Mestizo Beat - Featherbed Lane (2018)

They say when you have something that isn’t broke, you shouldn’t try to fix it. That is the case with these slew of releases streaming out of the Colemine Records camp. 2018 is moving along lovely for the Midwest spark plug of a label who has found the right mixture of oil and gas to keep the winning engine revving high and far ahead of the pack. Not to say that there are not good records on good labels out there. We are saying that Colemine have consistently come up with winners every time for over ten years. Not many doing that besides the stalwarts that started this new funk and soul revolution 20+ years ago. Next up to the starting line are the Los Angeles based collective Mestizo Beat. Formed by their lead guitarist Aquiles “Lito” Magaña with his brother Gus Magaña on drums, their “music for the people”, influenced by the early 1970’s blends afro-beat, funk, soul, and afro-cuban grooves. Within their music you hear bands like War, Parliament, The JB’s, The Meters, and more. Spreading their message of unity and peace through their music, they take their diverse backgrounds to diverse audiences and call them all their family. Through our differences, we can come together through music, on wax, as well as live. They are lifting minds and moving people on the dance floor. Their debut 45 from Colemine is “Featherbird Lane”. A cover of the great Mongo Santamaria, the record does not just light the dance floor up, but lights the entire venue on fire. You don’t just feel the music, you feel the culture as well. Colemine for the win once again. (How many times have we said that?) Have a listen to the track below, and pre-order after the stream. We need more bands like Mestizo Beat in our lives, wouldn’t you agree?