The combination of angel-voiced New Yorker Joyce Sims’ crystalline pop-soul melodies and KurtisMantronik’s groundbreaking forays into feeding hiphop into the new technology to emerge with electro-funk proved a marriage made in heaven, creating UK hits like ‘All And All’ and ‘Come Into My Life’, which still resonate as immortal club classics. Together with MC Tee as Mantronix, the producer had already scored in 1985 with ‘Fresh Is The Word’ on Sleeping Bag Records, the label started by Arthur Russell and Will Socolov. He hitched up with songwriter Joyce the following year and became her producer for the label, going on to enjoy success for the next three years. Compiled and annotated by writer Charles Waring, the two CDs provide a comprehensive account of a career which really should have gone on longer as Joyce wrote her own songs, although she returned this decade. The two biggies are obviously here, accompanied by other singles like ‘Lifetime Love’, ‘Walk Away’ and ‘Looking For A Love’, plus tracks from her two albums, Come Into My Life and All About Love, which show she also had a disarming way with finger-clicking New York ballads like ‘[I’m Back] I Love You More]’. CD2 features extended club mixes, including early house outings and Steinski-style mega-mixing. Superb.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Kris Needs
