Mad Mats is not only digging beyond the crates here, he's also digging beyond any conventional expectations you might have – as the set's got a unique vibe that may well make it one of the most compelling BBE compilations in years! The music is from the late 60s through the present – but it all comes together in a very future-sounding way – with rhythms that are often offbeat, electric elements that seem to crackle with independent energy, and vocals that can fall down in the mix one minute and burst forth the next! This isn't a dance music compilation, and it's also not a set of rare funk tracks either – and instead, Mats creates his own very personal journey in sound – heedless of time periods, genres, and often national boundaries. Titles include "Take A Stand" by Psalms, "Big Big Boss" by Johnny Moore, "Badly" by Cuthead, "Sherriff (Murlo rmx)" by Gappy Ranks, "Keep The Music Alive" by Yvonne Gray, "Evil Woman" by Bobby Hebb, "Jazz In Outer Space" by BSTC, "The Traveller" by Deft, "Space Based" by Mode M, "Don't Hold Back The Feeling (key trip dub)" by U N I, "Animations" by Intimate Disco, and "Jah I See You" by Ensemble Entendu. LP, Vinyl record album

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 "Women Police In England" by Mighty Terror, "My Sorrow" by West African Swing Stars, "Cricket Umpires" by Lord Kitchener, "Jordhu" by Caribbean Swing Band, "Trumpet Highlife" by Shake Keane, "Calypso Mambo" by George Browne, "Cuban Nightingale" by Buddy Pipp's Highlifers, "Kitch" by The Quavers, "Tabu" by Mona Baptiste, and "King Jimmy Foo Foo" by Tejan Sie with The West African Rhythm Brothers. (Global Grooves, Funky Compilations) LP, Vinyl record album