Funky Compilations — All Formats  

Groovy tunes with a heavy soundtrack bounce – all great numbers lifted from older Italian scores, plus a few other tunes by recent Italian groups who have a definite retro groove! The feel is great – with lots of organ, bouncy drums, and weird little sounds, all humming some hip grooves that sound very very fresh to our ears. Beat, shake, and jerk tunes abound – and many of these numbers are making their first appearance ever on CD, too! Titles include "Laila Laila" by Ennio Morricone, "Gimme Time" by Sante Maria Romitelli, "Psycho Sitar" by Magnetic 4, "I Was A Yeh Yeh Girl" by Doing Time, "I Giovani Tigri" by Piero Piccioni, "Roma Bene" by Luis Bacalov, "Quand Ero Un Bebe" by Vip 2000, "Il Tallone Di Achille" by Franco De Masi, and "Il Divorzio" by Fred Buongusto.

Nice one! 14 tight independent hip hop joints all with the crisp, soulful vibe that's Spinna's hallmark, even if he didn't produce all of them, though he was responsible for many. As with some other popular compilation/mix series you get one disc of the tracks in their full versions, unmixed, and another with Spinna getting to work on the 1's and 2's for a continuous set that flows like hot butter over popcorn. Spinna's deep hip hop roots show through nicely with tracks by the Jigmastas and 7L & Esoteric saddling up next to nice instrumentals by Spinna himself as well as 88 Keys and Kingsize. With "Lyrical Fluctuation 2000 (Spinna mix)" by the Jigmastas, "3ree6ix5ive" by Old World Disorder, "Take A Look" by the Domecrackers, "Across The Globe" by the Jay I Geez, "Precision" by Kingsize and 9 more slices of underground niceness to keep your head boppin', packaged beautifully in a really nice foldout cardboard sleeve in a slipcase!

Excellent funky and groovy tracks pulled from the catalog of the legendary Cinevox Records – home to some of Italy's greatest soundtrack work of the 60s and 70s! Sure, we've had some of the label's great stuff on single CDs – but this set pulls from a lot of soundtracks that haven't been reissued yet, and also includes a number of tracks that were never issued before at all! There's plenty of funky drums, fuzzy guitars, groovy organ, and lots of other nice bits in the set's 16 tracks – and the overall sound is a nice departure from some of the other Italian compilations. Titles include "Unknit" by Carlo Rustichelli, "2968" by Carlo Savina, "Up To Date" by Fred Bongusto, "5 Bambole Per La Luna D'Agosto" by Piero Umiliani, "Milano Rhythm & Blues" by Gianni Ferrio, "Serata Al Night" by Guido De Angelis, and "Il Dopolotta" by Piero Piccioni.

Fab and groovy! The Cinevox label was home to some of the swinginest soundtrack music to come out of Italy in the 60s and 70s – but lots of it's been buried for years, or relegated to pricey Japanese-only reissues. This set does a great job of correcting that problem – by sampling some of the greatest grooves from the legendary label, serving them up in a very strong 16 track set that's filled with loads of wonderful moments that you won't find elsewhere! Tracks include "Diamonds" by Franco Bixio, "Quicksilver (new edit)" by Giorgio Gaslini, "Car Chase At Margellina" by Guido e Maurizio De Angelis, "Fai Presto" by Gianni Ferrio, "Blue Rhythm Festival (new edit)" by Piero Piccioni, "Crazy Sax" by Augusto Martelli, and "Break" by Franco Bixio.

We don't know if this music actually "started" the Italian Lounge scene – because Italy's always been pretty darn loungey to us – but we can say that the package is a great batch of groovy soundtrack tunes, as sparkling musically as the cover is visually! The set pulls together 15 tracks from obscure 60s and 70s soundtracks – featuring work from some of Italy's hipper composers, and focusing on tunes of theirs with an upbeat, bouncy, mod 60s kind of approach! Titles include "Beirut Shake" by Luis Bacalov, "Love War Call" by Piero Piccioni, "Big Doll Shake" by Luis Bacalov, "Inchiesta (new edit)" by Bertio Pisano, "Party Mood" by Armando Trovajoli, and "Seven Times Seven" by The Casuals.

Fuzzed-out groovy 60s tunes – very mod, hip, and out of this world! These tasty little gems are pulled from obscure Italian soundtracks – very nicely collected in this fab package, with an ear-popping sound that includes great work on organ, guitars, electric harpsichord, and other instrumentation just right for coming up with a Blow Up party mood! Titles include "Discoteque Party" by Piero Umiliani, "Franco Nero Shake (new edit)" by Fred Bongusto, "Catherine Spaak Shake (new edit)" by Armando Trovajoli, "Easy Dreamer" by Piero Piccioni, "I Baronetti" by Alessandro Alessandroni, "Gaby Shake" by Nico Fidenco, and "Black Sheep Shake" by Luis Bacalov.

Beautiful bossa from the vaults of Brazil's Elenco Records – warm, breezy treasures from the heart of the 60s with numbers by legendary singers and groups such as Edo Lobo, Quarteto Me Cy, Nara Leao, Baden Powell, MPB-4 and more! The independent Elenco label was founded in Rio in 1963 and aimed to bring the biggest names in bossa together under one roof. The label not only succeeded in that effort, but the artists brought out some of their best performances! Soul Jazz not only puts together essential material – compiled by Stuart Baker, who also contributes the exceptional sleeve notes – they manage to outdo themselves, which is honestly an incredible thing, considering that every compilation they put out is filled with treasures. The booklet features Baker's notes, some photos of the artists, and some original Elenco album cover art – the latter of which is nicely paid tribute to with Soul Jazz's own packaging for the set. 23 tracks in all: "Resolucao" by Edu Lobo w/Tamba Trio, "Consolocao" by Baden Powell, "O Canto De Ossanha" by Quarteto Em Cy, "Zanzibar" by Edu Lobo, "Maria Moita" by Nara Leo, "Enquanto A Tristesse Nao Vem" by Sergio Ricardo, "Negro" by Lucio Alves, "Sentinela" by MPB-4 and more.

Hip hop, street soul, and lots lots more – a really revolutionary selection of music from the legendary Celluloid Records – a label that was virtually a genre unto itself! Celluloid was a key force tying together the New York downtown scene at the start of the 80s, and the postcolonial music world of Paris – and as a result, they always operated with a culture-crossing style that few other companies of the time managed to hit – merging together sounds in really unlikely ways, and often coming up with fresh new styles in the process! The label's known for crate-diggers for its hip hop releases – and to world music fans for its electric Africa work – but they also were on the forefront of New York No Wave, avant jazz, and post-punk – and somehow found a way to integrate both young new talents, and older experimentalists who still had plenty to offer. This package finally does Celluloid justice – and goes way past the few simplistic comps of the label's work over the years – training the skilled Strut ear to the whole thing, and also serving up the full story of the label in the process. Titles include "I'm The One" by Material, "Day Tripper" by Shockabilly, "Tele Apres La Meteo" by Fredinand, "Disco Rough (long version)" by Mathematiques Modernes, "Electrique Sylvie (full length version)" by Modern Guy, "Mean Machine Chant/Mean Machine" by Last Poets, "Abele Dance ('85 rmx)" by Manu Dibango, "Change The Beat (French & English)" by Fab 5 Freddy, "The Escapades Of Futura 2000" by Futura 2000 with The Clash, and "Downing Street Rock" by Winston Edwards & Blackbeard. 26 tracks in all!

