by DJ Alex T

Welcome back to Lost Soul dear Soul Survivors!

After a few months of total laziness, I'm back (just like Jovonn)! No seriously, I was busy doing other things (just like Jovonn - ya better check out that "Pitch Black E.P."). Lots of good things happened over the last months musically. It seems like producers are finding back their way into deep and soulful raw house music, thanks to Jovonn, Mr. "KAOZ" Chandler, Bettina and the Bougie Soliterre crew, Spen and Karizma and all those crazy French producers...

Let's start things on a downtempo perspective. If you are into REAL Hip Hop, you must pick up "Word On The Street" on Guidance recordings. This slammin' 12" features cuts by the highly creative MOS Def ("All Praise Due" - slammin' lyrical trip courtesy of the main Hip Hop innovator) and Primeridian really rock the mic on "Musical Mirages." Full LP is coming out soon. Hip Hop the way it is suppose to be. No Ruff Ryders shit over here! Also be sure to check out "The Main Ingredients" on Fat City Recordings. This LP features lots of Underground talent from the U.K. and the U.S., my favorite is from a UK Hip Hop crew named the Ill Brothers ("Funkneck" - which is a raw Hip Hop jam with some of the best lyrics I heard lately - better watch out all of you Tommy Hilfiger and Ruff Ryders fanatics!). This LP also has lots of downtempo jazzy cuts, or if you prefer, lots of Acid Jazz tracks (that expression kinda sound old to me now...). If you are seven years old or twenty, but you just discovered Urban music and you think that Jay-Z and Eve rule, you should try to catch up "Droppin' Science" on BBE, a LP with cuts selected by Marley Marl who chose strictly the best of his own legendary Cold Chillin' label. Most of the tracks here are from between the mid eighties and the late eighties. Those who know their music can surely remember all the battle going over "The Bridge" (MC Shan) or all the Roxanne Shante fights over "The Real Roxanne.".. (Those cuts were answers to other crews, like KRS One and Boogie Down Productions for example). Anyway, the LP has slammin' beats from Big Daddy Kane, Craig G, Masta Ace, Biz Markie, Kool G Rap etc... Moving from Hip Hop to Trip Hop with a touch of Drum & Bass and lots of soul (!!!) you can give a try to Mr. Scruff's "Honeydew" on Ninja Tune. With vocals by Feebi and remix by the Future Homosapiens, this one is pretty interesting.

But now let's talk about those raw crazy underground house beats. If you followed my 'Lost Soul' columns since the beginning, you know how much I love Jovonn. He's been around for more than a decade blessing us with the baddest underground jams around. Now he's back for some more on his own Next Moov label. "Pitch Black E.P." has four massive tracks to get you movin' like the first time you heard some deep House music. "Moov' Sphere" and "Keep On Dancin'" are just wicked, but there's more... If you think of The Deep out of France, you should think of a dude trying to push that raw old school New-Jersey vybe. Well, Jovonn and The Deep hooked up and created the amazing "Back In The Dark." Nuff said, revelation of the true underground stands tall on this E.P.!

Watch out now. FRENCH ALERT! Over the last years, we all freaked over the mindblowin' projects from artists like St. Germain, Shazz, DJ Deep, Julien Jabre or Playin' 4 the City, but it seems like madness is about to be happening! Julien Jabre is back with his Next Evidence project on the too sweet to be true "One Hundred Ways E.P." (Basic). "Over The Waves" deserves the status of a modern jazz song, soft keys, nice sax, light vocals by Karl The Voice, tight percussions... Thanks Mr. Jabre for this peaceful moment! So all the names you read above should sound familiar to you, but there's a new generation of French producers who deserve way much more exposure. Be sure to find a copy of DJ Justin & DJ Kemit latest project "The Maiden EP" (Silver Network). Four smokin' trax that really have that raw underground warehouse flava from the old days. My favorites are "Expand Your Mind" and the beautiful "The Maiden Dance" which might be too abstract for some of you, but to me it sounds like early 90's Blaze projects with a new raw edge. On the vocal garage tip, there's "What Is It" (World Of House) from Housequake which sounds pretty sweet to me with some light jazzy guitar. DJ Fudge and Bruno Banner have something going on under the name of Savannah (KIF Recordings). "I'll Do Anything" has that deep moody jazzy laid back flava that got me groovin' all the time. Also give a try to Fabrizio (Bibhouse Records) who created a raw Jersey groove on "Baby Boys."

