Guess Who
Label: Freestyle
Format: LP
Genre: Soul, Electronic, Soul & Funk
$34.99
Availability: In stock
Street soul grail alert! We drop a much-needed reissue for the previously white label-only Guess Who LP – originally self-released anonymously by Rick Clarke in 1992.
Crossing ruff-but-sweet UK street soul sensibilities with stripped-back house, garage and hip-hop flavours, the Guess Who LP was dropped stealthily during a period in the early 90s – when Rick was signed up to Soul II Soul’s Funki Dreds label, which contractually restricted him from releasing his music elsewhere. Bubbling with creative energy and a slew of ideas, he just couldn’t help himself from getting out this there. Clarke brought a range of friends and collaborators to his MJB Records studio in West Kensington where the LP was produced and recorded on his trusty Fostex E16 within a couple days time.
Raw drum machines and simple but effective bass-lines & melodies abound across the album’s 9 offerings, with tracks at times feeling like pencilled musical ideas still in flux. Highlights include Jill Francis’ sublime vocal on the stripped-back samba-esque groove of Gonna Make You Happy, the sugary soul harmonies of Imaani’s Share My Love With You, and criminally short outro track Sweet Vibrations.