
Here in my hands is an album that’s the hottest ticket in town. Produced With Love is not just a new Joey Negro album, but the first Joey Negro album in more than 20 years.
Few electronic producers can really craft a thorough, interesting and satisfying album (we have many examples proving this, and more released every day). Whether it’s his encyclopedic knowledge of music or flawless instincts, Joey Negro has crafted these 12 disparate tracks (out of the many more he’s produced in this time) into one extraordinary disc.
Start with the vocalists: veterans Melba Moore, Linda Clifford and Angela Johnson are joined by the late Diane Charlemagne, who passed away before the project was completed. Sacha Williamson takes over on “I Recognize,” a marvelous soul’d up send-up of boogie, and Horse Meat Disco make an appearance with Johnson on the soul-with-strings Philly-influenced “Dancing Into the Stars.” “Distorting Space Time” captures the spirit of Cosmic Disco with a modern finish. It isn’t all smooth: Kraftwerk’s “It’s More Fun To Compute” makes an appearance with Negro’s disco cover. It doesn’t just work – it’s one of the stand-out tracks on the album.
Overall there’s not a weak track – or even a weak passage – in the lot of them. Beginning to end, there’s not a gap you can put your finger through: quality soul (in the broadest sense of the word) packed so tight it’s bursting open.
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[…] album in 20 years. We’ve written many a story on the House and Disco maestro, but it would be a massive understatement to say that Produced With Love is the pièce de résistance we’ve all been waiting […]