Funky Compilations — All Formats  

A funk and soul treasure trove – wicked rare work from the legendary Brunswick label – most of it only issued on 45s back in the 60s and early 70s, and not reissued on CD! The package is a stunner – a real surprise that shows us there's plenty to dig for at Brunswick when you get past the hits – some wonderful Windy City soul from the late 60s, and gritty New York cuts that balance things out nicely too – and which definitely show a harder-edged side of Brunswick than you'd guess from the label's better-known tracks. There's some great obscurities here – the kind of cuts that we'd normally only find on rare 45s – like "It's Gonna Be Good" by Johnny Jones & The King Casuals, "Baby It's Time" by Marshall & The Chi-Lites, "Just A Little Misunderstanding" by Johnny Williams, "You Are" by Bobby Reed, "I Want Something To Remember You By" by Marvin Smith, "How Can You Say Goodbye" by Sidney Joe Qualls, "Once You Fall In Love" by Eddie McLoyd, "Karate Boogaloo" by The Emperors, and "Talk A Little Louder" by Wales Wallace – plus rare Brunswick material by folks you'd normally associate with other labels – like "Sweet Temptation" by Isaac Hayes, "Easy Evil" by Walter Jackson, "Since You've Been Gone" by Major Lance, and "Try Some Of Mine" by Little Richard.

80s grooves galore – and a sublime collection of rare and underground boogie tunes from a few decades back! The package was put together by rabid collectors Joey Negro and Sean P – and is a welcome contrast to some of the dodgier 80s sets on the market – because Joey and Sean have gone out of their way to present each track with the best sound possible, in a way that lets the keyboards and electro rhythms sparkle with the same energy they had back in the 12" years! But even more than that, the pair have gone out of their way to annotate each track – so that you know that the excellent track list wasn't just a happy accident, and really represents the cream of the crop of the underground 80s scene! 2CD set features 20 tracks in all – including "Love Treatment" by Brenda Watts, "Am I Gonna Be The One" by Colours, "Ease Out" by Mid Air, "Livin Too Fast" by Vera Brown, "I Can Feel Your Love" by Samson & Delilah, "To Please You" by UDM, "Super Super Lovin" by Masurrati, "Happy Music" by Mastermind, "Think Fast" by Pamela Joy, "Deetour" by Karen Young, "Back At Ya" by Kerr, "I'm On The Real Side" by Lisa Hill, "Down For Double" by Cubie Burke, "I Am Going To Love Him" by Sanctuary, and "Love Massage" by Lowrell Simon.

An excellent compilation that's very much in the spirit of the 100% Dynamite sets on Soul Jazz! This time, Soul Jazz dig through the vaults of the legendary Studio One catalog – some of the most important reggae and rocksteady ever recorded, virtually all of it produced under the tutelage of Clement "Coxone" Dodd. Much of this material has been floating around over the years, but we'd be hard pressed to think of a better collection of it – especially when considering the excellent fidelity of the set, which is way better than an of Dodd's own reissues of the material. Plus, the folks at Soul Jazz have gone out of their way to put together the tracks as an extremely well-thought out introduction to the music, not just a scattered batch of tunes that happened to be available. The set also includes a recent interview with Clement Dodd, plus loads of great rocksteady and early reggae tracks. Titles include "Surfin" by Ernest Ranglin, "Real Rock" by Sound Dimension, "Feel Like Jumping" by Marcia Griffiths, "Greedy G" by Brentford All Stars, "Village Soul" by Lennie Hibbert, "Ethiopia" by Cedric Brooks, "Crabwalking" by Prince Jazzbo, "Hot Milk" by Jackie Mittoo, "Badder Dan Dem" by Lone Ranger, and "Bobby Bobylon" by Freddy McGregor.

