifford Chewaluza was born in Zimbabwe, moving to London as the late 60s were in full swing and soon found himself part of the West London music scene. A multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer, releasing albums for RCA and Virgin, as well as a series of singles and 12s for Do It and his own Black Magic Records. Golddigger was released in 1988, the theme, a story of the 80s City predatory nightlife romancing, with London's Street Soul influences featured heavily, as well as Mataya's love of reggae, but as with Adu's Burkina Faso, there is a strong feel of African rhythm and swing and the curious lo-fi private press production make this a collectors curio that has seen dealer copies snapped up from LA (Smiling C) to Toronto (Seance Centre) and London (Perfect Lives). Teaming up with Jura Soundsystem for a second time, label head Kevin Griffiths surpasses his recent remix of Adu, with a 10 minutes disco dub extravaganza. The street soul swing is cut'n'pasted with keys and dub fx, around an arrangement that drops, spins and keeping that quirky, left field gravitas that makes this an Emotional Rescue.

Played by: Juno Recommends Disco, Juno Recommends Reggae, Rayko

Review: Emotional Rescue continues its quest to bring obscure, left of centre dance to a wider audience with a reissue of Adu's reggae-pop cut Burkina Faso, starting the next series of releases where the label teams up with DJ / producer for a series of reissues featuring their edit / mixes that add to and update the original for today's dancefloor. South Saharan / West African emigre to Brixton long-term, musical and politically active resident, Rauf Adu would go on to a minor European wide hit in his supremely catchy Human To Human - checked You Tube for numerous 80s Euro-pop show appearances - the label goes back to the start, with his debut 7" release in 1982 for Copasetic Records and the reggae-pop inspired Burkina Faso. A laidback Compass Point drum and bass underpins with rock guitar and Adu's exaltations of youth and home, backed with flowing, layered harmonies across a call and response chorus. Simply a fun song to shuffle and ting, of its time but like an 80s pop-steppa. This is expanded further in the simple, but effective Dub mix, stripping everything back to highlight Adu's guitar slays and backing vox. For remix duties, the label welcomes fellow head of Isle Of Jura to get behind the desk and create some extended disco dub fun. The last 5 years have seen the Isle Of Jura label go from strength to strength and has just been topped with the arrival of in-house project, Jura Soundsystem's debut LP. The Adelaide best Brit, Kevin Griffith's has been providing additional production, mixes and dubs for his label since inception and here he presents a soundsystem remix that cuts, edits, extends and dubs Burkina Faso, teasing the instrumental intro before riding the songs groove to offer the version for today's DJ heads.

Played by: Juno Recommends Reggae, Ted Ganung

Review: Emotional Rescue is delighted to debut a first. Rather than a straight reissue of an (obscure) classic or a collection of music by an artist or label, here is a compilation of various artists centered around a sound and movement - reggae-tinged music and how it influenced and spread from the Caribbean and diaspora. Drawn from the off kilter digging of archivist, DJ and collector Bruno (perfectliv.es), Nowhere Like Here is not a follow up, but a sideways accompaniment, to his recent and already cult like 'Perfect Motion' collection of left field pop and new wave, recently self-released with Flo Dill (NTS). This is a special release to celebrate the label's 10th year and beyond, offering a treasure trove of lo-fi and often pop inspired reggae cuts, mixing heartfelt Lovers Rock style paeans and quirky private press oddities, all guaranteed to 'make-a-move and tap', these are, in the main ridiculously rare or impossible to find alternative bombs, that are just as sound system rocking and massive bass line quaking showcases of the enduring legacy of this Jamaican music phenomenon. As with much of the early 80s period, the music community was in the throes of a do-it-yourself cultural renaissance as small labels, where crazy limited, one-off White Label Only's came and went. Songs like Avalanche's Your Love Is Such A Good Thing or Warp Speed's Take It To The Night were part of the claiming the means of production in to their own hands, pressing up the records and self-distributing. This raw, naive exuberance can be heard in the songs themselves. This is not reggae or Lovers as known, but something more expressive. Musical, simply produced, but with intelligible and uplifting optimism that is just superlatively catchy. While Paul Thompson's Can I Take You Home and Ras Ibuna's Black Beauty are more straight-ahead Lover's style cuts, there is the parallel dance pop private pressing vibrations of the two Keith Robinson songs and Majority's Caroline included - all part of a thread; a joining of the dots that Nowhere Like Here is at its most basic, a warmth the whole album exudes. This is not a Lovers Rock Hits of some, but a left-of-center versioning, fitting the ethos of Emotional Rescue by presenting something most will not have heard before and all the better for it.

