All Categories — All Formats  

A great mix of R&B and reggae – a hip early album from The Cool Notes – a UK group who never broke that big on our shores, but who have a sound that's held up well over the years! The rhythms here are often in a midtempo mode, with some Jamaican echoes – and the lead vocals are often backed up with lots of harmonies that more than live up to the group's name. Production is never too polished – which helps keep the album away from any too-commercial reggae-flavored crossover work of the period – and titles include "Travelling", "I Forgot How To Love You", "Rich Man Poor Man", "The Second Time Around", "Save A Little Love", "No More Wars", and "Brixton Town". Bonus tracks include "Blown It", "Morning Child (12" version)", "I Forgot How To Love You (orig 1980 disco version)", and "Jah Lovely Jah Wonderful Jah Marvelous".

Wonderful work from Johnnie Allan – and tracks that definitely live up to the "swamp" promise in the title! The vibe here starts with 50s southern rock – a bit of twang from rockabilly and country – but there's also a heavy New Orleans influence in the rhythms that makes things really unique – a rolling way of hitting the groove that changes up the music from styles you might normally know! And at points, some other Louisiana elements creep into the mix, and really come out sounding great – a very cool blend of styles that only gets stronger in the later years. The set features a wealth of recordings for the Jin and Viking labels, plus detailed notes as well – and titles include "Little Fat Man", "South To Lousiana", "The Promised Land", "Let's Do It", "Your Picture", "What'Cha Do", "Cajun Man", "Nights Of Misery", "Secret Of Love", "Graduation Night", "I Cried", and "Somewhere On Skid Row".

A pair of soulful gems from tenorist Gene Ammons – back to back on a single CD! The Soulful Moods is beautiful beautiful work from tenorist Gene Ammons – and an album that really demonstrates that during the 60s, one of Ammons' strongest suits was his work with a mellow tune or ballad! The tracks here are wonderfully laidback, but never sleepy – very soulful, and solidly put together in that Ammons-made gentle-blown way – using just a few notes to send the message out with a powerful punch, without ever overdoing things the way that a few of his tenor contemporaries might be tempted to do! The group's a great fit too – with the lovely Patti Brown on piano, plus bass from George Duvivier and bass from Ed Shaughnessy – and titles include "Two Different Worlds", "Skylark", "Three Little Words", "Street Of Dreams", and "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To". The second album is Nice & Cool, but not in a west coast way – and instead a set that's got Gene Ammons working some wonderfully soulful magic on a set of gentle ballads! The set's got a brilliant late nite sort of feel – one of those tenor albums that seems to sound even better in the space past midnight – as the warm glow from Ammons' horn seems to sparkle even more strongly in the dark – standing out with that stark, spare approach that always makes his ballad work so special – and unlike just about anyone else. The group here is nice and cool too – with Richard Wyands on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and JC Heard on drums – and titles include "Someone To Watch Over Me", "I Remember You", "Willow Weep For Me", and "Till There Was You".

The third album from Aztec Camera – and the one that showed the world they were way more than just an 80s Brit pop fluke! This one's got a great balance between the sweetness of their earlier work and some more chart-bound modes that really helped put the group on the map – a balance that's a bit like the sound that Style Council was hitting at the same point – yet less soul-based overall. Titles include "One & One", "Killermont Street", "More Than A Law", "How Men Are", "Everybody Is A Number One", and "Somewhere In My Heart". 2CD version features a cool book-style cover, great notes, and a full CD of bonus tracks that includes "Bad Education", "The Red Flag", and live versions of "I Threw It All Away", "Pillar To Post", and "Killermont Street" – as well as some mixes from singles!

A cool little book that's partly an introduction to jazz – but more like a cool collection of sidebars from longer articles – offering up interesting slices that really help you understand the music! The book is roughly chronological, but served up with lots of images and smaller text pieces – sometimes a focus on a specific artist, sometimes a smaller genre – often with additional notes off to the side that help illuminate things! The volume is unusual, but surprisingly helpful too – and even offers up some recommendations for CD listening as well. 276 pages, with color and black and white images.

Fantastic funk from the Italian scene – penned for a cop movie that was also known over here as The Hired Gun! The style here is even more of a cut above than usual for Italian crime – really on a par with the best American work of the period, particularly some of the extra-hip stuff you might hear on TV – like some of those gems from Sunday Night Mystery Movie that would blend sophisticated strings, offbeat orchestrations, and some great funky basslines and keys! The keyboards are especially nice – snaking through over these bass bits that roll out wonderfully and there's some moody woodwind moments that further deepen the sound in ways you wouldn't expect. Plus, the whole package is totally great – full, well-written notes in English – almost at a Film Score Monthly level! CD features 15 tracks from the film – plus 5 more bonus cuts from the vaults.