This ain't Chicago, but the sound here owes plenty to the Windy City as well – as the collection documents an amazing criss-crossing of cultural modes that occurred when early UK house musicians took the sound of the underground into the bigger British club scene! In a way, this music's a third chapter in a journey that began when the post-disco American underground were digging the styles of the British electronic generation – then began to craft their own music with early house productions from Chicago and Detroit. These rose in such popularity with UK listeners, that by the end of the 80s, the grooves reversed themselves, and flowed back over the Atlantic – inspiring musicians like these to take the best elements of American house music, particularly Chicago acid, and push it even further into something new! And while the generation yielded plenty of lame tracks and crossover pop, this set shows the real deal – those excellent initial singles that made digging UK singles almost as great as US ones, at least for a brief while. 2CD package features 24 titles that include "Take Me High (mansion mix)" by Colm III, "Show Me What You Got (acid mix part 1)" by SLF, "Jealousy & Lies" by Julian Jonah, "Where's The Love Gone (rmx)" by Julie Stapleton, "Safety Zone" by Exocet, "Pressure Dub" by Ability II, "1666 (pyro-maniac mix)" by MD Emm, "Free To Be" by Window Smashers, "Twin Tub" by Return Of The Living Acid, and "Crashing" by Baby Ford.

80s grooves galore – and a sublime collection of rare and underground boogie tunes from a few decades back! The package was put together by rabid collectors Joey Negro and Sean P – and is a welcome contrast to some of the dodgier 80s sets on the market – because Joey and Sean have gone out of their way to present each track with the best sound possible, in a way that lets the keyboards and electro rhythms sparkle with the same energy they had back in the 12" years! But even more than that, the pair have gone out of their way to annotate each track – so that you know that the excellent track list wasn't just a happy accident, and really represents the cream of the crop of the underground 80s scene! 2CD set features 20 tracks in all – including "Love Treatment" by Brenda Watts, "Am I Gonna Be The One" by Colours, "Ease Out" by Mid Air, "Livin Too Fast" by Vera Brown, "I Can Feel Your Love" by Samson & Delilah, "To Please You" by UDM, "Super Super Lovin" by Masurrati, "Happy Music" by Mastermind, "Think Fast" by Pamela Joy, "Deetour" by Karen Young, "Back At Ya" by Kerr, "I'm On The Real Side" by Lisa Hill, "Down For Double" by Cubie Burke, "I Am Going To Love Him" by Sanctuary, and "Love Massage" by Lowrell Simon.

Afro-centric jazz from the 70s through the 90s – a real spiritual journey in music, compiled from a host of hard to find records, most of which are long out of print! The music on the collection is from three different decades, but the set's got a wonderfully unified feel – thanks to a strong spiritual current that runs through all the tunes, and a linked heritage of performance that was shared by many of the players over the years. Tracks are from a very diverse set of sources – including many American and European indie labels of the 60s and 70s – and all tunes are long, soulful, and plenty darn righteous! Titles include "Song For Mozambique" by Archie Shepp, "Africa" by Sathima B Benjamin, "The Almoravid" by Joe Chambers, "Our Roots Began In Africa" by Pharoah Sanders, "Days Gone By" by Moe Koffman, "Children" by Nation/African Liberation Arts Ensemble, "Mrafu" by Nate Morgan, "Afro Blue" by J Life, "Desert Fairy Princess" by Adele Sebastian, and "Banks Of The Nile" by Carlos Garnett.

Sweet sounds from the soulful 70s – a massive batch of music that definitely earns the "masterpiece" in the title! The collection focuses on one of our favorite styles of the 70s – that warmly grooving mode that came to be known as "modern soul" – partly in contrast to the faster styles of Northern, and partly because there was a tightness of production and sophistication of arrangements that really pushed the whole groove forward! Work here is from a range of different scenes, and it's all pretty darn great – and all pretty darn obscure, too – no too-familiar tracks to clog up your listening, and instead a real discovery of gems that need to be rediscovered. Titles include "Go Away" by The Hesitations, "Pity A Fool" by Barbara Brown, "Sugar Love" by Pat Livingston, "Didn't I" by Darondo, "A State Of Mind" by James Carpenter, "This Man's Arms" by Loleatta Holloway, "So Much Love To This" by The Sweetens, "I Never Could Have Made It" by Jesse Davis, "What More Can I Ask For" by Betty Gouche, "Shake Off That Dream" by Eddie Billups & The CCs, "The Feeling Is Gone" by Rose Batiste, and "You Won't Be True" by Gloria Lucas.

