All Categories — All Formats  

Smoking blues from Billy Boy Arnold – an artist who never got the fame as some of the bigger acts on Chess Records in the 60s – but who could certainly cook with the best Chicago electric sound! Arnold sings and plays guitar on the record – with a bold, upfront quality that easily makes the record one of the best in this series on Prestige – thanks in part to backing from a youthful group that includes Mighty Joe Young on guitar and Lafayette Leake on piano! Titles include "School Time", "Evaleena", "I Love Only You", "Two Drinks Of Wine", "Billy Boy's Blues", and "You Better Cut That Out". CD features the bonus track "Playing With The Blues".

An obscure Jazz Messengers session – but a great one! The album is ostensibly a set of jazz versions of tunes from the musical Golden Boy, and the group this time is a larger one than usual – a total of 10 players, led by Blakey – and playing beautifully over arrangements from Wayne Shorter, Curtis Fuller, and Cedar Walton! The style's not any sort of clunky "jazz meets Broadway" mode, though – as the care taken by the artists involved help elevate the tunes, and the performance, to a whole new soulful level – hardly what you'd expect! The group features trumpet work from Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard, tenor from Wayne Shorter, alto from James Spaulding, trombone from Curtis Fuller, baritone from Charles Davis, piano from Cedar Walton, and bass from Reggie Workman – all very hip cats, working here with the same sort of large group textures you might hear on Freddie Hubbard's Body & Soul album from the same time, mixed with some more traditionally Blakey-led moments. Titles include "Yes I Can", "Theme From Golden Boy", "Lorna's Here", "This is The Life", and "There's A Party".

A tightly punctuated groover from the Philly scene of the 60s – a cut that bounces along with these hard-ringing piano notes underneath Christine's sweeter vocals – making for a mighty nice combination in the groove! "SOS" is hardly the sound of distress – and instead soars along nicely on this rumbling rhythm that really pushes Cooper's vocals forward boldly!

One of Coryell's best albums ever – a much more expansive session than some of his other records, fueled by some of the spiritual intensity of the Impulse records generation. Players on the album include Steve Marcus on tenor and soprano sax, Mike Mandel on piano, Roy Haynes on drums, and Larry Killian on congas – working with Coryell on long trippy tracks that are clearly informed by the styles of 60s work by Chico Hamilton, Charles Lloyd, and Gabor Szabo. All tracks are long, and titles include "Call To The Higher Consciousness", "The Great Escape", and "Gypsy Queen".

A great later set from Arthur Crudup – and one that's still got the powerful vibe of his "That's All Right" classic! Those Crudup vocals come through with an incredible punch – a built-in vibrato that really matches his guitar work on the record (amplified through the same Leslie speaker used by Buddy Guy on another Delmark record from the same time! The Leslie creates a cool Hammond-like quality to the guitar, which really sounds great with Arthur's vocals – and although the recording style is rootsy, the speaker still brings a pretty full feel to the set. Other players include Mark Thompson on bass and Willie Big Eye Smith on drums – and the set also features some guest guitar from Jimmy Dawkins and Mike Thompson. Titles include "All I Got Is Gone", "Trying To Take Me For A Ride", "Sunny Road", and "Please Don't Leave Me With The Blues" – and the CD also features some bonus studio chatter too!

A funky blast from Freqnik & WDRE! "Favela B-Boy Funk" is a killer cut from the NYC duo – who make a pretty strong impression here on this debut single on the Boro label. The tightness of the beats really does give it a timeless B-Boy funk feel – and it's paired nicely with some raw horns and Afro-Latin rhythms. It's schooled by classic crate digger funk – but it's done with a fresh, timeless, global spin. Includes the "Drumapella" version on the flip, where you can focus squarely on those stellar drums!

An amazing document of the legendary Jimi Hendrix – pulled together from private writings, vintage interviews, and other rare materials that really shed light on the genius of Jimi, and get way past some of the overwrought stereotypes of his all-too-short career! There's some great performance footage too, mixed with rare photos – and even some personal drawings, song drafts, postcards, and more – a mini-museum of vintage Hendrix – with lots of artifacts from his life behind the scenes.

