Dope (2015)

Soule Monde - Must Be Nice (2017) {Rope-A-Dope RAD-342 rec 2016}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 310 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 104 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 9 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2017 Rope-A-Dope / Soule Monde | RAD-342
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Funk

On the cover of Must Be Nice, the Vermont duo comprising Soule Monde—drummer Russ Lawton and keyboardist Ray Paczkowski- stand in wintery repose on the grounds of a lifeless grey mansion. Paczkowski looks off into the distance while a smiling Lawton holds the sarcastic title card; two trespassers delivering the musical antidote to a cold, bleak, and uninviting place.

Critters Buggin - Stampede (2004) {Rope-A-Dope RAD0504}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 307 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 124 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 7 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2004 Rope-A-Dope Music | RAD0504
Jazz / Jazz Funk / World Fusion / Worldbeat

For their first album in five years, the Seattle quartet continues in the instrumental jazz/electronica/funk/dub/experimental vein established on its existing catalog. Moody and eclectic but never frigid, the music succeeds by combining its diverse influences in warm, organic ways. Each track is a multi-layered microcosm of movement, and although there are plenty of danceable parts – along with some dancefloor-clearing ones – the album is best appreciated with headphones where all the intricacies of the tempo changes and especially the dynamic percussion can be picked out amongst the clatter. Even elements of prog – especially early King Crimson on the pounding "Punk Rock Guilt" – shapeshift into jazz and free form then back again with deceptive ease.