One of the earliest albums on Arhoolie Records – an amazing document of steel guitar bluesman Black Ace! Ace plays just like he sits on the cover – really leaning into the instrument in ways that bring out all these cool, deep inflections – completely hypnotizing on their own, with almost an unworldly feel at points – and accompanied by vocals on most tracks. Titles include "Drink On Little Girl", "Bad Times Stomp", "Farther Along", "Evil Woman", "Fore Day Creep", "Little Augie", and "Golden Slipper".

A set that definitely lives up to its title – a stone stormer from Brainstorm – one of the tightest funky ensembles of their generation, and one of the few who could go deep while still laying down a groove! The set's got a perfect balance of modes – enough of the appeal of bigger mainstream funk acts of the time, but also some righteous undercurrents that really show the group's roots – both in the approach of the lyrics, and in the jazzy instrumentation of the backings – which often show a righteous side of the group that's mighty surprising! The record's one that just grows and grows with each new listening, and is put together with some great sharp-edged production by Jerry Peters – who has a way of showcasing all the most interesting elements, while still keeping things focused too. Titles include the classic "Wake Up & Be Somebody" and "Loving You Is Really My Game" – plus "Waiting For Someone", "We Know A Place", "Hangin' On", "Easy Thangs", and "This Must Be Heaven". Great expanded version – in a cool book-like cover, with new notes, and bonus tracks that include "Lovin Is Really My Game (parts 1 & 2)", "Lovin Is Really My Game (single mix)", "Wake Up & Be Somebody (long)", and "Wake Up & Be Somebody (short)".

A stunning set of rare and unreleased grooves by James Brown – nearly all of which were cut during the classic early 70s years with the JBs, but never issued before this cool compilation! The set's got some essentials for any fan of JB – including the lost soul classic "She's The One", a duet with Bobby Byrd called "Since You Been Gone", a live version of "There It Is",an untitled instrumental and another one called "Funk Bomb." Plus, its got the full 9 minute version of the great "People Get Up & Drive Your Funky Soul" from Slaughter's Big Ripoff, and lots more excellent bits, packaged with great notes! The CD features a bonus remix of "I Got Ants In My Pants & I Want To Dance" – and this expanded version also features "You've Changed" and "Bodyheat (alternate mix)".

A cool rarity from the Chicago scene of the 60s – a Windy City obscurity that really sounds wonderful all these many years later! The Cave Dwellers were getting some top shelf help right at the start – as you might guess from their matching outfits on the cover – but they've also got a rough undercurrent that's strongly in the Dunwich mode – buried under full soaring horns on the main cut "You Know Why", but really bursting out on "Run Around" – which has frenzied guitars and vocals, and this beautifully burning Hammond! This beautiful package features notes on the group and these rare recordings – and also features two unreleased cuts too – "Don't Break My Heart" and "Because I Love You".

Sweet 80s grooves from Cherrelle – a set that really has the singer cooking strongly with the production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis – complete with all the heavy beats you might expect! Jam and Lewis borrow plenty of bottom sounds from the styles of hip hop and electro, and do a great job of mixing the rhythmic elements with Cherrelle's catchy vocals – all in a way that really blows away some of their more chart-topping productions, as the tunes have a bit more of an underground appeal! Make no mistake, this is definitely the poppier side of the soul spectrum – but there's also a freshness here that goes way past Janet Jackson – and which retains some of that smoother, more sophisticated sound we always love in the Tabu label. Titles include "You Look Good To Me", "High Priority", "Artificial Heart", "Saturday Love", "Oh No It's U Again", and "New Love". 2CD version features a cool book-style cover, new notes, and 11 bonus tracks that include "Artificial Heart (dance rmx)", "Oh No It's U Again (ext version)", "Saturday Love (ext version)", "Saturday Love (feelin luv ext mix)", "Saturday Love (Steve Anderson rmx)", and "You Look Good To Me (ext rmx)".

