Released through Southern Fried records on 28th June, A Man Called Adam’s eagerly awaited retrospective ‘All My Favourite’ through sees eight new tracks deliciously interwoven with a dozen or so tracks from the old memory cards. Why no formal new release? Who knows? Those of cynical enough might suggest that Sally and Steve just didn’t have enough material to warrant it. Those of us with kinder hearts may just be satisfied in having the best of both worlds – old and new – bound together in one breezy and bountiful roll-up of fun. New song ‘Earthsings’ is certainly no slouch and single ‘Love Forgotten’ is as deep as it is tie-dyed; the lyrics having their roots in the Song of Solomon. Don’t know what that is? It’s from the bible and the track draws inspiration from the Queen of Sheba’s love song to Solomon; a song that was premiered, incidentally, at the wedding of a friend of the duo. But that’s another story…
As a way of consolidating their sometimes ‘loose’ or at the very least ‘flexible’ relationship with the dance community, 1993 saw the duo found the highly acclaimed Other label where they release the nu-disco classic, Que Tal America on Chicago’s well oiled Prescription records.
Never heard of ‘A Man Called Adam’? Well here’s a potted history. It’s the beginning of the nineties and the dawn of a blossoming club-culture, Sally Rodgers and Steve Jones enrol on the legendary Ibiza trip of 1990 with Danny Rampling and Andrew Weatherall. A return to the UK is followed by a spate of occasionally inspired chill-house recordings including ‘Techno Powers’, the heavenly ‘Easter Song’, ‘People Rule’; the chart bound ‘Barefoot In The Head’ and first album, ‘The Apple.’ The band go on to define the sunset sounds of Café Del Mar and Mambo with the ‘Duende’ album – with tracks like ‘Easter Song’ and ‘Estelle’ two of the most compiled chill out tracks around today. Think of it all as a more club conscious and style-conscious take on the woozy and feathery brazilia of Bebel Gilberto with a couple of extra housey beats stitched into the fabric; uptempo downtempo, if you prefer it.
And all that is pretty much what you have here: a sunset in a bottle – the point at which one day ends and another day begins – gift wrapped in strobe lights and thunderstorms.