A fantastic little record – some of the earliest funk work we've ever
heard from the legendary Japanese trumpeter Terumasa Hino – featured
here on two tracks for the soundtrack of Snake Hip! First up is "On The
Corner" – a tune that's got lots of heavy electric piano in the rhythms
– while Hino really soars out with a soulful solo that's some of his
most hard-hitting work of the 60s – especially when he riffs out over
these heavy drums!
Very groovy work from the legendary Janko Nilovic – a set that's every
bit as funky as some of his other records, but one that has a slightly
different twist as well! The "chorus" in the title is appropriate – as
there's a flurry of wordless vocals in the mix of this one – a group who
draw from some surprisingly soulful currents to appear on some of the
album's best tracks with a style that's more groovy soul ensemble than
other uses of chorus styles at the time! Given the mod styles of the
tunes, the whole thing almost feels like some lost funky Galt MacDermot
stage production – especially as the lead female singer in the group has
an especially great range, and might even be a better-known soul singer
working without any credit on the date. Janko's blend of keyboards,
basslines, and other instrumentation is wonderfu!By Dusty groove.
A producer called Alfa Mist. Alfa Mist makes brilliant, multilayered hip hop and instrumentals – often featuring some of the best of the UK’s
vocal and MC talent (previous album’s featured Tom Misch and Lester
Duval). His latest album release is ‘Antiphon’; a beautiful album of
creatively executed hip hop beats with a real jazz and soul sensibility.
‘Antiphon’ has been based around a conversation Alfa Mist had with
his brothers – and although undeniably influenced throughout by hip hop,
the melancholy notes that come through on each track make it a more
complex and moving beast than your usual head-nod hip hop LP. My
personal favourite tracks are ‘Breathe’ featuring the eerie vocals from
Kaya Thomas-Dyke and ‘Errors’ a track that epitomises Alfa’s mastery of
chilled out jazz and is soul soothing and sonically vibrant in equal
measure. By Mahogany
The Square Set was a 1960s rock band from Cape Town South Africa, known for their songs Silence is Golden (SA number 1 Hit (1967)) "Carol Corina" (SA number 10 hit (1968)), and "That's What I Want" (international number 1 hit in Brazil, Argentina, and Portugal (1971-1972)).
The band formed in March 1966 and was called Neville Whitmill and the
Humans. Founder members Nol, Neville, Derek and Keith rehearsed daily
for 6 months composing new songs and covers before contracting their
first professional gig at the Clifton Hotel.
Nol Klinkhamer hailed from the Conservetoire of Music in Holland
having a degree in Jazz played piano, organ and the vibraphone. Neville
Whitmill a Soul singer from Cape Town had influences from Buddy Holly,
Ray Charles, Ottis Redding, Marvin Gaye. Derek Marks from Cape Town
enjoyed rock bass playing with influences from bands like The Beatles,
Small faces, Dave Clark 5 and Keith Moffat from Cape Town also enjoy
playing Rock music. During the rehearsal stage they landed a gig at the
"Stables nite Club" in Church Street Cape Town which gave them a venue
to hone and perfect their craft. The venue was usually packed to
capacity to hear the band. At this time the band decided to record their
music and in August 1966 met Ian Martin (recording engineer) and
Lindsay du Plessis (owner) of A.V.S studios Bree Street CT. It was at
this time that a name change was much needed. During a studio break the
four got together to thrash out names and it was Nol Klinhamer who
suggested "The Square Set".
The band combined soul vocals and jazz organ (with the Hammond organ
growing in popularity at the time) with rock bass and drums. The Hammond
sound can be heard on most of The Square Set songs.
The previously unreleased 'Silence Is Golden' had a makeover with
Graham Beggs at the helm and was released on Gallos Continental label in
or about March 1967. It reached number 1 on the Springbok radio charts
around July 1967.This led to the release of the bands first full album, 'Silence Is Golden'.By Wikipedia
'That's What I Want', a song first recorded by UK group The
Marauders in 1963, was also recorded by by The Ronnie Singer Sound, a
Cape Town band Marks had previously worked with. The latter version was
given to The Square Set to record. The song was changed to accommodate
the lineup and added to the 'Silence Is Golden' album. This song was
later released in South America on the Decca label and rose to number 1
in Brazil, Argentina 1971 and number 1 in Portugal in 1972.
