SofaTalk – Fairy Dust – Roots Underground

SECOND generation Mods were the dominant youth cult in my school in South London towards the end of my time there. So as one of only a handful of committed soul boys with a chunky wedge and decked out in the latest Italian sportswear, it would be fair to say I was on the wrong end of no small amount of grief. Taxing they used to call. Mugging I called it as I was chased for my beloved Sergio Tacchini tracksuit top through a park in Croydon.

Even so, I still look back fondly on that time – not because of the taxing, obviously, I’m not that twisted – but because it was a great period for soulful music, when Anita, Teddy and Luther loomed large over my record collection, pirate radio was spreading the jazz funk gospel and style was everything whatever your choice of scene.

And so I was transported musically back to those formative years courtesy of the first official vinyl release from Italy’s Roots Underground label. Not that the splendid and appropriately-titled Fairy Dust EP from Italian DJ/producer SofaTalk is in any way retro or a pastiche of a bygone time, it is just that it is so magically and liberally sprinkled with soul, funk and jazz that those faraway teenage days came flooding back to me in an instant.

Contains Sulfites (Intro) is a delightfully warming and textured curtain raiser and perhaps the pick of a super selection for my money despite its brevity, an accomplished and languid slice of groovy deepness that is in no hurry and is all the better for its lack of urgency.

Picking up the pace is Dance Of The Cranes, a satisfyingly funky and jazz-inspired [perhaps jazz funk then after all] broken beat workout with a hint of house, whilst the fabulous title-track Fairy Dust (Instrumental) sits splendidly somewhere between the first two cuts.

Perhaps pinching the plaudits at the death is the vocal version of Fairy Dust featuring the talents of Kris Tidjan. Though little different in essence to the instrumental, the addition of Tidjan’s sublime vocals adds a greater depth and emotional resonance to an already-excellent piece of work.

Check out: 
Fairy Dust video teaser
Roots Underground online
Fairy Dust EP @ Juno