A funky mod party throughout – and a wicked package of grooves we would have never tracked down on our own! The folks at London's New Untouchables have selected 25 of their favorite fuzzed-out 60s numbers for this set – a genre-busting batch of tracks that swings together mod jazz, sunshine pop, 60s R&B, French funk, British beat, and a host of other styles – all in the endless pursuit of a tripped-out 60s groove! The package is as wonderful as you might hope – and comes complete with some nice notes on the well-chosen batch of trippy tracks. Titles include "Nowhere To Run" by Les Lionceaux, "Mary Mary" by The Strangers, "You'd Better Be Going Now" by Zoot, "Hard Headed Baby" by Driftin 5, "Going Going Gone" by Phil Wainman, "I Think I'm A Man" by Chopper, "Hey Hey Bunny" by Los Gatos Negros, "Billy Sunshine" by Judi Scott, "Hip Hip Hurray" by The Snap Shots, "Mess Around" by Marmalade, "No No No" by Ola & The Janglers, "All You" by Sonny Burke Quartet, and "Easy To Know" by Gentle Influence.

Funky mod grooves galore – and a sublime second set in the Le Beat Bespoke series! This one is even better than the first – and seems to dig even deeper in the crates to come up with a range of rare singles from around the globe – all dripping with heavy drums, fuzzy guitars, and sweet sweet Hammond organ work! Many numbers have vocals, and most are from the rockish side of the spectrum – but they've all got a romping, grooving bottom end that more than makes them a little bit funky – usually in a groove that's way different than the sort you'd find on other funky compilations! The notes are great, the tracks are amazing, and the CD's one of the freshest funky sets to hit our racks in a long long time. CD features 20 titles that include "Madeline" by Dick Turpin, "Dude" by Poppys Haunted House, "Springtime" by Jimmy Thomas, "One Two Boogaloo" by The Light Nites, "Little Louise" by Shere Khan, "I Found You" by The Tops, "You Know He Did" by Mary McCarthy, "Rouge Rouge" by Christie Luame, "Truth In My Tears" by Louisa Jane White, "Berlin" by Heidi Bruhl, and "Run Shaker Life" by Paul Nicholas.

Raw mod and gritty funk rock grooves from team Le Beat Bespoke – the fourth set in the series – bubblegum garage, fuzzed out pop, funky percussion and wailing organs – this just might be the best in the series to date! Compiler Rob Bailey out does himself here, once again digging deep for obscure mod singles, groovy slabs of garage rock, with a few left turns such as a heavy Latin gem and a more psych-steeped number or two – propulsive, exciting numbers regardless of genre affections and fiery dancefloor ready rock tunes all the way! 20 tailor made cuts on the CD – a brief notes on each tune, all of which are exciting and groovy as can be! Titles include "Voodoo Medicine Man" by Jerry & Jeff, "False Alarm Love" by Peaceful Coalition, "Eg Veit Ao Pu Kemar" by Trubrat, "Feelin" by Joy Unlimited, "No Thank You Mr Pusher" by Big Tom, "King Of Siam" by East Of Eden", "Comin On Down" by The Twilights and more.

Mellow soul heaven – and one of the greatest compilations of this style we've ever heard! This is exactly the kind of laidback, tripped-out soul we totally love – a host of rare ballads and love songs pulled from the 45 underground of the late 60s and early 70s – sometimes by groups who are better known for funky tracks, other times by overlooked harmony groups and solo singers who rival the greatness of east coast artists like The Moments or Whatnauts! And while the music is totally great on its own – the sort we're usually content to have someone slip us on a dodgy CD – the whole package is even more incredible – a huge 80 page book that features loads of photos, record images, and notes on these obscure giants – really a Numero-level sort of presentation for these amazing tracks. Titles include "I Don't Think I'll Ever Love Another" by Darling Dears, "Slippin Around" by Thomas East, "Since You've Been Gone" by Little Janice, "Love" by Black Conspirators, "What Am I Waiting For" by Black Exotics, "Who Do You Think You're Fooling (part 1)" by Symphonic Four, "I'll Find A True Love" by Lee Bonds, "Young Girl" by Jazzie Cazzie & The Eight Sounds, and "Is It Me You Really Love" by Black Velvet. A really great 2LP package, too, with the book housed nicely in the center!

Groovy, moddish, magnificent and sunny girl pop from The Land Of The Rising Sun – pummeling drums, jumping arrangements and groovy vocals from the mid-to-late 60s Japanese scene! This is fantastic stuff, any kitch or novelty appeal you might be expecting is kind of muted by the exceptional quality and excellent performances – but it is flat out fun! As the title states, strains of pop, beat & bossa – plus mod & psychedelic fuzz – and the vocals girl group vocals are bright, rocking, playful or sultry or innocent depending on the groove! 25 tracks in all: "Black Room by Jun Mayuzumi, Sharock No 1" by Mie Nakao, "Nagisa No Tenshi" by Mieko Hirota, "Hatsu Koi No Letter" by Miki Obata, "Bazazz Tengoku" by The Cupids, "Aeba Suki Suki" by Margaret With Bunnys, "Nukui Aitsu" by Mika Nohira, "Kiiro No Sekai" by J Girls and more.

Hip hop, street soul, and lots lots more – a really revolutionary selection of music from the legendary Celluloid Records – a label that was virtually a genre unto itself! Celluloid was a key force tying together the New York downtown scene at the start of the 80s, and the postcolonial music world of Paris – and as a result, they always operated with a culture-crossing style that few other companies of the time managed to hit – merging together sounds in really unlikely ways, and often coming up with fresh new styles in the process! The label's known for crate-diggers for its hip hop releases – and to world music fans for its electric Africa work – but they also were on the forefront of New York No Wave, avant jazz, and post-punk – and somehow found a way to integrate both young new talents, and older experimentalists who still had plenty to offer. This package finally does Celluloid justice – and goes way past the few simplistic comps of the label's work over the years – training the skilled Strut ear to the whole thing, and also serving up the full story of the label in the process. Titles include "I'm The One" by Material, "Day Tripper" by Shockabilly, "Tele Apres La Meteo" by Fredinand, "Disco Rough (long version)" by Mathematiques Modernes, "Electrique Sylvie (full length version)" by Modern Guy, "Mean Machine Chant/Mean Machine" by Last Poets, "Abele Dance ('85 rmx)" by Manu Dibango, "Change The Beat (French & English)" by Fab 5 Freddy, "The Escapades Of Futura 2000" by Futura 2000 with The Clash, and "Downing Street Rock" by Winston Edwards & Blackbeard.

Groovy, moddish, magnificent and sunny girl pop from The Land Of The Rising Sun – pummeling drums, jumping arrangements and groovy vocals from the mid-to-late 60s Japanese scene! This is fantastic stuff, any kitch or novelty appeal you might be expecting is kind of muted by the exceptional quality and excellent performances – but it is flat out fun! As the title states, strains of pop, beat & bossa – plus mod & psychedelic fuzz – and the vocals girl group vocals are bright, rocking, playful or sultry or innocent depending on the groove! 25 tracks in all: "Black Room by Jun Mayuzumi, Sharock No 1" by Mie Nakao, "Nagisa No Tenshi" by Mieko Hirota, "Hatsu Koi No Letter" by Miki Obata, "Bazazz Tengoku" by The Cupids, "Aeba Suki Suki" by Margaret With Bunnys, "Nukui Aitsu" by Mika Nohira, "Kiiro No Sekai" by J Girls and more.