Essential Soul Sound Supreme for this month comes from Olivier Portal and Cyril K (FRENCH ALERT!!!). They just created magic on their remixes of Femi Kuti "What Will Tomorrow Bring" (Barclay). They are letting us float on this deep delicate jazzy adventure. Incredible. Two copies are a must so that you can go from the vocal to the dub. I'll never have enough of this beat! If you are more into the New York sound, there's a Joe Claussell mix on the other side. His mix ain't that bad, but I'm tired of everyone copying Fela Kuti. Pop music has Latinmania, NYC house has Felamania. Don't get me wrong, I love Fela Kuti and some of Joe Claussell's stuff, but it's time to explore some other things. Speaking of exploration, Salsoul legend Vincent Montana Jr. gives us one of the best records of this decade (I'm serious!!!). The Montana Orchestra are back with a crazy E.P. on Philly Sound Works (a New-Jersey label?!) with four slammin' tracks that will make you groovin' like never before. It sounds like the Salsoul sounds is meeting Kerri Chandler and Jovonn! There's two mixes of the vocal song "I'm Still The Best," a modern rare groove is born on "Bonnie's Lounge Sax," but wait until you hear "The Best Vibes Around." It's all about a raw deep house jam (deep house in it's true meaning, no atmospheric ambient stuff here!). Raw bass that will make your sub going crazy, deep keys and vibe solo only like Mr. Montana can play it! Essential, if you sleep on this one, you'll regret it later... On a serious vocal vybe Kerri Chandler and Dennis F are simply doing magic on "Never Enough" (Sfere) with strong vocals courtesy of Anthony Flanagan. The 'Kerri's Main Mix' is just too sweet while the moody vybe of 'Dennis F's Satisfied Mix' surely please me. On the gospel garage tip, the new anthem is "Thank You" from True Solace (Atlantic), with DJ Spen and Karizma giving us their best remix ever! While I'm talking about remix, check out the Bougie Soliterre remix of "Steal My Sunshine" from pop band Len (Work): deep soulful excursions...

So these are the essential piece of wax for this month, but there's many other stuff you should be looking for, here's a list:

Garage vocal:

Tiefschwarz "Music" (Benztown)- German producers doing a major soulful groove on Latin Music.

Aphria "I Got It" and "Magic Maker" (Betty Cann) - New label from the UK offering us two wicked garage jam.

Blaze "Wishing You Were Here" (Slip 'N' Slide) - Joey Negro on the mix, magic is all over the place.

DJ Camacho "It's Gonna be Alright" (Wake Up) - Deep New-Jersey garage that sounds so sweet.

"DJ's On Vinyl Vol. 7" (New Generation) - John Robinson used to be involved with this label, now that he is sadly gone, the label has a new life with serious garage vybe from Brothers of Peace (New remixes of the slammin' "Give me Love" from Ricky Nelson and many other jersey house productions. World, Sky, and Universes "The Answer" (Prescription) - Ron Trent is giving us some guidance.

Caravan feat. Aril St. Michael "The Promise" (Hysteria) - Eric Kupper into the land of deepness.

Maxwell "Fortunate" (White) - Jay Denes of Naked music gives the R&B master a deep mellow treatment. Slammin'!

Lenny Fontana presents The Exclusive Club "Thinkin' About Your Love" (Distance)- Nice cover of this classic song.

