Posted on 06/02/2009
The Southport Weekender is an annual festival that is dedicated to honoring any and every type of soul music. This can span anywhere from classic soul to neo-soul; Issac Hayes to D’Angelo. When these yearly festivals happen, there is always a featured DJ (or DJs) to host the event. In this case, Ashley Beedle and King Brit had the privilege of blessing us with the Southport Weekender Vol. 8, a compilation of different music featured throughout the event.

Ashley Beedles starts us off with plenty of rare, unheard gems on Disc 1. In terms of one steady style of music, you won’t find it here; there are a wide variety of different tunes and sub-genres of soul. “Walk On By” by the Dells gets the party started, and it continues throughout the CD. Ashley skillfully remixes several tracks on the CD, including a pleasantly surprising remix of “I Can’t Turn Around” by Issac Hayes. Other standout tracks include “Height” (a track by Ashley himself), “Enjoy The Ride” by X Press 2 and “I’ll Do Anything” by Lee McDonald.

Disc 2, helmed by King Brit, features more of a jazzy and contemporary type of vibe. Brit’s remix of Zaki Ibrahim’s “Money” starts the CD off with a Latin flair is followed nicely by Brit’s rendition of Edwin Starr’s “King.” Latin percussion and house-styled music reign supreme on this disc and the tone never wavers throughout. King Brit’s remix of Ursula Rucker “Electric Santeria” is one of his better renditions out of the bunch.

For anyone that’s a fan of the European festival or just a fan of unique and diverse music, this compilation definitely won’t disappoint. To get a true indication of the music played throughout this yearly event, Southport Weekender Vol. 8 is the next best thing if you can’t venture to the festival.

- M. Antonio Silas