Was “Keep Reachin’ Up” by Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators one of the great word-of mouth successes of 2006? Haven’t got a clue. But it says that here. The ‘word’ never slipped out of my mouth, I know that. Lilly Allen, Arctic Monkeys and Youtube surely had more ears burning. Having said that I do recall something rolling off my tongue to the effect that lead-off single, ‘If This Ain’t Love’ (Don’t Know What Is) – remixed here by Mr Scruff – was a ‘wriggly, rubbery lovefest’.
So. The sound of Finnish funk’, eh? So that’s what it sounds like. Sort of question that keeps folks awake at night, ain’t it? Well not anymore. If ‘Keep Reachin’ Up’ is anything to go by, Finnish funk is a tasty combination of catchy Motown brass parps and hooks, funky drumming and soulfully slack intentions; the fiery garbage-can rolls and clatter of the album’s title track boogaloo-ing and camel-walking across the speakers like some free-range funky chicken.
Hammond-funk, Electronica, Dub-step, House, Reggae and Jazz – it’s all in there shaken-up and re-modelled by a range of eager artists that include Breakin Bread’s DJ Rob Life, Freestyle’s Lack of Afro, Aaron Jerome, Bugz in the Attic’s Afronaut, Blackbeard and Ghost.
Spicy.