The kind of record that makes us mighty proud to live in the Windy City – and a long-overdue look at the wealth of rare club, disco, and soul cuts bubbling in the Chicago underground at the end of the 70s! During the early part of the decade, the city was widely known for some super-huge soul acts – and in the 80s, house would raise Chicago to international fame – but in the space between, the city kept on putting out some really wonderful music – wicked little cuts issued on small indie labels, most of which never got any circulation outside the midwest! The Mr Peabody crate-digging team's collected together the best of the best from these overlooked years – and also threw in a few of their own edits too – furthering the dancefloor potential of some of the best rare nuggets. 2LP version features 8 cuts – including "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" by Carmen Amez – plus seven Mr Peabody edits – versions of "Too Far Gone" by LaJohn & Sheela, "The Challenge" by Billy Hinton, "The Composer" by Fantasie, "Running To A Disco" by Lonnie Givens, "Bass Come Back" by The Moore Brothers, "Disco Ball" by Brighter Side Of Darkness, and "Your Love Is In The Pocket" by Premonition.

Possibly the best-ever collection of blacksploitation grooves we've ever seen – a really comprehensive package that not only manages to cover the classics, but which also digs deep enough to come up with lots of fresh bits too! The set really sets a new level for the Soul Jazz label – and is carried off with enough authority towards Black Action films as the label's legendary efforts towards a host of less mainstream genres – truly an achievement for the label's crew, not to mention a heavier bonus for our funky listening pleasure! There's way more here than just a slapped-together batch of tunes from the early 70s – as the set's very carefully put together to showcase a wide range of sounds, along with notes that really get at the social and political power of both the music and the films. 2CD package features a massive color booklet inside the slipcase – and features 34 tracks that include "Shaft In Africa" by Johnny Pate, "Down & Out In New York City" by James Brown, "Wilford's Gone" by The Blackbyrds, "Run Fay Run" by Isaac Hayes, "Theme From Black Belt Jones" by Dennis Coffey, "Willie Chase" by JJ Johnson, "T Plays It Cool" by Marvin Gaye, "Charley" by Don Costa, "Brother's Gonna Work It Out" by Willie Hutch, "Blacula" by Gene Page, "Theme From Cleopatra Jones" by Joe Simon, "Pursuit Of The Pimpmobile" by Isaac Hayes, "Sweetback's Theme" by Earth Wind & Fire, "Aragon" by Roy Ayers, "Strung Out" by Gordon Staples, "Easin In" by Edwin Starr, "The Bus" by Solomon Burke & Gene Page, "Make A Resolution" by The Impressions, "Ed & Digger" by Cotton Comes To Harlem, "Las Vegas Strut" by Jack Ashford, "Lay It On Your Head" by Don Julian, and "Zombie March" by Nat Dove & The Devils.

A treasure trove of funk and soul from one heck of a great little label – Columbus, Ohio's short-lived Capsoul imprint – only around for 5 years in the 70s, but home to a great flurry of indie singles! We first caught onto the label's brilliance with their funky classics "Hot Grits" by Elijah & The Ebonies and "Sock It To Em Soul Brother" by Bill Moss – but as this set wonderfully demonstrates, the label's got a heck of a lot more to offer – and all of it great! The label's brilliance has been masterfully unearthed by the crate-digging team at Numero Records – who've brought together 20 of the best Capsoul singles in a beautiful package that really tells the story of the tiny imprint, getting at the details and struggles that faced independent soul in the marketplace of the 70s. Way more than just a set of old singles, the set's a rich document of indie soul in one of the near-forgotten corners of the Midwest – filled with great tunes that may well have you booking the next flight you can find to Columbus! Titles include "Sock It To Em Soul Brother" by Bill Moss, "Pure Soul" by Elijah & The Ebonies, "Without Love" by Ronnie Taylor, "You're All I Need To Make It" by Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum, & Durr, "Hot Grits" by Elijah & The Ebonies, "Too Far Gone" by Four Mints, "I Want To Be Ready" by Kook Blues, "Go On Fool" by Marion Black, and "Number One" by Bill Moss. Updated version features new mastering and additional notes – plus the bonus track "All I Need To Make It" by The Capsoul Group.

