Few people are onto great records as quickly as a great record store.
Phonica’s end of year lists are always a treasure trove for undersung gems, so we realised we ought to just give the shop’s learned staff their own slot on FACT. Every Saturday, the team behind the counter at the Soho institution select five vinyl records you should pick up this week.
GLORIA ANN TAYLOR
Love Is A Hurting Thing LP
(Luv N Haight)
A gem from the archives of Selector Sound, this is a deluxe triple-gatefold reissue of soul singer’s Gloria Ann Taylor singles and EP from 1971 to 1977. Haunting soul music that has aged like fine wine.
I:CUBE
I:Cube (Prepgav) EP
(Versatile)
I:Cube lands on Versatile with a five-track EP of stylistic exercises in soundscapes and contemplative zoners.
NAPOLEON CHERRY
Walk Alone LP
(Music From Memory)
Weirdo funkster Napoleon Cherry, aka Philadelphia’s Cool Waters, gets compiled on the latest Music From Memory release. The compilation brings together private releases from the late ’80s and early ’90s that put forward grit and rawness, a perfect counterpoint to the slick of the era.
KEJEBLOS feat. MOMO LOVE
‘Just Me No You’ / ‘Autobahn Dub’
(Phantom Island)
Throwback vibes on the latest release from Zurich’s Phantom Island with two cuts of sublime party aesthetics from Kejeblos.
MERIDIAN BROTHERS
Los Suicidas LP
(Soundway)
First part in a trilogy with 8 tracks moving across genres inspired by local Colombian legend Jaime Llano Gonzalez, a Hammond organist.