Nu Colours - Desire - (1996)

Polydor/Wildcard, LC0309

320 Re-up! Originally posted 06/04/2009, and yet another one that's incorrectly attributed to Mick. Sort it out, Blogspot!

Well, Nu Colours have been well and truly covered on The Soul Vendor more than once. Mick's already put up Power, and only the other day I put up What In The World/Greater Love; Greater Love being one of my all-time favourite songs.

So that gets me out of having to write anything about the UK's premier gospel outfit.

Onto this track, then.

It's a decent track, second only to Greater Love in their repertoire (in my humble opinion)... but there was only one reason why I bought this CD single, and that was the excellent Linslee's Extended Mix - re-listening now it still stands out as much the best version.

The Ethnic Boyz version isn't bad, but it lacks the power-funk of Linslee's mix. The house mixes are... not my cup of tea. They might be yours? The Gospel Truth According to Mindspell mix is pretty nice, and takes the tune back to a live, stripped-down, purely gospel vibe - it's probably the best mix after Linslee's.

Peace and luvizm,

Kymba :)

Tracklist

1. Desire (7")
2. Desire (Ethnic Boyz Main Mix)
3. Desire (Linslee Extended Mix)
4. Desire (Full Chorus London)
5. Desire (Mindspell Classic Club Experience)
6. Desire (The Gospel Truth According To Mindspell)

Download : NC-D.7z | File size: 71.4 MB

Mica Paris - One - (1995)

Cooltempo Records, CDCOOL304

Originally posted in 2009 by me. Now re-upped in 320. This is another of those odd ones that is now being attributed to Mickey. Really weird, that. - Kymba

Following on from Mickey's The Chimes post, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" which is a U2 cover version par excellence, I thought I'd do the same. We're all about the continuity here!

So take one pretentious rock/pop star's arguably finest moment. Get someone hugely talented, vocally, in to re-sing it and voila - instant magic! (Ah... but it was 'a good song' and Mica is probably the only singer who could've truly improved it? Mickey)

Yup, you're right, Mick. I'll take my slap on the wrists there - it is a classic song with truly beautiful lyrics, and I'm letting my dislike for Bono & Co colour my words, but listening to Mica Paris sing it is like hearing it the way it should be rather than just a mere cover.

Mica sings with effortless grace, and real passion. Her smokey vocals - I almost melt when she ups the emotion with the line "...did I disappoint you..." - over the slick, non intrusive beats, really are a match made in heaven. Having said that, Mica could ride over a Gun N Roses beat and make it sound wicked.

There's a suite of mixes, and I'll hazard a semi-educated guess and say that our Mickey would go for the lovely Perfecto mixes, but, for me, the Ethnic Boyz mix is the best (points awarded if you can tell me what song is sampled for the main loop), closely followed by the Original Mix. 

That's not to say the others are bad at all, though!

Tracklist

1. One (Perfecto 7" Edit)
2. One (Original Mix)
3. One (Perfecto Mix)
4. One (Ethnic Boyz Mix)
5. One (Perfecto Dub)

Download: MP-O.7z | Filesize: 58.9MB

Nu Colours - What In The World / Greater Love - (1993)

Polydor/Wildcard, CARDD 4

Another 320kbps re-up!

I'm going to start this off with a complaint: WHAT THE HELL WERE POLYDOR/WILDCARD THINKING MAKING GREATER LOVE A B-SIDE????!?!?!?

It's got classic stamped all over it, and, if only it had been supported and marketed it could well have made a decent splash on the pop charts, and seen the band get a bit more recognition than they did. It's an incredibly strong song, it's got beautifully sung vocals, and a nice, slinky, urban groove to it courtesy of producers par excellence Ethnic Boyz.

I honestly believe this is one of the UK's finest soul moments.

Not that there's anything wrong with the main track, What In the World. It's a really nice guitar driven piece of soul, produced by a certain Robert Howard of The Blow Monkeys fame (thanks for the confirmation, Frank). I always loved Wait his duet with my namesake, Kym Mazelle.

There's a third track (fourth, if you count the Greater Love Remix - more on that in a moment) called Want Your Love 2 B Mine, which is a perfectly decent backup track, but with such a good main track in What In The World, and an even better one as the "B-Side", if you will, in the shape of Greater Love, it's easily forgotten.

As mentioned, there's also an Ethnic Boyz remix of Greater Love, which is odd really, as they produced the original version, and it's fairly similar, just a touch more dubby. I prefer the original, but it's nice to have for completions sake.

So there you have it, one of my all-time favourite tracks, as a bloody B-Side! Amazing.

- Kymba :)

Tracklist

1. What In the World 
2. Greater Love 
3. Greater Love (Ethnic Boyz Remix) 
4. Want Your Love 2 B Mine 

Download: NC-WITW-GL.7z File size: 38.1 MB

Nu Colours - What In The World / Greater Love - (1993)

Polydor/Wildcard, CARDD 4

Another 320kbps re-up!

I'm going to start this off with a complaint: WHAT THE HELL WERE POLYDOR/WILDCARD THINKING MAKING GREATER LOVE A B-SIDE????!?!?!?

It's got classic stamped all over it, and, if only it had been supported and marketed it could well have made a decent splash on the pop charts, and seen the band get a bit more recognition than they did. It's an incredibly strong song, it's got beautifully sung vocals, and a nice, slinky, urban groove to it courtesy of producers par excellence Ethnic Boyz.

I honestly believe this is one of the UK's finest soul moments.

Not that there's anything wrong with the main track, What In the World. It's a really nice guitar driven piece of soul, produced by a certain Robert Howard of The Blow Monkeys fame (thanks for the confirmation, Frank). I always loved Wait his duet with my namesake, Kym Mazelle.

There's a third track (fourth, if you count the Greater Love Remix - more on that in a moment) called Want Your Love 2 B Mine, which is a perfectly decent backup track, but with such a good main track in What In The World, and an even better one as the "B-Side", if you will, in the shape of Greater Love, it's easily forgotten.

As mentioned, there's also an Ethnic Boyz remix of Greater Love, which is odd really, as they produced the original version, and it's fairly similar, just a touch more dubby. I prefer the original, but it's nice to have for completions sake.

So there you have it, one of my all-time favourite tracks, as a bloody B-Side! Amazing.

- Kymba :)

Tracklist

1. What In the World 
2. Greater Love 
3. Greater Love (Ethnic Boyz Remix) 
4. Want Your Love 2 B Mine 

Download: NC-WITW-GL.7z File size: 38.1 MB