Luke Una – É Soul Cultura Volume 2

A1 Real Thing – Children Of The Ghetto
A2 Avis – Baby, This Love I Have
A3 Veronica Mickie – Lost Children
A4 Rare Silk – Storm (Arp Duppy Chip Mix)
B1 LFO – Shove Piggy Shove
B2 Bach Revolution – D.E. 108
B3 Andi Otto – Bangalore Whispers
B4 Unnayanaa, Irfan Rainy – Taht Min Aini (Alberghina Remx)
B5 Michael De Albuquerque – We May Be Cattle But We've All Got Names
C1 Pyranha – Clepsydre
C2 Yargo – Marimba
C3 Okyerema Asante – Play A Sweet Rhythm On Them Drums
D1 Mr. Scruff – Giffin (Taken) (Speechless Dub Mix) (Re-Edit)
D2 Isis – In Essense
D3 Frank Hatchett – Malibu Nites

DESCRIPTION

É Soul Cultura Vol.1 seemed to land at exactly the right moment. Post-lockdown, optimism was back on the rise and the dance floors swelled again. For many listeners, Manchester based DJ Luke Una’s intriguingly woven pattern of new, old, rare and under-discovered music from around the world became the soundtrack to rejuvenated positivity.

This second volume gives another opportunity for Luke to share his journey of the past four decades of staying up late and getting transcendental whilst listening to holy grail music as the city slept. It at times ventures into the deeper, spiritual, soulful, downtempo, experimental aspects of his tastes. From the conscious, street soul fusion gospel of Veronica Mickie's 'Lost Children', to an excursion into Swiss, psych, progressive rock in the form of Pyranha, then onto the classic Indian music-inspired electronic workout of Andi Otto's 'Bangalore Whispers'. Luke hints at his softer side in Avis; a sweet, obscure cover version of Minnie Riperton’s ‘Baby, This Love I Have’, as well as championing local heroes in the shape of Manchester’s Yargo and their driving, obscure, proto-house belter, ‘Marimba’. There’s also Japanese, electronic, slo-mo heaviness from 1979, courtesy of Bach Revolution. House music is integral to the É Soul sound and is represented by Nav Aktah’s deep remix of Mr Scruff, and then there’s Isis ‘In Essense’; a track of such majestic brilliance that it has never left Luke’s record bag.

The selection is eclectic, global, and plucked from different times and spaces. In theory, perhaps they shouldn't work together, but there is a mysterious link that makes them gel as a whole.