Incredible work from the amazing Dorothy Ashby – a brilliant set of funky and spiritual tunes, set to full backings from Chicago soul arranger Richard Evans! This album is easily one of Ashby's greatest, and it's dedicated to the writings of Omar Khayyam – one of the forces guiding Dorothy's more spiritual sound at the end of the 60s, clearly opened up in a way that's not unlike the direction of Alice Coltrane's work, but a lot more focused and a lot more funky! Ashby not only plays her usual jazz harp, but also koto as well, and even sings a bit too – and the larger group directed by Evans features work by Stu Katz on vibes and kalimba, Lenny Druss on flutes, and Cash McCall on guitar – all in a groove that's really a precursor to the Earth Wind & Fire generation of the Chicago scene! Titles include the amazing break "The Moving Finger" – worth the price of the album alone – plus "Dust", "Joyful Grass & Grape", "Heaven & Hell", "Wax & Wane", "Shadow Shapes", "For Some When Young", "Myself When Young", and "Drink". LP, Vinyl record album

Early work from The O'Jays – done before their huge rise to fame in the early 70s on Philadelphia International, but issued in a super-pimp cover that has a image of all these hot chicks with guns, standing in a very blacksploitation pose! Clearly, this was an issue that was put on the markets to cash in on the group's early 70s fame – but the record contains mostly material from the late 60s early 70s indie years, most issued as singles, with production by Bobby Massey and HB Barnum – and a rawer sound that really highlights their great vocal interplay. The work's actually pretty great, despite the cheap trick of the cover – and the album includes lots of nice numbers like "Little Brother", "Now He's Home", "Gotta Get My Broom Out", "Never Gonna Say Goodbye", and "Peace". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic package of work – material that not only helped kick off the career of the legendary Howlin Wolf, but also the Memphis powerhouse Sun Records too! The material here was all cut in the Sun Studios right at the start of its famous run – material recorded by Sam Phillips long before Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis – at a time when he was deeply interested in the shifts taking place in southern blues at the time, and was willing to take a chance on the mighty talents of Howlin Wolf! Wolf was no newcomer to the scene, but hadn't gotten recorded much before – especially not at this level, which brings out qualities that really ignited a long stretch of important 50s sessions after Sun licensed a few key tracks to other labels before they got their own imprint up and running. This very cool 10" package features titles not issued at the time – ten great tracks that were in the Sun Records vaults for years – presented here in a very cool vintage-styled LP. Titles on this second volume include "Color & Kind", "My Baby Walked Off", "Baby Ride With Me", "Smile At Me", "California Blues", "Well That's All Right", "Mr Highway Man/Cadillac Daddy", "Decoration Day Blues", "Dorothy Mae #2", and "CV Wine Blues/Drinkin CV Wine". LP, Vinyl record album

The debut of Nicki Minaj – a record that's issued in a much longer legacy than some might have thought at the time! The charms of Nicki are well-known, and we hardly need to recount them here – but that take-charge quality of her work still comes through loud and clear after all these years – a standard-setting mode that even overshadows the album's guest appearances by giants like Kanye, Drake, Rihanna, Eminem, and Will I Am! Titles include "I'm The Best", "Roman's Revenge", "Check It Out", "Blazin", "Here I Am", "Dear Old Nicki", "Last Chance", "Your Love", "Fly", "Moment 4 Life", "Right Thru Me", and "Save Me". 3LP version features a full record of bonus tracks – including "Bedrock", "Girls Fall Like Dominoes", "Catch Me", "Super Bass", "Muny", "Blow Ya Mind", "Wave Ya Hand", and "Roman's Revenge" with Lil Wayne. LP, Vinyl record album

A well-done collection of work from one of the real giants of the early days of Sun Records – and we mean that in more ways than one, as Carl Perkins was a towering figure of a man! Perkins may not have hit the fame as Elvis Presley or Johnny Cash, but his work here is every bit as wonderful, and a key part of the Sun Records sound – raw material that's way more than the standard rockabilly you'd hear on other labels – as there's this special kind of mojo that really knocks these tracks out of the park! Titles include classics like "Matchbox", "Honey Don't", and "Blue Suede Shoes" – plus all sorts of other gems that include "Put Your Cat Clothes On", "Sweethearts Or Strangers", "Look At That Moon", "Movie Magg", "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby", "YOU", "All Mama's Children", and "You Can Do No Wrong". LP, Vinyl record album