An amazing package – filled with loads of rare gems – all vintage vinyl nuggets from the enormous collection of The Cramps! Lux Interior and Poison Ivy are legendary record collectors – and have been digging in thrift stores, warehouses, and basements for many decades – filling a love of music that even predates the formation of their famous group – and which went onto inform the sounds they made on their own! Given that the duo were out there digging for many years before the rest of us, they've definitely gotten their hands on some amazing gems over the years – a good number of which are presented here in an ultra-cool 10" vinyl package – subtitled in ways that really give you an idea of the sounds – "ghoulish exotica", "lip-curling rock n roll", "crazy mixed up sounds", and "instrumental madness". Titles include "The Cave" by Gary Spider Webb, "Wild Man Walk" by The Ebonettes, "Mashed Potatoes" by Noble Watts, "Unitar Rock" by Willie Joe & His Unitar, "Jibba Jab" by Tic & Toc, "From The Top Of Your Guggle" by The Five Blobs, "Gang War" by Gene Maltais, "Sugar Doll" by Johnny Jay, "Bongo Beatin Beatnik" by Joe Hall & The Corvettes, and "Dragon Walk" by The Noblemen.

Raw soul, heavy funk, snotty rock, and raucous R&B – all pulled from the legendary record collection of Lux Interior and Poison Ivy! The sounds here are the sorts that went onto form the blueprint for The Cramps – and the package is overflowing with rare gems that are hand-picked by the pair – the kind of underground, indie singles that have always made record-digging so great – plucked up by Lux and Ivy in the years before most of us even started searching for wax! The cool 10" set features two dozen tunes – and titles include "Drive Daddy Drive" by Little Sylvia, "Stormy Weather" by The Five Sharps, "Rock A Bongo Boogie" by Terry Snyder, "Red Headed Flea" by The Caps, "Chickie Run" by Homer Denison Jr, "99 Chicks" by Ron Haydock & The Boppers, "Baby Brother" by Bill Carter & The Rovin Gamblers, "Service With A Smile" by The Kuf-Linx, "Imagination" by The Quotations, "Tongue Tied" by Betty McQuade, and "The Vulture" by Ronny Ray's Playboys.

Blearly-eyed bebop, smoky nightclub jazz from the weary hours, and boozy beat sounds from the early 60s on this no frills, but fun compilation – bits by Frosty & The Diamonds, Slim Galliard, Coleman Hawkins, Ada Moore, Moondog, Elle Girl & 7 Beat Sulks, Gil Melle, Kenneth Rexroth and others! It's a diverse roster, but the style flows pretty consistently and and definitely get the mood across! Includes "Destination Mars" by Frosty & The Diamonds, "The Gears" by Gil Melle, "Cockroach" by Jack Kerouac, "Go Go Kitty" by The New Bangs, "Like" by Jack Hammer, "State & 32nd" by Kenneth Rexroth and more. 25 tracks on the CD.

A cool collection of offbeat and exotic jazz tunes – mostly late 50s numbers, and a really wonderful blend of vocal and instrumental numbers too! A few tracks feature spoken poetry – hence the "Beat Jazz" title – but the overall vibe of the record goes way past any beatnik cliches you might expect – and really has a sensitive full scope of the kind of hip underground sounds that were brimming up in the American underground of the postwar years! Titles include "The Hip Men" by Amus Moore, "Let Me Out" by Kenyon Hopkins, "Snake Hips" by Johnny Lewis Trio, "Mama's Place" by Bing Day, "Shock Treatment" by Mel Henke, "Desdemona's Lament" by Joya Sherril, "Sneaking" by Muhamed Habeebalah, and "Green Gin" by Ernie Andrews.

Fuzzed-out groovy 60s tunes – very mod, hip, and out of this world! These tasty little gems are pulled from obscure Italian soundtracks – very nicely collected in this fab package, with an ear-popping sound that includes great work on organ, guitars, electric harpsichord, and other instrumentation just right for coming up with a Blow Up party mood! Titles include "Discoteque Party" by Piero Umiliani, "Franco Nero Shake (new edit)" by Fred Bongusto, "Catherine Spaak Shake (new edit)" by Armando Trovajoli, "Easy Dreamer" by Piero Piccioni, "I Baronetti" by Alessandro Alessandroni, "Gaby Shake" by Nico Fidenco, and "Black Sheep Shake" by Luis Bacalov.

Mindblowing work from the Italian soundtrack scene of the 60s and 70s – a true treasure of tracks that more than lives up to the "psycho beat" promise of its title! The tunes are a heady brew of tripped-out styles – floating organ, slinking bass, stepping strings, fuzzy guitar, and bumping drums – all in a space that's just the right place between funky and easy – with a sublime kind of sound that's unlike anything else we can think of! If you've only ever dug funky groovers from the Anglo side of the spectrum, this is the kind of record that will definitely open up your ears – and even though the collection's an old one, it's still one of the best illustrations around of the genius of Italy at the time! Titles include "Fotomodelle" by Piero Umiliani, "Red Face" by Barigozzi Group, "Shake Psycho" by Mario Molino, "Schegge" by Lesiman, "Rapimento In Sicilia" by Nino De Luca, "Essere Donna" by Piero Umiliani, "L'Appartamento Vuoto" by Gianni Ferrio, "La Fine Di Cobb" by Stelvio Cipriani, and "Hurricane" by Cesco Anselmo.

The bikini beat is a great one here – no simple beach music classics, but a range of mod groovers from the classic years of the Italian soundtrack scene! This volume is heavy on electric elements – fuzzy guitars, keyboards, and more – all filtered nicely through a range of rhythms from the 60s and the 70s – bossa, jazzy, and funky – filled with amazing twists and turns throughout! The double-length collection is a treasure through and through – easily one of the greatest soundtrack sets we could have hoped for. Tracks include "Teresa L'Illusa" by Riz Ortolani, "Malizie Di Venere" by Gianpiero Reverberi, "Spy Chase" by Bruno Nicolai, "Airport Rock" by Barigozzi Group, "Shake 2000" by Piero Piccioni, "Amanda Blues" by Gianni Ferrio, "Un Detective" by Fred Bongusto, "Katmandu" by Piero Piccioni, "Theme" by Armando Trovajoli, and "La Bambolona" by Luis Bacalov.

The Sitar Beat crew have done it again – and come up with a great selection of classic funky Indian tunes! The package is lean on notes – and doesn't even have a proper cover – but it more than makes up for that loss with a great batch of tracks lifted right out of the brownsploitation era! The set's got 4 core tracks – "Orchestral Music" by Raghunath Seth, "Aa Dekhen Jara" by RD Burman & Asha Bhosle, "Soul Sitar" by Sohail Rana, and "Dancing Drums" by Ananda Shankhar – plus 2 more bonus beat sitar cuts!

Mellow soul heaven – and one of the greatest compilations of this style we've ever heard! This is exactly the kind of laidback, tripped-out soul we totally love – a host of rare ballads and love songs pulled from the 45 underground of the late 60s and early 70s – sometimes by groups who are better known for funky tracks, other times by overlooked harmony groups and solo singers who rival the greatness of east coast artists like The Moments or Whatnauts! And while the music is totally great on its own – the sort we're usually content to have someone slip us on a dodgy CD – the whole package is even more incredible – a huge 80 page book that features loads of photos, record images, and notes on these obscure giants – really a Numero-level sort of presentation for these amazing tracks. Titles include "I Don't Think I'll Ever Love Another" by Darling Dears, "Slippin Around" by Thomas East, "Since You've Been Gone" by Little Janice, "Love" by Black Conspirators, "What Am I Waiting For" by Black Exotics, "Who Do You Think You're Fooling (part 1)" by Symphonic Four, "I'll Find A True Love" by Lee Bonds, "Young Girl" by Jazzie Cazzie & The Eight Sounds, and "Is It Me You Really Love" by Black Velvet.

