Soul — All Formats  

Righteous soul, but with a wicked groove too – a killer set from Aquarian Dream, made even better by some great Norman Connors production! In a way, Aquarian Dream were to Norman Connors what Ramp were to Roy Ayers – in that the group wasn't really that dominated by Connors, but they did benefit a lot from his groundbreaking work in the jazz funk field – getting a level of sophistication in their sound that's really wonderful – and mixed with almost equal parts soul, funk, and jazz in the instrumentation! Vocals are often in a harmony mode – again in the manner of Ramp – and there's a classy yet cosmic sound to the record that we totally love. (And there's also one more Roy Ayers-like connection in the vocal department – since the group features Sylvia Striplin, who later recorded for Roy's Uno Melodic label!) The album's got a number of nice groovers with a strongly off-beat sound – and titles include "Friends", "It Ain't Whatcha Say", "You're A Star", "Play It For Me", and "Gentle Thoughts".

A seminal bit of Latin funk from the Bay Area scene of the early 70s – the second album from Malo, and an even harder-hitting jam session than the first! The group are really in top form here – taking off with Santana-inspired riffs that are filled with heavy percussion, soaring organ, and guitar from Carlos' brother Jorge – all matched by some incredible horn work from trumpeter Forrest Bachtel and a young Hadley Caliman – sounding especially great here before his solo years as a jazz artist! The legendary Francisco Aguabella is on conga, and tracks include "Momolombo", "Oye Mama", "I'm For Real", "Midnight Thoughts", "Hela", and "Latin Bugaloo".

A great later sleeper from Brian Auger – a record that's much deeper and more soulful than some of his earlier work – and done in a soaring style that's really great! Alex Lighterwood sings as much as Auger plays the keys here, but that's ok with us – because he fuses his voice very nicely with organ, electric piano, and moog – creating a spacily soulful quality that's produced with a nice flanged-out style! Some tracks are funky, others are more laidback – and the set's a great illustration of how far Auger had come in just a few years. Titles include the spacey "Thoughts From Afar", the fast-jamming "The Big Yin", a Latin-tinged instrumental "Something Out Of Nothing", plus "Future Pilot" and "Brain Damage".

Hard Philly soul from the hands of Wally O – aka Wally Osborne, one of the the best independent producers working in Philly during the late 60s. This set of 22 tracks digs through some of Wally's best work – mostly male group sides, done in a mixture of styles that includes uptempo groovers and sweet harmony ballads – and all either issued as rare singles on labels like Toxsan or Womar, or never issued at all, and appearing for the first time on this CD. The harmony tracks are incredible – the kind of late night slow tracks that always send us scrambling for the liner notes to see who's blowing our mind – and overall, the quality of work on this CD matches the best of any of our other sweet soul or harmony classic titles. Tracks include "Dear One", "A Nicer Girl", and "Tears Tell The Story" by The Topics; "I'm So Glad", "Tell Me So", and "I Found True Love" by Herb Johnson & The Impacts; "Kisses & Roses" and "When I'm With You" by The Four Thoughts; "You Can't Have Your Cake" and "I Wish I Knew" by Bobby Holland; "Without You Babe" and "Cold Cold Love" by Jeri & Joe; "Cement Plaster & Gold" by The Natural Soul Brothers; "It Wasn't A Lie" by Topaz; and "My Life Depends On You" by The Passionettes.