VA: The Move Volume 3
Tokyo Dawn Records

With the trees now skeletons of their summery selves and winter looming, it's easy for dark thoughts to start creeping in. That makes this latest compilation from the ever-reliable Tokyo Dawn Records all the more welcome, its soulful house sounds bringing warmth and uplift when they're so desperately needed. Listeners already familiar with the label's output will recognize many a participant's name, with figures such as LyricL, Sool, DJ Agile, and Pugs Atomz present and accounted for. Adding to the release's appeal, a strong community feel pervades the project when many tracks feature guests and cross-pollination is embraced.

The collection gets its infectious groove on the moment Goldiva's “Strangers Tonight” appears, its arrangement of funky rhythm guitar, bass thrust, and saxes setting a smooth stage for the soulful tones of Brand New Heavies singer Sulene Fleming. The lights dim ever so slightly for “Alone Again,” a sultry production by DJ Agile elevated by vocalist Sacha Williamson, and LyricL's “There You Stand,” which entices with its brokenbeat swing and entrancing wordplay. Of the more irresistible tracks, one would have to include the Max Josef remix of Pho Queue's “Sweet,” a strutting house instrumental made even tastier by the presence of an African guitar riff, and Planetself's “Free Fallin',” a chunky deep house jam featuring SoulParlor. Elsewhere, Budda Sage, Walkman & Exorbitant DJ pool their resources for the lustrous, Rhodes-sweetened swing of “SupaNova,” while a few cuts deviate from the soul-house template, Pugs Atomz's “Highly Irregular,” a wild mix of MCs-driven hip-hop and Ohio Players-styled funk, and Mowgan's African juju-stoked “Oulaba” cases in point. Cuts by Tensei, Sool, The Grey Area, Ocean Sky, Gábor Csordás, and Inkswel also appear.

Throughout the release, production values are at a high level in cuts that are anything but stripped-down. Instead, arrangements teem with vocals, keyboards, bass, drums, and percussion, all of which come together to create settings of radiant splendour. Robust uptempo numbers and elegant romantic settings sit comfortably side-by-side, and consequently lovers of soul, funk, deep house, and R&B would be hard pressed to find another compilation as good as this one.

November 2018