Soul-Funk

Many will be familiar with Milton Wright's Friends & Buddies album, a much-sampled Miami soul classic that's been in demand since its' release in 1975. Intriguingly, that version of the album was Wright's second version; the first slipped out in limited numbers on promo before the master tapes were destroyed in a fire, forcing the artist to re-record it. This, then, is the first release of Wright's original version, rescued from permanent obscurity by Athens of the North. Notably folksier, looser and breezier than the version we've all come to know and love, Original Friends & Buddies sounds more like Terry Callier than Wright's later output. Happily, he tells the whole story himself in the excellent sleeve notes

Paint A Picture are incredibly pleased to announce news of their first release: a fully remastered, licensed reissue of rediscovered British 7” Funny Situation recorded by Reflex - a band put together by drummer David Humphrey (Public Image Ltd., Sparks, Mike Oldfield) and privately released on his Star Records back in 1981. With the original record now changing hands for in excess of £200 and just in time for a 40th anniversary release the reissue - remastered and cut by Frank Merritt at The Carvery - will include updated original artwork whilst also containing an insert providing further details and context on the release.Recorded a few months after seminal Britfunk tune "Southern Freeez" at the very same Vine Yard Studios and with the same engineer Simon Sullivan - the release unfortunately suffered from a lack of marketing and proper distribution but almost forty years later the record is now receiving the attention it deserves and with a price tag to match.The A side presents a beautiful mesh of funk and soul styles with influence from other Britfunk bands of the time but with a more overt jazz and rock feel fusing a tight rhythm section with smooth vocals and climaxing in a guitar and saxophone duel.The instrumental Version Two provides a fresh approach with the addition of dub FX and Indian percussion with the use of a tabla added to the mix.