The historical first release ever from The Jackson Five!

An overlooked gem from the early 80s years at Salsoul – a set that's beat-heavy, and plenty funky too – with a groove that's nicely heavy on both roller skate and electro modes! The record's a bit more offbeat than the usual Salsoul set – and we mean that in a good way – more in the street-styled mode you'd hear on the Vaughan Mason/Butch Dayo collaboration for the label – and proof that the company had a strong ear for grooves that go way beyond disco! There's plenty of surprises here – and the approach to the grooves has a very New York feel that mixes together the best of the up-and-downtown modes of the time. Titles include "Angel Baby", "Come To Me", "Rock The Rhythm", "I've Been Watching You", "Holdin On", and "I Need Your Love".

A strange little film with a western motif – starring Bill Cosby, Leif Erikson, and Yaphet Kotto! Fortunately, Quincy Jones was the musical supervisor – so the tracks are hip enough in the best parts – a bit rootsy at times, but with a 70s soul approach that keeps things real. The best cuts include the vocal number "Better Days" by Bill Withers – but even better are the instrumental numbers by JJ Johnson, including the oft-sampled groover "Pull, Jubal, Pull".

Classic Quincy Jones from the 60s – a pair of records that really show why his jazz skills were unlike anyone else! Quincy Jones Plays Hip Hits is a very groovy record that was done with a feel that's somewhere in between his Big Band Bossa album and his best 60s soundtrack work! The format is simple – Quincy picks a sweet batch of jazz semi-hits from the early 60s, plays them with a nice mix of soul jazz arrangements, and works with a great ensemble filled with wonderful players – including Roland Kirk, Budd Johnson, Seldon Powell, James Moody, and Jerome Richardson on reeds; Lalo Schifrin and Patti Brown on piano, Jim Hall on guitar, Clark Terry on trumpet, and Melba Liston on trombone – plus lots of great percussion at the bottom, helping bring some Latin energy to the grooves at points. Tunes are familiar, but all given a great Quincy Jones twist – and titles include "Gravy Waltz", "Jive Samba", "Walk On The Wild Side", "Bossa Nova USA", and "Watermelon Man". Golden Boy is a sweet bridge between Quincy's big band recordings and his groovier soundtrack work of the mid 60s – as the record combines straight jazzy grooving with some of the cooler elements of Quincy's soundtrack scores, like stepping strings, wordless voices, and a breathy mellow groove that floats across the disc in a wonderful way! Aiding Quincy in the album are a host of top-line jazz players – including Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Jerome Richardson, and Phil Woods on saxes – plus Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Al Grey on trombone, and Jim Hall on guitar! Although titled after the show Golden Boy, only a few cuts here are from that musical – and the rest include Quincy Jones originals and some cool covers, given the Q twist. Titles include "Seaweed", "The Witching Hour", "Hard Day's Night", "The Sidewinder", and "Theme From Golden Boy", done in 2 versions, both great!

A 60s LP that compiles Julia's earlier sides for Capitol – a mixture of jump blues, swing, and R&B, recorded with players that include Red Norvo, Benny Carter, Vic Dickenson, and Baby Lovett. Titles include "Last Call For Alcohol", "After Hours Waltz", "King Size Papa", "Snatch It & Grab It", "You Ain't Got It No More", and "Crazy World".

Wonderful work from this New Orleans combo – a Latin act that feels like they'd be much more at home in the Spanish Harlem scene of the 60s, especially given the soulful undercurrents of this set! On previous releases, the group already showed a great talent for crafting just the right sort of classic Latin groove – tight percussion and sharp instrumentation, all honed down with the rhythms in a way that really carried a strong old school punch. But this time around, they've got all that and more – a stronger Latin soul spirit than before, which really comes through in the pacing and presentation of the songs – holding back sometimes to give the listener more, in ways that few young Latin groups seem to get! The style is wonderful – and in addition to older New York modes, these guys bring in a few other elements as well – always without any hoke or gimmick at all. Titles include "Dejame", "Mary Wants To Boogaloo", "Oye Mamacita", "Hasta", "Sad Eyes", and "Swahili Baby".

