http://www.j-wave.co.jp/original/tokiohot100/
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FEELING FREE
NICOLE WILLIS AND THE SOUL INVESTIGATORS

NW & The SI keep reachin' !

Featured ‘Urban’ review

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The sound of young Finnish funk.
Whether unearthing a funk 45 in a car boot sale or discovering a break on a James Last LP, the best music is often found in unlikely places. Helsinki’s Timmion label has long been a redoubt of the ‘new funk’ scene, the Soul Investigators its premier outfit, and in Brooklyn born Nicole Willis, wife of Finnish electronica maverick Jimi Tenor, they have their perfect frontwoman. Veering between breakbeat-strewn JB strut (Keep Reachin’ Up) and a glorious Motown outtake sound (A Perfect Kind Of Love), the Investigators aren’t faking their funk. These tracks may have a slightly shinier patina than an old 7 inch and the vocals may be an inch or two close too close to perfection to prolong any time shifting illusion, but Willis and band breathe new life into an often curatorial musical tradition.

The Crack - March
There’s a heavy twist of Motor City sound lending a distinctly vintage appeal to this up-front funk and soul from two of the contemporary scene’s classiest acts. It’s all kept fresh by a head on production job that captures both the Investigators full on deep funk sound and Willis’ superlative vocal expression and range. Some truly great original songs make this the first classic new funk album of the year. Essential.