A celebration that's a decade in the making – compiling some of the best material from the producer-centric series of hip hop albums on BBE/Beat Generation – timeless boombap from Jay Dee, Madlib, DJ Spinna, King Britt, Marley Marl, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Pete Rock and others! The 2CD compilation features sets compiled and mixed by DJ Spinna and Mr Thing – which not only feature stellar beats by the producers at the helm, but rhymes and vocals from the likes of Talib Kweli, Slum Village, Jill Scott, Bahamadia, Guilty Simpson and many more. One thing we appreciated from the get-go with albums in the Beat Generation series was the effort to make records that were built to last – and as much as 10 years later, it holds up really well! The 2CD version features sets deftly mixed by Spinna & Mr Thing, and a sprawling set list that includes "Stop" by Madlib, What It Do" by Madlib feat Talib Kweli, "Are You Ready" by DJ Jazzy Jeff feat Slum Village, "Hummin'" by Marley Marl feat Roy Ayers & Edwin Byrdsong, ""Live Us Sold" by DJ Spinna feat Abdul Shylon, "Galactic Soul" by DJ Spinna, "Transcend" by King Britt feat Bahamadia, "Give It To Y'All" by Pete Rock feat Roc Marciano & Trife, "African Rhythms" by Jay Dee, "Lay Me Down" by Will I Am feat Terry Dexter and many more.

Funky studio grooves from Italy – pulled from one of the few sound library sources that the grooveheads still haven't plundered! The folks at Plastic put this one together with the same sort of funky bent as their legendary Stroboscopica sets – and the handsome packages features 16 groovers with a mix of jazz and funky soundtrack styles. Tracks include "Battereologistica" by Turicoli, "Notturno" by Ugo Fusco, "Presse" by Francesco Tamponi, "Ritorsione" by Girolamo Ugolini, "Vocal 700" by Romano Rizzati, "Parco Dei Principi" by Luigia Sordini, and "Industraialey" by Carmelo Giacchino.

A crucial look at the Chicago scene in the 1980s – and the first collection to really get at the roots of that city's legendary house music scene! Although later labels – like Trax or DJ International – became known as global forces for dance music in the 80s, the big wave of new sounds from the Windy City was really started by a much smaller company – the tiny Mitchbal label, and related Chicago Connection Records! This wonderful package really does a great job of bringing the Mitchbal contribution to light – with lavish notes, almost Numero-style, that fully detail the way the label mixed unique strands on the scene – British imports, new wave rhythms, and a younger generation of soul musicians still looking for an outlet in the post-disco years. These forces, and more, all came together to make the mighty sound of Mitchbal – featured here in a collection of the label's rare singles, some unreleased tracks, and other essential bits. 3CD package features a full bonus mix CD, plus a whopping 24 tracks that include "Fantasy (inst)" by Z Factor, "Shake Your Body" by Jeanette Thomas, "When I Hear The Music" by Mitchbal & The Housemasters, "The House Is On Fire" by Dezz & Grant, "Do Dat Stuff (dance mix)" by Mitchbal & Larry Williams, "I Am Music (inst)" by Libra Libra, "That's The Beat" by Risque Rhythm Team, "Fast Cars" by Z Factor, "More Than Just A Dance (backyard mix)" by Rique Rhythm Team, "I Got Broke Breakdancing (inst)" by MC Ghee, and "I Can't Forget" by Mr Lee.

We can't think of a better title for this excellent compilation from Peanut Butter Wolf. The Badmeaningood series is a personal hip hop chronicle from the compiler, and as you'd expect from PBW, the definition here is taking somewhat less than literally, though there's no shortage of back in the day old school classics, mixed side by side with some unlikely candidates, but in a way that makes more than perfect sense. Mixed continuously front to back like your favorite mix tape this set takes you from Grandmaster Flash's "New Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash" to Keni Burke's "Risin' To The top (Snowboy's acoustic mix)" and stopping at all points in between, whether it's Iron Butterfly's "Soul Experience", Johnny Hammond's "Fantasy", The Cold Crush Brothers "Punk Rock Rap", Prince Far I's "Black Man Land", the Jungle Brother's "I'm Gonna Do You", the 45 King's "Funk Box (We Want To Hear The Beat box)", Roy Ayer's "Can't You See Me", The Human League's "Hard Times" and Alicia Myers "Don't Stop What You're Doin" and many more!

A jam packed collection of classic funk that formed the bedrock of the hip hop revolution – iconic breakbeat material and straight up funky treasures – a 2CD set compied by Dean Rudland! This new set celebrates the great earlier Breaks series on Harmless with a nice mix of numbers that are as classic as can be to beat diggers, but only recoginizable for the sampled bits to younger and more mainstream listeners, plus better-remembered classics that are just as important . The set features tracks by Mohawks, Liquid Liquid, Al Green, Taana Gardner, Last Poets, Funkadelic, Cymande, MFSB, Brick, Syl Johnson, The O'Jays, Average White Band and many more. 31 tracks on 2CDs: "The Champ" by Mohawks, "Space Funk" by Manzel, "Get Down With The Philly Sound" by MFSB, "Love And Happiness" by Al Green, "The Message" by Cymande, "Groovin'" by Willie Mitchell, "Tramp" by Lowell Fulsom, "Here I Go Again" by Jean Plum and many more.

Jump blues, rollicking R&B, proto rock, Northern Soul and otherwise rawly stomping stormers selected by DJ Andy Smith – a cool compilation of late 50s and 60s treasures that you might hear on one of his Jump Up Twist club nights! There's some familiar names in the set list for deep digging fans of any of the above styles, but there are no tracks that come even close to being overplayed, and each one is a winner – cuts by Wynonie Harris, Wynona Carr, Al Ferrier, Toni & The Showmen, Johnny Guitar Watson, Alton Ellis, The Skatalites, Luther Ingram, Mickey Champion, The San Francisco TKOs and more. Titles include "Bloodshot Eyes" by Wynonie Harris, "Ooo Little Girl" by Floyd Dixon, "Tracks To Your Mind" by The Sounds Of Lane, "Ska Beat" by Alton Ellis, "Collie Bud" by Skatalites, "Hit, Git And Split" by Young Jessie, "Make Up Your Mind" by San Francisco TKOs and more. 23 in all.

Massive sounds from the Dopebrother Studio – home to some of the funkiest Kenny Dope productions of the past few years! The grooves here are mostly older nuggets from the 70s – rare funk, soul, and club numbers – mixed by Kenny and the Undercover Brother in ways that really bring up the funkiest energy of the tunes – lots of hard drums, great breaks, and crisp instrumentation that actually sounds way more dope than if you were spinning a copy of an original funky 45! Most tracks on here have only ever been issued as singles, so the full length collection makes for a great way to dig into all these massive grooves in one place – at a price that's pretty damn hard to beat. Plus, there's even a few unreleased tracks on here too – sure to please even the folks who already own a few of the singles! Titles include "How You Gonna Do It (Undercover Brother edit)" by Lenis Guess & The Raw Soul, "Foxfire (Dopebrother rmx)" by Kenny Smith & The Fox Fire Band, "Party & Get On Down (Undercover Brother edit)" by BAB, "Creative Happiness" by Steve Marshall, "I Can't Dance (Undercover Brother edit)" by Jimmy James Thomas, "We Got To Get Together" by The Masterminds with Lady Bianca, "Your Chicken Ain't Funky Like Mine" by Dirty Red Morgan Group, "Skunkie (Undercover Brother edit)" by Kenny Smith & The Maximum Feeling, "Waiting At The Station" by Jimmy James Thomas, "Do What You Like (Undercover Brother edit)" by 400 Years Of What, and "It's Over Now (Undercover Brother quiet storm mix)" by Manzel.

