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Baker's Dozen

Secret Weapons: Luke Una's Favourite Music
Julian Marszalek , May 31st, 2023 09:35

As he prepares for the second volume of his É Soul Cultura series, Luke Una takes us through 13 of his favourite tracks, from his secret dancefloor fillers to the beauty of Pharoah Sanders

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Lil' Louis & The World – Journey With The Lonely

So this album came out about 1992. I think it's one of the best house albums ever made, because it's not house. Weirdly, it's a mixture of everything. There's downtempo, there’s street – like an American version of what the British called ‘street soul’ – there's boogie, there's just weird, velvety emotional kind of sounds, and stuff that sort of defies description. There's acid house stuff on there. It's just so fucking brilliant.

I picked this album up on a promo really early doors, loved it and it absolutely blew me away. It's very groundbreaking, but it's classical as well. Some people might find it too smooth or too whatever but I think there’s a sound there, which not many producers can replicate. It's been chosen because I feel it's unfashionably wonderful and I think that sound will come back. You know, music goes through phases. I think this is very musical. It's got the songs on it, but there are instrumental tracks on it as well. It’s very balanced and dynamic. And it's one of the greatest albums. Brilliant.