V4 Visions set sail in 1990 with a consciousness-raising rap 12" indebted to
Big Daddy Kane and
Public Enemy. Over the next four years, the London-based label specialized in street soul -- mixing progressive R&B with lovers rock reggae, house, and some jungle -- issuing around a dozen twelves and exactly two compilations. Rooted in the eclectic Black British musical subculture that gave rise to sound systems and groups like
Soul II Soul and
Massive Attack,
V4 Visions stayed strictly underground. Like
Smith & Mighty's Bristol-based
Three Stripe,
V4 were producer-driven rather than band-oriented, inspired by the reflective house music of
Larry Heard and
the Burrell Brothers and even more so by new jack swing leaders such as originator
Teddy Riley,
Kyle West, and
Dave "Jam" Hall. At the same time,
V4 were vastly different from -- if cousins of --
Acid Jazz and
Talkin' Loud, U.K. imprints home to bands educated by the Britfunk and rare groove scenes.
Numero's
V4 Visions: Of Love & Androids is an 18-track overview that follows 2020-2021 digital reissues of select singles and the 1991 compilation
Things 2 Come. (The download version of this set unfortunately doesn't include a copy of the booklet, which contains liner notes from
Simon Reynolds.) Tunes by the sparkling
Maureen Mason and robust vocal group
the Wades respectively recall
Mary J. Blige and
LeVert.
Alex Palmer, under the name
Insight, serves up dubby deep house with his own remix of "Fantasy," voiced by the impassioned and rather
Robert Owens-like
Ashaye (who hit the U.K. chart in 1983 with "Michael Jackson Medley"). Both "Fantasy [Insight Mix]" and the other
Insight track, the comparatively swinging "Paradise [Para Dub]," were actually released on U.S. house stronghold
Strictly Rhythm. The cuts that truly couldn't have been created or issued by anyone other than Brits leave even deeper impressions. Two prime examples are from singer/songwriter
Julie Stapleton. First, there's the tear-stained roller "Where's Your Love Gone," an atmospheric house and lovers rock meld produced by co-writer
Palmer and fellow
V4 Visions production crew members
Nick Austin and
Chris Forbes. (
Kylie Minogue covered it as "Where Has the Love Gone.") Almost completely different,
Stapleton's "All the Way [Guitar Mix]," featuring
Ashaye on secondary vocals, is shivery folk-soul that could be updated by
Jessie Ware and
Sampha. Among the most advanced material is "Joy in the Jungle," a rugged breaks throttler from one-off
Jungle Biznizz that expels almost as much primal energy as better-known 1992 classics like
LTJ Bukem's "Demon's Theme" and
World 2 World's "Amazon." Altogether, this is some of
Numero's most necessary excavation work. ~ Andy Kellman
![Rhythm Nation 1814 [Silver 2 LP]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0602577650543_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Rhythm Nation 1814 [Silver 2 LP]")
