Various Artists - Luke Una Presents E Soul Cultura Vol.3 *Pre-Order

With two deeply cherished compilations already in the bag, Luke Una steps up
for the third volume in his E Soul Cultura series on Mr Bongo
A love letter to the dancefloor and its power to unite people from all corners of society
amid growing division and extremist politics. Genre-spanning in nature, the 15 tracks
travel between cosmic soul, boogie, proto- house, slo- mo technoid grooves, drum
machine afro, astral bass-bugging futurism, jazz funk, dance, and disco. Each having
the ability to move the body as much as the heart.
From his formative years in Sheffield to co- founding Manchester's much- fabled
Electric Chair with Justin Crawford, through to helming the iconic LGBTQ institutions
of Homoelectric / Homobloc, Luke has spent 40 years immersed in dance music. His
latest outlet, E Soul Cultura, has grown from a label to a globe-spanning events series
with Luke holding residencies and embarking on tours across the world from Japan
and Australia to America and Europe. "For me, the dancefloor was never about a onedimensional, thudding, 130 BPM beat only. It's a much more dynamic, broader vision
than that. I cut my teeth in an era where a 100 BPM record had as much impact,
excitement, and energy as a 134 BPM dancefloor jazz funk or techno record", Luke
mentions. E Soul Cultura Volume 3 is the perfect embodiment of that notion: "It's
about four decades in the trenches playing dance music, the late- night afters, the
shebeens, the basements, warehouse parties, the eight-hour journeys in East London,
through to festival sets at Houghton and We Out Here. It's music unconstrained by
genre or tempo and more about making your body move".
But this isn't simply a collection of disparate dance tracks; they carry meaning and
soul. "It's less about escapism, more about reconnection. My experience of post-covid
has been the coming together of all the clans in various clubs and gatherings. A
reaction to a very toxic world out there, where the aggro rhythms of division have
sought to divide us, and people don't meet as often. The coming back together faceto-face in clubs has encouraged a real love in the air, there's a real togetherness and
collective spirit".
Opening up the compilation is a track that channels that very message, the
transcendental, soul-rousing Harris & Orr 'Spread Love'. Joining the dots from there, to
the low- slung deep house closer of Fatdog 'Remember', you'll find electronic drum
machine Nigerian funk, sitting side by side with dancefloor Cape Verdean brilliance, a
post- punk cover of Fela Kuti, rubbing shoulders with cosmic electro, and an Unachampioned, 8-minute, kickless DJ Harvey remix.
There's jazz funk in various guises moving from boogie synth to astral travelling, slomo acidic raw techno, and a '79 soul stepper, alongside swirling percussive Italo disco
and tribal-charged house. All infused with an innate ability to bring people together. As
society becomes increasingly fractured, E Soul Cultura Volume 3's message is more
than movement. It's about dance music's power to unify people from all walks of life
and break down the barriers that divide us.

Tracks: Harris & Orr - Spread Love / Terry And Deep South - Trying To Get By /
Toshiyuki Honda - Burnin' Waves / Igna Igwebuike - Disco Bomp / Janette Renee -
What's On Your Mind (Super Club Remix) / Grupo Serenata - Sodade, Tem Pena
D'Mim / Vital Disorders - Zombie / Alphonsus Idigo - Flight 505 / DJ Food - Peace
(Harvey's 30 Something Mix) / Man Jumping - In The Jungle / Stars - Dancin' People /
Gaucho - Dance forever (Club Version) / 49th Floor - Night Passage (Bongo Mix) /
Orion Agassi - Desacato / Fatdog - Remember (Ft. CJ Raine)