Jerry Lewis as a boy geisha? Sounds like a pretty wild movie – but the soundtrack is a bit more straightforward than you might expect – a great mix of rich Hollywood scoring with some very nice "exotic" touches thrown in for good measure – a surprisingly top-shelf effort from maestro Walter Scharf! As with some of Jerry's films of the time, there's a strong sense of sentiment to the music – to offset some of the more comedic moments on the screen – and Scharf's music is surprisingly tender at points, with a quality that can echo the youthful innocence that Lewis brings to his portrayal. CD version has a huge amount of bonus tracks – 22 numbers in all, with titles that include "Tokyo Street Theme", "Dinner On The Floor", "The Steam Baths", "Harry Returns", "The Chase", "A Parting Kiss", and "Touring Japan".

Strange stuff! "Automatic Lover" is a clear Kraftwerk rip off, complete with robotic vocals, and a cold German backing. Very different than anything else Sylvia ever did, and proof that she was certainly a nutter!

Rare promo only 12", with three different mega mixes of Tommy Boy's best from the early days, with 3D (Ralph D'Agostino, Tommy Musto and Tommy Sozzi) dropping bits of "Renegades Of Funk", "Play That Beat", "Looking For The Perfect Beat" and more in a continuous mix of electro classics.

A beautiful 2CD set of long buried Townes Van Zandt recordings from the early 70s – a period that you can easily argue was his peak – even though few people were buying his records at the time! You get a pretty solid representation of 2 sides of the Townes sound on this great compilation from Omnivore. Disc One features alternate studio versions of some of our favorite songs – a good deal of which were produced by Cowboy Jack Clement at his Nashville studio in 1972 – plus a handful that Townes recorded in LA a year earlier. These have a sound that are fleshed out enough instrumentally, but without the horns, strings and some of the other grander aspects of the officially released album versions in hopes of breaking Townes through to a larger audience at the time. Ironically, it's the rawness and intimacy that Townes fans are drawn to – and that's what you get here! The second disc features demos that mostly feature just Townes's voice and acoustic guitar – and it's achingly beautiful! Despite the familiar track list, every song on this 2CD set is previously unreleased – and essential for longtime Townes fans and newbies alike! Includes "T For Texas", "Who Do You Love", "Sunshine Boy", "Pancho & Lefty" (an alternate 1972 mix without strings and horns), "Sad Cinderella", "Lungs", "Mr. Mudd & Mr. Gold", "White Freight Liner Blues", "Two Hands" and more on the studio sessions disc – and the titles on the disc of demos includes "Heavenly Houseboat Blues", "Diamond Heel Blues", "Tower Song", "Hightway Kind", "Old Paint", "Standin'" and more. 28 tracks in all – and it features some excellent notes by Colin Escott.

Muddy Waters' band meets the vocals and guitar of Luther Snake Johnson – in a sweet little set that's almost a double-header, given the talent on deck! The material's got a gritty feel that's right up there with Muddy's best for Chess – and the group features Mojo Buford on harmonica, Otis Spann on piano, and Waters on guitar (Muddy couldn't sing, due to contractual obligations!) Johnson's got a nice rough approach – almost a touch of soul at times – and the group keeps things nicely in a classic 60s electrified Chicago mode. Titles include "Sad Day Uptown", "I'm So Glad", "Chicken Shack", "Long Distance Call", "Digging My Potatoes", "Coming Home Baby", and "Mud In Your Ear".

Annie Williams serves up a great answer to Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman" – done with a similar groove and re-gendered lyrics – and some great raw vocals that are almost grittier than Ray's! The cut's produced by the Lieber & Stoller team – as is "My Boy John", another raw female tune that steps along with a similar sort of groove! The lyrics are different, but the tune's definitely an answer to Ray's hit – and in a mighty nice way!