One of the first-ever albums to feature the music of Suzanne Ciani – and one of the wildest, too! The set was originally pressed up in a tiny 50 copy run – as part of an art exhibit in Brussels to feature a sound sculpture collaboration between Ciani and another artist – filled with loads of weird, wild, offbeat electronics by Suzanne – including some cool processed vocal passages, and loads of spare, stark sounds that work together as a beautiful collage – moving from noise to notes to noise and back again! The sound is very dark throughout – quite different than the new age sounds that Ciani would record a few decades later.

A trio of cool cop soundtracks from Stelvio Cipriani – all brought together in a beautiful package with a really unified feel! Cipriani's easily one of our favorite Italian composers for the cop/crime genre – as he's got a way of bringing sensitive sounds into play with driving action – in ways that are different from Morricone, Piccioni, or any of his other contemporaries! These tunes have a great balance between careful strings, warm themes, and more pointed action – often hanging their sound on a key element, such as a keyboard line, or off-tuned piano – and moving carefully forward with a really great ear for space and timing. Things are never sleepy, even when spacious – and the tunes ring out with a heavenly quality that could almost sanctify the acts of crime for which they were initially scored. CD features 3 tracks from La Polizia Sta A Guardare, 3 from La Polizia Chiede Auto, 9 from La Polizia Ha Le Mani Legate, and 9 more bonus tracks from the films – including some previously unreleased numbers. A really wonderful package too – with great graphics, notes in English, and a really beautiful look overall!

Light mellow Verve-y instrumental orchestral stuff, featuring Don Costa's versions of contemporary pop stuff, like "Heroes & Villains", "All You Need Is Love", "Ode To Billie Jo". and "Valley of the Dolls". Not totally jazzy, but a nice package of soft groovy grooves, in a cool gatefold cover (with notes), and a great subdued easy feel throughout.

Incredible soundtrack work from one of the coolest composers of the 70s – the groovy Francois De Roubaix, equally at home with electronics and funky orchestrations! We've loved the music of Francois De Roubaix for years – and treasure it for its unique blend of electric and acoustic elements – often coming together in mad juxtaposition, but doing so in a way that always makes for a nice little groove, and often a strong undercurrent of funk! This set brings together a nice collection of rare electronic soundtrack work by De Roubaix – tracks from the films La Scoumoune, L'Antarctique, and RAS, as well as music from the TV series La Mer Est Grande, plus a few bonus tracks from other sources. Together, the tracks paint a rich picture of the electric side of Roubaix work – a side that's shown up a bit on other reissues over the years, but which has never been shown so strongly until now! The whole thing's incredible, and packaged with some great notes and especially cool vintage photos of Francois in action – showing him to be the consummate hipster of the French soundtrack scene in the early 70s! 20 tracks in all – all brilliant!

Mindblowing work from French film composer Francois De Roubaix – an artist who's perhaps gotten more credit in recent years for his electronic sounds, but who's featured here in a fantastic batch of vocal numbers too! Many of these tracks have that great messed-up funky style of the era of Gainsbourg, Jean-Claude Vannier, and Michel Colombier – bouncing bass, psyche-inspired instrumentation, and lots of weird production that trips things out in these subtle, wild ways. Vocals are sung by a host of different artists, and the styles vary up nicely too – but the whole thing's really unified with that sense of madness we've always loved in the instrumental work of De Roubaix! Titles include "Les Poupons" by Olivier & Louis De Funes, "Le Rapace" by Los Incas, "Loin" by Joanna Shimkus, "Just Be Cool" by Fire Exit, "Mon Ami Thia" by Serge Reggiani, "Chacun Son Homme" by Brigitte Bardot & Annie Giradot, "Pour Qui Pourqui" by Nicoletta, "My Sky Is Blue" by Alice Herald, "Un Peu Beaucoup Passionnement" by Vaea Sylvain, "La Ballade Du Heros" by Farid, and "Avec Des Cubes" by Chapi Et Chapo. 24 tracks in all – and some very copious notes!

A wonderful tribute to the mighty talents of trombonist Raul De Souza – a package that features individual DVD and CD performances by the musician, brought together in one cool little set! Both formats feature recent material, ostensibly recorded for this package – and all tracks on the CD are not on the DVD – and vice versa – which means that you'll get an even broader picture of Raul than you might expect! The performances are great, too – very jazzy, with a style that focuses heavily on De Souza's lead trombone lines and solos – without much other instrumentation getting in the way. Given the many styles that Raul's used over the years, it's great to hear such a back to basics jazz-based set – echoed by guest work on the DVD from Joao Donato on piano and Hector Costita on tenor sax. DVD titles include "Spiritual", "A Vontade Mesmo", "St Remy", "Funky Man", "Bossa Eterna", "Jumping Street", and "Violao Quebrado" – and CD titles include "Alibi", "Ligia", "10 Minutos", "Voila", "Viva O Rio", "Up Jumped Spring", and "Todas As Tribos". Comes in an oversize package – with notes in English and Portuguese!

