Funky Compilations — LPs  

A sound library and a dancefloor? Sounds like an unlikely combination – but it results in a killer collection that's still one of the greatest sets of sound library funk we've ever heard! This massive batch of music is a great illustration of the special sound of the KPM library – a really unique outlet for British musicians in the 60s and 70s to craft records that were even more amazing than their studio sides – vintage jazz, soul, and electronic grooves – served up by a lineup that represents the cream of the crop of the UK scene of the time – plus a few surprising outside contributions as well! Titles include "That's What Friends Are For" by Alan Parker & Madeline Bell, "Second Cut" by James Clarke, "Swamp Fever" by John Cameron, "Incidental Backcloth No 3" by Keith Mansfield, "Cross Talk" by Francis Coppieters, "Jungle Baby" by Juan Erlando & His Latin Band, "Freeway To Rio" by Les Baxter, "In Advance" by Pierre Lavin, "Senior Thump" by Alan Hawkshaw, "Expo In Tokyo" by Alan Moorehouse, "Funky Express" by Duncan Lamont, "Morning 1/Morning 2" by Klaus Weiss, "Assault Course" by Johnny Pearson, and "Samba Street" by Barry Morgan. The package is a great reworking of the original KPM collection from Strut – and not only features the original funky set, but also features a bonus CD that includes a rare live performance by the KPM All-Stars in 2000 – a wicked reunion with work by James Clarke, Duncan Lamont, Alan Hawkshaw, Keith Mansfield, and other giants from the heyday of KPM.

No soundclash here – as the grooves are all right on the money, and fit perfectly together throughout – a blinding blend of tropical-styled sounds that really lives up to the promise of the package! Sofrito have outdone themselves here – and come up with the kinds of tracks we'd never have found in a million years of digging – mostly vintage numbers from the late 70s and early 80s tropical scene – mixed with a few contemporary numbers that seem to have an equally classic sort of vibe! The package is an instant global grooves party right from the start – and titles include "O Ti Yo" by Midnight Groovers, "Cumbia Y Tambo" by La Pesada, "Ebolo" by Bell'A Njoh, "Vibrations Groove" by Lord Shorty & Vibrations International, ""Mwekuru Muthao" by Melodica Teens Band, "La Zorra Y El Perol" by Grupo Canalon De Tinbiqui, and "The Path (Sofrito edit)" by Concept Neuf.

A massive fourth volume to this totally great series – and quite honestly, maybe the funkiest so far! Compiler Tobias Kirmayer really knows his stuff – after years of recording and reissuing great music on his own Tramp label – and if anything, his time in the funky underground has only given him a sharper ear for rare singles and lost soulful nuggets – as you'll hear in this wonderful compilation! The set's overflowing with killers from the late 60s and early 70s – and most of them are numbers we've never seen reissued before – quite a feat, given how many funk collections have shown up over the years. Snowboy bills the set as a "high-quality collection of obscenely rare" funk and soul 45s – and he's totally right about all of that – although we'll also add that musically, it's pretty darn great too! Titles include "Sticks & Stones" by Dino & The Dell-Tones, "Shakers & Movers (parts 1 & 2)" by Carl Westmoreland, "Talk About Soul" by Rudy Tee & The Reno-Bops, "Discotheque Soul (edit)" by Ricky Williams, "Hey Rugh Nut" by Zodiacs, "Hipster" by C Forture & J Brinson, "I Don't Think We Are Going Back Again" by Soul Brothers Inc, "Machine Gun" by Odyssey Group, "Night Club" by The Dave Harris Trio, "Honky Games" by Iris Bell with the Jive-Ettes, and "Booty Whip (unreleased acetate version)" by Bro Byron.

Massive mixes from the mighty Tom Moulton – a huge package that not only includes some classic lost and rare mixes from the 70s, but also previously unreleased Moulton mixes, appearing here for the first time ever! If there's anyone who's ever been well-suited to reworking a Philly groove, it's Tom – given his long standing association with the soul scene in the City Of Brotherly Love – and his crucial role in pushing soul tracks into the clubs during the 70s. As with most of Tom's best work, the mixes here are richly faithful to the originals – and never try to overstate themselves at all, just focus on the best elements, and bring them to the forefront of the groove! This totally cool package features 31 mixes in all – pressed up as eight 12" EPs – most with four tracks each, leaving plenty of room for very long mixes! Titles include Moulton mixes of "Jam Jam Jam" by People's Choice, "I Don't Love You Anymore" by Teddy Pendergrass, "Party Time Man" by The Futures, "Intro/My Love Don't Come Easy" by Jean Carn, "Trusting Heart" by The Trammps, "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "Let's Groove" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "Dirty Ol Man" by Three Degrees, "Slow Motion" by Johnny Williams, "I'll Always Love My Mama" by The Intruders, "The Devil Made Me Do It" by Robert Upchurch, "Back Stabbers" by The O'Jays, "See You When I Get There" by Lou Rawls, and "Love Epidemic" by The Trammps.