A huge set from the glory days of the southern hip hop scene – a trio of voices from the Three 6 Mafia of Memphis, coming together here in a set that's got a nicely raw, ragged sound throughout! This is definitely one of those sets where there's no reason at all to seek out a clean version – as the lyrics of DJ Paul, Juicy J, and Lord Infamous can't really be served up in any other way at all – supported here by guest work from a huge list of allies, including Too Short, Twista, Big Tymers, and Crucial Conflict – a list of names that definitely give you a feel for the vibe of the set. Titles include "Smoked Out", "Who The Crunkest", "Wet Party", "Elbow A Nigga", "Get Buck Get Wild", "Hell Naw", "Hypnotize Cash Money", "Slob On My Nob", and "All Dirty Hoes". LP, Vinyl record album

Mad funk from Ethiopia – classic work by the legendary Mulatu, one of Africa's heaviest artists of the 70s! Mulatu's been kind of a beathead secret for years – as most of his exotic grooves were never issued properly outside of Africa, and have only been the province of collectors who had the money and cash to get their hands on the work. The music's got a strange, other-worldly feel – a mix of bass-heavy dubby rhythms and spaced-out jazzy solos played on saxophone and electric piano – all coming together in a unique style that will blow your mind! The LP is the first-ever proper vinyl reissue of Mulatu's work – and collects together the best tracks from the recent Ethiopiques CD series, 9 titles that include "Yekatit", "Nesanet", "Sabye", "Ykermo Sew", "Asmarina", "Gubelye", "Dewel", and "Ene Alantchi Alnorem". LP, Vinyl record album

Quite possibly the greatest soul band ever to come out of Milwaukee – and a tight little ensemble who've got a really great sound! The overall feel of their work is a bit hard to peg – as the group are equally great at mellow midtempo group numbers as they are at tighter, clubbier tunes that snap with a bit more of a horn-heavy sound – and throughout the record there's a really playful feel that shows that whatever the sound, whatever the setting, these guys just had a heck of a great time working with each other! That quality can be heard especially well on the title track "I Always Wanted To Be In The Band" – a great little number that's almost an updating of the TSU Tornadoes sound for the 70s – but the whole set's great, and other tracks move into some great super-dope production that we really love! Titles include "I Am A Lonely Man", "People", "Cool Days Are Out Of Style", "I Ain't Never Gonna Let You Go", and "Cash Money". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful album by Mal Waldron – recorded in 1960, after the passing of Billie Holiday, and a very loving tribute by Waldron, who was her accompanist for a number of years. The set moves way past the usual "Holiday songbook" mode, and features instead a dark batch of tracks, two written by Waldron – "Minor Pulsation" and "Cat Walk" – a third written by him and Holiday, the famous tune "Left Alone". Jackie McLean plays some fantastic alto sax on the version of "Left Alone", and the rest of the tracks are trio tracks played by Waldron, Julian Euell, and Al Dreares. The set also features one very strange track – "Mal Waldron: The Way He Remembers Billie Holiday" – which is an interview with Waldron about Billie! And sure, there were many cash-in records after Billie Holiday died, but this is one of the best, and it comes from a very legitimate source! LP, Vinyl record album

Disco grooves from a source you might not expect – the Japanese scene of the 70s, which was home to a surprisingly strong array of records that were perfect for the clubs! In retrospect, maybe the music's not such a surprise – given that 70s Japan was also a hotbed of electric fusion, and the kind of sharp instrumentation that provides the core to most of these tunes – wicked basslines, sweet keyboards, and funky drums that propel these tracks along in a wonderful way – even if you can't understand some of the Japanese lyrics over the top! In fact, many of these numbers are even more in the fusion or funk-inspired side of disco – less the crossover cuts with strings and big production, and more like the kind of American club tracks you might hear from Kudu Records or some of the other fusion labels. The package is proof that great sounds can be truly universal – and comes with detailed notes on the artists and scene at the time. Titles include "By By Session Band" by Lily, "Summer Champion" by Yuko Asano, "Dancin" by Junko Ohashi, "Rainbow Parade" by Masayoshi Takanaka, "Uragiri" by Mari Natuski, "Maboroshi No Hito" by Miyako Chaki, "Banana" by Kay Ishiguro, "Yashow Macashow" by Ebonee Webb, "Lovin Mighty Fire" by Nayoya Matsuko & Minako Yoshida, "Sentimental Hotel" by Rie Nkahara, and "Barato Yajuu" by Haruomi Hosono. LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal early country rock from Gram Parsons and the International Submarine Band – cut soon before Gram jumped ship to the Byrds for the legendary Sweetheart Of The Rodeo LP! The one-and-only International Submarine Band LP is the first official full length album from Gram Parsons, and probably the record in which GP's deep love of soulful 60s honky tonk is worn most proudly on his sleeve. He covers Merle Haggard's "I Must Be Somebody Else You've Known" and Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues", and overall the album sounds a little bit more Bakersfield than San Francisco. Notoriously produced by Lee Hazlewood's gal Suzi Jane Hokem. Essential! Tracks include "Blue Eyes", "A Satisfied Mind", "Folsom Prison Blues/That's Alright", "Miller's Cave", "Luxury Liner", and "Strong Boy". LP, Vinyl record album

