TOM MOULTON - Philly Regrooved vol. 2

It's been about a month since the release of the second remix collection by Tom Moulton featuring Philly Groove artists, once again courtesy of Harmless/Demon. I already had my say about the work and the "modus operandi" of this George Martin of disco music when reviewing the first volume, released last year. This time around too, we're faced with a mouth-watering selection of "extended-mix" tracks, superbly produced and arranged. Compared to the previous collection, there's a bit less experimentation in the mixing of the tracks here.

It opens strongly with the orchestral disco of Ultra High Frequency ("Incompatibile") and First Choice (the swinging "Smarty Pants" and "One Step Away", the latter featuring some eccentric touches in the arrangements, even venturing into a bit of dissonance), before running into Moment Of Truth ("Love At First Sight" and "I'm So Hopelessly In Love With You"), who hold mostly historical importance, having been one of the first acts Moulton financially produced.

Also worth a mention are the heartfelt soul of "Who Am I?" and "Beware, She's Pulling My Strings" by The Quickest Way Out, as well as the soulful "Rising Cost Of Love" by Loose Change, who also appear here with the excellent "Straight From The Heart", a funky number with electronic arrangements very much in the typical style of Casablanca Records in the late Seventies - a style not far removed from TJM ("Put Yourself In My Place"), who were essentially Tom Moulton's own personal project.

The real icing on the cake is the collection's closing track, the splendid, purely Philly Soul funk of "Action Speaks Louder Than Words" by Terry Collins, a fine artist who also collaborated with Terry Collier around that time.

All the tracks featured here date from 1972 to 1979. As usual, the accompanying booklet is fairly thorough, with liner notes written by Ian Dewhirst and Jay Negron. The remastering of the original masters also shines. Recommended purchase, with a slight preference for the first volume.

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14/07/2011