The funkiest side of Stax Records – a treasure trove of funky nuggets, all hand-picked by RZA! As the title implies, these are some of the grooves that became the building blocks of the Wu-Tang sound – but even without that pedigree, these tracks are more than great enough on their own – a wonderful mix of album cuts and rare singles – some you'll recognize from famous hip hop samples, some you'll discover here for the first time ever! The triple-length package is overflowing with greatness – and titles include "I Could Never Be Happy" and "I Like It" by The Emotions, "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" by The Mad Lads and another "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" by William Bell, "Children Don't Get Weary" by Judy Clay, "All It Takes Is You & Me" by The Sweet Inspirations, "Poverty's Paradise" by 24 Carat Black, "I'll Play The Blues For You" by Albert King, "Why Marry" by The Sweet Inspirations, "Steal Away" by Johnnie Taylor, "Hang On Sloopy" by David Porter, "Ike's Mood 1" by Isaac Hayes, "In The Rain" by The Dramatics, "Don't Take My Kindness For Weakness" by The Soul Children, "Packed & Took My Mind" by Little Milton, "Sing A Simple Song" by Booker T & The MGs, "I'm Afraid The Masquerade Is Over" by David Porter, "LA Jazz Song" by Booker T & The MGs, "Walk On By" by Isaac Hayes, and "Keep The Faith" by Mel & Tim.

Massive – and more rare club singles than we might have hoped for in a single package! The set's proof that there's still plenty to dig for in the 12" scene of the late 70s and early 80s – as it features a huge amount of rare grooves we've never heard before – most of them perfectly balanced between boogie, disco, and funky soul modes – and often produced with the sort of raw touches that we'd usually find on the P&P family of labels! There's definitely an east coast vibe running strong in the set – but the collection also features nice contributions from points west, too – including a few especially nice club tracks from the Detroit scene that have been lost to the shifting sands of time for years. The notes feature some surprising details on each number – proving that compiler DJ Red Greg really knows his stuff – and about half of the cuts are presented in sensitive edits that do great things to expand the groove, while still respecting the structure of the original tune. 12 tracks on the 2LP version: "Love Explosion" by Donnell Pitman, "Music Madness (DJ Red Greg Edit)" by Beckie Bell, "Search For Tomorrow" by Chain Reaction, "Love Me For Real (DJ Red Greg Edit)" by Rim & Kasa, "You Don't Want My Love" by KIC, "Right Size (DJ Red Greg Edit)" by Miss Misty, "Rainbows (Jazz Mix)" by Del Richardson, "Can You Dig It" by Lafayette Street, "Why Do I Love You (DJ Red Greg Edit)" by Andy Crown and more.

Classics from the mid 80s east coast hip hop master class – BDP, Just-Ice, T La Rock, Skinny Boys, Tricky Tee and Mantronix – benchmark singles, circa '86! This compilation was put together by Five Day Weekend as a soundtrack inspired by Big Fun In The Big Town – the little seen documentary by Dutch filmmaker Bram Van Splunter. Includes "South Bronx" and "9MM Goes Bang" by Boogie Down Productions, "Cold Getting Dumb" by Just-Ice, "Breaking Bells" and "Back To Burn" by T La Rock, "Jockbox" by Skinny Boys, "Leave It To The Drums" by Tricky Tee and "Bassline" and "Ladies" by Mantronix.

