Because there’s more to current Soul than Erykah Badu here’s some dope new Soul releases.

Bennson – Whatever It Is
Haven’t heard the entire album yet but like the originals that are on the 2 EP’s already out. Released on our next guest’s label. Mad Mats’ Raw Fusion that is. Some proper boogie. And I like Boogie. Really love the “can’t get enough” cut.

Vula – If You Want It EP
With vocal duties for Basement Jaxx and Ty on her curriculum maybe already in your collection. “Turn the clock back” and Benji B favourite “Crash da party” are the ones that do it for me. Nice singing, dope instrumentals.

Ron Trent Presents JMB – Body Rock / What Is Love
House legend going Soul / Hiphop. And what else can you expect than utter brilliance. With Phenom and Yaw on vocals. Check out that last one’s solo work too. Genius. On the always banging Jazzy Sport label.

Jimmy Abney – Return To Forever
For the “Come On Go With Me” alone this is worth buying. But the rest of the release is strong too. As you might expect from Osunlade’s Yoruba label.

Told you about the new Cro-Magnon album a couple of posts ago. Well, there’s more coming from them. 2 EP’s with covers from Moodyman, the Blackbyrds, Roy Ayers, … and even Gloria Gaynor. More proof of the fact we need them over for a live gig urgently. So, all Belgian clubs, please quit plugging crap rock, lame nu disco or other soulless bagger and phone those Jazzy Sport cats immediately.

Check and pre-order them here.

A couple of months ago the first step of this was taken but afterwards I feared it died silently. Happy to see it’s still alive and the main man behind it is taking the next step in the right direction. “Take A Step In The Right Direction” is an agenda with all the interesting Soulful events in this country. Belgium that is. With our little festival as the first. Cool. Big it up everywhere and anytime you can.

Still willing to put some sweat into it, Thierry.

This week we open with some reggae. A side of Onda Sonora we haven’t given some shine on our radio show before. We play the new Ron Trent project called JMB. We announce our guests of next week, Brussels based group Made In Japan, by playing their first release. Expect lots of 80’s Disco / Boogie, fresh reissues as well as some originals. And some deep House beats from Omar S, Dennis Ferrer and FSTR. Enjoy

Big Youth - Cassava Rock (Rockers)
Jacob Miller - Baby I love you (Yard Music)
Ron Trent Presents JMB - What is love (Jazzy Sport)
Made in Japan - Babyspace (City Wurl)
J88 - The Look of Love / Jay Dee Remix (Superrappin’)
Ronnie Hudson & the Street People - West Coast Poplock (Street People)
Leonard Seeley’s Heritage - Feel it (Zoo York)
Checker Kabb - By My Side (People’s Potential UnLtd)
Rainy Davis - Sweetheart (Supertronic)
People’s Choice - Boogie All Over The World / Onda Sonora Edit (CDR)
The Reddings - Hand Dance (Believe in a Dream)
Tako - My Kind Of Woman (Ambassadors Reception)
Son of Raw - A Black Man in Space / Sax Mix (Objektivity)
Omar S - The Further You Look, The Less You Will See (FXHE)
F.S.T.R. - You Gave Me Love (Unrestricted Access)

For everybody who’s not as crazy as us to buy every single good piece of music from the moment it’s available (or stalking labels and artists to get them even before that) this is a must buy. “Bullion – Get Familiar”, “Joey Negro and the Sunburst Band – Turn It Out”, “Katalyst featuring Steve Spacek – How Bout Us” and “DJ Day – A Place to Go” have been out for a while now but might have slipped under your radar. Although we tried to avoid that by bigging them up in blog posts, play lists or by simply playing them in our sets. “Stacy Epps – Floatin” is just out on her The Awaking album (check that one out, not bad at all) and “Yaw – Where Would You Be” has been for grabs on his Myspace for a while but otherwise this is the first chance to acquire it the proper way. And that song alone makes the CD worth buying. Just like “Emative featuring Ahu – Turn Your Lights On” which isn’t yet available otherwise.

Anyway, check it out.

Managed to go to the Mambo Kings party on Friday. Although I really try to be organised, more often than not, I get things mixed up completely. With as lovely result, this time, that I ended up in Antwerp. Café Capital is a nice venue (sound could be better but that’s something I think of every single Belgian club). Loved the vibe there with lots of lovely and sexy people on the dance floor. I will be back soon.

The party itself was a lot of fun. Had a blast. Big up to all the DJ’s.

And, since last weekend, I’ve got a fancy espresso machine. I need some more practice to fix a decent coffee but once that’s all right I’ll be ready for long nights of making edits. I’ll play a new one of those tomorrow in our radio show, by the way.