Dancefloor cookers from the prime Northern Soul years – all instrumental numbers on this sharp compilation on Kent – 45 sides from a labels like Money, Villa, Swan, King, Epic and Warner Brothers! For all the wonderful Kent soul compilations we've gotten our dusty fingers on over the years, it's a wonder they're never been one devoted to instrumentals – until now! Rhythms roll along at a tight tempo, the tight guitars punch it up, some strings soar, and a pounding Northern beat keeps it all stomping! Those core elements are key, but others weave in an out, from hand claps on the beat, to organ grooves, bursts of brass and more. 24 tracks in all: "Double Cookin" by Checkerboard Squares, "Make Me Yours" by Arthur Wright & His Orchestra, "Festival Time" by San Remo Golden Strings", "The Sounds Of Lane" by Tracks To Your Mind, "Champion Pt 1" by Willie Mitchell, "The Guys From Uncle" by The Spy, "Stirrin Up Some Soul" by The Mar-Ketts, "Hey America (Sing Along)" by James Brown, "California Montage" by Young-Holt Unlimited and more.

The modern sound of the Miami scene – a wealth of contemporary club cuts from Hot Records – one of the city's biggest indies from a few decades back! The work here follows strongly in a post-disco, post-house mode – some influences from the boogie indie scene of the 80s, but also a fair bit of modern dancefloor elements too – mixed with just a touch of hip hop on a few tracks. There's plenty of beats at the bottom of most tracks, and the set brings together a wealth of older singles – including "Bang It" by Go Bang, "Gonna Find A Way" by Direct Impact, "So Sexual" by Thrill Factor, "976" by Club D Two, "Swing To The Beat" by 3YL, "T-Dance" by Soho People, "Hey Everybody" by Joe Tempo, "Funky Sensation" by Vera, "Won't You Listen" by Rhythmicon, "Come Here You Freaky Chick" by Toxic Shock, and "Scandal" by Davis & Davis.

Raw tunes from the late 50s and early 60s – a smoking collection of rare rockers, raunchy R&B, and some early soul numbers too – all served up in a totally sweet 10" vinyl package! The set's from the same folks who gave us the excellent Beat From Badsville series – and like those great collections, this one's got a vibe that takes us back to some of the Stompin sets from earlier years, and which also makes us feel like we've discovered some hipster jukebox from many decades back – stocked with vintage wax with a mighty nice edge! Titles on this volume include "Old Man Mose" by Rod Willis, "The Devil Sat Down & Cried" by Savannah Churchill & The Striders, "Action" by Lance Fortune, "St James Infirmary" by Otto Bash, "Shadrack" by Golden Gate Quartet, "Cross Over The Bridge" by The Chords, and "Snake Dance Boogie" by Roy Hogsed.

Topless Japanese girls running around with guns and knives – and some equally striking grooves to match! The collection is another one of those incredible Ultra Vybe packages – a selection of completely obscure Japanese soundtrack work from the early 70s – especially to ears like ours, only trained on the sounds of the west! As with other volumes, the styles here are a mix of guitar instrumentals, funky jazz numbers, off-beat pop, and other tremendous stuff – all pulled together from vintage films, and re-assembled in a completely mindblowing batch of grooves! Unless you read Japanese, there's not much rhyme or reason to the whole thing – but that's a-ok with us, because the music enough is plenty darn great – well that, and the sexy packaging job too!

German jazz gems from the 60s – an amazing collection of rare work from the Rhineland scene – non of which we've ever heard before! The package is even sharper than the first volume in the series – and features some of the best German jazzmen of the time, working in styles that draw heavily from hardbop and modal jazz, but which are already beginning to take off strongly in the unique modes that would flourish strongly in the MPS/Saba years to come! Things are soulful, but swinging – modern, but pretty darn groovy too – a wonderful balance that makes these years a perfect time in German jazz – a moment when the scene was really finding its own groove, yet not getting too full of themselves either. Titles include "Many's Waltz" by Manfred Welsandt Trio, "Beat Bop" by Ingfried Hoffmann Big Band, "Nica's Dream" by Albert Mangelsdorff, "St Tropez Waltz" by Modern Jazz Crew Stuttgart, "Minor Conversation" by Hans Koller Septett, "Summertime" by Fritz Harschuh, "That Double Thing" by Harald Eckstein Sextett, and "Din A Bop" by Albert Mangelsdorff Jazztett.

A killer set of funky raw soul from the early 70s Norfolk, VA scene – literally Raw Soul – as the excellent group is at the heart and soul of all the material in the set! It features tracks credited to Raw Soul plus singers & groups Lanis Guess, Shirley Johnson, Sir Guy, Josephine Jones, Lee Fields, Page One and others – all heavy burners from the Virginia scene. The tunes are raw, soulful and tightly funky – with the guitar, bass and drums of Barry Saunders, Maurice Glass and Grover Elliot nicely raw and gritty throughout and the excellent sax work of Dorsey Brockington all over the set. It ranges from hard and heavy funk to less frenetic, stilly nicely gritty southern soul. Totally excellent – here's hoping more compilations are coming down the road! Titles include "How You Gonna Do It", "Leave My Beat Alone" and "The Gig" by Raw Soul, "That Beat's Got The Devil In It" by Lenis Guess, "Feels So Good" by Shirley Johnson, "Candy Man" by Josephine Jones, "Wrong Crowd" by Prince George", "Thank Goodness Gotta Good Woman" by Page One and more. CD has 4 bonus tracks: "Conflict" by The Symbolics, "Superman" (alternate vocal take) by Bargara Stant, "We're Gonna Make Love" by Lee Fields and "The Dance Of Love" by 35th Street Gang.

Ho!! Here's one to take you on a short trip down memory lane! We say short because in today's groove scene new sounds and movements take hold and shift to another scene so quickly, it's easy forget how recently they were birthed. So never mind dub step or broken beat or any of the grandchildren of the drum and bass scene and cruise back to the salad days of the mid 90s with this fab compilation showcasing the original breakbeat sound! Non-stop jungle tracks with relentless rhythms that sound as fresh today as they did when they were new, new unstoppable sound system rockers and neck snapping underground club anthems of East London. 13 tracks in all, including "Original Nuttah" by UK Apache & Shy FX, "Super Sharp Shooter" by DJ Zinc, "Illegal Gunshot" by the Ragga Twins, "No Doubt" by Shut Up & Dance, "Under Mi Sensi (X-Project rmx)" by Barrington Levy &Beenie Man, "Bad Boy Lick A New Shot" by Ninjaman, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man & Ninja Ford, "Press The Trigger" by Poison Chang and "Incredible" by M Beat with general Levy.