A wonderful follow up to one of our favorite compilations in recent years! London Is The Place For Me compiles the stylistically varied music coming from the emergent West Indian and African communities of 50s and 60s London – far more than just the topical, and often quite whimsical calypso tunes of the era! Calypso is well represented, but the set includes strains of jazz, percussive instrumentals that veer towards native Trinidad and Nigeria, and loads of Caribbean grooves! It's all exceptionally bright – with some lovingly, and knowingly, naive vocals that are as sweet as they are wise. A truly wonderful compilation. Essential! 20 tracks in all: "Calypso Be" by Young Tiger, "Yolanda" by Ambrose Campbell, "Calypso Blues" by Mona Baptiste, "My Wife's Nightie" by Lord Kitchener, "Ominara" by West African Rhythm Brothers, "Gerrard Street" by King Timothy, "ET Mensah's Rolling Ball" by West African Swing Stars, "West Indian Drums" by Russ Henderson, "Gbonimawo" by Rans Boi's Ghana Highlife Band and more!

Funky sounds from the Harlem scene – an incredibly rich collection of work from the Rojac and Tayster labels – a set so massive, it's like finding a box of rare funky 45s and deep soul singles in the back of some old record store! The package offers up way more work than we might have expected from our knowledge of a few key funk classics from the labels – a treasure trove of under-discovered gems from the grittiest years of the New York scene – most of them cut in the pre-disco years, with raw edges that almost feel more like southern soul and funk than other work from the Big Apple! Vinyl version has 30 tracks on 2LPs: "Tuesday's Child" by Kim Tolliver, "Quittin' Time" by Big Maybelle, "Something Special About My Baby" by Clarence Reid, "I Love My Baby" by International GTOs, "No Better For Ya" by Jo Armstead, "What's My Chances" by Chuck Flamingo, "Get In My Bag" by Curtis Lee & The KCPs, "Lovin Lies" by Third Guitar, "This & That" by Jo Armstead, "Don't Lose Your Groove" by Lavell Hardy, "Nwanne Nwanne Nwanne" by Aleke Kanonu & Tolbert The Miracle Man, "Smash" by Damn Sam The Miracle Man, "Baby Don't Cry" by Third Guitar, and "Whip Ya" by Chuck A Luck & The Lovemen Ltd.

Another platter of tasty beats in the tradition of the funky drummer series of break records Ubiquity put out a few years back. Just drums, raw and crisp, and ready for battling, looping or whatever you need. These aren't looped bits from famous breaks or some fool with a drum machine in his bedroom, but fresh new beats recorded by an actual drummer, fills and all! They're conveniently labelled with BPMs, and there's a variety of snare, kick and cymbal tones used throughout. Names like "Premier Funk", "Steve Mack Queen" and "Fat Foot" give you an idea what we're talking about.

A cool collection of cookers from the legendary Studio One Records – pulled together here in a collection that bears the Ironsides name of one of its sub-labels, as a great indication of some of the obscure tracks included within! The collection features loads of gems from the earliest years of Studio One – a mix of rocksteady and early reggae cuts that have that wonderfully rootsy feel that was the label's calling card – a way of laying down instrumentation and vocals with a bottom-heavy sound that filters everything together beautifully – and comes out with a wickedly seductive groove. The set's overflowing with cuts we'd never heard before – and titles include "Three Mile Skank" by Lone Ranger, "Rasta Don't Stop No One" by The Stingers, "Nanny's Corner" by Don Drummond, "Danger In Your Eyes" by The Paragons, "Mother & Child" by Fabian Cooke, "Mark My Word" by Marcia Griffiths, "Another Night" by The Soul Sister, "I'm still Waiting" by Cornel Campbell, and "Jamrec Dub" by Pablove Black.

The soundtrack to the excellent Dub Echoes documentary and a wild trip across the landscape of dub, both new and old! Syncopated rhythms, deep, dark bass, and cosmic reverb and echo abound on this fine set that connects the modern dubstep scene with heavyweight Jamaican originators of the sound. While it would take a massive box set to cover even a portion of the music featured in the film, the selector's at Soul Jazz of kept this set nicely concise, tight and right all the way through! 17 numbers in all, including "Witness (One Hope) (Walworth road rockers dub)" by Root sManuva, "Sega Beats" by Disrupt, "Forever More" by Dub Syndicate, "Psalms Of Drums" and "Ruffer Version" by King Tubby, "Sine Of The Dub" by Kode9 & The Space Ape, "Rootsman" by U Roy & Francois Kevorkian, "King In My Empire" by Rhythm & Sound with Cornell Campbell, "Deb Dub" by Digital Dubs Vs Dubiterian, "Congo Man Chant" by the Congos and "Rejoicing Skank" by the Upsetters.

