Review: Various Artists - Let Me Down Easy: Echoes From Cheri Records (Miles Away Records)

Don't be surprised that you're thinking, who are/were Cheri Records as they were a subsidiary of Springboard in New Jersey focusing on soul and gospel in the 70s/80s: but what will surprise you is how good these 14 'unknown' tracks are that DJ Colin Curtis has dug up from his base 'Miles Away' in Northern Soul/Jazz-funk danceland.

From a limited catalogue of a mere 11 releases between 1975-82, you'd have thought you'd have to be let down easy in quality but when you've got a rosta including Julius Brockington (he of 'Sophisticated Funk' and 'The United Chair' - see review HERE), the surprisingly overlooked Roslyn & Charles, Rare Pleasure,The Family Tree and more.

After the first couple of track on this album, you'll say to yourself, this has peaked too early: but then they proove you so wrong.  If you're funk bones don't get movin' and groovin' to 'Boogie Man Pt.1' by Brooklyn People, there's no hope for ya bootie.  

There's lots to praise the lord about with this album, obviously 'God Is' and the totally amazing 'Brand New Day' by The Family Tree (being Brockington with an truly outstanding array of vocal talent; plus Ron Carter on bass!)   And they also do the most challenging version of Stevie Wonder's 'As': what would J. Rocc play? Or Dilla for that matter?

The album finishes with a 12" version of the label's best known/cross-over disco hit, Rare Pleasure's 'Let Me Down Easy' that came out in the 70s on DJM, the label best known for releasing Elton John records at he time.

It was around the mid-70s that 'down South', there was birth of Punk and "up North", Blackpool pioneers like Curtis were slowly introducing disco into the Northern Soul which you can no doubt read in the vinyl's gatefold sleeve liner notes that features interviews with Colin "From Northern Soul to Dancefloor Jazz, touching Street Soul, Boogie and Disco along the way"* Curtis and David Morales.  

And as Curtis was doing that, it marked the birth (or perhaps more acurately, the seed of) 'the Modern Room' as 'Don't Make Me Sorry (For Loving You)' by Sherman Nesbary (Ed. Who?) swings you around the dancefloor at slower pace.

I wonder if they'll say that Chicago is the birthplace of gospel (which I read recently whilst researching something else; remember kids, don't believe everything on the Internet) and whilst it would be even more of a push for any New Jersey claims, remember that it's said that DJ Tony Humphries was playing out the Joubert Singers' 'Stand On The Word' at 'Zanzibar' in New Jersey before Larry Levan go his hands on it: so who knows how far back this goes? 

 

This is going to save loads of time for diggers (well, perhaps not as that's what they like to do) and money to have such a great collection all together that's agelessly good; make yourself happy and get this as you didn't know how happy you could be.

We're promised more in format of influencial labels that have left their mark in an 'Echoes From' and no doubt they'll all be as good as this one.

BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER:  VARIOUS - Let Me Down Easy: Echoes From Cheri Records CD at Juno Records.

Artist: Various Artists

Title: Let Me Down Easy: Echoes From Cheri Records

Release date: 7th November, 2025

Label: Miles Away Records

Cat. No: MALP 002/MACD 002

Format: Limited Edition LP Vinyl / CD / Digital / Bandcamp

*Dom Servini, WahWah45s

Interview: Rob J. Madin - Monstro (Miles Away Records)

Ahead of the album launch party on Friday, Rob J. Madin gives us the low down on Sheffield, New York, Cardies and 'Monstro' - plus a small town in Wales!

YATM: I'm told you've got a side hustle as a comedian. Can you pronounce 'Machynlleth' and have you been at a comedy festival lately?RJM:  My grandparents used to have a caravan near Machynlleth, so it’s a word that I have been confidently mispronouncing from a very young age. Never done the festival though (Ed. the campaign starts here).
 
YATM: With your comedy hat on, is that how your tribute albums to yacht rock and heavy metal came about?  
RJM: I’m a huge fan of metal and yacht rock. Both genres are quite funny though, aren’t they. The yacht rock EP (‘For Those About To Yacht…’) was just some songs I wrote as part of a comedy night I did briefly in Kings Cross. I also made an album of instrumental funk covers of metal songs (‘IronWood’), which is obviously a ridiculous concept - but I like to think the majority of the tracks work quite well as Meters-adjacent Hammond grooves.
 
YATM: Do you see 'Monstro' as a 'tribute' to Jazz Funk?
RJM:  In a way… Although it’s definitely not a pastiche. It’s also not entirely jazz-funk - that term is used fairly loosely.
 
YATM: How did the link up with Miles Away happen?
RJM:  I’d recorded a few covers (things like Rupa, Ned Doheny, Universal Togetherness Band, etc) that I sent over to Dom via Insta DM. He asked if I had any originals, so I ended up writing four new tracks. We also picked the two strongest covers to include on the EP.