A nicely laidback album from Pugs Atomz – not at a level that feels lazy or thrown together at all – but which befits the confidence that Pugs can bring to his music after so many years – all with a quality that makes the whole thing seem as effortless as it is well-grounded! Tusk 57 handled much of the production – alongside Waffle King and Hexsagon – and the easygoing flow of the set is great, still holding strong even through guest appearances from the likes of Killah Priest, Rockie Fresh, Awdazcate, and Hexsagon himself. Titles include "Cash Ap At The Toll Road", "Malcolm 64", "Test Drive", "Green Means Go", "Cadillac On Michigan Ave", and "Sunsets In The US". LP also features added bonus tracks – "Testdrive (DJ Vadim mix)", "Green Means Go (Ed Seven rmx)", and "This Life Time (Inkswel)". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the deepest-digging entries in the Super Funk series so far – a blistering batch of underground singles that serve up some of the roughest funk of their generation! We'll be honest in saying that we'd only heard a few of the tracks here before – and our hats are off to BGP for taking this already-great series and making it go even deeper – far past familiar funk classics that usually get showcased on the label, and much more into the realm of the crate-digging underground, or the ebay-rarity stratosphere! A handful of cuts here are previously unreleased – never even issued on wax back in the day – and the rest are all pretty darn hard to find too, and all plenty darn great from a musical perspective. The package features a whopping 21 tracks in all – including a rare 1970 funky remake of "Twine Time" by Alvin Cash, plus "Home Brew" by Miles Grayson, "Just Sitting" by Smithstonian, "Can't Get Enough" by 87th Off Broadway, "Hi Off Life" by Eternal Flames, "Give Me Another Chance" by The Uniques, "Hold On" by Lorenzo Holden, "Free The Soul Man" by La May & Company, "Little Boy Blue" by The Phillips Brothers, "You'd Be Good For Me" by Jeanette Jones, "Who Done It? Who Drained The Pool?" by Big Daddy Green, "Low Rider (Deuce & A Quarter)" by Smokey Wilson, "Can't Buy Soul" by Hebrew Rogers, "Shake A Leg" by Jackie Wilson, "Face To Face" by The Explosions, and "Turn Around & Go" by Lee Bernard. LP, Vinyl record album

The title's almost redundant – as the words "Westbound" and "Funk" mean virtually the same thing! From the late 60s through the mid 70s, Westbound was one of the key record labels in the sound of raw heavy funk – working with hit groups like Funkadelic and the Ohio Players to craft a sound that laid the blueprint for countless other groups of the time, and also featuring a wealth of obscurer artists with an even harder-hitting sound! The key styles of Westbound and related jazz label Eastbound were heavy and fuzzy ones – picking up off the heady and trippy styles of the late 60s Detroit scene, mixing things up with MC5 guitars, Norman Whitfield bass, and deep underground Tribe-styled jazz touches. This 20 track masterpiece is a brilliant summation of the important Westbound sound – and includes a few hits, some funky 45 classics, and an even bigger number of tracks we might not have heard otherwise! The notes are great, the tunes are super-funky, and the whole thing's one of the best funky collections you could ever hope to purchase. Titles include "You're Messing Up My Mind" by Albert Washington, "Back To Funk" by Robert Lowe, "You Caught Me Smilin" by The 19th Whole, "Conga Man" by King Errison, "Shake Your Head" by Spanky Wilson, "I Love You" by The Motivations, "I Don't Know What It Is But It Sure Is Funky" by Mighty Elegant, "Crazy Legs" by Donald Austin, "Stone Thing (part 1)" by Alvin Cash, "RPM" by Boots, "Funky World (part 1)" by Silky Vincent, "Get Funky Sweet A Little Bit" by Jackie Harris & The Exciters, "I'll Bet You" by Funkadelic, and "Why Not Start All Over Again" by The Counts. LP, Vinyl record album