Funky female soul galore – a killer set of rare tunes that's one of the best sets of this type we've ever stocked! The SuperFunk crew at BGP have gone through the rich array of labels handled by the company – pulling out some massive tunes that really push our understanding of female soul – taking things way past the obvious hits and girl group numbers, into hard and heavy-stepping territory that we really love! Most of the tunes on the set are completely new to our ears, and there's a great mix of northern and southern funk styles that keeps things super-fresh. Drums crackle, basslines pound, and the gals belt it out loud, clear, and funky on a set of 20 tracks that includes "Tell Me What's Wrong" by Lynn Varnado, "Listen Here" by Valorie Keys, "Know What To Do When You Get It" by The Genies, "Heavy Heavy Hangs My Heart" by Vera Hamilton, "Better Get A Move On" by Louise McCord, "Pounds Of Soul" by Betty Bibbs, "Ooh Wee Baby" by Delilah Moore, "Sunshine Of Your Love" by Spanky Wilson, "Staying At Home Like A Woman" by Lynn Varnado, "Hold On This Time" by Fontella Bass, "Mr Fix It" by Thelma Jones, "I'm Glad I Got Over You" by Jeanette Jones, "One Way Street" by Little Ann, and "It's Too Late For Tears" by Rene Bailey.

Funky female soul galore – a killer set of rare tunes that's one of the best sets of this type we've ever stocked! The SuperFunk crew at BGP have gone through the rich array of labels handled by the company – pulling out some massive tunes that really push our understanding of female soul – taking things way past the obvious hits and girl group numbers, into hard and heavy-stepping territory that we really love! Most of the tunes on the set are completely new to our ears, and there's a great mix of northern and southern funk styles that keeps things super-fresh. Drums crackle, basslines pound, and the gals belt it out loud, clear, and funky on a set of 20 tracks that includes "Tell Me What's Wrong" by Lynn Varnado, "Listen Here" by Valorie Keys, "Know What To Do When You Get It" by The Genies, "Heavy Heavy Hangs My Heart" by Vera Hamilton, "Better Get A Move On" by Louise McCord, "Pounds Of Soul" by Betty Bibbs, "Ooh Wee Baby" by Delilah Moore, "Sunshine Of Your Love" by Spanky Wilson, "Staying At Home Like A Woman" by Lynn Varnado, "Hold On This Time" by Fontella Bass, "Mr Fix It" by Thelma Jones, "I'm Glad I Got Over You" by Jeanette Jones, "One Way Street" by Little Ann, and "It's Too Late For Tears" by Rene Bailey.

Go Go galore – a massive compilation of Chocolate City grooves – some of the best funky numbers from the DC scene of the 80s – a unique strech when the nation's capital was cooking up some mighty heavy grooves! Although recorded in the 80s, these tracks really preserve a 70s sort of funky sound – and in a way, the Go Go scene was kind of a refuge for all the great live funk energy of the 70s – especially the larger ensemble groups, like those in the P-Funk universe! Tracks are nice and long, filled with great rhythms, and lots of nice live instrumentation – and some great call-response vocals that are a bit like old school hip hop too. Titles include "Welcome To The Go Go" by Class Band, "Feel It" by The Mighty Peacemakers, "Somebody's Ringing That Doorbell" by EU, "You Can Dance" by Davis Pinckney Project, "Virginia Gone Go Go" by Code Red, "Skunk Funk Go Go" by Dr Skunk Funk, "Who Comes To Boogie" by Little Benny & The Masters, and "DC Groove" by Static Disruptors. 24 tracks in all – way more than any other set of this nature we've seen!

A killer killer compilation – the sort we've been dying to own for years! It's a well known fact that there's plenty of funky nuggets hidden amidst 70s gospel recordings – massive grooves and break-heavy tracks that rank right up there with the best indie funk from the same time. Yet tracking down these tunes has always been plenty tough – given that most gospel records sold in different circles, had different distribution, and often are less easy to decipher for the crate digger than more conventional funk and soul. Enter the folks at Numero – who have really gone all out this time around, and dug through piles and piles of rare gospel records to come up with a whopping batch of great tracks! This set is definitely ground zero for getting into funky gospel – and it's filled with far more obscure work than the Soul Gospel set on Soul Jazz – all indie numbers from small labels that only got minor distribution at the time. As usual with Numero, the notes and package match the soulful depth and righteousness of the music – and the set is one of the most perfectly wrapped-up genre compilations we've ever seen! 18 tracks in all – with titles that include "I Thank The Lord" by Mighty Voices Of Wonder, "This Old World Is Going Down" by The Modulations, "Look Where He Brought Us" by The Apostles Of Music, "Thoughs (sic) Were The Days" by LaVice & Company, "Bad Situation" by 5 Spiritual Tones, "God Been Good To Me" by Mighty Walker Brothers, "O Yes My Lord" by Voices Of Conquest, "We Don't Love Enough" by Triumphs, "Heaven On Their Minds" by Sam Taylor, "God Will Dry My Weeping Eyes" by Horace Family, and "I Call Him" by Masonic Wonders.

