Unfold

Keeping DJs and dancers on their toes and in their element with a steady flow of coveted funk 7”s, and bringing to light a diverse array of world class talent from Spanky Wilson and The Quantic Soul Orchestra to The Bamboos, Hot 8 Brass Band, Alice Russell and more, in its illustrious ten year history Tru Thoughts has served up some of the most acclaimed, memorable and downright incendiary funk releases of our era.

So - thus surrounded by incredible music - on setting out to compile ‘Tru Thoughts Funk’, A&R Robert Luis was faced with a serious case of kid-in-a-candy-store syndrome; after all, how would you distil the dazzling collective back catalogue of The Quantic Soul Orchestra, The Bamboos, Alice Russell, TM Juke, Natural Self, Nostalgia 77 et al into just one CD’s worth of tunes? It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it, and the end result is this essential, super heavyweight compilation showcasing a consistently sky-high level of quality and, perhaps surprisingly for a genre-based compilation, a fresh, eclectic platter of varied aesthetics and international flavours.

From the soulful powerhouse vocals of the UK’s very own Alice Russell and US legend Spanky Wilson to Kylie Auldist and the horn-led, straight down the line dancefloor punch of The Bamboos, through Saravah Soul channelling ’60s Brazil via Noughties East London; the wry, jaunty, almost indie-pop shuffle of The Limp Twins; fast-rising Brighton producer Lack of Afro’s boisterous wah wah treatment of New Orleans’ Hot 8 Brass Band, and of course, Quantic’s trailblazing fusion of funk and soul with Colombian and Caribbean rhythms -  you’ll find all this and more nestling happily under ‘funk’ in the Tru Thoughts lexicon.

To add to the classic cuts, Luis has found room for some fine exclusive material as well, including a first CD release for Nostalgia 77’s “Thing”; and two brand new tracks, hot off the press and signed exclusively for this project, from Beta Hector, the solo side project of Simon Hill from adored UK funk band Baby Charles. “Payback” and “Creepin’”, featuring Baby Charles colleague Dionne Charles on guest vox, see multi-instrumentalist Hill putting his own live recordings through an experimental electronic mill, to create an unusual, rough edged, synth-infused brand of raw funk.

‘Tru Thoughts Funk’ comes out on the Unfold imprint, following the hugely successful ‘Tru Thoughts Hip Hop’ and ‘Tru Thoughts Covers’ CDs into the label’s ongoing series of genre-based and themed compilation releases.

Bag the album from iTunes or the Etch Shop.

In the words of Benedic Lamdin: “Skeletons is a made up band.  I kid you not - it doesn’t exist. These musicians never stood in the studio together, they just passed through my house or left some scraps of sound behind after sessions we were working on…  “Some of the music here started life as commissions for a library music company, pastiches and forgeries paid for by the current vogue for a certain style of African jazz. Once I’d done a few though I couldn’t stop, it was my default preoccupation, something for me once I’d finished working on other people’s albums.  It was relaxation, something that didn’t matter whether it worked or not. The whole LP was made like that, done in the time between recording jobs.

“To me the whole thing has been a self indulgent forgery, an act of mindless fun. If it sounds good then it’s because I just enjoyed the music and enjoyed myself.”

Impossible Ark recognises that music is many things to many people, and believes in celebrating that diversity and delivering World class artists, concepts, performance and production to your turntable, CD player or iPod with every release. The label is the brainchild of producer Ben Lamdin (aka Nostalgia 77) and bassist Riaan Vosloo, whose highly successful collaborative work on Tru Thoughts has produced six popular albums - from the live recordings of the Nostalgia 77 Octet to studio-based explorations on an experimental jazz and funk tip - and most recently saw them joining forces with the legendary Keith and Julie Tippett for the uniquely brilliant and highly acclaimed ‘Sessions’ LP.

Lamdin explains the motivation to found the label, which was borne of the vibrant and eclectic London jazz scene: “When I started the Nostalgia Octet I met so many great musicians but I was surprised that there wasn’t really a recording culture. In that respect Impossible Ark was a response to a need. It’s about focusing musicians’ minds on creative statements, but above all it’s about making some classic modern records.”

And on this stunning compilation you will find the blue-eyed country soul of Jeb Loy Nichols sitting harmoniously alongside Lamdin’s hotly anticipated new Afro-funk project, the Skeleton; the other-worldly sounds of the Rhythmatic Orchestra rubbing shoulders with the highly regarded experimentalism of Examples Of Twelves; and many more treasures besides.

The Guardian - “Makes the Cinematic Orchestra Sound like dabblers”
Gilles Peterson - “When it comes to jazz of a sure blessed quality it doesn’t get much tighter than the work of Impossible Ark”
Bobbito Garcia - “I got the African Mailman 12”, love every single song on both sides [it’s] on my voicemail today”
Andy (Mr) Scruff - “Quality, life affirming up tempo dancefloor jazz, soulful & heavy the way it should be…. blows my mind every time I hear it.”