A funky & far reaching compilation on Perfect Toy! Shake-A-Leg features Afro Beat, jazz funk, funky hip hop and raw soul – compiled by Tobias Kirmayer and Jerker Kluge – highlighting the kinds of grooves they spin at their monthly club nights in Munich! It has a timeless feel, thanks in no small part to the duos penchant for selecting numbers that stretch as far back to the 70s roots, as well as some of best tracks from the diverse contemporary funk underground. Includes hip hop funk from Othello & DJ Vajra and Breakestra feat Chali 2na, Soup, Double K & Mixmaster Wolf, classic jazz funk era heroes Grant Green, Joe Thomas and Eddie Jefferson, modern Afro Funk from Ikebe Shakedown, Latin Beat from Cesar's Salad and much more! Titles include "Family Rap" by Breakestra, Chali 2na & others, Grant Green's cover of Kool & The Gang's "Let The Music Take Your Mind", "You Can Bet Your Swet Bippy" by The Joe Thomas Group, ""Outlines Part 3" by Ernst Arno, "Hard Steppin" by Ikebe Shakedown, "Yenyere" by Cesar's Salad" and more.

Unhh!! Studio One plus funk, what more need we say?! Coxsone Dodd and company get down with the get down, and in this case, that's some pretty good company, with Sound Dimension, Cedric Brooks, Jackie Mittoo, Pablove Black, Alton Ellis, Vin Gordon and a whole mess of the baddest cats in Jamaica weighing in on this heavyweight batch of bouncing funk jams. The Studio One family delivers the funk in all flavors, whether it's covers of the jams that were getting rumps shaking stateside like "Melting Pot", "Shaft", "Funky Broadway" or "It's A Shame", or funkdafied rubs of established Studio One riddims and blazing originals like "007", "Music Answer", "Steady Beat", "African Descendants" or "Another Thing". 19 mighty tracks in all, wrapped up in the nice, nice Soul Jazz packaging, you know and love!

Classic breaks – all the way through! This may not be the most underground stuff in the world to those out there who've been digging through crates for funk and soul for the past ten years, but it is an exquisite compilation that features some of the best funky tracks used as samples by hip hoppers, nearly every one of them a famous cut that you'll probably recognize in a minute! Titles include "I Like It" by The Emotions, "Dance To The Drummer's Beat" by Herman Kelly, "Cramp Your Style" by All The People, "Hard Times" by Baby Huey, "Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth" by 24 Carat Black, "Kool Is Back" by Funk Inc, "Our Generation" by Ernie Hines, "Heaven & Hell" by 20th Century Steel Band, "Unhooked Generation" by Freda Payne, "Papa Was, Too" by Joe Tex, "Just A Groove In G" by Wilbur Bascomb & The Zodiac, "Be Thankful For What You Got" by William De Vaughn, and "You're Getting A Little Too Smart" by The Detroit Emeralds. 18 cuts in all!

16 tracks of sweet and smooth 70s soul – hand-picked with a freshness that should appeal to the modern hip hop fan as much as the older soul collector. The tracks on here aren't as beat or break-heavy as some of the material on other sample-driven collections we stock – but that's fine with us, as the tracks move into a sophisticated soul range that's always a pleasure to hear, bringing together the kind of well-produced 70s tracks that have shown up on series like Strange Games & Funky Things or Mellow Mellow, both of which have been longtime favorites with the DGA crowd! Titles include "Sweet Taste Of Sin" by Dennis Coffey, "I'll See You In Hell First" by Phillip Mitchell, "Do It To Me Now" by Fatback, "Don't Risk Your Happiness On Foolishness" by Fantastic Four, "Killing Time" by Natural Essence, "Your Love Is My Desire" by Eramus Hall, "Baby Get Down" by Eddie McLoyd, "Set It Out" by The Detroit Emeralds, "Love Starved" by Shirley Brown, "I'm Gonna Have To Tell Her" by Isaac Hayes, "If I Had The Power" by Johnny Guitar Watson, and "I Got To Have Your Love Now" by Caesar Frazier.

Sweet and smooth 70s soul – hand-picked with a freshness that should appeal to folks who found these sounds through the hip hop that these grooves laid the sonic groundwork for. The tracks on here aren't as beat or break-heavy as some of the material on other sample-driven collections – but that's fine with us, as the tracks move into a sophisticated soul range that's always a pleasure to hear, bringing together the kind of well-produced 70s tracks we love! Titles include "Sweet Taste Of Sin" by Dennis Coffey, "I'll See You In Hell First" by Phillip Mitchell, "Do It To Me Now" by Fatback, "Don't Risk Your Happiness On Foolishness" by Fantastic Four, "Killing Time" by Natural Essence, "Your Love Is My Desire" by Eramus Hall, "Baby Get Down" by Eddie McLoyd, "Set It Out" by The Detroit Emeralds, "Love Starved" by Shirley Brown, "I'm Gonna Have To Tell Her" by Isaac Hayes, "If I Had The Power" by Johnny Guitar Watson, and "I Got To Have Your Love Now" by Caesar Frazier.

Massive mixes from the legendary John Morales – one of the key talents for really opening up the sound of New York dancefloors at the end of the 70s! The mixes here were all cut by John back in the day – all for special play in the clubs, and never commercially issued at the time – which makes the package one hell of a musical discovery – like finding your way back onto an underground dancefloor in the waning years of disco – when a handful of mixers like Morales were still finding some rich new energy in the scene! Most tracks are quite long, and have all their best elements expanded out by John – but in ways that really avoid some of the later "look at me" styles that mixers would use in the next generation. 3CD set features 24 tracks, some very extended mixes – "Never Never Gonna Give Ya Up (M+M keep on doin it mix)" by Barry White, "Was That All It Was (M+M South Philly groove mix)" by Jean Carn, "If You Know Like I Know (M+M Teddy know best mix)" by Teddy Pendergrass, "I Think I'll Do Some Stepping On My Own (M+M stepping out the door mix)" by Sandy Barber, "Hit & Run (M+M I ain't sharing mix)" by Loleatta Holloway, "Only You (M+M you got what I need mix)" by Teddy Pendergrass, "I Want You (M+M breakdown beat mix)" by Marvin Gaye, and "You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else (M+M I don't wanna do it mix)" by The Jones Girls.

A nice, expansive retrospective of vital releases on KMS Records – in a 4CD set that features some the greatest and most influential numbers from the early days of the pioneering Detroit dancefloor label – as well as more recent material that's just as great! Legendary producer and label founder Kevin Saunderson as at the forefront of a good deal of the tracks, which span a stunning quarter century – and features great cuts by Kreem, Reese, Keynotes, Inner City, Urban Culture, Tronikhouse, Phil Agosta, Brandon DeCarlo and more! 49 tracks on 4CDs: "Triangle Of Love" by Kreem, :The Sound", Rock To The Beat", "Bassline" and more by Reese, "The Groove That Won't Stop" and more by Kevin Saunderson, "Back Together Again", "Good Life", "Big Fun" and more by Inner City, "World Of Deep", "Velocity Funk" and more by E-Danceer, "Smooth Groove" and "Straight Outta Hell" by Tronikhouse, "Tribute To Detriot" by Phil Agosta and many more.

A record as weird and wild as the cover – filled with really tripped-out sounds from the obscure Flipper sound library in Italy! The music follows strongly in the best style of the rock-driven sounds from Italian horror films – but there's also a more compact approach too, with some funky elements that really make the whole thing sparkle – and a restrained approach that's far less indulgent than the prog styles that Italy was famous for at the time. The whole thing's great – a wicked mix of freak and fuzz – and titles include "Perquisizione" by Alessandro Alessandroni, "Osessione Notturna" by Gerardo Iacoucci, "Black Sabbath" by Daniela Casa, "Violenza In Beat" by Umberto Santucci, "Percussion Blues" by Paolo Ferrara, "Ritmica" by Remigo Ducros, "Marker" by Paolo Ferrara, and "Una Storia" by Alessandro Alessandroni & I Cantori Moderni.

