Roy Porter Sound Machine - Inner Feelings (2007 Japan Edition)

Four years after his remarkable private-press release Jessica, Roy Porter resurfaced with Inner Feelings, which updates and expands the wonderfully eccentric jazz-funk sensibilities of its predecessor via deeper, harder-hitting grooves, more ambitious arrangements and even vocals. The sheer soulfulness of Porter's drumming never fails to astound, and while his rhythms and melodies possess an interior logic solely their own, the music is undeniably funky, complete with moments of otherworldly beauty. And though Porter isn't much of a singer in the conventional sense, the urgency and passion of his performance makes up for his technical flaws. The title Inner Feelings may be a bit hokey, but this is clearly the art of a man desperate to articulate his perspective on the world around him. Long traded for obscene sums on the secondary market, Inner Feelings was finally reissued on CD in late 2006.