7"

Weirdo and naked electronic funk with the bewitching voice of a mermaid that will provoke the misadventures of an argonaut sucked into the deep sea depths. A West Hill Studio production.

1979 Linda Williams gold from the Arista archives gets a much welcomed official, remastered reissue.With an intro that does exactly as its title suggests, ‘Elevate Our Minds’ became a huge rare groove record in the mid to late ‘80s. Produced by the late, great Richard Evans who worked with the very best in the business, from Gene Chandler and Marlena Shaw, to Ramsey Lewis and Ahmad Jamal, it’s supremely arranged, blending a Bossa Nova beat and trumpet trills with Linda’s distinctly New York authenticity that comes through in the vocals. Like a trip to the blissful beaches of Rio whilst bringing a touch of the New York disco glam along for the ride. Exotic yet familiar, all in the same breath.On the flip, ‘City Living’, a straight up New York disco killer - oozing with funk, dripping in brass blasts, off beat hats and spruced up synths, it’s a primetime ode to the hustle and bustle of the city. Williams’ glorious tones, assisted by a majestic troupe of backing singers, glisten alongside the classy drumming and polished bass badness that lays behind it.

For the first time EVER on 7" single come two of Don Blackman’s most classic tracks from the 1982 album 'Don Blackman' for GRP. multi-keyboard wizard Blackman played with the biggest names in fusion music including Lenny White & 'Twenny-nine'. As a leader and featured recording artist Don's keyboard, vocal and composing talents all came to shine on the debut LP from which these two songs are taken. Don has toured the world with his band and 'The Marcus Miller Band', 'The World Saxophone Quartet', with jazz and bassist Tuero Nakamura.. His work on the acoustic piano and other keyboards was recorded on Mary J. Blidge's, 'Feel Like A Natural Woman' and Janet Jackson's 'That's The Way Love Goes'

Our final physical release of 2018 at First Word comes courtesy of Souleance, aka the DJ producer duo consisting of Soulist and Fulgeance, with a double A sided single, and a glimpse into one of our forthcoming 2019 releases, ‘French Cassette’ which follows on from Souleance’s acclaimed ‘La Beat Tape’ release from 2013, and again delves into crates of samples with a distinct French flavour.‘François’ is a track dedicated to the one and only François de Roubaix, legendary film score composer, jazz aficionado and one of the duo’s biggest French influences. A delectable slice of 100 bpm instrumental boom bap, built around a seriously infectious jazz-funk groove, and chopped-up vocals.‘Sète’ heads to the south of France, to the beautiful Mediterranean city where Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Festival takes place. A region that the duo have had love and appreciation of, for many years. This one touches up the tempo a little, with some sun-glazed boogie riding beneath ethereal vocals, samples and sizzling synths.With a decades worth of collaboration between them, and persistent party rocking across Europe, Souleance continue to create tried & tested nuggets of magic for the dancefloor. This double-sided 7” is no exception, and should give you an idea of what to expect from the full beat tape next year. Meanwhile, here’s another essential one for the record bags.

Voici la deuxième sortie de “Pura Vida sounds”, le nouveau label au sein de Heavenly Sweetness. Guts en assure la direction artistique et sortira régulièrement des artistes qu’il a découvert, produit ou des nouvelles compilations.“Change” (PVS004)K.O.G pour Kweku Of Ghan, iZem pour In Ze Early Morning.La rencontre entre le chanteur ghanéen et le beamaker français n’est pas une histoire d’acronymes mais plutôt celle d’une collaboration fructueuse entre deux expatriés qui, depuis leurs nouvelles bases, captent mieux les vibrations alentours.Chanteur et multi-instrumentiste, K.O.G se dédouble à chaque fois qu’une nouvelle ambition musicale le nécessite. K.O.G. and The Zongo Brigade, K.O.G and The Allstar Revolution, Onipa Project, il opère aussi en solo, irriguant funk, dancehall, reggae, jungle ou house de sa furieuse sève afro qui désormais érupte depuis Sheffield.Parti guitare en bandoulière en Espagne, c’est au Brésil puis en Argentine que iZEM collaborera à de nombreux projets avant d’aller se poser à Dublin, derrière deux platines et une mixette, pour finalement prendre la direction de Lisbonne. Un premier album, Hafa, paru chez Soundway Records mais surtout une connexion permanente avec les musiques lusophones émises depuis l’amérique du Sud et l’Afrique.We are happy to continue the adventure with our in-house label, *Pura Vida Sounds.*Our very own *Guts* is the art director of this new imprint.*"Change*" is the second release of Pura Vida Sounds (PVS004)K.O.G - Kweku Of Ghan, iZem - In Ze Early Morning. The meeting between the Ghanaian singer and the Moroccan/French beatmaker is not a story of acronyms, but rather a fruitful collaboration between two expats, better to capture the surrounding vibrations.Singer and multi-instrumentalist, born in Accra (Ghana), résident in Sheffield (UK), K.O.G is constantly innovating. Leader of hs own monstrous afro funk band K.O.G. and The Zongo Brigade(see them at Transmusicales 2018 and album on Heavenly Sweetness March 2019), lead vocalist for Onipa, he is a creative force, relentlessly touring and collaborating across a range of styles, from afro funk to house, dancehall and reggae to jungle, with forthcoming releases with Afriquoi (UK), Umoja (Netherlands), Jus Now (Trinidad/UK), Congo Natty (UK/Jamaica) and more.Guitar-schooled in Spain, it is in Brazil and Argentina that iZEM collaborated on many projects before landing in Dublin, behind two turntables and a mixer, finally ending up in Lisbon. A first album, released by Soundway Records but above all a permanent connection with Portuguese-speaking music from South America and Africa.