Volume one of the legendary compilation of James Brown produced stuff that taught us to love his other work back in the 80's when it was released. We're not going to pretend that we had all the original stuff when we were kids, but we did have this great comp – which includes monster stuff by The JBs, Lyn Collins, and Maceo. Classic JB production stuff, with 13 great tracks, including a bonus CD cut that's not on the original LP (which is out of print, by the way.) This was a sampler's dream in the 80's, and it's still a listener's dream in this decade! Tracks include "Same Beat" by the JBs, "Parrty" by Maceo, "If You Don't Get It The First Time" by the JBs, "Take Me Just As I Am" by Lyn Collins, "Rock Me Again & Again & Again & Again" by Lyn Collins, "Hot Pants Road" by The JBs, "Mama Feelgood" by Lyn Collins, "Think" by Lyn Collins, and "Gimme Some More" by The JBs!

Raw tunes from the late 50s and early 60s – a smoking collection of rare rockers, raunchy R&B, and some early soul numbers too – all served up in a totally sweet 10" vinyl package! The set's from the same folks who gave us the excellent Beat From Badsville series – and like those great collections, this one's got a vibe that takes us back to some of the Stompin sets from earlier years, and which also makes us feel like we've discovered some hipster jukebox from many decades back – stocked with vintage wax with a mighty nice edge! Titles on this volume include "Ain't Gonna Let You In" by Paul Gayten & Annie Laurie, "You Look Bad" by Danny Taylor, "Am I The Man" by Bobby Lester, "Stack A Lee (part 1)" by Archibald, "Bamalam" by Du Droppers, "Showdown" by Tony Casanova, and "You Ain't Got Nothin" by Connee Boswell.

Massive mixes from the legendary John Morales – one of the key talents for really opening up the sound of New York dancefloors at the end of the 70s! The mixes here were all cut by John back in the day – all for special play in the clubs, and never commercially issued at the time – which makes the package one hell of a musical discovery – like finding your way back onto an underground dancefloor in the waning years of disco – when a handful of mixers like Morales were still finding some rich new energy in the scene! Most tracks are quite long, and have all their best elements expanded out by John – but in ways that really avoid some of the later "look at me" styles that mixers would use in the next generation. Vinyl part 2 features some very extended mixes – "Hit & Run (M+M I ain't sharing mix)" by Loleatta Holloway, "Only You (M+M you got what I need mix)" by Teddy Pendergrass, "I Want You (M+M breakdown beat mix)" by Marvin Gaye, and "You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else (M+M I don't wanna do it mix)" by The Jones Girls.

Hard-burning soul from the great stretch of the 60s – that magical latter half of the decade when the genre really exploded – and turned out thousands of amazing tracks on smaller indie labels! This package pulls together some of the best groovers of that generation – all hand-picked by Northern Soul expert Kev Roberts, and served up here with fidelity that's a lot better than most of the beat up 45s we've got in our collection! And with a massive 31 tracks on the set, the whole thing's a heck of a great deal too – with cuts that include "Do You Love Me Baby" by The Masqueraders, "Change Your Ways" by Willie Kendrick, "I Need You" by Shane Martin, "I Got My Heart Set On You" by The Toys, "Let's Get Back Together" by The Honeybees, "You Can't Keep A Good Man Down" by The Gentlemen Four, "Tightrope" by Inez & Charlie Foxx, "In The Long Run" by Curtis Blandon, "I Got What It Takes" by Brooks & Jerry, "One In A Million" by Maxine Brown, "Walk Like A Man" by Johnny Moore, and "I'll Always Need You" by Dean Courtney.

Call it psycho-funk, call it Brit easy, call it downtempo abstract – whatever the case, it's all great! This second volume in one of our favorite all-time series is a stunner – and it comes up with a sparkling blend of very fresh grooves that we've only ever heard matched by a few other compilations over the past few years. The general vibe is rare soundtrack and sophisticated jazz funk material – and a huge amount of these cuts come from sources we've never seen before! Tracks include "The Rub" by Alan Tew, "Pretexte Indicatifs" by Guy Pederson, "Abstraction" by Projection, "Plummer Park" by Pete Jolly, "My Love For You & The Ugly" by Ed Green, "Beach Buggy" by Pierre Duchamp, "Beat Construction" by David Seeland Band, "Sour Soul" by Gentle Rain, "Night Is Blues" by Performance, "Name Of The Game" by Brian Bennet, and "Bass In Action #1" by Tonio Rubio. 19 cuts in all!

A killer set of funky raw soul from the early 70s Norfolk, VA scene – literally Raw Soul – as the excellent group is at the heart and soul of all the material in the set! It features tracks credited to Raw Soul plus singers & groups Lanis Guess, Shirley Johnson, Sir Guy, Josephine Jones, Lee Fields, Page One and others – all heavy burners from the Virginia scene. The tunes are raw, soulful and tightly funky – with the guitar, bass and drums of Barry Saunders, Maurice Glass and Grover Elliot nicely gritty throughout and the excellent sax work of Dorsey Brockington all over the set. It ranges from hard and heavy funk to less frenetic southern soul. Totally excellent – here's hoping more compilations are coming down the road! Titles include "How You Gonna Do It", "Leave My Beat Alone" and "The Gig" by Raw Soul, "That Beat's Got The Devil In It" by Lenis Guess, "Feels So Good" by Shirley Johnson, "Candy Man" by Josephine Jones, "Wrong Crowd" by Prince George", "Thank Goodness Gotta Good Woman" by Page One and more.

Perfect stuff for fans of 80s groove! This set features 12 killer modern soul cuts pulled from the catalog of the Capitol/EMI labels – home to some of the smoothest most soulful work in the early 80s, lots of which is pretty darn tough to get on reissue these days. According to the notes, all the tracks are taken from the original 12" single mixes – and the times for nearly all tracks is well over 5 minutes, perfect for groovers! Titles include "Just Can't Give You Up" by Mystic Merlin, "Love On A Summer Night" by The McCrarys, "Dancing In The Night" by Lanier & Co, "Working Up A Sweat" by Full Circle, "On The Beat" by BB&Q Band, "Joy & Pain" by Maze, "Rock Me Tonight" by Freddie Jackson, "There Ain't Nothin (Like Your Lovin)" by Paul Laurance, "Love's Comin At Ya" by Melba Moore, "Sound Of Music" by Dayton, and "Solid" by Ashford & Simpson.

Brilliant stuff – and long overdue! The Jazzman label has been responsible for some of the best funky 45s we've stocked over the past decade – as they've continually reissued rare gems lost between the shifting sands of time, working through a mixture of tunes that's very expansive, running from funky jazz, jazzy soul, sound library grooves, and even one great tune pulled from an advertisement for forklifts! The Jazzman reissues have all been in limited quantity – and it's no surprise that we've sold out of most of them as soon as they've been released – which is why this 12-track, CD-only retrospective is so essential to listeners with a funky earful! The package brings back the best dozen tunes from the Jazzman reissue series – tunes that we're continually asked for, but can hardly get on reissue anymore – and together, the package is a beautiful blend of tunes that goes way beyond the average funky 45 collection, a mind-blowing package that will have your speakers singing in delight! Titles include "What Is Wrong With Groovin" by Letta Mbulu, "Send In The Clowns" by Lorez Alexandria, "Brasilian Beat" by Los Brasilios, "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child" by Kathleen Emery, "Nightingale" by Dee Felice Trio, "Ophis Le Serpentaire" by Vincent Geminiani, "Morning Broadway" by Keith Mansfield, "Ya Ya" by Frank Motley, and "Les Electroniciens" by Bruno Spoerri.

