Daptone Records is a funk and soul indie label formed by Gabriel Roth and Neal Sugarman and based in Brooklyn, New York. Daptone Records brings that classic funk & soul with roots as deep as the genre’s heyday. This album is an odyssey through the label’s premiere acts, an overview of just what they’ve been working on creating for the past decade.
I don’t care who you are, what this album represents is an impressive feat of talent and perseverance. By their own hand, recording their
blend of funk, soul, and afrobeat acts on vintage equipment, in a studio they built themselves out in Brooklyn’s Bushwick, this label elevates appreciation of classic sound to the level of worship.
Both the sheer amount of talent on the label and their ability to generate innovative and creative material shines through on the album. Stuffed with rare cuts and clocking in at over 80 minutes, each of the larger acts has three or more tracks, while less well-known combos/acts get some much-needed exhibition.
Their headliner, a powerhouse act that underlines this neuvo funk endeavor, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings continue to excite and produce mountains of memorable tracks, to say nothing of their shows. Having the most songs on the album, I was excited to hear the tracks that were new to me, while enjoying the selection of those cuts I had come across before.
The other acts are just as pleasing; Budos Band, an instrumental only funk and soul group with an impressive number of members is a local favorite, Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens take soul out of church and to your ears, while Lee Fields’ hardest man workin’ vibe had me aching all the way alongside him. I was equally impressed with the Antibalas track, an act that I was happy to see settle at the label.
The rawest, funkiest, most soulful label since Stax went under - Daptone Records - released one of the best collection that really earns the title. It's all good: jaw-dropping instrumental and vocal talent, tight arrangements, sterling recording. Less than a minute into this retrospective from Brooklyn's Daptone Records, the wonderfully named Binky Griptite welcomes you to ''four solid sides of soul,'' and that serves as an excellent indication of how out of step the label is with the MP3 era. Many of the tracks are funky instrumentals that feature horns, rhythm and lead guitar providing that Daptone sound that really is just simply gold. Defiantly check this one out!
1. Introduction by Binky Griptite
2. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “I’m Not Gonna Cry”
3. The Budos Band “Up From The South”
4. Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens “What Have You Done”
5. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - “How Long Do I Have To Wait For You?”
6. Lee Fields “Could Have Been”
7. Antibalas featuring Mayra Vega "Che Che Cole Makossa"
8. The Budos Band “Budos Rising”
10. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “Got A Thing On My Mind”
11. Charles Bradley & the Menahan Street Band “The World”
12. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “Make It Good To Me”
13. Lee Fields and Sugarman & Co. “Stand Up”
14. Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens “What Is This”
15. Binky Griptite with the Sugarman Three “A Lover Like Me”
16. Menahan Street Band “Make the Road by Walking”
17. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “Tell Me”
18. Sugarman & Co. “Down To It”
19. The Dap-Kings “Nervous Like Me”
20. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “Giving Up”
21. The Budos Band “Ghostwalk”
22. The Gospel Queens feat. Cynthia Langston “I Need You To Hold My Hand”
23. Binky Griptite & the Mellomatics “The Stroll Pt. 2”
24. Sharon Jones & Lee Fields “Stranded In Your Love"
