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Soul Express Album Review


MIGUEL MIGS
Those Things
(US Salted, 2007)
1) So Far 2) Make Things Happen 3) Can't Get Through 4) Mesmerised 5) Those Things 6) Sometime 7) Get Down 8) Let Me Be 9) Fire 10 Shake It Up 11) Body Never Lies 12) Side 2 Side 13) Giving It All

Colorful You” was one of the best soulful house / dance albums of 2002. It sported a more sensual, soulful side to the Remix King, Miguel Migs. Other works have been too heavy, hard or, let's be honest, alien to these ears of mine. Thankfully 2007 sees the release of “Those Things” which is easily as accessible as “Colorful You”. I have always been partial to the classier, more intelligent sounds which could be either labelled House or Garage. There is more soul in these genres than anything that is laughably called R&B today. Again, Migs has called upon a plethora of talented vocalists to add soulful flesh to the bones of this album.

A young Lady called LT features on two of my choices. This Lady has a smooth, sexy voice and she is perfectly at home within this soulful, clubby groove. The first of these is the energetic, haunting “Mesmerised” with its bass-pin pounding beat, 80s synths and even a dash of Jesse Johnson styled electric Guitar for good measure. This is a superb track, but rather pales to the KILLER tune”Giving It All” which should get even the hardiest of wallflowers the encouragement to cut a dash on the dancefloor. The song again benefits from some heady bass, spacey if not galactic keys and 80s flavours. This young Lady is a dream to listen to on this groove. I wonder if she looks as sexy as she sounds?! I cannot stop playing this song; it really is a breath of fresh air!

Tim Fuller is the next featured vocalist. He is amazing on the early 80s boogie of “Sometime”. I dare you not to succomb to the infectiousness of this track. His smooth yet husky tones are a perfect fit for this groove. Fans of “Colorful You” will immediately warm to this, and those who enjoy the excellent work of Dave Lee aka Joey Negro will appreciate it too. Tim also features on the exuberant joyful boogie of “Body Never Lies”. The funky, scratchy guitar, sax and rhodes keyboards jostle for attention. What grabs me is the sheer happiness of the groove. It certainly helps to have playful sax and stabbing 80s synth as frequent vistors. Ignore this at your peril!

Fred Ross is a member of Sly & The Family Stone, and his superb vocals on “Let Me Be” are much recommended for your pleasure. This groove is stright out of the Kleeer bag and the song is so 80s in orientation it hurts! As far as soulful dance albums go, there is much to celebrate on here. Lisa Shaw appears on some cuts as do others such as Reggae artist Delroy Junior Reid on the step-to-the-left yet intriguing “Fire”. Where today's R&B cannot manage to get out of the gutter or sewer, material like this will always shine stronger. Miguel Migs certainly proves that his heart is in the right place, and his sensibilities lie deep inside. This is as soulful as you could ever want. Please do not overlook this album. It's too good to miss!
- Barry Towler

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