One of the coolest collections ever put out by The Numero Group – and that's saying a lot, given the hipness of the label! Downriver Revival chronicles the story of a unique studio in Michigan – Double U Sound, a custom recording spot that captured a wonderful range of soul, funk, gospel, and other sounds from the local community – beautifully presented here in a full 2LP set, plus a bonus DVD that features the near-complete 200 song archive of the studio! The DVD's really unique – so we'll talk about it first: Done with an interactive menu that lets you literally comb through the boxes of tapes in the Double U vault – selecting each reel recorded by the studio, and sampling the rich array of wonderful sounds from this untapped Michigan scene – a huge amount of music, far more than you'd ever find on a 2LP compilation. The DVD also features a documentary on the studio and Downriver Revial project – and that alone would be worth the price of admission – but the 2LP set then features 24 key numbers pulled from the vaults – tracks that were either issued on rare 45s, or never issued at all – and which represent a wonderful array of soulful sounds that definitely lives up to the Numero standard! Titles include "There's A Light" by Shirley Ann Lee, "Take Care Of Us" by The Revelations, "Untitled Jam" by Bobby Cook & The Explosions, "Foot Stumping (alt)" by Organics, "While You Were Gone" by Combinations, "Heaven" by Deliverance Echoes, "Untitled" by Burgess Band, "Round N Round" by Junior Mays Group, and "Walk With Me" by Calvin Cooke.

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!

Rare soul galore, but great soul too – a smoking selection of rare nuggets from the late 60s, including a fair bit of cuts that have never been on CD before! The package seems to be nicely heavy on talents from the Chicago scene – which is A-Ok with our Windy City ears – but also features great bits from down south and out west too – and the tunes step and soar along with grooves that break way past obvious 60s modes, and show that there's a continued great run of music to be discovered from this really amazing time! The whole thing's great – not a bit of filler at all – and titles include "I'm Stuck On You" by The Poets, "Just What Do You Plan To Do About IT" by Little Jerry Williams, "You Never Do Right" by The Fi-Dels, "Soon As Darkness Falls" by Roscoe Shelton, "Wonderful Nite" by Ruby Andrews, "All I Need" by June Conquest, "I Can't Hear You" by Betty Everett, "New Guy" by The Dynettes, "My Love Is Gone" by The Shadows, "Good Lovin Man" by Delores Hall, "The Night The Angels Cried" by Johnny Dynamite, "If There's Anything Else You Want" by Roddie Joy, "That I Love You" by Paul Johnson, and "I'm Walking Away" by Denise Chandler.

A treasure trove of funk and soul from one heck of a great little label – Columbus, Ohio's short-lived Capsoul imprint – only around for 5 years in the 70s, but home to a great flurry of indie singles! We first caught onto the label's brilliance with their funky classics "Hot Grits" by Elijah & The Ebonies and "Sock It To Em Soul Brother" by Bill Moss – but as this set wonderfully demonstrates, the label's got a heck of a lot more to offer – and all of it great! The label's brilliance has been masterfully unearthed by the crate-digging team at Numero Records – who've brought together 19 of the best Capsoul singles in a beautiful package that really tells the story of the tiny imprint, getting at the details and struggles that faced independent soul in the marketplace of the 70s. Way more than just a set of old singles, the set's a rich document of indie soul in one of the near-forgotten corners of the Midwest – filled with great tunes that may well have you booking the next flight you can find to Columbus! Titles include "Sock It To Em Soul Brother" by Bill Moss, "Pure Soul" by Elijah & The Ebonies, "Without Love" by Ronnie Taylor, "You're All I Need To Make It" by Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum, & Durr, "Hot Grits" by Elijah & The Ebonies, "Too Far Gone" by Four Mints, "I Want To Be Ready" by Kook Blues, "Go On Fool" by Marion Black, and "Number One" by Bill Moss. Updated version features new mastering and additional notes – plus the bonus track "All I Need To Make It" by The Capsoul Group.