An album that crossed over for Deniece in a big way – and it's a great one, with crisp, lean pop soul production that's as gratifying as any of the era – with a few ballads that are totally top notch, too! This is definitely the best of her more pop oriented records, with hooks galore – they sink in deeply! Includes the unstoppably catchy title track (but try to not think about Chris Penn dancing to it) plus "I Want You", "Picking Up The Pieces", "Next Love", "Black Butterfly", "Haunting Me", "Wrapped Up" and more.

Raw blues from Sonny Boy Williamson – harmonica, guitar, and some rough drumming underneath the vocals – all in a mode that has plenty of early Chess Records grit! And despite the "down and out" title and cover image, Sonny's got a heck of a lot of punch here – an approach to the blues that is almost more vibrant than some of his Chess contemporaries, and which brings a bit of R&B "umph" to the mix! Tracks were recorded over a number of sessions in the late 50s – and titles include "Dissatisfied", "Don't Start Me To Talkin", "I Don't Know", "Wake Up Baby", and "99".

A classic set from 1969 – issued as a special project by Stax in their first year after parting with Atlantic, almost as a message to that label that they were more than capable of handling things on their own! The double-length set brings together the label's best male and female artists, each in duets that largely only ever appeared on this LP. Other soul labels – like Vee Jay or Motown – had had good luck with the male/female duet sound, but the quality of Stax's singers puts them right up there with the top of the genre – as singers like William Bell, Mavis Staples, Carla Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, and Eddie Floyd all seeem to work perfectly together. Titles include "All I Have To Do Is Dream" and "I Need You A Woman" by William Bell & Carla Thomas, "Love's Sweet Sensation" and "I Thank You" by William Bell & Mavis Staples, "Ain't That Good" and "Piece Of My Heart" by Eddie Floyd & Mavis Staples, "It's Unbelievable (How You Control My Soul)" and "I'm Trying" by Pervis Staples & Carla Thomas, "It's Our Time" and "Don't Make Me A Storyteller" by Eddie Floyd & Carla Thomas, and "Soul-a-Lujah", sung by the whole group. 22 tracks in all.

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.

What a cool little single! This 4 track ep is presented by Kelloggs, the cereal company, as a tie-in with the Banana Splits TV show. It's got some really great numbers that range in style from trippy to groovy, and maybe a little bit funky. The track "Doin The Banana Split" was purportedly written by Barry White adn features a slightly funky groove, and a hip male soul vocal and heavy instrumentation. We simply cannot believe kid show music was at one point this crazy and incredible! Other cuts have a groovy sunshine pop feel – a bit off-beat, kind of trippy, and almost somewhere near Millenium or Love Generation.

With the dope remixes by Extra P and the Prunes.

There's definitely lots of brass here – as you might guess from the title – but never so much so that it gets in the way of individual soloing by Maynard Ferguson! The date features Maynard working with arrangements by Willie Maiden, Al Cohn, Ernie Wilkins, and Bill Holman – all for a largeish group that's wonderfully hip – Bobby Timmons on piano, Anthony Ortega on alto, Jimmy Ford on alto and tenor, Willie Maiden on tenor, Tate Houston on baritone, Richard Evans on bass, and Larry Bunker on drums – plus some added trumpets and trombones! Maynard himself plays both instruments on the date, and the album also feature some surprising guest vocals by Irene Kral on 4 tracks – spicing up the instrumental blend with lyrics on "Moonlight In Vermont", "I Hadn't Anyone Till You", "Imagination", and "The Song Is You". Instrumental tracks include "Jeepers Creepers", "I Never Knew", "A Foggy Day", "Love Me Or Leave Me", and "The Lamp Is Low".

A great little record from Yazoo – almost worth the price alone for the great Robert Crumb cover art – but a real treasure considering the vintage recordings by Blind Boy Fuller underneath! The set brings together Fuller recordings from the years 1936 to 1939 – surprisingly well-recorded, and presented on this long player with sound that is nice and clean – a clarity that really lets you hear Blind Boy's wonderfully vibrant work on guitar, matched by his rich, well-crafted vocals – sung in a style that occasionally hints at later sounds that other artists wouldn't touch for another decade or two. Titles include "I Crave My Pigmeat", "Meat Shakin Woman", "Weeping Willow", "Sweet Honey Hole", "Jivin Woman Blues", "Untrue Blues", "Homesick & Lonesome Blues", "Mamie", and "You Never Can Tell".

Surprisingly wonderful work by Cybill Shepherd – recorded early in her career, and a very serious attempt to express herself as a jazz vocalist! Part of the reason for the success is the fact that Cybill's working here with a great group that includes Stan Getz on tenor, Frank Rosolino on trombone, Monty Budwig on bass, and other west coast players – but another part of the success is Cybill's warm and sweet vocals, as evocative at this point as she was in her fine performances on film. Instrumentation often hits a cool, breezy sort of sound – almost bossa at some of the best points, which really transforms the older tunes! Titles include "Triste", "I Can't Get Started", "I'm Falling In Love Again", "Do It Again", "Speak Low", "It Never Entered My Mind", and a great grooving take on "Mad About The Boy".

Acoustic guitar vamps strongly along with the groove – setting up a mighty hip rhythm for the vocals and harmonica of Sonny Boy Williamson! "Polly" is one of those numbers that perfectly shows Sonny's influence on 60s rockers – especially in the UK – and the "Mellow Chick" flipside has a similar bad-strutting groove!

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.

An overlooked Motown gem from T-Boy Ross – a self-produced set that's filled with loads of 70s mellow soul moments! Ross begins the set by covering Marvin Gaye's "I Want You" – and there's definitely a similar vibe to the record – that kind of warmer grooving that Leon Ware brought to his own work for the label – sparkling and tight, yet never commercial at all – and served up with a style that's right on the money – known when to groove gently, and when to lay back and enjoy a more soulful moment too! Ross is great throughout – not as much on vocals as on his overall presentation – set up amidst nice rhythms from James Gadson on drums and Harold Johnson on keyboards. Titles include "I Want You", "I'm In Between Changes", "Smile & Be Beautiufl", "To The Baby", "Slow Down", "Forever Is As Long As It Lasts", and "Somebody's Sneaking & Peeking".

An unlikely bit of southern funk! Richard Newell – aka King Biscuit Boy – is a white Canadian blues performer, and not the kind of guy we'd normally rate – but on this album, he's lucky enough to get production from Allen Toussaint, who goes full-out to make this a fine fine funky session! The record's got plenty of nice snapping bass and drum parts, very much in the tradition of Toussaint's own best funky work – and it really grooves along nicely with a heavy New Orleans sound. Titles include "The Bum Is Mine", "Mean Old Lady", "Mind Over Matter", "Lovers & Leapers", and "Deaf Dumb Crippled & Blind".

Greatest hits compilation from one of the true greats! Tracks include "Zulu Nation Throw Down", "Planet Rock", "Looking For The Perfect Beat", "Frantic Situation", "Unity Part 7", "What Time Is It", and "Funk You".

Rare single by Bam and the Soulsonic Force off the Beat Street soundtrack.

Hard-ripping genius from Agent Orange – one of the group's first moments on wax, and arguably one of their greatest, too! The set's everything you'd ever want from an LA hardcore record from the glory days – tight, fast, simple, and completely effective – the kind of music that America did best, right at a time when the punk rock flag was failing in other parts of the globe – just guitar, bass, and drums – but played with an energy that set fire to a whole new generation! Includes the classic "Everything Turns Grey", a great remake of "Miserlou", and the cuts "Living In Darkness", "A Cry For Help In A World Gone Mad", "No Such Thing", and "Too Young To Die".

One of the best debuts in the history of hip hop – and one of the most important albums the genre ever produced! Criminal Minded is landmark for a number of reasons. Among the biggest is, of course, that it was recorded with the late great DJ Scott La Rock – and he was soon to fall prey to the very street violence that BDP documented with such raw brilliance, courtesy the lyricism and delivery of KRS-One. Importance aside, though, Criminal Minded is simply a great, timeless record that no true fan of gritty classic hip hop should be without. The track list alone is a full chapter in the hip hop book of legends – with tunes like "Poetry", "Elementary", "South Bronx", "Super-Hoe", "Bridge is Over", and the "P is Free" remix. Also includes "Criminal Minded", "Dope Beat", and "9mm Goes Bang".

The classic Scott La Rock tribute album – with BDP classics and remixes – originally issued as a 2LP set that was put together following the South Bronx-repping hip hop pioneer's shooting death. Alternate versions, remixes and BDP medley's from their most classic late 80s period. 15 tracks in all: "Advance", "D Nice Rocks The House", "Red Alert (Criminal Minded)", 'Doc Mix (Criminal Minded)", "Super Hoe #4", "Word From Our Sponsor #8", "BDP Medley #5", "Poetry" (#s 1, 2 & 3)" and lots more!

A selection of late 80s South Bronx Teachings – classic Boogie Down Productions circa Criminal Minded! South Bronx Teachings focuses soundly on the class of '87 – so you get fistful of the Criminal Minded cuts and a few other blasts from KRS-One & Scott La Rock, nicely paced over 13 tracks. Includes "Poetry", "South Bronx", "9MM Goes Blang", "Word From Our Sponsor", "Elementary", "Advance", "D-Nice Rocks The House", "The Bridge Is Over", "Criminal Minded", and "P Is Free (rmx)".

Lots of extra goodies, in keeping with the usual De La 12" format!

With Phil The Agony, Xzibit and the Liks on the a-side.

Devo brings their classic theory of De-Evolution to the Spuds of Seattle in 1981 – right around the time of the group's popular peak! Devo archivist Michael Pilmer (of Devo-Obsesso, ground zero for all things Devo on the web) purportedly found the tapes in a shoebox full of cassettes in Bob No 2’s home some years ago, which he immediately transferred it to DAT – and now we have this terrific document of Devo on the New Traditionalists tour. The set features a good portion of tracks from that album as well as live favorites from their earlier albums that are amazing to this day! Includes "Going Under", "Through Being Cool", "Jerkin' Back N' Forth", "Soft Things", "Planet Earth", "Whip It", "Super Thing", "Mongoloid", "Jocko Homo", "Smart Patrol/Mr DNA", "Girl You Want", "Gut Feeling", "Gates Of Steel", "Beautiful World", "Working In A Coalmine" and more.

We're not always the biggest Digital Underground fans, but Shock G/Humpty comes close to the funky goofiness of their earlier hits – with a definite Parliafunkadelicment edge (it samples "Aqua Boogie", but without the heavy sound that drowns a lot of the later west coast hip hop production.

Pretty Girl Bullsh!t features Foxy Brown. From bad Boys II.

By this point, Naughty by Nature's best material was behind them, but the remixes are still really nice.

With the promo-only "Dreams", better known as "Dreams Of F*cking An R& B B#tch", that was never released because they couldn't clear the James Brown sample. The verses have Biggie rhyming about, well, what the title says. Typical line: "I'd f*ck RuPaul before I'd f*ck them ugly Exscape b*tches."

Prince Paul's first solo set – with the same dope production and sense of humor that have made all his other projects classics – even if this one's way overlooked in his canon! It's a bit of a concept album – with tracks that play out as chapters in the state of a messed-up hip hop mind state – over timeless beats with that slightly off kilter Prince Paul approach. 18 tracks in all, counting the interludes, including "Drinks (Escapism)", "Psycho Linguistics (Convergent Thought)", "Vexual Healing (Vacillation)" "Introduction To Psychoanalysis (Schizophrenia), "Beautiful Night (Manic Psychopath), "Open Your Mouth (Hypothalamus)", "That's Entertainment!? (Aversive Conditioning)", "In Your Mind (Altered States)" and "Booty Clap".

"Nature of a Sista", produced by Luis Vega has sort of Bomb Squad wall-of-sound feel.

