Few labels are as biological and homegrown as Scruffy Soul Recordings. Headed by Cal Gibson from The Secret Soul Society and Neil Mason from The Found Sound Orchestra Scruffy Soul puts out dubbed out, melodically satisfying audio travellings which you won’t find in this form anywhere else.
Scruffy Soul EP 005 oozes of Jazz, Dub, Leftfield, 70ies and hints of Hip Hop influences.
Jules Brennan has three tracks on the EP.
Harlequin Strut is one of the craziest on the release. The combo of trombone madness, jazzy improvs and overall Hip Hop influences is cooler than Steve McQueen at the peak of his game.
Lotus Land also has a certain Jazz feel but comes from a very different angle. A far off, leftfield-jazzed-up angle.
Shamisen K is full-on oriental Cowboy theme madness from the get-go. Samples fly left and right, Chinese vocals mixed in for good measure. Superb.
The Secret Soul Society‘s two tracks are blissful blends with ethereal vocal samples, flutes and dubby goodness.
Gonna Take A Minute (Feat. Kyle Jones) drips with echoed-out samples and classical instruments on top. It’s a real virtual travel into a multiverse of sound.
Sweet Lemonade dials it way back with a heartbeat-ish drumbeat and thick, flowing pads. Add to that a rainy drizzle of classic instrumentation on the horizon and you’re onto what the feel of this tracks fabric is like.
The Found Sound Orchestra delivers two chirpy tracks for the EP.
Hello Jamaica is a chipper, upbeat composition sprinkled with sunshine and love. It is as much a homage to sunshine as it is a homage to the themes that linger from the early to mid 80ies.
With You And Me is proper family business, a father/daughter collab. The curvebally nature of the track is laced with FX, Soul samples and Neil’s daughter Lara Mason throwing in vocals. Soulful and oddly satisfying.
The fifth offering in Scruffy Soul‘s EP series is SSR on the very top of their game. I can’t recommend this enough. As always it makes for perfect headphone excursions.
Scruffy Soul EP 005 is available on Juno Download and a host of other online music services.
