Soul II Soul - Vol II (1990-A New Decade) download free

Extremely articulate second album from the Soul II Soul posse with a pitch-perfect mood throughout (in this respect it's even more successful than the first album.) By this point, the Nellee Hooper and Jazzie B production unit was very adept at applying mood and emotion over enviably smooth, funky, and delicate beats and rhythms — beats that retained a surprisingly organic, alive feel despite being clear, sharp, and obviously not live drums. Where the first album feels like it doesn't pivot gracefully from style to style, "1990 - A New Decade" rises above, confidently showcasing different elements of the group's influences and interests. That soup of influences creates a more stable final product here, more than the sum of its parts, the sounds and styles mixing very comfortably to create something new, whereas on the first album it doesn't always feel quite so finely blended. I suppose this is in part because the first album was, in a way, a compilation of previously released 12" singles that grew into a full length album, and the second album was conceived as a unit based on the huge success of "Club Classics Vol. 1" and the group's confidence in their continued existence. In a way, "1990" is very balearic at its heart: the tempos are nearly ideal, the funky percussion and less straightforward dance rhythms link the deeper beats with delicate surface layers of pattern, the musical styles are diverse, the production carefully creates a consistent mood and resonates emotionally — this latter goal obviously transcends all other priorities for the group. The main theme here is the intersection of inclusive diversity (diversity in all senses of the word: racial, class, sound, style), positivity, and the dancefloor. The group's third album was released just a few years later and was flat and uninspired, and ended up unsuccessful at maintaining the mood and emotional resonance exhibited on the first two albums, partly due to the departure of Nellee Hooper.