Mica Paris - South Of The River 1990

4th & Broadway BRCD 199

This incredible release is one of my all time favourites from Mica. South Of The River from the Contribution album, remixed by the Blacksmith crew.

Pretty good stuff but then we have Where Are The Children, an absolute gem, soul music the way it's meant to be. The track is one of two tracks recorded at Ground Control, Santa Monica, written and produced by Patrick Moten & J.A. Greene for Golden Empire, the cherry on top comes courtesy of Gerald Albright supplying sax. This track has everything except Bobby Womack!

In contrast we have I Should've Known Better, written and produced by Mica & Omar. Omar plays all the instruments and it's kept sparse and simple but that does not detract from it's effectiveness in any way. Mica has room to breathe, space to perform and Omar's beats behind that dangerous bass line, this is a killer track. Enjoy!

• South Of The River (Upso Mix)
• South Of The River (Brixton Bass Mix)
• Where Are The Children
• I Should've Known Better

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Mica Paris BRCD 199.rar Filesize: 23.81 MB

Mica Paris - I Wanna Hold On To You 1993

4th & Broadway Records BRCD 275

Michelle Wallen is one of UK soul's finest talents ever since she burst onto the scene with her international hit My One Temptation. She started singing in church when she was seven years old. Paris changed her name from Michelle to Micha at age 16 and later dropped the h and has been known as Mica Paris ever since.

I Wanna Hold On To You is a wonderful piece of soul written by Mica, Narada Michael Walden and Sally Jo Dakota. Walden also produced and arranged the song for her Whisper A Prayer album. On this release, Absolute takes it to the floor on the Radio Mix (gotta be a longer Absolute Mix out there?) while the Old School Mix by Steve and Paul Jervier (a.k.a. The Outfit) takes the song into contemporary territory. For me though, as with many of Mica releases, this is all about the bonus track. Say You Will is a slow burning, solid soul shuffler that utilises her deep rich sensuous voice to the max. Now that's what I'm talking about!

• I Wanna Hold On To You (Absolute Radio Mix)
  
• I Wanna Hold On To You (Album Version Edit)
  
• I Wanna Hold On To You (Old School Mix)
  
• Say You Will

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: BRCD 275.rar Filesize: 23.85 MB

Blacknuss - It Should Have Been You 1995

Sidestep Records SSRCD4

When you think of Soul Music, Sweden isn't the first country that comes to mind, even now two decades after The Scadinavian Invasion. Martin Jonsson and Conny C. Lindström started the Stockholm Jazz Club 'Fasching' and together with (producer, composer and artist) Christian Falk (Make It Right) formed the rhythm section core of the club house-band. When they took Blacknuss to record, they took the club regulars. Mattias Torell (Eagle-Eye Cherry), Malando Gassama, Desmond Foster, David Nyström, Pierre Swärd, Esbjörn Svensson, Goran Kajfes and Per “Ruskträsk” Johansson. To top that, they invited great vocalists such as Titiyo (After The Rain & Flowers, related to Neneh Cherry), Robyn (Show Me Love, not the new one) , Jennifer Brown, Lisa Nilsson, Stephen Simmonds, ADL, SwingFly, Dilba, Viktoria Tolstoy and André De Lang.

Check out their albums; Made in Sweden, Blacknuss Allstars & Blacknuss 3. Ever changing, Blacknuss give the artists and musicians free reign and the collective have moved from jazz oriented dance music to modern r’n’b making all stops in between. Covers of Last Night A DJ Saved My Life, Rising To The Top and It Should Have Been You have been mixed with their own material and sound. They're one of Swedens best live bands, and they have won Swedish Grammis for Best Modern Dance. Blacknuss, The Soul Of Sweden.

Here, It Should Have Been You is remixed superbly by Cutfather & Joe, Absolute (my fav) and K'n'M but personally, I wouldn't bother inflicting the last two mixes upon your sensitive ears unless you have a yen for ravey house music?

• Cutfather & Joe Radio Edit
• K'n'M Mix
• Absolute Remix
• Metamorphosis Mix
• Finest Dub Groove

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Blacknuss.rar Filesize: 38.91 MB