Can’t go myself, which I feel very bad about, but this one looks like a banger. Not because of the big names on the flyer but because of those written smallest. Thierry Steady Go!, Souligan and Freddy Merckx (aka Phil Lacoste). Hope they have a well stocked bar. Haha.

Omar S – The Further You Look, the Less You See (FXHE)
Ron Trent Presents JMB – What Is Love (Jazzy Sport)
Cro-Magnon – Great Triangle LP (Jazzy Sport)
Phlash and Friends – Runnin’ / Club Mix (Archive)
Kuniyuki – All These Things / Theo Parrish Mixes (Mule Musiq)
Unknown – Beyond Jupiter (Moxie)
Tako – My Kind Of Woman (Ambassador’s Reception)
Raphael Saadiq feat. Stevie Wonder – Like It (Columbia)
Morgan Zarate feat. Eska & Ghostface – Sticks & Stones (CDR)
Elzhi feat Royce the 5’9” – Motown 25 (Fat Beats)
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – Keep On Looking / Kenny Dope Remix (Soulplex)
Home Run – Sean Penn (CDR)
Karen Carpenter – It’s Really You / Cole’s Funk Down Mix (House Arrest)
Wagon Cookin – En El Barrio / Yoruba Soul Remix (Appetizers)
Jimmy Abney – Come Go With Me (Yoruba)

Gilles Peterson, Karizma, DJ Premier, Dixon, ?uestlove, Rick Wilhite, Kon & Amir, Norman Jay, Jazzanova, Ashley Beedle, King Britt, Simbad, Greg Wilson, Benji B and the classics like Kev Beadle, Snowboy, Terry Jones & Andy Davies. These are some, my favourites, of the DJ’s playing at the next Southport Weekender. They really outdid themselves this time, if you ask me. Couldn’t have done it better.

Some of our re-edits are added to the play list of “Fresh From The Studio” on Laid Back’s Radionomy Web Radio station. Check it out here. The program plays every day on different hours. Check it regularly. And expect to hear more from us on there soon.

If you love your occasional portion of Disco Not Disco then the new Cro-Magnon album on Jazzy Sport will be right up your alley. For the fans of UFO who like it jazzy. Hope they’ll be over for some live gigs soon.

This week we give away 2 Onda Sonora promo packages. Listen to the show to know what you need to do to win them. We play some fresh Hiphop, something from the new Cro-Magnon album, a killer edit, a little Disco triplet and some banging House. We end with the first Underground Resistance release ever. Enjoy. Tonight from 22h on FM Brussel, 98.8 FM.

Listen (again) here.

Elzhi feat. Royce the 5′9” - Motown 25 (Fat Beats)
IG Culture - This Love (Freedom School)
Morgan Zarate feat. Eska & Ghostface - Sticks and Stones (CDR)
Cro-Magnon - Eclipse (Jazzy Sport)
The Blackbyrds - Do it, Fluid (Fantasy)
Alex Wilson - Ain’t Nobody / The Revenge Edit (OOFT)
Pleasure - Sending my love (RCA)
Golden Flamingo Orchestra - The Guardian Angel is watching Over Us (Golden Flamingo)
Mike Anthony - Why Can’t We Live Together (Sunnyview)
Phlash and Friends - Running / Club Mix (Archive)
Roland Appel - Dark Soldier (Sonar Kollektiv)
Deetron feat. Justin Chapman - Let’s Get Over It (Music Man)
Underground Resistance ft. Yolanda - UR 001 (Underground Resistance)

What a mad weekend. Started out in Leuven with a nice DJ-gig at the Apero bar. Maybe no dancing on the tables but really enjoyed it. Nice bar with a decent sound and good looking women. What do you want more ? Big up to Tristan and Igor for fixing this. A shame we couldn’t stay longer.

Big up to Brekbit too for the ace birthday party. Had a blast. Big up to the Belgian Olympic Football team for kick starting my Saturday in great style. Had a hilarious afternoon. After some top Italian food at Café Bota I enjoyed the Strictly Niceness party there. Good sets by all the original DJ’s but I must say I always hope they’ll dig a little deeper in their, no doubt, superb collections. On the other hand, I always forget not everybody is in it as deep as I am. And people still need to recognise the music before they’ll start dancing. A fact I that puzzles me a bit, I must say.

The night ended on a bad tip. If I find the fool who stole my jacket it won’t be his best day. Not even Usain Bolt will be fast enough to avoid my fury. Really loved that piece of clothing.