Spiro Projecto feat. Derek Huntsman "Your Love Won't Let Me Wait" (Wrong Steps) - Deep garage entertainment here!

Lovestreet feat. Rob Jones "Move Me/Something In My Soul" (Nite Life Collective)- Glenn Underground on the mix.

Soul Vision #2 "Lowdown" (Deep Vision) - Sandy Rivera (KOT) and Jose Burgos (Soul Creation) get together and produced one of the best vocal jam around at the moment.

GT Express "Baby Don't Stop" (Slip "N" Slide) - Terry Hunter and the Music Plant crew out of Chicago are making sweet music here.

Su Su Bobien "Thank You" remixes (Soundmen On Wax) - DJ Spen and Karizma in full effect!

Problem Kids feat. Steve Edwards "I Will Lead" (Paper) - Crazy deep funky vybe over here.

Robyn "Good Thang" (BMG Sweden) and Eternal "What'cha Gonna Do" (EMI) - Masters at Work give some credibility for these pop acts.

Deep 'N' Jazzy house:

Mateo & Matos "Idris Rises" (Spiritual Life Music) - Deep adventures...

KB Project "Feel It" (Elevate) - Useful tracks in the mix.

Roy Davis Jr. "Always There" (AfterHours) - More Magic from the Chicago mastermind.

909 Boys With Style "Voices From Beyond" (HTC) - Deep, deep and deep, OK?

Kerri Chandler "Night Time EP" (Bass Mental) - "No More Sun" is a slammin' obscure Afro house abstract song.

Deeper Side Of The Internet (LP Sampler) (Deep 4 Life) - Chris Gray in a magic mood on "Affirmation"

Chris Gray "Emotional Distortion" (Trackmode - Deep 4 Life) - Full length LP from this modern interpreter of deepness.

Glenn Underground "Ascension" (Nite Life Collective) - GU does it again on "Risen," deep atmosphere with mad keys, you know the deal.

Recloose "Spelunking" (Planet E) - Matt Chicoine from Detroit gives us a intense funky and jazzy E.P., give it a try!

Innerzone Orchestra "Programmed" (Planet E) - Abstract Jazz Fusion from Carl Craig. Future Jazz??? Judge by yourself.

Boyd Jarvis feat. Zap Mama "Alibokolijah" (Novus) - Deep Afro-jazz fusion with loud organ rides.

Gbedu Ressurrection "Gbedu 1" (Ibadan) - Joe Claussell doing something jazzy and funky as usual, but once again sounds a lot like many Fela Kuti masterpieces.

Lonesome Echo Strings "Acertainpeace" (White) - Joe Claussell and Rainer Trüby (from Germany, Compost Records) get creative on this strong smooth jazz experience.

Universal Funk "Smokin' Love" (Svek) - More jazzy deepness from the Svek camp. The 'Late night mix' is all that.

Chaser "Blue Planet" (Soma) - "Fila Brazilia Mix" takes us on a soul-jazz spacy journey.

United Future Organization "Flying Saucer" (Talkin Loud) - One of the best modern jazz records I heard lately with smokin' vox by Dee Dee Bridgewater. Also house remixes by Kings Of Tomorrow, but the original is enough for me, or shall I say too much for me!

Uschis Groove "Los Barba Dos" (Main Squeeze) - Wild Latin-Jazz like you never heard it before!

Naofumi Hataya "We Are Burning Rangers" (King Street Sounds) - Sega Video Game get a house remix from Matthias Heilbronn & Maurice Joshua. Funky vybe.

Groove Collective "Declassified" (Shanachie) - My favorite contemporary Jazz band does it again with a blend of everything between House, Hip Hop, Soul and Drum & Bass."Up All Night" and "Everything Must Change" just slam big time!

DJ Spen and Karizma "The Power" Black Vinyl - Deep jazzy madness from the Baltimore crew. Picture Shazz having a lunch near D.C.!!!

So that's it for this month, keep spreading the real vybe! Peace!

Alex T
November 1999