A pop masterpiece from UK soul singer Lewis Taylor – easily his tightest album to date! The set's got a magical feel that reminds us strongly of our favorites from 70s radio on both sides of the Atlantic – warmly compressed instrumentation that slides in nicely alongside the vocals, sunnily grooving in a sound that's incredibly well-crafted, yet also extremely personal. The production is light years ahead of that on Lewis' other self-released albums – at a level that rivals the best studio work from LA or London in the early 70s, and which firmly pushes Lewis out of the indie Neo Soul ghetto, into a style that's much more in the vein of classic AOR pop. The whole thing's a real departure from Lewis' other work – which may turn off a few folks, but which has us appreciating his talents more than ever! Titles include "Send Me An Angel", "Listen Here", "Lost", "New Morning", "Yeah", "Please Help Me If You Can", "One More Mystery", and "Say I Love You". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic debut from Chicago soul singer Jamila Woods – the kind of artist that makes us very proud to be located in the Windy City! Woods is an extremely inventive lyricist – strongly inspired by poetry, but also immediately trying to communicate in a wider spectrum with her sound – at a level that's maybe even smarter and more sophisticated than you'd guess from her look on the cover, which might make you think that she's just another pretty face in mainstream music! Instead, Woods seems ready to reinvent the role of the female singer in soul music – getting help from hip collaborators who include our hometown hero Chance The Rapper, as well as Nico Segal, Saba, Lorine Chia, and Noname. Titles include "Bubbles", "In My Name", "Popsicle", "Assata's Daughters", "Blk Girl Soldier", "Emerald Street", "Breadcrumbs", "Stellar", "Holy", and Good Morning" – plus "LSD", a tribute to our city's great lakefront! CD

A great vinyl release of beautiful live material from one of the greatest new soul stars of the past decade – plus rare and previously unreleased tracks! Sides A & B of this double vinyl set features rare tracks and remixes of album tracks by some of the most influential hip hop figures of the last couple of decades. Tracks include "Brown Sugar" (Buckwild rmx feat Kool G Rap", "Cold War" (remix featuring GZA & Inspectah Deck), "You're My Lady" (Premier remix featuring AZ), "Ghetto Heaven" (rmx) with Common and more! The live portion of the album on sides C & D is essentially the Japanese release Live At The Jazz Cafe – a stellar D'Angelo set from legendary London groove room! The crowd is extremely enthusiastic, and the whole thing falls together beautifully – with a hard raw soul vibe that's similar to, but edgier than, D'Angelo's studio albums. Lots of great electric piano, soulful vocals, and great backing by a tight band. Titles include "Sh*t, Damn, Motherf*cker", "Me & Those Dreamin Eyes Of Mine" (featuring Angie Stone", "Brown Sugar", and "Cruisin". Also includes great covers of 70s soul classics "Can't Hide Love" and "Heaven Must Be Like This". LP, Vinyl record album