We’ve been big Phil Asher fans from even before the early Onda Sonora days. The man has been producing quality gems for ages now. His take, together with Ashley Beedle as Los Jugaderos, on Dazzle from way back in ’96 is still big in my box. As is his Focus album on Versatile, his countless Restless Soul productions and remixes, the Phoojun or MusicLoveLife 12’s, etcetera. To me he’s on the same level or even a higher one as Masters at Work.

The Phlash and Friends project that’ll result in an album on the Italian Archive label has produced up until now some solid dance floor gems. The “Revolution = Solution” track is a banger. Played the second EP a little less although it’s still top quality. The third one, out very soon, will be in my / our box for a long time to come. The “Exaltation” track is mesmerising deepness that convinces me House needs more violin solo’s. We played that last radio show. The “Running” track is vocal House the way I love it. I’ll definitely see myself throwing my hands in the air on that one early November in Southport. Big one.

If all goes well he’ll be our guest at one of the following GO BANG! parties. He’s an ace DJ as we’ve experienced quite a lot last couple of years. House or Freestyle, he’s one of the DJ’s that fits best our own style.

Track the Phlash and Friends releases down and buy them. Support this great artist and the ace label behind him. Rush Hour is a good place to start that quest.

I seem to keep forgetting the link to where you can listen again to our radio show in the weekly play list posts. This week I even forgot the little introduction. Sorry for that.

Anyway, we played something of the ace third EP of Phlash and Friends which is the best so far. We will play the other tracks in the weeks to come. Really looking forward to the full album. Disco Dalglish made a new edit of a much sampled Disco banger. And we play that. We open with a song by fellow FM Brussel cat and very talented beatmaker LuiGi of the Infinitskills crew. And we prepare you slowly but surely for the Mad Mats experience. Which will take place on our Spectakulo festival September 6th. We will have him in the studio for a chat and playing some tunes.

We’ll have more people into the studio for some words and sounds in the weeks to come. Made In Japan and Home Run will join us soon enough. And we will give away stuff. Keep listening for that.

Anyway. The Link. You can always find that on top of the right column.

I’ve uploaded Disco Dalglish’s latest re-edit on our Myspace. Check it out.

LuiGi – Real Things (CDR)
Spacek – When The Band Begins To Play (Island)
Cole Medina – Love You Inside Out / The Pinches Mix (House Arrest)
Rufus & Chaka – What Am I Missing (MCA)
Bennson – Can’t Get Enough (Raw Fusion)
Dâm-Funk – Burgundy City (Stones Throw)
Fatback Band – The Girl Is Fine (Spring)
Fonda Rae – Heobah (Hey-O-Bah) (Dance Classics)
Lunar Funk - Mr. Penguin Pt. 1 (Polydor)
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Keep on looking / Kenny Dope Remix (Soulplex)
Grey and Hanks – Dancing / Onda Sonora edit (CDR)
Phlash & Friends – Exaltation / Deeper Mix (Archive)
The Todd Terry Project - Back to the beat (Fresh)
Mala - Alicia (White)

Time to big up some local talent. Called Made In Japan but actually a Brussels based trio releasing their first EP on Citywurl. Producers Billy Palmier and Gusto together with singer Vinylic deliver it nicely on this one. Best release so far on this label for me. And not so much because they hired some top remixers, but because the original material is high quality. The reworks by Georgia Anne Muldrow, Mitsu the Beats and Cris Prolific only add that extra flavour which makes this even more a must have release. Pre-order it now at Rush Hour.

With the blog and radio it has become a lot easier to inform you all about the music we play. We always publish our play lists with as much information as we can provide. We don’t really believe in protecting our sources. Because we know with all the effort we put in it we’ll stay ahead of most anyway and because we know that the more people who know our music the easier it gets for us as DJ’s (to push new music). So we share.

We hope most of you actually buy the music you like instead of downloading it the illegal way. We’re not purist in any kind of way. Not music wise (we love it freestyle), not medium wise. We don’t mind CD’s nor digital formats as long as the quality is good enough. And as long as you support the artists by spending some money on their work.

But we still love buying vinyl above anything else. We do spend some money on CD’s or digital downloads if necessary but black plastic is, first and foremost, our preferred medium. With the steady decline of music stores, we get, more and more, questions about where we buy our music. And because we don’t mind to share it’s about time we tell you were we do that.

Simply stated our answer should be; “wherever we see a place that sells it”. And you can take that quite literally. But off course there are shops we visit more often than others and off course we got our favourites. So here they are. We don’t aim for a complete overview. It’s just the ones we know and like. Feel free to share yours. We love to learn.