YATM:  And let's get this right, where is the cover picture taken as it doesn't look like Sheffield to me?
RJM:  It’s New York I think? I have no idea really – it’s a stock image by a photographer called Collis Torrington. It’s a cool photo. In the original, the car and the guy’s suit are both grey / brown but I utilised my limited Photoshop skills to turn them blue.
 
YATM:  Are you good mates with any of the city's movers and shakers like Franz Von (MCs for TC & The Groove Family) and Afro-fusion (K.O.G) and Sheffield resident, singer/songwriter Wolf Peaches? Do you know all these guys?
RJM:  I wish. You don’t get to meet many people when you make music on your own in your attic.
 
YATM:  What is the most important club in the city at the moment?
RJM:  I don’t know about most important… but there’s some cool stuff happening with things like Apricot Ballroom, Love to Dance & Gut Level. And Corporation of course.
 
YATM: Give us a run through of the Monstro EP?
RJM:  It’s six instrumental tracks taking inspiration from all sorts of stuff - jazz-funk, soul, disco, yacht rock, Afro-beat, library music, etc.
 
YATM:  Is there going to be a full length 18-minute version of Ayee Morshume-Reham Duniya?
RJM:  As soon as I learn how to play the sarod for that big solo section in the middle.
 
YATM:  So hard to believe the original came out in 1982.
RJM:  Mad it took 30-40 years for it to catch on.
 
YATM:  You’ve gone heavy on the 70s TV theme a little like the extremes of 'Heartacher' and  'Callisto Disco', what's your favourite TV theme from the era?

RJM:  Anything Keith Mansfield had a hand in. The Grandstand theme is a masterpiece (Ed. 'Grandstand' being a Saturday afternoon BBC TV Sports progamme).

YATM:  I bet you could do a wicked 'Hill Street Blues' - there's a little bit in Michael Miglio's ‘Never Gonna Let You Go?
RJM:  It’s a huge tune. Always wanted to do an album of TV theme covers but Matt Berry sort of beat me to it.

YATM:  Can you talk us through Bouquet Garni a little?
RJM:  It’s probably the most “jazz-funk” of all the tracks. Every song on the EP is built around a drum sample. There’s a website where you can buy multitrack files of various session drummers improvising different grooves. This one is Clyde Stubblefield I think. You can basically chop up / edit the loops and then mix the drums how you want (each session file has about 12 different mics). It’s great. Anyway, with this one I edited the full drum track before I’d written anything melodic, then wrote the song to the drums.
 
YATM:  Is there a launch party for the album release?
RJM: Yes, on Friday (16^th - release day) we’re throwing a party at Sidney & Matilda in Sheffield. I’ve got a band together and we’re playing all the songs live for the first time. Dom from Miles Away is DJing, and we’ll have some vinyl copies of the EP available.
 
YATM:  As we've just had International Jazz Day, I would say it is definitely worth checking the 'Head Hunters' album out again. 'Sly' sounds quite a bit like elements of 'Monstro'. Thoughts?
RJM: Yeah, Herbie was a big influence. Particularly the overall sound of things - the 70s synths, the dry drum production, the swirly electric pianos, etc.
 
YATM:  Do you still listen to the Head Hunters album from time to time? Do you find something new each time?
RJM: Yeah, love it. I love any album that is 40 minutes long and only 4 tracks.
 
YATM:  Would you recommend any other jazz-funk albums that we should check for International Jazz Day?
RJM:  I’ve been listening to ‘Complete Expressions Vol.2’ by Hysear Don Walker (Young Holt Trio) a lot - sort of laid back funky Fender Rhodes-led 70s grooves. And more towards the disco side of things, I really like Brian Bennet’s ‘Voyage (a Journey Into Discoid Funk)’. He played drums in The Shadows, wrote the theme music for BBC’s Rugby Special in the 80s and also made this mad space funk album.
 
YATM:  On the flip side, my mate turned up to do a jazz DJ set the other week in a big Starsky Cardy (that he tells me cost £300 from Australia) and it actually did look smart; is that something you are likely to see on the streets of Sheffield?
RJM:  I’m wearing a cardigan right now. Cardigans are back.

YATM:  Is there still Human League/ABC/Heaven 17/synth/keyboard/WARP appreciation community in Sheffield?
RJM:  There is in this house.
 
YATM:  So glad you sent the files off to Miles Away as this album definitely needs to be heard.
RJM:  Thanks, appreciate it.

If you can make Sidney & Matilda's on Friday, it's bound to be a great night (see flyer below) and if there's a 6 track 12" you can't do without this year, 'MONSTRO' (YATM review HERE)

BUY LINK: Rob J Madin - MONSTRO 12" EP (PRE-ORDER) | Miles Away Records

Artist:  Rob J. Madin

Title:Monstro

Release date: 16th May, 2025

Label: Miles Away Records

Cat. No: -

Format: Limited Edition LP Vinyl / digital / Bandcamp

Review: Rob J. Madin - Monstro (Miles Away Records)

Rob J. Madin sounds like a American Football player at an obsurve college in an equally obsure State, but this guy is no Nelson “Salty” Miller, as Miles Away Records release his album, the 6 track 'Monstro' that's a bit of a monster!