Played by: Juno Recommends Rock/Indie

Review: Emotional Rescue dives back in the world of post punk experiments and early synthesised electronics to present another of the label's iconoclastic collectors specials with a look at Stockholm's Staalfagel. Born in 1977, Erik Fritjofsson and Petter Brundell merged and formed Staalfagel out of the suburbs of Jakobsberg. Like so many at the time, the duo was tired of Prog, Jazz and Symphonic Rock and formulated something new and against at the same moment; a time where drummers were jettisoned in place of drum machines and the inspirations of artists like Creedence Clearwater Revival, Devo and Pere Ubu were thrown in the mix to fervent results. With Micke Kjell soon joining on bass, they toured Sweden constantly, the manic machine beat, beating guitars and strange synth sounds defeated the throng and led to a considerable following. Recorded live to tape with no overdubs or mixing, the faithful CR 78 drum machine, the results radiate energy. Releasing just 4 records in 2 years (1980 - 1982), Utan Rymddrakt Pa Uranus appeared as their last ever release. Jettisoning the punky-funk vocals of previous releases, the single is a pure electronic groove. Funk bass and guitar atop, its short form simplicity is perfection distilled in 2 parts of less than 3 minutes, conjoined like some reggae dream, with 'Uranus II' acting the dub version counterpoint. Discovered and shared by long-time friend, DJ and collector, Gary The Tall steps out from behind the decks and microphone of his long running NTS show to present an exemplary "Reversion". Teaming up with master producer and label affiliate, Timothy J Fairplay on engineering duties, they keep the originals' straightforward charm, deceptively editing, looping and reversing with aplomb, for a killer re-edit.

Played by: Juno Recommends Reggae, Tecwaa

Review: UK lover's rock/roots reggae group Dambala has been at the forefront of Emotional Rescue's revival of these sounds in recent years. After a haunting EP last summer we now get an immersive full-length that takes us back to the melting pot of sounds that was London in the 70s and 80s. Revelations is actually a collection of singles from the band recorded between 1978 and 1980 pressed on nice loud wax for heavy DJ deployment. There is a melancholic mood to the synths in these tunes, with weighty dub, fat bass, and skilled guitar all adding the sort of detail that occupies the mind as much as the body.

Played by: Kraak & Smaak, Pete Herbert, Juno Recommends Disco, Andy Downtown Science

Review: The Emotional Rescue reissue series of Noel Williams aka King Sporty working with other artists and singers on the Konduko label's roster comes to completion with the deep funk disco of The Prolifics' Boy Child. Formed in 1970 as part of "Senator" Nolan Jones' New Orleans soul and funk label Hep' Me Records, the bands early deep southern soul saw them release a series of 7"s for Hep' Me and Avco, plus an Xmas single for EMI and the minor hit A Place Called Home, recorded at the infamous Musle Shoals studios, backed by the Rhythm Section band who, from the early 60s, turned out hit after hit, from When A Man Loves A Women to Brown Sugar. Landing on the newly inked Drive label, set up in '72 by Henry Stone as a sub label of his burgeoning T.K Records empire, their developing move in to funk saw them featured alongside Funky Nassau, Jimmy Castor and Peter Brown. It is here the connection with Noel Williams was formed. While putting together the "Konduko Six Pack" showcase album, the band were invited to the Miami Sound Studios for sessions that brought us both title cut Boy Child and the accompanying You Got Me. All brass and claps, Boy Child is as funky as Williams got, backing the groups soul vocals, a story of first born's energetic path in life and a mothers love. The backing from Deep Rockers band bring the swing, the trippy keys and wide bottom end has made this a secret drop for many. You Got Me on the other hand is true King Sporty, a driving 9-minute disco boogie cut, where the warm harmonies lay down this uplifting, killer dance floor stop. To close, the flip is again given over for reinterpretation, welcoming back Felix Dickinson to expertly cut, loop and dub. A special personal song for Dickinson, his subtle extension teases the intro for DJ play, before letting things fly - "the little show-off" as the song notes. With a near 30-year DJ and production career in place, his Discomix is a fitting way to complete this cycle of reissues of this benchmark label, for now.

Played by: ROTCIV

Review: Continuing the label's special single releases that capture the nascent 80s post punk, dub, funk and pop - as examined on releases by The Jellies, Woo, Phantom Band, 4AM and more - here a discovery of unheard demos from Dislocation Dance's Midnight Shift album. As part of the eighties Manchester scene, the band's pop and jazz sensibilities have continued to garner attention, offering a rightful place in the city's rich music history.
With the closure of Richard Boon's New Hormones label in 1982, they came to the attention of Geoff Travis' Rough Trade. Creating a home studio in the basement of an old rambling farmhouse in Withington, Ian Runacres (guitar, vocals), with lyricist Paul Emmerson (bass), set to work creating demos to garner a deal. Inspired by the funk-disco of Dr Buzzards Original Savannah Band debut album, Here Comes Love was written using Roland TR-606 drum machine, guitars, bass and (cheap) keyboard, its magical and lo-fi charmed quality melts hearts.
On Mr Zak, the fun Runacres had is evident. Written as an indie song, but with Aztec Camera and Burt Bacharrach on his mind, with Andy Diagram (trumpet) and Kathryn Way (vocals), hides a structure matching the album version, but which in its rudimentary instrumentation and production is unique and outshines the later version, to encase a specific period and innocence, of time.