Brussels
Lost In Music
Plattesteen 3, 1000 Brussels. Shop owned by our good friend Brekbit. Good source for all things soulful from the 70’s on. He’s got some older stuff, some new releases and drum ‘n bass too but the best buys I did there were Disco and Boogie nuggets. Brekbit is unparalleled in Brussels when it comes to knowledge about this music. Absolutely recommended shop.

United Music
Place Fontainas 26, 1000 Brussels. Another shop owned by a friend of ours. A bit more specialised in world beats. With a selection of all other funky genres and some new releases. Prices are always more than fair. Also a required stop on your digging trips.

Doctor Vinyl
Rue de la Grande Ile 1, 1000 Brussels. One for the House heads. Lots of new stuff and if you check the crates a good source for older material. You can find solid stuff if you don’t mind dusting your fingers. The owner comes from the same hometown as we do. Great guy.

Juke Box
Boulevard Anspach 165, 1000 Brussels. For the more hardcore collectors. No new releases but tons of older material. It’s the shop DJ Shadow visits when in Belgium. When I need an album badly I check this shop first. Not so interesting for 12”s. Only minus is that the shop owner supports the wrong football team.

Kozmic Music
Rue du Midi 36, 1000 Bruxelles. Also one for the hardcore collectors. Even more chaotic than Juke Box. But if you have the time and like to go through the crates you can definitely find goodies.

Goupilophone
Boulevard Anspach 101, 1000 Bruxelles. Not the most cosy one. But on the first floor they’ve got a fairly good collection of old House goodies.

Antwerp
Record Collector
Lange Koepoortstraat 70, 2000 Antwerpen. A bit like Juke Box in Brussels. If you need a missing piece in your collection, pay it a visit. And be prepared to pay the price for it. Not the ideal source for 12”s but you can find gems in the one euro bins.

Tune Up
Korte Nieuwstraat 9, 2000 Antwerpen. It’s been a while since I’ve been there but I’ve bought plenty of top stuff there in the past. Friendly owner. Fair prices.

Wally’s Groove World
Lange Nieuwstraat 126, 2000 Antwerpen. Dance Music. New to old. Check their extensive collection online. They’ve got a lot of older House records in stock. Absolute goldmine for that. Friendly service. Fair prices.

Outside of Belgium / Online
Rush Hour
Spuistraat 98, 1012 TZ Amsterdam. My absolute prime source for all new releases. They have almost all relevant new stuff (apart from some soulful House maybe), Cris, Yuri and Antal are super friendly, their services is top notch and they do ace sales every now and then. I order mostly online but I try to visit it a couple of times a year. If such a shop existed in Belgium I would most certainly live inside it. I would be broke too.

12” Records
19 rue de Palestro, 75002 Paris. I fill the soulful House gaps in my collection at this shop. Top shop in general when it comes to all things real House. Friendly service. They have an online service but I got a friend who makes the trip to Paris often and if I can I go with him. Absolutely love the girls in Paris. They’ve got a better sound in their shop than 99% of the clubs have in Belgium. Jerome Barbé style.

Fat City Records
20 Oldham Street, Manchester. In Manchester you’ve got 3 of the best shops you could wish in the same street. A vinyl addicts paradise. Or worst nightmare if you’re broke. Anyway, this one is the best in my opinion. Lots of Hiphop, Funk, Disco and other groovy things. Great service. Never ordered online but they provide that too.

Piccadilly Records
53 Oldham Street, Manchester. On the other side of the street. A bit more rock oriented. Still top shop. Online service.

Vinyl Exchange
18 Oldham Street, Manchester. Same street. 2nd Hand shop with ace Disco and House selection.

Sounds Of The Universe
7 Broadwick Street, Soho, London. Shop of the mighty Soul Jazz record label. New releases on the ground floor, 2nd hand stuff in the basement. Expect the same spectrum of genres as the label. I always make a stop there when I’m in London. Never leave it with empty hands. They got an online service.

Honest Jons
278 Portobello Road, London . Also connected with a label. When you know the label you know what to expect. Online shop too.

Vinyl Junkies
94 Berwick Street, Soho, London. A bit like the London version of 12” Records in Paris. Although I prefer their French counterpart I always pay this shop a visit when I’m around. Known to have some rare soulful House goodies in stock. Online Shop too.

Other
Juno
Online shop with a massive stock. Ideal to pick up the goodies you missed elsewhere. Good service.

HHV
German online Hiphop shop with a massive stock and some good selections in related genres. Ideal the fill the gaps in the collection.