One of our favorite volumes in the London Is The Place For Me collection – and a brilliant batch of work that criss-crosses West African, West Indian, and postwar jazz styles! Most of the recordings here were done under the leadership of Ambrose Adekoya Campbell – a transplant to London from Lagos in the postwar year, and an artist who had a huge influence on the changing rhythms of his scene. Campbell mixed styles of his roots with those of the larger London community around him – in a way that let in more Latin and Caribbean influences to more traditional African styles – often using guitar in a high-life styled way, but also bringing in some key jazz phrasings as well. As usual with Honest Jons' reissues, the notes are quite detailed, but ultimately a bit unspecific about the actual recordings in the set – although we can say that Campbell's on nearly all of these, and they were all done as 50s 78rpm singles for the Melodisc label. Titles include "We Have It In Africa", "Iku Koni Payin", "I Am A Stranger", "Lagos Mambo", "Ela Da Awa", "and "Calabar-O" by West African Rhythm Brothers; "The Wind In A Frolic" and "Unity" by Nigerian Union Rhythm Group; "Ibikunle Alakija" by Ayinde Bakare & His Meranda Orchestra; and "Late Ojo Davies" and "Geneva Conference" by West African Rhythm Stars.

London's always been one of the hippest cities in the world – but back during the postwar years, there was an especially wonderful outpouring of music on the scene – a rich array of new sounds and styles pulled from around the globe – as so many residents from crumbling British empire came to live in the UK! Musicians and listeners arrived in London with plenty of cultural baggage on hand – influences from the Caribbean, West Africa, and India too – plus other smaller scenes that once fell under the British banner, all now the fuel for the cultural fire that was happening in England! The title here tells plenty about the music being made in this newly-formed scene – bits of African highlife, Jamaican calypso, American jazz, Cuban Latin, and more – all filtered into the modernism of the 50s, and given a new twist that was decidedly urban as well. The package may well be the most impressive so far in this legendary series – and is certainly the one that moves the farthest past any sort of easy expectations or cultural conventions. Titles include "The Escape" by Dizzy Reece, "Mambo Contempo" by Ginger Johnson, "Life In Britain" by Mighty Terror, "Sway" by Buddy Pipp's Highlifers, "Song Of Joy" by Rupert Nurse's Calypso Band, "Joe Louis Calypso" by Lord Beginner, "Uncle Joe" by Fitzroy Coleman Quintet, "Me Donkey Want Water" by Tony Johnson, "Belly Lick" by Eric Hayden, "Nigeria Odowoyin" by West African Rhythm Brothers, and "Football Calypso" by King Timothy.

Insanely wonderful grooves from lost Italian sources! Like the other two volumes in this series, this third entry in the Stroboscopia set is a must-have if you dig 60s Hammond organ groovers, 70s keyboard funk tracks, and any sort of tune that has a slightly offbeat edge. The set list features 20 tracks in all – all instrumentals with the kind of funky and groovy sound that you'd expect to find on jazz albums by more famous funk artists, but which are equally great in this nicely packaged compilation! Titles include "Carter", "Joy Bells", "The Taste Of Repeat", "Asfalto", "Smooth & Manly", "Supermarket", "A Little Sad", and "Malcontento Popolare" – and artists include Rino De Filippi, Giuliano Sorgini, Puccio Roelens, Alessandro Alessandroni, and Mirot Lash. One of the best sets on Plastic we've heard in years!

More burning instrumentals from Coxsone Dodd and his mighty crew at Studio One! Soul Jazz has already established Dodd and Studio One as a near household name in bad, bold island grooves, and this set of fiery instrumentals keeps up the pressure, with 16 burning numbers! All flavors of Jamaican soul get represented here, from spacey, mellow grooves at the hands of Jackie Mittoo, to mellow snapping clavinet numbers from Pablove Black, deep roots from Cedric Brooks or jaunty ska numbers from the Soul Vendors and the Skatalites. As usual, the packaging is in the deluxe vein that has graced previous chapters in the series, and this set includes "Gumbay Jump" by the Dub Specialist, "A Big Car" by Jackie Mittoo, "Joe Grazer" and "Sidewalk Doctor" by VinGordon, "Sound Almighty" by the Soul Defenders, "Black Wax" by Pablove Black, Dick Tracy" by the Skatalites, "Cousin Joe Pt 1" by Sugar Belly, and "Black Is Black" by Im & David, plus many more!

