UK Soul : Soundsystem Classics

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
Weird to see flying lotus in there, but that is a wicked tune and the cross-pollination aspect of USA/UK is a big thing to acknowledge. Makes me very proud how you get that here, in a way i think you don't elsewhere.

Might have to rejoin spotify if you and craner are gonna keep posting these mega lists of soulful classics
Flying lotus, Amy Winehouse, Theo Parrish in a list like that is unacceptable iyam.

This is my mega spotify playlist which contains all the tunes in that numero group one upthread plus a load more I found.

 

boxedjoy

Well-known member
I dunno, I think the thing about street soul is that while in theory it's very easy to regulate the borders (r&b vox x hip-hop beats x reggae basslines), those terms are loose enough that the style can feel nebulous enough to include stuff from the outer limits that still makes sense. So while I wouldn't think of Amy Winehouse etc as street soul, I wouldn't exclude them as they make sense if you join the dots in a certain way.

Massive Attack's early stuff seems to sit right at the core of this stuff, but to me "Teardrop" makes less sense to include than "jasmine - demo"
 

william_kent

Well-known member
I dunno, I think the thing about street soul is that while in theory it's very easy to regulate the borders (r&b vox x hip-hop beats x reggae basslines), those terms are loose enough that the style can feel nebulous enough to include stuff from the outer limits that still makes sense. So while I wouldn't think of Amy Winehouse etc as street soul, I wouldn't exclude them as they make sense if you join the dots in a certain way.

Massive Attack's early stuff seems to sit right at the core of this stuff, but to me "Teardrop" makes less sense to include than "jasmine - demo"
When Amy Winehouse first got signed her record company sent her to do a gig at the Arch Bar in Hulme, Manchester, the scene of more than one shootout, a place where the Gooch gang used to frequent, in order to see if she could cut it in front of a audience who were into soul and reggae..so the record company obviously thought she may appeal to listeners of street soul..
 

catalog

Well-known member
yeah check upthread for the maxines party one - that's the star one for me. i thought of buying the whole tahing actually, the guy is selling them on ebay.
 

william_kent

Well-known member
yeah check upthread for the maxines party one - that's the star one for me. i thought of buying the whole tahing actually, the guy is selling them on ebay.

Yeah, the Maxine's party one is a classic. A friend of mine managed to ID every tune, but unfortunately I didn't make notes...
 

catalog

Well-known member
I dunno, I think the thing about street soul is that while in theory it's very easy to regulate the borders (r&b vox x hip-hop beats x reggae basslines), those terms are loose enough that the style can feel nebulous enough to include stuff from the outer limits that still makes sense. So while I wouldn't think of Amy Winehouse etc as street soul, I wouldn't exclude them as they make sense if you join the dots in a certain way.

Massive Attack's early stuff seems to sit right at the core of this stuff, but to me "Teardrop" makes less sense to include than "jasmine - demo"
yeah i guess jai paul fits into this sort of sound i reckon. what a lad

 

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
This thread was beautiful and pure until the last couple of pages - now we've had Amy Winehouse, Theo Parrish, Durratti Column, Autechre (!) and now Jai Paul, come on
 

hint

party record with a siren
Yeah - the First Word Spotify playlist is just labelled "UK Soul", rather than Street Soul. So that's why it has stuff like that early FlyLo track with Andreya Triana, Amy Winehouse and Jai Paul. It's a collection of UK Soul voices. Like Andrew Ashong on that Theo Parrish track.
 

catalog

Well-known member
During the late 80's and early 90's, there quite a few UK soul records that were aimed at sound systems or at least played heavily by some sounds. I think this sort of stuff developed in parallel with jungle, often using the same breaks.

Perhaps the most notable examples are from Soul II Soul and Wild Bunch who came from a sound system background. What I’m keen to dig out is those striped down bass heavy tracks with sweet vocals. (Of course there was US stuff played as well so I guess some of those will be included too)

I was proper skint at the time so didn't buy much music so I can only go on memory about what was around.

For example, this by Hard Rock Soul Movement.

not sure if this is the one by hard soul movement that @Bang Diddley meant for the one to kick the whole thread off? big tune nevertheless.

 

william_kent

Well-known member

Broadway Sound - Gooch Close, Moss Side 1993

Hopefully back on track with the Sound System Soul - although they do get all "Big Up All Junglist Crew" about 30 minutes in
 
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