various artists - Paul Weller Presents: Into Tomorrow

Apropos of nothing, I picked up a copy of the April 2026 issue of Mojo a couple weeks ago. The cover star was one John Lydon, complete in punk mufti from his Pistols days. The freebie was a celebration of Miles Davis' 100th birthday; you can expect I'll write about that one in about three years. But if you're out and about and have around $14 you feel like spending, you could almost certainly do a lot worse. If nothing else, it's a nice way to find out what got reissued over in the UK recently.

As for this one, it has songs from the Blow Monkeys, P.P. Arnold (who was an Ikette!), and Mr. Weller himself. The rest of the 15 tracks, handpicked by the former Jam & Style Council leader who HOLY SHIT has been performing single for over 30 years, haven't really caught my attention. The exceptions to my ignorance are Black Pumas, who have drifted in and out of my focus in recent years with their Texas-based psych rock, and Gabriels, whose website bears a single "2026" legend on the landing page, which tells me they should have a new record of neo-soul out sometime this year. That's a cool tease, as far as I'm concerned. 

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various artists - Mojo Presents: Heavy Soul

Pardon the terse blogging today. I've had this shit settle into my chest for two weeks now. She's instructing me to hustle off to bed. The missus sez, "you're not a newspaper. You're sick."

So here's a 15-track compendium of funk and soul. Anything that leads off with Betty Davis and Funkadelic should be able help me expectorate the mucus in my lungs. It's time to bust out the funk.

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various artists - Mojo Presents: Sticky Soul Fingers (A Rolling Stones Tribute)

I came to a decision recently, and it is this: this Mojo release, cover dated January 2012, is pretty indispensible. A soulful recreation of "Sticky Fingers", it's less a simple re-reading of the classic Stones record, 40 years on, and more an expression of how inspiring it was to these artists. Some of the arrangements are far away from the Jagger/Richards compositions, and that's for the best. I've owned too many tribute records where those offering encomium stuck with a straightforward cover not too different from what you'd hear from in the original release. But Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings performing "Wild Horses" is a great example of how to put your own stank on a classic. "Sister Morphine", played here by Ren Harvieu, takes on new meaning when in the hands of someone who's not been chasing the dragon. And the Bamboos tackle my favorite "SF" track, laying some serious funk on "Can't You Hear Me Knocking".

Yeah, it's a proper tribute, this one. Plus, you get a bonus reading of "Angie". Not bad for a freebie.

Discogs

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various artists - Mojo Presents: Purple Soul

I think I snagged this mainly because it has Arabian Prince and Arthur Russell tracks I hadn't heard before. Well, that, and it was a buck. It's a lot of Prince-inspired and Prince-adjacent R&B; everything from Toro Y Moi to Poliça to a sampling of the Stones Throw catalog. And if it seems like I'm reaching for commentary or trenchant insight, well, it's because this is a world of music I always enjoy, but am not particularly educated in...certainly not to same degree I am on punk or hardcore or free jazz. I sound dumb enough writing about music I know a lot about; no need to sound below stupid.

Discogs

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