Nuloop
French Online shop. With a very good choice of labels. For when I haven’t found it at my usual sellers.

Like said before this is in no way a definite list. Just the shops I frequent. And because I still love the physical act of digging in the crates you’ll notice most of them are real shops you can visit rather than strictly online ones. Although a lot of them have an online service.

Next Thursday.Last time we played in Leuven at the Apero it was a blast. It always is when Jonni Gratts and Igwaar are around. The day after most people have the day off so no reason not to join us.

There’s definitely a Motown revival going on. We played some of those tracks in our last couple of shows. Here they are with some more info:

PPP – On A Cloud (Ubiquity)

First single of the new album by the Saadiq / Wajeed production outfit formerly known as Platinum Pied Pipers. With Karma Stewart on vocals. Partly from the Motor City and with a producer that’s currently very high on the old school Detroit sound (see below). B-side is more on a Undisputed Truth / psychedelic Temptations tip. With Coultrain (which we bigged up before on this blog) on vocals. Nice one and sounding promising for the full that’ll be released later. Check’em live early October in Ghent.

Solange – I Decided (Interscope)

Beyonce’s sister but actually we shouldn’t mention that too often. It doesn’t do justice to her own qualities. Because her new single is dope. Not sure about the rest of her album but this one is gold. Neptunes production with a King Britt remix that sounds quite nice.

Oh, and there’s a cheeky song of her floating around on the net for free. Search it.

Raphael Saadiq – The Way I See It (Columbia)

The one I’m most anxious about. Absolutely loved his first album and this one promises to be at least as good as that one. What I’ve heard of it is very good. The track with Stevie Wonder being top class. We need more Stevie by the way. Will be out in September.

Oh, and don’t forget to keep diggin’ into the original Motown output, off course.

We’ve played that ace Karen Carpenter remix by Cole Medina on our Radio show last week. There’s a super dope rework of a Bee Gees track (yep those bearded fools who gave Disco a bad name) floating around on the web too which we shall play whenever it fits (and we don’t forget like this week). Both are for grabs on the Myspace of Cole Medina’s label House Arrest. Check it out.

And buy it if you come across vinyl releases. If I find shops where you can buy it I’ll surely let y’all know.

Disco Dalglish back in the studio after a trip to the States. With lots of goodies and stories you’ll hear on the show. More Motown (revival) music. We love it. More from Brussels’ Home Run. And some new music from Detroit. Deep, raw banging House. Check it out on the FM Brussel listen again function.

Guilty Simpson - The American Dream (Stones Throw)
Samiyam - Moonshoes (Hyperdub)
Kissey Asplund - Move Me (Record Breakin)
Raphael Saadiq feat. Stevie Wonder - Like It (Columbia)
The Spinners - It’s a Shame (Motown)
Matthew L Cassell - Heaven (BBE)
Ray Bryant - Up Above The Rock (Cadet)
IG Culture - Girl U Need A Change Of Mind (Freedom School)
Big Wolfer - Why Do You Do Me (Constellation)
The Whatnauts - Help Is On The Way / Onda sonora edit (CDR)
Home Run - The Dreamers / Alternate take (CDR)
The Godson - City Bar Reopen “Live” Dancing (Still Music)
Mike “Agent X” Clark feat. Kym Wright - You Know How I Feel (CDR)
K Joy - Like This (DJ International)
Jona - Secret47 (Planet E)

We have added a date to our very calm summer schedule. Thursday 14/8 we’ll play at Apero, a nice bar you find on the Oude Markt in Leuven. We played there last year and that was a blast. Little and cosy but with a dancing crowd. We’ll share the decks with Moodclub’s Jonni Gratts and Igwaar. Always fun.

If you think “damn, a Thursday”, keep in mind that the day after is a bank holiday. No reason not to come.

Big up to Thierry and all involved with the Brussels Soul weekender. Had a blast. Superb music, lots of nice people and booze galore. Talked to a lot of people and although I’m pretty sure a lot of what I’ve said was plain nonsense I had a lot of fun. Even went back on Sunday. Not all that well due to partying a tad too hard the day before. But enjoyed the music sitting down. We need more of this.

And great that Disco Dalglish is back from the States. With a crazy amount of records (which should result in new Podcasts) and lots of stories and experiences. Which means we’re ready to take it up a notch Onda Sonora wise. We’ve received a lot of good news and promising propositions, plus some of our plans are slowly coming together. Once things get confirmed or are ready to share with the world you’ll read about them here.

Hectic week ahead. Hope to finish some more edits. Maybe even an mix. And hope to finish rearranging my collection.