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PRICE:
$27.00
LOW STOCK LEVEL
1-2 Weeks
ARTIST
TITLE
This Is
FORMAT
LP

LABEL
CATALOG #
TAC 015LP TAC 015LP
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
5/5/2023

This Is is THE album by Ghia. It catches the band at its peak and features ten songs, including not only their impeccable hit, "What's Your Voodoo?" but a full arsenal of yet unheard, timeless, and soulful music without equal. The songs on the album, which were recorded between 1988 and 1991, could be considered forerunners of the downtempo genre, with one foot in the late 1980s street soul direction but sparkling with touches of synth pop and contemporary jazz-funk. The album starts with "Keep Your House In Disorder," which has yet again become another classic song from the band's catalog since it was featured as the B-side of the "What's Your Voodoo?" reissue. The song is about a relationship in which the woman has trouble adapting to her boyfriend's turn in life. This Is continues with the downtempo numbers "Crystal Silence" and "Close to You." Both are deep, one-of-a-kind, and previously unissued street soul ballads. On these two tracks, you can still hear the band's roots in jazz-funk. "Close To You" was one of the band's first compositions. Earlier recordings of the song exist with different singers and different vocals, but it wasn't perfected until Lisa laid down the final version and a choir was added. Next up is "Eskimo," an equally brilliant and soulful downtempo composition, but with more focus on synth sounds than the previous tracks. Once more, it showcases the creative lyricism of the songwriters, Boberg and Simon, imagining a train ride during a rainy and cold night. Eskimo leads to the aforementioned classic, "What's Your Voodoo?" Originally released in 1991 on the small Mikado label, it was reissued in 2019. This is proto trip-hop, recorded before British bands like Massive Attack, Tricky, and Portishead laid the foundation of trip-hop. "Angel On Your Shoulder" and "L O M E" are two more completely unissued and great tracks from the band's shelved works. Being a bit more up-tempo than the rest of the album, they fall between contemporary soul/R&B and synthesized pop music. "You Won't Sleep on My Pillow" was the original A-side of their single release in 1991. The album concludes with a really strong ballad entitled "I Haven't Got The Power." Here you hear only pianist and keyboardist Lutz Boberg with Lisa Ohm, without further instrumentation. This Is may easily be considered one of the best German late '80s/early '90s soul pop and downtempo albums ever recorded.