Soul Investigators

When New York retro-funk label Desco shut its doors, co-founder Phillipe Lehman started up a new label, Soul Fire, which was dedicated to releasing only the sort of rough, raw, lower-fidelity funk Lehman preferred. Calypso King & the Soul Investigators were the first band to issue a full-length album on Soul Fire, and like many of the groups in Lehman's orbit, their origins were unlikely: a Meters/J.B.'s/MG's-styled instrumental funk band from Helsinki, Finland. All the members played in other bands; guitarist Pete Toikkanen was in a garage rock group called the Paisley, while organist Antti Maattanen, bassist Sami Kantelinen, and drummer Jukka Sarapaa all played in Mood (aka Maor Presto). Forming in 1998, the group issued a couple of 45s before hooking up with Lehman; after a debut single on Soul Fire in 2000, "Compin' and Smokin'," they recorded their debut full-length, Soul Strike! which was released in 2001. The Soul Investigators subsequently recorded for their own Timmion label with a newly added horn section, featuring trumpeter Eero Savela, trombonist Erno Haukkala, and saxophonist Lasse Tolvanen. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide

CALYPSO KING & The SOUL INVESTIGATORS
SOUL STRIKE! ( Soul Fire 2001)

You can't get any funkier than this! Calypso King and The Soul Investigators are prime new funk in the classic Desco mode -- hard, heavy, and stripped-down, with a sound that would make the James Brown of late 60s King years very very proud! This album's their first full-length effort, and trust us -- it blows their already-strong funky 45s away! Every track grooves like a mo-fo -- with heavy breakbeat drums pounding away, jangly guitar chopping like mad, and hot Hammond organ licking away at the bubbling pot! All instrumental, all heavy funk, and all good good good! Titles include "Brand New Potatoes", "Ahh Soul!", "Ci-Ka-Boo", "Chick Beans", "Soul Strike", "Gator Funk Part 1", "Ma Gee", "Mo Calypso Soul", and "Investigator's Groove"

1. Gator Funk Pt.1
2. Ma-Gee
3. Mo' Calypso Strut
4. Some Funk
5. Raw Grapes
6. Investigator's Groove
7. Struggling My Way
8. Brand New Potatoes
9. Ahh Soul!
10. Soul Strike!
11. Chick Beans
12. Ci-Ka-Boo

http://rapidshare.com/files/33623031/soulstrike.rar
found on: http://whatsinmyipod.blogspot.com

CALYPSO KING & The SOUL INVESTIGATORS:
HOME COOKING (Timmion December 2002)

A monstrous batch of instrumentals from the deep funk underground -- and one of the best new funk albums we've heard in years! Calypso King & Co hail from the icy north of funky Finland -- where somehow they've managed to carve out a sound that's harder, fiercer, and more kicking than most of the other funk acts recording in more southbound parts of the globe. The drums are hard, the guitars are scratchy, and the organ cooks like a space heater in a fire trap on a cold Chicago night! All tracks are instrumentals, and the album's recorded with a messed-up sound that makes the whole thing feel like you've found a box of rare funky 45s! These guys are truly the kings of dirty funk -- as you'll hear on titles that include "Micro Popcorn", "Momma's Gravy", "Green Tea & Tobacco", "Deep Fried Chitlins", "Good Food", and "Greens Please"

01. Home Cooking Part I
02. Mo' Hash
03. Greasy Pork
04. Greens Please
05. Midnight Bar-b-q
06. Ti-ki Tofu
07. Good Food
08. Home Cooking Part II
09. Electric Cooker
10. Micro Popcorn
11. Deep Fried Chitlings
12. Momma's Gravy (Yum Yum)
13. Green Tea & Tobacco


http://sharebee.com/f7a39b67
found on: http://leclubderock.blogspot.com/

Nicole WILLIS & The SOUL INVESTIGATORS:
KEEP REACHIN' UP (Timmion November 2005)

For their third record, Keep Reachin’ Up, they back NYC native Nicole Willis, a soul singer with a bright yet pale voice whose past credits include work with Curtis Mayfield and the Brand New Heavies, as well as a brief stint with dance floor mavens Dee-Lite. Keep Reachin’ Up happens to be Willis’s third full-length as well, and her first to fall under the banner of the retro soul movement spearheaded by the likes of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Amy Winehouse, and the Quantic Soul Orchestra. Willis and the Soul Investigators (along with multi-instrumentalist Jimi Tenor, who happens to be Willis’s husband) favor the echo and throb of the classic Motown sound, most notably on the urgent “If This Ain’t Love (Don’t Know What Is)”, with its constantly snapping snare drum, and “My Four Leaf Clover”, which parades along with the bounce and grandeur of the Supremes. Like Jones’s album Naturally, Keep Reachin’ Up sounds like it could have been recovered from a long-lost reel of studio tape from some now-defunct studio in the American South.


