The Miracles
Don't Cha Love It

This one takes us back! We originally reissued Waltel Branco's 'Meu Balanço' in 1995, it was one of the first releases to come out on Mr Bongo. It is a much-requested title with original copies becoming ever more-scarce and the price tag increasingly rising, so it feels fitting to present this stunning record once again for all to enjoy.Waltel Branco was born in Paranaguá, Brazil in 1929 and died in Rio de Janeiro in 2018. During his triumphant career he accumulated an impressive musical portfolio. A true maestro who from the 1950s onwards appeared on productions as a guitarist, writer, conductor, composer, and arranger. He worked with some of the greats of Brazilian music including Elis Regina, Dom Um Romao, Bossa Três, Marcos Valle and Tony Bizarro to name just a few.'Meu Balanço' was originally released on CBS Records Brazil in 1975. It is Brazilian big band, orchestrated jazz-funk at its finest. Echoing the library and film productions created in Europe and the USA at the time, it also displays the hallmarks of Waltel’s heritage with distinct threads of Brazilian flavour running throughout. The musicians on the record include under-the-radar players that were the backbone of the Brazilian music industry in the 1970s including Luizão Maia on bass, Edmundo Maciel on trombone and Paulinho Braga on drums.The album flirts between jazz-funk, cinematic library excursions, breaks and beats, easy-listening, and 70s cop show instrumentals. It is a breezy ride into Waltel's world, wonderfully nostalgic and of another time and place, yet snippets of the production echo the beats of contemporary hip-hop iconic artists such as Madlib, knxwledge and The Alchemist.

Along with other reissues for The Ultimates, The Topics and Ricardo Marrero, P-vine has been steadily reissuing the hard-to-find funk and soul gems on the short-lived 70s label TSG, and this latest reissue for Spice's 1976 record Let There Be Spice is of no exception and is packed with seasoned heat. It's a record that complements and blurs the lines of soul, funk and disco, and was once so rare that not even the band knew of its existence. Only in recent times have we been able to put together a picture of a group growing up in The Bronx with the burning desire to perform and light up the stage.Tracks like "Everything Is You", "Don't Fight It" and "Fool In Love" are glorious examples of the heavenly soul sound the group construct with harmonising waves of soothing vocals dancing together with warm string sections. "Happy Music" and the following "Do It Nice" up the tempo and show off another side to their sound as the songs twist and turn through proggy synthesizer solos and funk guitar rhythms. P-vine can't wait to deliver this exciting release and keep the fire burning strong for this exceptional album.