The Urban Soul Connection, Vol. 1

It’s become a bit of a tradition that I use the introduction of the first edition of a new compilation series to set the scene and explain my thinking behind it. So, let’s keep with that tradition and take a moment to look at what I’m trying to achieve with this first Urban Soul Connection. I set up the Soul Unsigned record label in 2008 as an extension to the radio show. While it’s great playing music on the radio (which in itself provides excellent support and promotion to unsigned and independent artists) I always wanted to take things beyond just the show. The “unsigned” series got the record label rolling back in October 2008, and is now up to Volume 4. It features all the 70s/80s-inspired retro sounds that I play on the show, primarily in the first half hour where things stay pretty uptempo. Then came the “contemporary soul” series, first launched in July 2009 and now up to Volume 3. It focuses on the more modern side of soul music, less retro, quite jazzy, and laid-back in feel. It’s the kind of stuff I play in the latter half of the show. And that brings us to the purpose for this new “urban soul” series, which is to provide a home for all the other tracks I play on the show which don’t quite fit with the vibe of the first two compilation series. This might be, for example, because the track is a bit more urban in feel, or it could just be one of those hard to define soul-cum-r&b tracks that wouldn’t quite sit right on either the “unsigned” or “contemporary soul” albums. This new compilation series is also going to provide a home for those straight-up soul tracks that just happen to have a rap in the middle, and, as a result, drop outside the interest/comfort zone of some soul fans. I’ve never understood that position myself, but I respect it nonetheless. I’m not entirely sure if “urban soul” is quite the right generic description for the music on this compilation, but I feel that all the tracks on here fit somewhere in the middle ground between the main genres of soul and urban. As I’ve written several times before, I’ve never been particularly good at (or bothered by) the labelling of music, or the pigeonholing of specific tracks into sub-genres. I just know what music sounds good together and, to my ears, the tracks on this compilation all fit nicely into a vibe that Soul Unsigned Records has yet to focus on. If you’re a regular buyer of our other compilations, I hope that you’ll enjoy this one too. The soulful element that is the foundation of everything we do is still here, albeit wrapped up in a more modern and, perhaps some might say, commercial vibe. If you’re a newcomer to Soul Unsigned.....welcome....! The very fact that you’re reading these notes shows that I’ve done my job, because the whole point of this new series is to spread the word even further, to make more people aware of Soul Unsigned and what we’re about. The home of quality independent soul music. Phil Driver. Soul Unsigned.