Mr President: The best is yet to come

While this wasn't Barack Obama's official campaign song, it really should have been.

I know I featured this song on the blog before, when it was released last year, but given the US election result there's certainly call for it to get an airing again.

I'm sure some broadcaster will use it for the soundtrack of a montage of scenes of the election night drama.

Mr President is a project by Bruno 'Patchworks' Hovart, exploring vintage funk and soul with an authenticity that belies his French origins.

Favourite Fecordings have release an EP collection of Patchwork's 12' extended remixes, and a compilation of material from the label Favourite All-Stars Vol 4 is released in December featuring the track Left and Right by Mr President.

Mr President: It's Christmas

A great festive tune by Mr President, released following his debut album Number One that came out earluer in 2011.

I already featured the great track The Best Is Yet To Come which was released as a single.

Mr President is a project from Patchworks, also known as Bruno Hovart, who has also worked under the names Uptown Funk Empire, The Dynamics and Metropolitan Jazz Affair.

It's Christmas, but with a great solid heavy funk flavour.

The song's been released in a limited edition by Favourite Recordingd in a suitably retro coloured vinyl seven inch.

The single is released on December 12.

Click on the link below to give it a listen on Soundcloud.

Mr President - It's Christmas Time

Commercial break: Mr Day - Food for Soul

A quick update today as it is the first of several bank holidays in the UK today, as well as the first day of actual proper decent weather...summer is on its way!

So I'm still listinging to some great funky stuff, and was surprised to hear that a track by Mr Day, produced by Patchworks (aka Mr President - see Vive le Roq blog entry from earlier this week) was used for a coffee advert.

The link is to the French version, but it was aired in the UK - although with a different voice over. Helpfully the French version reminds people to eat five portions of fruit or veg a day for health reasons. Well, coffee comes from beans - a vegetable - so I should be OK.

Of course, the French relationship with any kind of instant coffee is an ambiguous one. There are plenty of brands of decent ground coffee on sale in the supermarkets and shops, and most cafés wouldn't entertain the idea of instant, but someone in France is buying loads of the stuff as a visit to any supermarket shows.

The original version of the song is available to listen to here >

So if you need any encouragement to take a coffee break, here's a pretty good reason to get the kettle on.

New : Mr President - The Best is Yet to Come

Mr President is based in Lyon and the single The Best is Yet to Come comes from his first solo album Number One which was released on March 7 2011.

The track features featuring French artists Hawa and Mr Day.

It's a great slice of retro jazz funk that wouldn't sound out of place on the soundtrack of a '70s Blaxploitation flick. It's soul with a muscular edge, the kind of groove that James Brown or Curtis Mayfield would be proud of.

Mr President is the latest project from Patchworks, also known as Bruno Hovart, who has also worked under the names Uptown Funk Empire, The Dynamics and Metropolitan Jazz Affair.

He has been working as a producer since the mid 90s after playing bass in a number of bands, and has been working to capture the old school rawness of vintage soul using contemporary means.

I'd be very surprised if tracks like the Afrobeat tinged From North to South don't find themselves being used by film or TV producers wanting a flavour of that organic funk vibe.

Sharp-eyed viewers might notice that the video doesn't seem to be set in present-day Lyon...who knew the city looked so much like 70s New York? ;-)

Anyway, to mark the release, Mr President and his label Favourite Recordings have launched a remix competition for The Best is Yet to Come. The three winning remixes will be released as a digital EP by the company. Get more details from the record company's website >