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.

Possibly the best-ever collection of blacksploitation grooves we've ever seen – a really comprehensive package that not only manages to cover the classics, but which also digs deep enough to come up with lots of fresh bits too! The set really sets a new level for the Soul Jazz label – and is carried off with enough authority towards Black Action films as the label's legendary efforts towards a host of less mainstream genres – truly an achievement for the label's crew, not to mention a heavier bonus for our funky listening pleasure! There's way more here than just a slapped-together batch of tunes from the early 70s – as the set's very carefully put together to showcase a wide range of sounds, along with notes that really get at the social and political power of both the music and the films. Vinyl volume 1 features an insert with notes – and tracks that include "Shaft In Africa" by Johnny Pate, "Down & Out In New York City" by James Brown, "Wilford's Gone" by The Blackbyrds, "Run Fay Run" by Isaac Hayes, "Theme From Black Belt Jones" by Dennis Coffey, "Willie Chase" by JJ Johnson, "T Plays It Cool" by Marvin Gaye, "Charley" by Don Costa, "Brother's Gonna Work It Out" by Willie Hutch, and "Blacula" by Gene Page.

A weird sort of title – until you realize it's a play on the name of the city of Manchester, where most of this work originates – and where the testosterone must have been running high during the 70s, when most of these tunes were cut! The music here represents a world hardly heard from before – a British underground in the years after Deep Purple – rich in fuzz, and heavy on drums – making music that easily rivals the badass power of most of the bigger British groups of the time – and which often has an undercurrent of funk at the bottom too! That funky element is definitely at play on the track selection here, too – as you might expect with Finders Keepers at the helm – the folks who've given us fuzzy funky nuggets from around the globe, and have turned back towards home to dig up these mostly unreleased gems! Titles include "Windy Day" by Greasy Bear, "Hunt The Stag" by Stack Waddy, "Ten Days Gone" by Urbane Gorilla, "Crocadilla" by Spider Jive, "Come On In" by Slipped Disc, "Seven Stars" by Plasma, "Johnny" by Socrates, and "Is This Really Me" by JC Heavy.

A massive set of underground club – 2CDs worth of rare disco and boogie put together by Joey Negro and Sean P – with nary a familiar track in the lot! Both Joey and Sean really know their grooves – and they've gone way past conventional club for this package – digging deep for records that were rare even back in the day, most of which were issued on tiny little labels, and received little or no distribution outside their local scenes – making us even more impressed that two blokes from London could come up with such a good set! The style here is joyous, buoyant, and very much in the soulful spirit of the new work coming out on Z Records in recent years – a groove that's often topped by really wonderful vocals, and not just some lyrics cooked up in the studio. 2CD set features 21 titles in all – including a few rare mixes – and titles include "Disco Party" by The Escorts, "Maintain" by Steve Marshall, "Summer Groove" by The Joneses, "Sho Nuff No Funny Stuff Love" by Charles Mann, "Giving My Love" by Janice McClain, "Love To Live" by Moses, "How Can I Tell Her" by Curtis, "Come Down To Earth (David Todd mix)" by Choice 4, "Feel The Reel" by Adrenalin, "Keep Me Dancing" by True Image, "When Your Jones Come Down" by Sugar Bear Johnson, "It's A Better Than Good Time (Walter Gibbons mix)" by Gladys Knight, "Slide Into Your Heart" by Time Spectrum, "Man For My Lady" by Sabatta, and "Can I Take You Home" by Mel Shepperd.

Tremendous tremendous grooves – hip, jazzy, and deeply soulful – all hand-picked by DJ Spinna, and way more than just the usual funk compilation! Spinna's not kicking back, letting the licensors do his work for him here – and he's really gone out of his way to select a batch of older tracks that match the hipness of his own current work – sublime tunes throughout, all glowing in a united love of soul, funk, fusion, Latin, and Brazilian modes! 2CD set is unmixed, and features 20 tracks that include "River People" by Weather Report, "Bail Out" by DJ Rogers, "When She Made Me Promise" by Beginning Of The End, "Tuane" by Hammer, "Movin On" by Outside, "The World Was Young" by Monika Linges, "Let's Rock" by Feel, "Nereci" by Djavan, "Too Late" by Junior, "Automan (dub)" by Newcleus, "It Ain't Whatcha Say" by Aquarian Dream, "Come Into My Life" by The Supremes, "Tell Me A Bedtime Story" by Herbie Hancock, and "Body Talk" by Eddie Kendricks.

