The Beat Surrender

Hed Kandi have gone full circle with the latest compilation release on the label. Nu Cool was the very first compilation series with the first two hitting the shops in 1998 and 1999 respectively on Jazz FM Records. The third one was the very first Hed Kandi release as a label, the rest as they say is history.

In the interim the label has been busy releasing compilations such as Beach House, Back To love, Disco Kandi and Twisted Disco, all have been a big success and have sold well, quickly becoming known as a value for money compilation series that you could rely on to deliver the goods.

As the other series have taken over though, Nu Cool has had to take something of a back seat until now, as the label returns to it’s roots with this particular release being compiled by Hed Kandi’s Phil Faversham.

The album comprises mainly black music (or tracks inspired by black music) from the seventies through to the present day as you find 4 Hero, Terri Walker, Blue Six and Sebastian Tellier rubbing shoulders with The Jackson Five.

As always with these releases it’s a party album, you get the smooth funk of One of Us by Jaguar which features the deepest vocals outside of a Barry White show, two great cover versions from Barefoot and Nostalgia 77 who tackle Pride (A Deeper Love) and Seven Nation Army respectively, either could have been cringe worthy affairs, as it is both are fantastic versions of much covered songs, done with such an intelligence that you can say they don’t sound like any other versions.

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