Soul Shake - Angela Strehli Band

Advantages: Although older, refreshing compared to recent releases
Disadvantages: They don't make'em like this anymore!!

...This was by far my favourite album for well over three years. It was the one i listened to when waking up, breaking up, and in need of shaking up! There's nothing quite like sitting on the roof shouting "I want to be in a band when I get to Heaven!! Anyone can play guitar!!" to blow the cobwebs away. Later releases such as The Bends are far more reflective, soulful and haunting, but this one is self aware, shows layers of regret one really only has when under thirty, and a sense of fighting expressed more through the music than the lyrics. It remains on my top ten playlist and is still my favourite Radiohead album. Go out and but it, get it on amazon, download it or whatever. If you already a fan, this album will put the whole thing in perspective!!!... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Expanded version of the vinyl release
Disadvantages: Mixed bag

...and The Truth). The Prisoners chip in with Don't Burst My Bubble, which hints at the direction keyboard player James Taylor would later take with his own quartet. Then we are treated to a slice of maximum R&B as Fast Eddie give us My Babe. Two further tracks by this band, a huge draw around the clubs of East London and Essex, appear on the album. Shake A Tail Feather could make the dead dance, whilst I Don't Need No Doctor is a great rendition of the Ray Charles classic. Forgive me if I am a little biased - I sang in a band with the bass player and drummer after Fast Eddie split!! Long Tall Shorty also appear a number of times. Still fronted by Tony Perfect, LTS can be seen regularly playing the clubs and pubs of East London. If soul is your thing, then The Alljacks give you it in bags. Guilty is one of the best British soul songs never... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: soulful
Disadvantages: sound quality

...For those tired of today's mainstream music scene, which seems to combine the worst of both worlds with its mix of the pointlessly offensive and the blandly sanitized, James Brown's Sex Machine is a rousing shot of pure energy, a reminder that music can have the ability to move its listeners in more ways than one. Sex Machine is a supreme distillation of decades worth of black music, compressing rock, soul, and R&B into a lean, frighteningly efficient sound that's had hips shaking since its release. Regardless of your age, race, or any other irrelevant superficial characteristic, this hour-plus-long live recording's raw, sweaty power effortlessly comes accross in every dizzyingly nimble horn inflection, every razor-sharp guitar line, and every intricate polyrhythm. And of course, towering over it all is the singular presence of James... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful