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Big Boi's got plenty of help this time around – a huge array of guest talents that includes Sleepy Brown, Phantogram, TI, Ludacris, Kelly Rowland, Killer Mike, Bosko, and many others – but there's still a nicely unified feel to the set – a strength of vision that holds on even in the more commercially-tuned numbers, of which there are definitely a few that should push this one over the top! Titles include "Shoes For Running", "Apple Of My Eye", "CPU", "In The A", "The Thickets", "Lines", "Tremendous Damage", and "Descending".

The first full length in a few years from world class turntablist DJ Kentaro – and a pretty diverse set of floor-shaking instrumentals – plus a number vocal cuts with a strong roster of guests. Kentaro is a sharp producer/artist on top of the turntablist skills, crafting well-paced full scale listening experiences – and he's wise enough to stay true to his inspirations rather than chase trends. Includes "Kikkake" feat DJ Krugh, "Higher", "Step In" feat Foreign Beggers, "Big Timer" feat MC Zulu, "Lapis Lazuli", "Crossfader" feat Kid Koala & D-Styles, "Next Page (Dora) feat C2C and more.

Soulful and pounding! Joe Dukes is one of the greatest soul jazz drummers ever – the key to the unique sound that Jack McDuff had during his big rise to fame in the mid 60s, a combination of tightly funky rhythms underneath, with a freer approach to the top of the kit that worked perfectly with McDuff's hefty Hammond Organ work. The group on this album's McDuff's classic quartet that includes Red Holloway on tenor and alto, George Benson on guitar, and Dukes on drums. The album's got an incredible sound, with Dukes' unique approach to drums scattering all over the kit, creating these complicated dancing rhythms for the organ, sax, and guitar lineup. The album's filled with excellent groovers, like "Moohah the D.J.", "Soulful Drums", "Greasy Drums", and "My Three Sons" – and the whole thing's great! . Filled with excellent groovers, like "Moohah the D.J.", "Soulful Drums", "Greasy Drums", and "My Three Sons". Super-rare, too!

A stunning batch of funky big band tracks from the Kashmere Stage Band – sounding a lot fuller than on their first LP – thanks to an expanded lineup that gives them a whole new sound! The group are grooving here in a mode that's a lot like classic 70s blacksploitation soundtrack work – with a full ensemble that features funky drums, electric bass, and keys in the rhythms, plus lots of tight funky horns over the top! Tracks are long, and groove with a jazzy flourish that we wouldn't have expected so strongly – hitting hard on plenty of nice nice numbers that include "Kash Register", "Do Your Thing", "Angel", "The Zero Point", and "Getting It Out Of My System".

A pivotal album in the career of Kool & The Gang! This album has the band operating at the top of their early 70s funky powers – and it also shows them dabbling a bit with electronics, which would become a big part of their sound a few albums later. The best example of this is the totally cool "Electric Frog (parts 1 & 2)", which has this amazing bubbling moogy riff that goes in and out of the song. Other tracks are more straight-ahead funky – and they're all great! Titles include "Music Is The Message", "Love The Life You Live (parts 1 & 2)", "Funky Granny", and the righteous "Soul Vibrations". Also features the super-dope mellow "Blowin With The Wind", a stripped-down number that's dominated by a trumpet solo, and proof that the group could operate just as well at a mellow level as they could at a hard funky one!

One of the wildest albums ever by the mighty Last Poets! Billed as "a woodstock in poetry", this is the soundtrack to the obscure film Right On (billed as "the hit film" on the cover), which was shot using the first version of the Last Poets that included Felipe Lucianao, David Nelson, and the wild card Gylan Kain – a group who originally had the name and style of protest poetry, but who had been eclipsed when the poet Abiodun left them and formed the group that first recorded for Douglas Records. The album, sort of a "we're back" effort, was produced by Juggy Murray, and apparently all recorded at the Cubiculo Theatre in New York – and it's one of two albums on the Juggernaut label, which also featured Kain's solo record. Most of the record is spare percussion, with the band shouting over the top – and the sound is even rawer than the group's first LP on Douglas. The titles should say it all – as the record features "My Pretty N*gger", "Tell Me Brother", "Die Nigga!", "James Brown", "Soul", "Poetry Is Black", "Into The Streets", and "Library", clearly a big influence on KRS-1.

Great work from the Ohio Players – and proof that moving to a big label could be a good thing for a funky group! This was the band's first album for Mercury – and although one might have the temptation to say that the label cut down the radical funk sound of the trippy Westbound years, the move also taught the band to sharpen up their act, and get out of the repetitive sloppy groove into which they'd been lapsing during the past few years. The record's a lot smoother than earlier work – with a polished funky sound that would soon push the band right up there with Earth Wind & Fire at the top of the soul charts. And although there's familiar funky numbers like "Skin Tight", "Jive Turkey", and "Streakin Cheek To Cheek" – the best moment on the entire album is the wonderful spacey soul number "Heaven Must be Like This", a seven minute mellow groover that's got a sophisticated jazzy soul style, with voices and piano soaring into the heavens, in a way that always still sends chills down our spine! That cut shows the band's tremendous growth – and it's one of their best-ever!

A smoking set of work from Tito Puente – four classic albums, wrapped together in a single package – with a bonus album of rare material too! First up is Cuban Carnival – one of Tito Puente's finest albums for RCA, with a tight hard bunch of cuts that have a Cuban big band sound, and a lot more drive to them than some of Tito's other work for the label. Ray Bryant wrote the great track "Cuban Fantasy", and Tito contributed most of the other tunes on the set – a really unique batch of material that includes "Yambeque", "Elegua Chango", "Que Sera", and "Cha Cha De Pollos". The percussion is nice and hard, and the band grooves in tight ensemble playing throughout! Night Beat is a really jazzy effort that was cut with a top-shelf list of players! The groove's a bit different than some of Tito's other work – but in a good way, and one that has him stretching past straight Latin to mix in a heavy dose of jazz – really getting the most of players who include Eddie Bert on trombone, Gene Quill on saxes, Bernie Glow on trumpet, and Barry Galbraith on guitar. The rhythms are key – and in addition to drums from Jimmy Cobb, the album also features Mongo Santamaria on congas and Willy Correa on bongos – not to mention more percussion from Tito himself! Dance Mania is a burner of a set from Tito Puente – very well titled to suit the energy of the session! The tracks are all highly rhythmic numbers – short, but filled with jazzy horn flourishes and the kind of snapping rhythms that made the Puente group one of the biggest crossover favorites of the 50s. Tunes nicely mix up vocals with some more pronounced jazz soloing – getting a heck of a lot into a relatively small space, and really keeping up the energy of the record overall. Revolving Bandstand is a joint project from Tito Puente and Buddy Morrow – both leaders who recorded some great work for the label in the 50s, sounding great here in a unique variation on their classic sounds! The album has both Morrow and Puente playing back to back – creating a "revolving bandstand" that has both groups playing the same tunes at the same time – a very odd approach, but one that comes off well here – mixing Tito's Latin and Buddy's swing nicely, without too much confusion in the instrumentation. There's some great vibes on a few tracks! Last up is Tito Puente Quatro Bonus Edition – a set that features 13 rare tracks, with singles, outtakes, and more – including "La Virgen De La Macarena", "Moonlight In Vermont", "The Continental (alt take)", "Blue Moon (alt)", "Ran Kan Kan", "Timbal Y Bongo", and many outtakes of "Pa Los Rumberos"! All LPs on 180 gram vinyl – with liner notes too!

Top shelf Dilla beats from the archives – and a strong debut full length from Ruff Draft Records! Posthumous releases by favorite departed artists can be a dicey proposition – and much to our relief, Rebirth Of Detroit delivers – with both high quality beats and positive mojo! Dilla didn't cop to current trends in his time on earth (except for the ones he started in the first place) so it stands to reason that the beats he had in the can before he departed would hold up strongly years later – and they do Includes "Detroit Madness", "Big Thangs", "My Victory", "Do It For Dilla Dawg", , "Dillatroit", "Center Of The Movement", "City Of Boom" and more. 12 tracks on 2LPs.

King Geedorah aka MF Doom, aka Zev Love X, aka Metalface, etc. etc., drops the sideways intergalactic rhymes on top notch Big Dada LP from '03! A baker's dozen of that timeless, wholy unique Doom style that's just weird enough – and still the product of golden age schooled funky hip hop. Definitely in the upper echelon of MF Doom-related full lengths. Includes "Fazers", "Monster Zero", "No Snakes Alive", 'Anti Matter", "Take Me To Your Leader" and "The Fine Print".

A classic Blue Note groover – the funkiest album by Duke Pearson, and a killer batch of piano-heavy soul jazz tunes! Duke really blew out the box for this one – not only coming up with a great batch of original tunes, and playing them with an incredibly soulful touch – but also working with a top-shelf batch of players that includes Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, and James Spaulding! The great Mickey Roker is on drums, playing away with a nice scatter-shot modal mode that grooves in all the right parts – and titles include "Big Bertha", "Sweet Honey Bee", "Sudel", "Ready Rudy?", and "Empathy".

A breakout album by Betty Wright, the record that spawned the cut "Clean Up Woman" – the choppy funky track that really pushed her over the top in a big way, and which has remained fresh for years –thanks to a strong sample history in hip hop! That cut's more than enough reason to buy the record – but the whole LP's great – and features loads of other original tracks written by Clarence Reid and Willie (Little Beaver) Hale, hitting hard in a sweet 70s Miami soul style – titles that include "I Love the Way You Love", "I'm Gettin' Tired Baby", and "Pure Love" – plus a groovy cover of "Ain't No Sunshine". One of the turning points in the emerging Miami soul scene of the 70s – soon to provide a second home to Atlantic Records!

The 70s rock soundtrack classic for Dazed & Confused – pressed on vinyl to commemorate for the 20th anniversary Richard Linklater's stoner masterpiece – a double LP on hella appropriate green vinyl! On big loud dumb (in a good way) radio rock jam after another – with "Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo" by Rick Derringer, "Slow Ride" by Foghat, "School's Out" by Alice Cooper, "Jim Dandy" by Black Oak Arkansas, "Tish" by ZZ Top, "Love Hurts" by Nazareth, "Low Rider" by War, "Highway Star" by Deep Purple, "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath and more.

A treasure box of early 60s R&B 45s – a top shelf collection of singles cut for the King & Federal labels from 1960 to 1964 – amazing numbers from Hank Ballard, Freddy King, The Drivers, Little Bobby Moore, Willie Dixon & The Big Wheels, Johnny Guitar Watson, Carol Ford, Little Willie John and more. Early 60s soul and rollicking R&B sides to rival the best and most exciting sounds of the era – compiled by DJ Mr Fine Wine, most of which have never been reissued before now! Includes "Gibble Gobble" by Willie Wright & His Sparklers, "Broadway" by Hank Ballard, "What Makes You So Cold" by Lulu Reed, "My Nerves" by Little Willie John, "The Slummer The Slum" by The 5 Royales, "I Don't Know About You" by Lloyd Nolan, "Where You At Jack" by Little Mummy, "That's It Man" by The Valentines, "Mind Your Own Business" by Eugene Church, "Regardless" by Charles Brown, "Texas Oil" by Freddie King", "One Zippy Zam" by Roy Mildton & His Orchestra, "Mom, Won't You Teach Me To Monkey" by Little Emmett Suttoon, "Hog Killin Time" by Eddie Kirk and more.

Heavy funk from the legendary Bo Diddley – one of his amazing comeback albums from the early 70s for Chess, all of which are plenty darn great! For this set, Bo's traded in the scratchy guitar mode of his classic work for a sweeter, tighter funk-based sound – a groove that's supported strongly with electric studio arrangements from Wade Marcus – used here in very nice contrast to Diddley's rougher vocals and guitar! The style's got a bit more electric jazz touches than some of the other Chess blues funk records from the time – but the overall sound is still bound to please any funk fan – and titles include "Bite You", "Stop The Pusher", "You've Got a Lot Of Nerve", and the breakbeat classic "Hit Or Miss"!

The legendary meeting of the two biggest Brazilian keyboard talents of the 70s – Joao Donato and Eumir Deodato – coming together in beautifully funky formation! The sound is a great blend of the moody electric work of Donato's classic Quem E Quem album, and some of the fuller, funkier grooves on Deodato's work for CTI – served up here in a double-keyboard blend with help from a host of great guest musicians! Other players include Randy Brecker on trumpet, Romeo Penque on flute, Mauricio Einhorn on harmonica, and Michael Gibson on guitar – plus plenty of percussion from Airto and Ray Barretto, who both join in to round out this all star session. Tracks are nicely long, and very jamming at times – and titles include the funky "Whistle Stop", plus "Where's JD", "Capricorn", "Nightripper", and "Batuque".

Al Green's first LP – with a very different feel than his later work on Hi. The record's got a harder southern soul groove – almost in a Wilson Pickett/Arthur Conley mode, but with some sweeter elements in the backing. Al's voice is still incredible, although different than later, in that he's singing with a really open vibe, letting himself go a bit more, and not keeping in that smooth sophisticated mode of later years. Originally released by the tiny Hot Line label, and issued later by Bell Records when Al started to hit big with Hi Records during the early 70s. Titles include "Back Up Train", "Get Yourself Together", "Don't Leave Me", "Let Me Help You", "Hot Wire", and "Stop & Check Myself".

The return of The Heavy – the UK funky soul and rock combo who put out a couple of catchy records before unexpectedly delivering an advert/sporting event smash hit with their "How You Like Me Know" single! The Heavy have been at it for a few albums now, serving up a punchier, brasher brand of funk-rock-soul than most of their contemporaries – and their still doing just that! They're as eclectic as ever, too, with slick modern takes on old school rhythm & blue along with the kind of anthemic funk pop that made "How You Like Me Know" so inescapable. Includes "Can't Play Dead", "Curse Me Good", "The Big Bad Wolf", "Be Mine", "Same Ol'", "Just My Luck", "Don't Say Nothing", "Blood Dirt Love Stop", "The Lonesome Road" and more. Vinyl version includes the bonus instrumentals LP!

Dusty grooves from Alice Russell – a set that's steeped in heavy soul influences all the way through – from her great vocals on the top, to the tight instrumentation in the middle, to all the heavy drums that keep things kicking on the bottom! The album may well be Russell's tightest outing to day – and a set that's done in close collaboration with Alex Cowan – who really helps move Alice's music forward strongly with some new elements that never appeared in previous outings! There's some cool little twists and turns in the music – slight use of contemporary keys and electronics alongside the live funk elements – blended in nicely, without any sense of gimmick at all – and really helping bridge the space between the deep funk underground where Russell's worked strongly for years, and the bigger soul mainstream she could well dominate in the future. Titles include "Twin Peaks", "I Loved You", Citizens", "To Dust", "Hard & Strong", "For A While", "A To Z", and "Let Go". Features bonus track "Different".

Part soul music, part Caribbean sounds – and a much-needed look at the lover's rock genre in reggae – that unique blend of Jamaican rhythms and American soul that took place in the British scene of the 70s and 80s – and created some pretty amazing records overall! There's definitely echoes here of the reggae styles you'd know from big Kingston recordings of the 70s – but there's also a mellower, more laidback mode as well – yet one that's warmed up a bit by more soul-styled production – creating a sound that's almost linked to some of the American midtempo soul that was playing big on the steppers scene. Once again, our hat's off to Soul Jazz for doing such a great job with the project – pulling together excellent work from overlooked recordings – and finding a way to help send it all home with great notes and track selection. Titles on this second vinyl volume include "Stop & Think It Over" by Full Wood, "Caught By Love" by Christine White, "Paradise" by Jean Adebambo, "People Make The World Go Round" by The Cool Notes, "Thinking Of You" by Candy McKenzie, "We've Got One" by Wendy Walker, "Even Though You're Gone" by Louisa Mark, and "Goodbye My Love" by The Sadonians.

England was a surprisingly funky place in the 60s and 70s – home to a rich array of great grooves created by the scene's important sound library labels – staffed by the cream of the crop of the British jazz musicians and soundtrack composers of the time! The work of these cats often backed bigger names in film and TV – James Bond, The Avengers, Dave Allen, and others – but this set digs even deeper, to uncover a host of great instrumental moments that go way beyond famous movie themes – a wealth of excellent cuts from the late 50s through the late 70s – starting with exotic jazz modes, moving into 60s mod swingers, and including a fair bit of 70s electric funk as well! This scene's been reissued a bit before, but never this well – as Soul Jazz do their usual top-shelf job of bringing the music together – and offering up detailed notes and a great package that really sends the whole thing home. Part 1 – 2LP version features 19 tracks that include "Condition Red" by Barry Stoller, "Light Flight" by Pentangle, "Man Alive" by Tony Hatch, "The Contract Man" by Bullet, "Echo Four Two" by Laurie Johnson, "Man Friday" by Syd Dale, "Hard Hitter" by Keith Papworth, "Fragment Of Fear" by Johnny Harris, "Sort Of Soul" by Birds & Brass, "Fiesta Numero Uno" by The Marleybone Orchestra, "The Persuaders" by John Barry, and "Getting Nowhere In A Hurry" by Roy Budd.

England was a surprisingly funky place in the 60s and 70s – home to a rich array of great grooves created by the scene's important sound library labels – staffed by the cream of the crop of the British jazz musicians and soundtrack composers of the time! The work of these cats often backed bigger names in film and TV – James Bond, The Avengers, Dave Allen, and others – but this set digs even deeper, to uncover a host of great instrumental moments that go way beyond famous movie themes – a wealth of excellent cuts from the late 50s through the late 70s – starting with exotic jazz modes, moving into 60s mod swingers, and including a fair bit of 70s electric funk as well! This scene's been reissued a bit before, but never this well – as Soul Jazz do their usual top-shelf job of bringing the music together – and offering up detailed notes and a great package that really sends the whole thing home. Part 2 – 2LP version features 17 tracks that include "Canvas" by Brian Bennett, "Death Line" by Will Malone, "Folk Song" by James Clarke, "Steam Heat" by Barbara Moore, "Artful Dodger" by Syd Dale, "Jaguar" by John Gregory, "Whole Lotta Love" by CCS, "Face Up" by Alan Moorehouse, "Angels" by Alan Parker, and "Soul Thing" by Keith Mansfield.

The first new album from Iggy & The Stooges since Raw Power – that's 40 g****amn years if you're counting – and it's a pretty damn good! Yeah, we're gonna say it again, as it's probably necessary to repeat it: the first new album from Iggy & The Stooges (aka, the version of the band with James Williamson on guitar) in 4 decades is worth picking up. Yes, really! Frankly, it shouldn't be such a surprise, given that their live show is still essential, but after the Stooges proper reunion album The Weirdness (with the now deceased Ron Asheton on guitar. . .but like this new version of the band, it featured latter day Stooge Mike Watt on bass to replace the earlier departed Dave Alexander) bombed bigtime, expectations were low. Rather than try to replace the frenzied Raw Power vibe, they're really just out to make a fun, snarky, profane, no BS rock 'n' roll record here and that's what they do. Iggy has been more of a weird crooner in the studio in recent years than the wild-eyed howler that he becomes on stage, and that's what he does here, too. On top of the balls out rockers, there's a couple of surprisingly strong acoustic numbers – and occasional Stooge sax honker Steve Mackay makes a welcome appearance. The best Iggy album in years, with or without the Stooges! Titles include "Burn", "Sex & Money", "Job", "Gun", "Unfriendly World", "Ready To Die", "DD's", "Dirty Deal", "Beat That Guy" and "The Departed".

One of our favorite compilations of all time – a smoking batch of soulful jazz from the 60s, with a slight bit of funk and blues thrown in as well! The set's exactly what's promised in the title – jazz cuts, but with an ultra-cool mod vibe – the kind of soulful sounds that played big with the younger London crowd digging American music in the mid 60s – and also the kind of music you'd be likely to find blasting out of a backroom jukebox on the west side of Chicago! There's loads of rare single mixes of LP tracks on the set, and a number of smoking 45s from artists you might know better from more mainstream work – really hitting hard here, alongside a few special numbers from the indie underground too. Tracks are cool enough for old school hipsters – but appealing enough to bring in a new listener too – and as proof of that, we've given this one away for many years as a Christmas present. The collection features 25 tracks in all – non-stop pleasure throughout – with titles that include "Soul Shoutin" by Shirley Scott, "Tengo Tango" by Cannonball Adderley Sextet, "Whip It On Me" by Billy Hawks, "Yeh Yeh" by Mongo Santamaria, "Black Talk" by Charles Earland, "I'm Ready" by Otis Spann, "Mama Rufus" by Merced Blue Notes, "Theme From NYPD" by Johnny Hammond, "Step Out & Get It" by The Nomos, "Why Don't You Do Right" by Mark Murphy, "Collard Greens" by Freddie McCoy, "Theme From The Carpetbaggers" by Jack McDuff, "Filthy McNasty" by Eddie Jefferson, "Evil Ways" by Cal Tjader, "Kenny's Theme" by Kenny Burrell, and "Games" by Ivan Boogaloo Joe Jones.

A killer bit of early funk from the great Hamilton Bohannon – and quite possibly his best album! The album's much better than some of his later LPs – with a slower funk sound than Bohannon's fast disco of the late 70s, and a wild approach to rhythm that mixed together scatter-shot drums with funky wah wah guitar, organ, and hard-plugging basslines. All cuts are instrumentals, save for a few chorus vocals – and players on the album include Wah Wah Watson, Ray Parker, Travis Biggs, and Mose Davis. Bohannon's on drums and percussion – and titles include "The Pimp Walk", "Stop & Go", "Getting to the Other Side", "It's Time For Peace", "Save Their Souls", and "Singing a Song for My Mother".

The monumental debut of BT Express – and an excellent funk album that often gets overlooked by fans of the music because of the band's bigger fame as a disco group! This first record has the combo grooving hard and instrumentally – in the mode of a tight blacksploitation soundtrack, with plenty of tight wah wah guitar riffing, conga beats, and funky flute and sax – topped off by just the right amount of strings to make the set soar even more! The album's best known for the title track "Do It (Til You're Satisfied)" – which was a big hit, but is still an excellent groover – and the set also includes loads of other great cuts too – like "Express", which was the original song that the created the JBs' response track "Monorail"; "This House is Smokin'", which has lots of funky descending horn bits; and other great tunes that include "Mental Telepathy", "If It Don't Turn You On", and "Do You Like It".

The legendary 1970 recordings Alex Chilton made at Ardent Studios – recorded in a brief moment after the bust up of the Box Tops and before the debut of Big Star – and a truly powerful precursor to that most iconic of soulful Memphis rock acts! For the longest time, the 1970 sessions were something of a rock & roll holy grail – having been oft-discussed, if rarely heard, by Chilton and Big Star diehards. In the mid 90s, Ardent Records finally released the heart of this collection as 1970 – and here it's done up with even more love and respect by Omnivore, which over the course of just a handful of releases has become one of the very best deep digging reissuers of great, should-be classic soul & rock treasures. The vibe swings from stripped down, soulful rock that sometimes flirts with country rock – those songs featuring gruff, bluesy vocals from Chilton that belie his actual youth, just as greatly as his vox for The Box Tops – to gentler soul pop numbers that truly prefigure the Big Star sound to come. 12 tracks on the vinyl version – plus great liner notes by Bob Mehr, a living encyclopedia of Memphis musical knowledge. Includes "Free Again (Original Mono Mix)", "Come On Honey", "Something Deep Inside", "I Can Dig It", "The EMI Song (Smile For Me)", "Every Day As We Grow Closer/Funky National", "I Wish I Could Meet Elvis", "All We Ever Got From Them Was Pain", "All I Really Want Is Money", "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and more.

The Solution to weak indie hip hop – courtesy of the veterans 9th Wonder & Buckshot! Producer 9th Wonder and MC Buckshot have been active for quite a while now as a duo – to say nothing of their pre-union pedigrees – so it's pretty safe to assume their skills are quite finely-honed, to say the least! Sharp rhymes and timelessly soul-steeped production on Duck Down. Includes "The Big Bang", "What I Gotta Say", "Stop Rapping", "Crazy", "The Feeling", "Sam", "Pat Em Down", "Keep It Going", "Shorty Left" feat Rapsody, "You" feat Dyme-A-Duzin and "The Solution.

A funky treasure trove from Apple & The Three Oranges – a group we hardly know at all, but who really blow us away with the cuts on this collection! The groove is plenty hard right from the get-go – the best of the funky 45 underground of the early 70s – which means that there's more 60s rawness on the record than you'd get from bigger-label funk at the time – as Ed "Apple" Nelson still works here with a mostly underground vibe! Ed plays drums – which are mighty hard on most numbers – and his vocals have this offbeat, off-kilter, over the top quality that almost reminds us a bit of the Hank Ballard/James Brown recordings for late 60s King – particularly in the way that Nelson's completely unbridled with his energy. The whole thing's great – one of the best funky collections we've heard in years – and presented with a rich amount of notes and historical information too. Titles include "Free & Easy (parts 1 & 2)", "Moon Light", "Curse Upon The World", "What Goes Around Comes Around", "Down Home Publicity", "True Love Will Never Die", "Gotta Stand For Something (parts 1 & 2)", and "I'll Give You A Ring". Features a great 16 page booklet with extensive liner notes and photos!

It's been a few years since we last heard from Big Boss Man – but it's been well worth the wait, as these guys know how to cook up a mod groove better than just about anyone else! Winner's got a sound that takes us back to the swinginest days of London in the 60s – Hammond wailing over some snapping mod rhythms – sometimes instrumental, sometimes topped off by slightly psychedelic vocals that expand the sound even more. In the past few years, these guys have really grown a heck of a lot – and have managed to pick up some Latin influences that sit nicely alongside their straighter inspirations from jazz, soul, R&B, and 60s mod rock – making for an album of many surprises, and an expansive sound that's way more than just a quick retro-styled groove! Titles include "Kelvin Stardust", "Fall In Fall Out", "Complicated Lady", "Reach Out", "Oh My Gawd", "Boogaloo", "Fever Special", "Everybody Boogaloo", "The Hawk", and "Got It So Bad".

A beautiful set of late 60s to early 70s Soweto township jive sounds – soulful, joyful and amazing numbers mostly only ever available on rare South African 45s – brought to the world at large by our friends at Strut Records! Most numbers are from the early 70s, with a couple from the last couple years of the 60s, material from local combos in the years before the Soweto uprising of 1976. It's wonderful music, and you'll want to jump up and dance to most of the numbers – most with exuberant vocals and wholly danceable guitar and percussion, a joyous mix jazz, soul, rumba and funk in the craft. Amazing! Includes "I Sivenoe" by Melotone Sisters With Amaqola Band, "Maphuti" by Mgababa Queens, "Kuya Hanjwa" by S Piliso & His Super Seven, "Wenzani Umoya" by The Big Four, "Inkonjane Jive" by Zed Nkabinde, "Take Off" by Tempo All Stars, "Enuva" by African Swingsters, "Sikhwele" by Aba-Lilizeli, "10 To 11" by Sammy Boy, "Iza Wena" by Happy Africa and more. 20 tracks on 2LPs.