Rick Clarke - Guess Who

Format : LP

Label : Freestyle Records

Catalog # : FSRLP142

Genre : House

Street soul grail alert! We drop a much-needed reissue for the previously white label-only Guess Who LP - originally self-released anonymously by Rick Clarke in 1992.

Crossing ruff-but-sweet UK street soul sensibilities with stripped-back house, garage and hip-hop flavours, the Guess Who LP was dropped stealthily during a period in the early 90s - when Rick was signed up to Soul II Soul's Funki Dreds label, which contractually restricted him from releasing his music elsewhere. Bubbling with creative energy and a slew of ideas, he just couldn't help himself from getting out this there. Clarke brought a range of friends and collaborators to his MJB Records studio in West Kensington where the LP was produced and recorded on his trusty Fostex E16 within a couple days time.

Raw drum machines and simple but effective bass-lines & melodies abound across the album's 9 offerings, with tracks at times feeling like pencilled musical ideas still in flux. Highlights include Jill Francis' sublime vocal on the stripped-back samba-esque groove of Gonna Make You Happy, the sugary soul harmonies of Imaani's Share My Love With You, and criminally short outro track Sweet Vibrations.