An incredible relic of the righteous underground of the late 60s from the Spirit House Movers – and one of the few classic albums on the Jihad label! The group was a vocal group of sorts – sometimes singing, sometimes rapping in a Last Poets-styled way – often doing both at the same time, in a mode that was really compelling and extremely powerful! Fronted by Leroi Jones, actually Amiri Baraka, on the first word music record he ever did that was completely devoted to the style. His spoken words are the lead instrument, and he's accompanied by a great group of singers – including Freedy Johnson, Leonard Cathcart, Aireen Eternal, Gilbert Monk and Yusef Iman – and some spare percussion. Titles include "Mishap", "Beautiful Black Women", "Miss Natural Soul", "Form Is Emptiness", "Nineteen Sixty Something", and "Unity".

Biggie's second LP, and while the production on some of the tracks features a fair bit of Puff Daddy's gloss, they'll still get your head nodding along to Biggie's incomparable flow. It was definitely hard to follow up Ready To Die, but the best cuts here manage to live up to the promise of his debut album. 24 tracks, including "Hypnotize", "Kick In the Door", "Mo Money Mo Problems", "Miss U", "Ten Crack Commandments", 'What's Beef?" and "Nasty Boy".

Six different mixes of this meeting of two greats. Admittedly not as entirely dope as it could have been, but still as nice as a Soul Sonic Force records with backing by Doug Wimbish and Keith LeBlanc. Also, there's a few interludes with James Brown saying a few words about the record. Nice cover with a photo of Afrika and the Godfather holding hands in unity!

Kenny Dope and Lil Louie Vega drop some soulful NuYorican science on this excellent number by the Ballistics, with their smooth post-CTI new approach to soul, and syncopated Latin house influenced grooves.

Cleveland Watkiss and Myllenda Lay add a new dimension to this track off the Rude System LP from Ashley Beedle and Marc Woolford, while the "church & soul" mix adds another layer of uplifting vibes, and as a bonus you get an instrumental of the Masters At Work mix off the other 12" released in tandem with this one!

One of the best debuts in the history of hip hop – and one of the most important albums the genre ever produced! Criminal Minded is landmark for a number of reasons. Among the biggest is, of course, that it was recorded with the late great DJ Scott La Rock – and he was soon to fall prey to the very street violence that BDP documented with such raw brilliance, courtesy the lyricism and delivery of KRS-One. Importance aside, though, Criminal Minded is simply a great, timeless record that no true fan of gritty classic hip hop should be without. The track list alone is a full chapter in the hip hop book of legends – with tunes like "Poetry", "Elementary", "South Bronx", "Super-Hoe", "Bridge is Over", and the "P is Free" remix. Also includes "Criminal Minded", "Dope Beat", and "9mm Goes Bang".

Picture sleeve copy of this one from Buhloone Mind State. Lots of extra goodies, in keeping with the usual De La 12" format!

Beautiful 12" from the early days, featuring vocal and instrumental versions of two of the best LP cuts, plus "Skip 2 My Loop". The picture cover has some nice shots of the De La's holding up signs that say "Jimmy" and "Jenifa" – like they used to do in early live shows!

12" with 4 great mixes of the title track, plus the sublime "Mack Daddy On The Left" which became the theme song for one of our favorite Chicago hip hop DJs. "Mack Daddy On The Left" is as dope as anything on 3 Feet High & Rising, but was only released as a b-side track.

Digital Underground's first album of P-Funky, hook heavy, party rockin hip hop for Tommy Boy! The first two albums by Shock G and the rest of the crew are classics, even if they don't get enough always get the props – possibly because the well the well of P-Funk samples wasn't necessarily the freshest waters, and also because the "Humpty Dance" was such a crossover smash, but few through a party like Digital Underground at the dawn of the 90s, and it's fresh and funky all these years later. Titles include the hit "Doowutchyalike" and the mega hit "Humpty Dance", plus "Freaks of the Industry", "Doowutchyalike", "The Way We Swing", plus "Sex Packets", "Street Scene", "Packet Man", "Underwater Rimes (rmx)", 'The New Jazz", "Rhymin On The Funk", 'The Danger Zone" and "Packet Reprise".

By this point, Naughty by Nature's best material was behind them, but the remixes are still nice, with each one using different music than the LP version.