Massive grooves from the legendary Sam Records – a late 70s disco powerhouse from the New York scene – and one of the tightest, most soulful labels on the market! This killer collection not only brings together the best of Sam from the glory days, it also offers up a wealth of edits and remixes that further enforce the funky sounds of the classics – including a number of contemporary edits that really bring out the hippest aspects of the tunes! Percussion breakdowns are extended, keyboard parts stretched out, and basslines are funkier than ever – on a 2CD set of tracks that include "We'll Make It (Volta Bureau edit)" by Mike & Brenda Sutton, "Bourgie Bourgie (Catz N Dogz rmx)" by John Davis & Monster Orchestra, "This Beat Is Mine (Soul Clap rmx)" by Vicky D, "Just How Sweet Is Your Love (Walker & Royce Touch)" by Rhyze, "Feel Alright (Bonar Broadberry edit)" by Komiko, "Stay With Me (Andy Ash edit)" by John Davis, "Let's Lovedance Tonight (Jacques Renault edit)" by Gary's Gang, Just Let Me Dance (Maxxi Soundsystem rmx)" by Scandla, "Up Jumped The Devil (6th Borough Project jumped up jam)" by John Davis, "Keep On Dancing (Todd Terje rmx)" by Gary's Gang, "Don't Stop (runaway rmx)" by KID, and "Let's Do It (Prince Language hands up edit)" by Convertion – plus a long continuous mix of tracks by Jacques Renault!

Crisply-tailored, yet soulful and groovy mod jazz from the 60s – a slew of great numbers by Byrdie Green, Johnny Lytle, Mark Murphy, Reuben Wilson, The Nightbeats, The Cals, Billy Larkin, Johnny Hammond Smith, Byrdie Smith and more! Lots of great stuff here, from names synonymous to moddish jazz and others that nicely fit that mold for a bit – cats like Buddy Guy, for instance. A sweet, sweet set from the passionate compilers at Kent UK! Includes "The Real Thing" by Troy Dodds, "Finders Keepers" by Floyd White, "Rod Run" by The Reuben Wilson Quartet, "Talkin' About Love" by Tobi Lark, "Screamin'" by Jack McDuff, "Double Love" by The Cals, "Tricky Too" by Gus Jenkins, "Fever" by Buddy Guy, "Work Song" by Clint Stacy, "My Beat" by George Stone, " It's Like Love" by Mark Murphy, "The Village Caller" by The Johnny Lytle Trio and more.

German jazz gems from the 60s – an amazing collection of rare work from the Rhineland scene – non of which we've ever heard before! The package is even sharper than the first volume in the series – and features some of the best German jazzmen of the time, working in styles that draw heavily from hardbop and modal jazz, but which are already beginning to take off strongly in the unique modes that would flourish strongly in the MPS/Saba years to come! Things are soulful, but swinging – modern, but pretty darn groovy too – a wonderful balance that makes these years a perfect time in German jazz – a moment when the scene was really finding its own groove, yet not getting too full of themselves either. Titles include "Many's Waltz" by Manfred Welsandt Trio, "Beat Bop" by Ingfried Hoffmann Big Band, "Nica's Dream" by Albert Mangelsdorff, "St Tropez Waltz" by Modern Jazz Crew Stuttgart, "Minor Conversation" by Hans Koller Septett, "Summertime" by Fritz Harschuh, "That Double Thing" by Harald Eckstein Sextett, and "Din A Bop" by Albert Mangelsdorff Jazztett.

A legendary set of sound library grooves – and actually one of the first to kick off the genre! The package brings together rare tracks from the small Italian Octopus label – not nearly as well-known as De Wolfe, KPM, or other sound library giants – but an equally great source of rare funky jazz cuts that were never issued to the public at the time – recorded as part of the huge wave of studio activity in Italy during the 60s and 70s! Given that the set was collected by Schema, you can bet that the tracks are right on the money – and titles include "Curly" by Stellio Subelli, "Sculturea Beat" by Angelo Baroncini, "Diacromeico" by Sandro Brugnolini, "Games" by Pasquale Castiglione, "First Black" by Mario Molino, "Maze" by Roberto Conrado, and "Verso L'Infinito" by Alessandro Alessondroni.

A treasure trove of twelve inch singles from Solar Records – the west coast powerhouse for uptempo soul! Most of the numbers here date from the early 80s years when Solar were totally on top of their game – really dominating mainstream soul of the time in the same way Philly International did a decade before. The 2CD set features 12" mixes for all tracks – which mean that most are longer than the LP versions – and most grooves here are in a bumping, stepping, or boogie-oriented mode – post-disco with plenty of great west coast R&B touches. Titles include "Midas Touch" and "Scientific Love" by Midnight Star, "Show Me Where You're Coming From" and "Dance With You" by Carrie Lucas, "Call Me" by Bill Wolfer, "There It Is" and "Night To Remember (US ext mix)" by Shalamar, "No Pain No Gain" and "Rock Steady" by The Whispers, "I Don't Wanna Be A Freak" and "Love In The Fast Lane" by Dynasty, "It's All The Way Live" and "One Minute After Midnight" by Lakeside, "Classy Lady" by Leroy Hutson, "Romeo Where's Juliet" and "Winners & Loser" by Collage, "Street Beat" by The Deele, and "Come Back Lover" by The Sylvers.

Unhh!! Studio One plus funk, what more need we say?! Coxsone Dodd and company get down with the get down, and in this case, that's some pretty good company, with Sound Dimension, Cedric Brooks, Jackie Mittoo, Pablove Black, Alton Ellis, Vin Gordon and a whole mess of the baddest cats in Jamaica weighing in on this heavyweight batch of bouncing funk jams. The Studio One family delivers the funk in all flavors, whether it's covers of the jams that were getting rumps shaking stateside like "Melting Pot", "Shaft", "Funky Broadway" or "It's A Shame", or funkdafied rubs of established Studio One riddims and blazing originals like "007", "Music Answer", "Steady Beat", "African Descendants" or "Another Thing". 19 mighty tracks in all, wrapped up in the nice, nice Soul Jazz packaging, you know and love!

A cool collection of grooves from the legendary TK Records label – and one that goes way past the obvious hits that topped the charts back in the 70s! The package is less the overall story of TK, than it is a great reminder that there's some really funky nuggets lurking deep in the label's mighty catalog – killer tunes that show that the Miami club sound of the late 70s was firmly rooted in funk and deep soul of the earlier part of the decade – at a level that still stayed pretty funky, even well into the disco generation! There's some great gems here – and titles include "Lady Fingers" by Tony Middleton, "Plato's Retreat" by Joe Thomas, "Funk Reaction" by Lonnie Smith, "Harlem Nocturne" by Wildflower, "Don't Turn Away" by Midnite Flite, "Star Cruiser" by Gregg Diamond, "Funk Machine" by Funk Machine, "Hey Sexy Dancer" by Rocky Mizell, "Dance To The Drummer's Beat" by Herman Kelly & Life, and "Do What You Wanna Do" by T Connection.