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.

Massive music from the Northern Soul years of the 60s – American tunes that played heavily on British dancefloors – and went on to fuel the all-night energy of the scene! The sound is upbeat soul throughout – killer tracks from Detroit, Chicago, New York, and other US locales – most of which were overlooked at the time by most US audiences, but discovered and brought to life overseas. This massive 2CD package brings together two classic Charly Records compilations dedicated to the glory days of the scene – put together by collectors who really know their grooves, and expanded here with lots of bonus tracks that weren't on the original versions! There's a whopping 56 tracks in the set, packaged in a hardcover book-style cover, with great color notes and images in the middle – and titles that include "Sweet & Easy" by Van McCoy, "You're Gonna Need Me" by Ted Ford, "Why Don't You Write" by Lee Bates, "But I Couldn't" by Willie Harper, "Touch Me Hold Me Kiss Me" by The Inspirations, "That Other Place" by Wade Flemons, "Come On Train" by Don Thomas, "Lonely For You Baby" by Sam Dees, "Omar Khayyam" by The Rubaiyats, "I Can't See Your Love" by The Ballads, "So Blue" by Joe Murphy, "Gonna Take A Journey" by Barrett Strong, "Shake Off That Dream" by Eddie Billups, "Just Like The Weather" by Nolan Chance, "Mr Bang Bang Man" by Little Hank, "Young Man Old Man" by The Stokes, "Halos For The Angels" by Blanch Carter, and "Momma's Gone" by Little Johnny Blair.

A much-needed look at the funky Miami scene of the late 60s and early 70s – the new powerhouse of southern soul, after the slowdown in the scenes in Memphis and Muscle Shoals! The Miami sound was harder, tighter, rawer, and faster than that of other southern outlets – based around a really strong ability to pick up a little riff, cook it up nicely, and create the perfect backdrop for sock-soul vocals. By the mid 70s, Miami was topping the charts with disco tunes that sprung out of this energy – but the tracks on this set are all heavy-hitters from the pre-disco years – kickass funky tunes that burn like a box full of rare funky 45s! Titles include "You Got To Be A Man" and "The Spanish Flyer" by Frank Williams & The Rocketeers, "Do It To Me One More Time" and "Somebody Done Took My Baby & Gone" by Joey Gilmore, "Cadillac Annie" by Clarence Reid, "You Got To Be A Man" and "A Woman Will Do Wrong" by Helene Smith, "Funky Cat", "Save Me", and "Fantasy World" by James Knight & The Butlers, "Funky Me" by Timmy Thomas, "Funkadelic Sound" by Little Beaver, "Don't Make The Good Girls Go Bad" by Della Humphrey, "I Get Lifted" by George McCrae, and "Cramp Your Style" by All The People.

A wonderful compilation – with a really unique sound! The compilers have gone for the sort of tracks that have provided an inspiration for some of London's more spacious soul artists of the past few years – and they've carved out a special slice of tunes from the cusp of the 70s, right at the point when hippie freedoms were sneaking into soul, folk, rock, and funk – in rare instances creating a fantastic blend of moods and modes, tunes that deliver that rare sound known in the underground as the "folk funk experience". The package is different than most funk compilations you'll buy this year – with a laidback groove that features lots of acoustic guitar, hand-played percussion, and even some nice touches of strings in just the right parts. The familiar mixes with the obscure – and the result is one of the tastiest listens our ears have heard in a long time! Titles include "You" by Bill Withers, "Play With Fire" by Barbara & Ernie, "And That's Saying A Lot" by Christine Perfect, "Les Fleur" by Minnie Riperton, "Milk & Honey" by Bonnie Dobson, "For What It's Worth" by Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66, "Reach For The Truth" by Linda Lewis, "Make Music" by Rena Sinakin, "I Have Seen" by The Pedllers, "The Dolphins" by Al Wilson, "Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love" by Odyssey, and "Aht Uh Mi Hed" by Shuggie Otis.