We already know from Nelson “Salty” Miller's debut solo album, 'Album #1 (see review HERE) that this label loves retro; just check out the cover to 'Monstro' (Ed. is that a still from a Robert De Niro movie?)

Not only that, Mr. Madin tells us, "I’ve been obsessed with the sounds of 70s jazz-funk since discovering Herbie Hancock’s 'Head Hunters' album as a teenager. I love that it seems to be having a resurgence of popularity through bands like Surprise Chef and BadBadNotGood, as well as some great reissues from labels like Miles Away. This EP is a nod to both the old and the new."

Not only that, this is incredible what Rob has done in his studio with him on guitars, bass, keyboards and percussion that's gives a particularly authentic and odd 70s meets library jazz-funk disco beats that Madlib/DJ Shadow would sell their granny for!

'Bouquet Garni' sounds like it should be the title theme for a detective cooking show but it's the lost Rockford Files meets Starsky & Hutch theme: lets get Coloumbo on the case!

Movin' to the dancefloor, there's the soul-funk 'Cherryade' that's sweat as 70s cola (with horns) and the 'big one', 'Callisto Disco' - see you on the islands for some organ vibe funk.

 

There's a couple of cover versions, Rupa's ‘Ayee Morshume-Reham Duniya’ (the monster track from 1982 'Disco Jazz' album that's been re-issued by Numero Group) and Michael Miglio's ‘Never Gonna Let You Go’ that's perfectly fit Madin's arrangement you'd think that they were originals; especially as the set ends with 'Heartacher' that's off-kilter MIglio-soul-funk.

This is so mad it could be a-issue on Trunk Records - hence, it's going to sell out fast; get on it and bring ya cardy.

CHECK OUT OUR INTERVIEW WITH ROB ABOUT THE ALBUM, SHEFFIELD AND OTHER STUFF HERE!

BUY LINK: Rob J Madin - MONSTRO 12" EP (PRE-ORDER) | Miles Away Records

Artist:  Rob J. Madin

Title:Monstro

Release date: 16th May, 2025

Label: Miles Away Records

Cat. No: -

Format: Limited Edition LP Vinyl / digital / Bandcamp

Review: Salty Miller – Album #1 (Miles Away Records)

Nelson “Salty” Miller's debut solo album had 12 tracks that the world had to hear, hence, 'Album #1'.

Not the most promising of titles or indeed album artwork, which is further compelled that's its released on a the Beach Music Records Of The Carolinas label in 1980 by the leader/founder of The Monzas, a Beach Music band from the 1960s coming outta the University of North Carolina!

But this is a back story to one of the must holy grails of leftfied Beach Rock that's forgot to buy a yacht: even Madlib, DJ Shadow, Mr Scruff or even a more ardent crate digger would give this one a wide bearth - "Salty Miller"!

So what is 'Beach Music'?  Well, this version is yacht, mixed with R&B pop-disco MOR on 70 miles of golden sand coastline where 'Music Makes Me High'.  Like a cheezy Little Feat mixed with Sutherland Bros. & Quiver on the East Coast thinking about a Floridian Balaerics.

Typically radio play length, the tracks are about girls/love/happiness/drinks and the like - it's horny rock for the sunshine radio gang.  'The Fox', 'She My Girl' are typical and hits the beach bar playlist.

Apparently, there was a beach music dance, 'The Shag'!  Careful if you're going search engine that one but Myrtle Beach seems like a hot spot for this kinda thing and there seems to be some simularities with the Belgium Popcorn scene in that 60s originals, a slowish groove and a dance with no particular dance code.

Are the Flying Mojito Bros the country end of Beach?  I could see them playing 'Drink'n Wine & Feel'n Fine', 'You're So Tough' (with very squeeky keyboard does it sound like a squeeze box), 'Happy Is The Word' and the rockin', 'Reach Out And Make Somebody Happy' with it's nod to the 80s with a jazz-funk bassline.

Even with the benefit of 'modern' technology, 'The Good Time Song' (featuring added bar room sound EFX), 'One More Time' (with seagulls sound EFX) it's hard to believe this wan't picked up by a major label for a release, there must have been a Radio WFMBM for 'Lik'n Leads To Lovin' and 'Jenny Sue' but perhaps 'Music Make Me High' was too short; I definitely prefer the longer Miles Away edit that's now available for advanced shag dancin' routines.

PS. well played for sticking with the original artwork.

BUY LINK:  Salty Miller Vinyl & CDs for sale - Juno Records

Artist:  Salty Miller

Title:Album #1

Release date: 2nd May, 2025

Label: Miles Away Records

Cat. No: -

Format: LP Vinyl / digital / Bandcamp