1. Feeling Free
2. If This Ain't Love (I Don't Know What Is)
3. Keep Reachin' Up
4. Blues Downtown
5. My Four Leaf Clover
6. A Perfect Kind Of Love
7. Invisible Man
8. Holdin' On
9. No One's Gonne Love You
10. Soul Investigators Theme
11. Untitled

http://rapidshare.com/files/44610607/DB1103-SoulNicole.rar
found on: http://www.downloadstuffz.com/

The SOUL INVESTIGATORS:
FAT SLICE O' FUNK (Invada Records 2006) [compilation-best of]

Fat Slice O’ Funk, is the best of The Soul Investigators.The album features New York soulstress Nicole Willis with the track ’Rag Doll’. Willis began her career in London in 1984, singing and writing with The Brand New Heavies. Nicole’s sound has been likened to Sharon Jones and has been embraced by the UK’s Northern Soul scene with an overwhelming response to her new LP “Keep Reachin’ Up” .

The album also features the vocals of Philadelphia soul legend, the late Herb Johnson in ’Make You Wanna Holla’. In 1972, Herb Johnson cut his sought after record “Damph F’Aint,” a James Brown-inspired funk cult classic complete with extemporaneous lyrics. Herb was the grandson of Louis Armstrong, recognisable immediately with Herbs gravel voice and appearance.

From humble beginnings in Finland during the winter of 1997, The Soul Investigators have forged a worldwide reputation after a string of classic 7” singles (which now fetch $100’s of dollars on eBay) and two LP releases on their own TIMMION label, along with sides for JIVE records and the now defunct New York-based SOUL FIRE records. The Soul Investigators have been cooking in the deep funk underground for long enough. Now here they are; fat, tasty and straight up funky - but still raw as hell!

Fat Slice O’ Funk is a collection of the best of The Soul Investigators’ prolific body of work. A combination of previously released and unreleased songs from Finland’s funk meisters who have been inspired by James Brown, The Meters, Booker T. & The MG’s and Mickey and The Soul Generation. The Soul Investigators don’t stray from the path. It’s raw, authentic, and mostly instrumental.


1. Sassy strut 4:32
2. Rag doll, featuring Nicole WILLIS 2:32
3. Let's have some 3:15
4. Ahh soul! 2:17
5. Mo' mash 2:12
6. Ma-gee 3:05
7. Make you wanna holler, featuring Herb JOHNSON 3:34
8. Compin' & smokin' 2:46
9. Good food 3:35
10. Investigators testifying 3:00
11. Soul strike! 3:12
12. Ci-ka-boo 3:11
13. Calypso strut 3:08
14. Home cooking 4:34
15. Raw steaks 3:14
16. Deep fried chitlings 3:28

If someone's got this compilation please contact me.

Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators
Keep Reachin’ Up (Above the Clouds 2007) [remixes]

1. Soul Investigator’s Theme (Ghost Remix)
2. Feeling Free (Aaron Jerome Remix)
3. If This Ain’t Love (Mr Scruff Remix)
4. A Perfect Kind of Love (Lack of Afro Remix)
5. Holding On (Afronaut Remix Remix)
6. My 4 Leaf Clover (The Dynamics Remix)
7. No One’s Gonna Love You (Blackbeard Remix)
8. Invisible Man (Simbad Remix)
9. If This Ain’t Love (Elizabeth Shepherd Trio Remix)
10. Keep Reachin’ Up (Rob Life Remix)
11. Soul Investigator’s Theme (Mike Slott of Heralds of Change Remix)

http://rapidshare.com/files/102624652/Nicole_Willis___The_Soul_Investigators_-_Keep_Reachin__Up_Remixed__2007_.zip
found on : http://sopedrada.blogspot.com