Rare rock from the Golden Triangle scene of Southeast TX in the late 60s and early 70s – a well-curated overview of the stylistically sprawling material being cut at Mickey Rouse's Lowland Recording Studio in Beaumont! Texas rock of the late 60s and early 70s justifiably brings to mind acts like The 13th Floor Elevators and The Bubble Puppy – tripped out psychedelia in other words, but Texas is huge, and there was a heck of a lot more going on than just the best remembered cult favorites. The music coming out of just the Beaumont, Port Arthur, Orange, Texas "triangle" chronicled here was incredibly diverse. It includes proto TX boogie rock that's a clear precursor to early ZZ Top, harmony flavored numbers that sound closer to Cali than they do The Lone Star State, one track that somehow fuses CS&N with The Beatles and does so with prominent cowbell in the mix (and it's good!!!), punchy psych grit, and swaggering country rock with some twang in the strings that feels a bit more profoundly Texan. You don't need our word that The Numero Group has devoted some serious attention to detail – with a large booklet of notes, photos and histories, plus the impressive Lost In The Golden Triangle "family tree" of the regional musicians involved – as if discovering these long buried regional relics wasn't impressive enough already. Beautiful! 28 tracks on the 2LP version...6 more than on the CD! "Trash One" by the Lowland Studio Band, "Live My Life Today" by Insight Out, "Simple House" by Mother Lion, "Love Of The Morning" by Circus, "Take A Look At Your Friends" by Next Exit, "You Know I Love You" by Roy Briggs & Alton Tew, "Calling Me Home (Demo)" by Donald Thomas and more, plus the LP only tracks "Lizard" by Lowland Studio Band, "Let Me Listen" by Sage, "Groundhog Day" by Boot Hill and more.

An incredible follow up to the first New Orleans Funk compilation on Soul Jazz – even harder-hitting than the first, and filled with funky rare gems! This set took nearly a decade to follow the first, but it's been well worth the wait – and the crew at Soul Jazz have clearly used all that time to dig way past the obvious on the New Orleans scene, and come up with a really incredible batch of all-funky cuts all the way through! Even if you've got a dozen other New Orleans funk collections in your collection, you'll find plenty here to win you over – as the package goes out of its way to pull cuts from rare singles and under-reissued material – then wraps the whole thing up with the usual extra-thorough Soul Jazz approach to liner notes and details. And while some of the names are familiar here, they're nicely interspersed with lesser-known folks who keep things fresh – making for a winning lineup that really sets a new standard for this sort of set. Titles include "The Twitch" by Danny White, "Street Parade" by Earl King, "Four Corners" by Lee Dorsey, "Hot Tamales" by The Prime Mates, "Tequila" by Allen Toussaint, "Right Place Wrong Time" by Ray J, "Gossip" by Cyril Neville, "Hold On Help Is On The Way" by G Davis & R Tyler, "Funky Belly" by Warren Lee, "I'm Mr Big Stuff" by Jimmy Hicks, "The Rubber Band" by Eddie Bo, "12 Red Roses" by Betty Harris, "What Do You See In Her" by Inell Young, "You Keep Me Hanging On" by Bonnie & Sheila, "Yeah You're Right You Know You're Right" by The Gaturs, "The Tap" by Porgy Jones, and "Bo Diddley" by Art Neville.

Solid!! 19 burning shots of prototypical island jams! The sounds of Studio One have been passed down from generation to generation of musicians, even being sampled by some of today's digital producers, and recut in version after version, and with their series of Studio One reissues, Soul Jazz illustrates why. Coxsonne Dodd was not only a genius producer of rhythms, but assembled some of the finest musicians not just on the island, but anywhere in the world to cut these mighty tracks, including the Skatalites "Coconut Rock", Cedric Im Brooks "Mun-Dun-Gu", Tommy McCook "Shocker's Rock", Jackie Mittoo & Ernest Ranglin "Jerico Skank", Karl Bryan & Teh Afrokats "Money Generator", Lester Sterling "Afrikaan Beat", Sound Dimension "Heavy Rock", Sugar Belly "In Cold Blood", Soul Bros "Bugaloo", Vin Gordon 'Red Blood", Pablove Black "Push Pull" and Karl Bryan & Count Ossie "Black Up".