A pretty cool collection produced by Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee – focusing on famous speeches by important female African-Americans – mostly focusing on the civil rights era, but also featuring an early speech by Ida B Wells. Ruby reads the speeches, and works include "I Am A Black Revolutionary Woman (1971)" by Angela Davis, "The Right To A Decent Life & Human Dignity (1971)" by Coretta Scott King, "It Is Time For A Change (1969)" by Shirley Chisolm, and "Lynching, Our National Crime (1901)" by Ida B Wells.

A cool German book with a great sense of global street culture – photos from around the world, brought together with a National Geographic brand, but much grittier than anything we ever remember seeing in the magazine! The hefty tome is almost 400 pages, in full color, and is filled with images of global graffiti, underground art, skateboard culture, gang symbols, street festivals, t-shirts, and many other modes of expression – more than enough to save you an around the world trip to view local street culture. Notes are in German, but the book is mostly photos – and those are all pretty darn great!

An obscure release by Chico Hamilton – but with some really great moments that more than rival his famous sides for Pacific Jazz in the 50s! The set was issued on the obscure Crown label, and is a bit short on notes – but side one features work by Chico's early trio – a cool group with either Howard Roberts or Jim Hall on guitar, and George Duvivier on bass – really sounding open and airy, yet swinging too – on titles that include "Nutty", "Skinned Strings", "Street Of Drums", and "Blues On The Rocks" – played by a group that seems to feature bass, drums, and guitar. Even better, though, is side two, which features the more complicated "Suite For Horn" – a long piece built around the flute work of Paul Horn – presented here with a shorter track called "Montuna", which is mostly just heavy percussion, bass, and very noisy cello from Fred Katz!

Very cool session recorded in the 60's, and also issued under the title Dimensions & Extensions. Herbie Hancock and Paul Chambers team up with Latin percussionists Willie Bobo and Osvaldo "Chihuahau" Martinez for a set of long improvised tracks in which Herbie states a basic line, and the other players join in spontaneously. The record's got a sound that's unlike most other Blue Notes from the time, with a very free groove that never goes too far out, but which is far more adventurous than usual. All tracks are long, and titles include "Succotash", "Triangle", and "Mimosa".

A cool sci-fi story from two of the three brothers who created Love & Rockets – a tight little tale about robot culture, with a vibe that's like some of the best work from the early years of the magazine! The drawings here are most strongly in the famous style of Gilbert Hernadez, but you can also feel the influence of Mario as well – and the high-quality printing has the black and white images really popping off the page, wrapped up in a nice color hardcover! 126 pages, with bonus notes as well.

A great bit of 70s electric work from Quincy – and probably his funkiest album ever! Quincy's really stepping out here from the straighter and spacier styles of earlier records – going for more of the dirty grooves he was cutting up for soundtrack albums, and hitting notes that were a lot more fitting for the blacksploitation era. The record includes the massive funky track cut "Hikky-Burr", which was the theme to the first Bill Cosby Show, and which has a sinister groove, and some wild shouted lyrics! Also features two more great themes – "Ironside" and "The Anderson Tapes" – both of which have a cool electric sound to them, and the nice title cut, which actually features Quincy on vocals! Other tracks include "Cast Your Fate To The Wind", "What's Going On", "Brown Ballad" and more.

Beautiful beautiful record, and still one of the greatest jazz vocal albums ever made. The great King Pleasure sings in a raspy vocalese style similar to Jon Hendricks or Eddie Jefferson, but with a sense of warmth and delivery that the two of them never seem to reach. The set list here features a stellar batch of tracks with lyrics by Pleasure, including "The New Symphony Sid", "No, Not Much", "Parker's Mood", and "Golden Days". There's some great accompaniment by LA hard bop players like Teddy Edwards, Gerald Wiggins, and Harold Land, and the whole set sparkles with imagination and warmth. Plus, the liner notes include a cool set of notes about Pleasure's crazy philosophy called Planetism. Wild stuff!

A pretty great follow-up to the original Hair soundtrack – featuring tracks that were outtakes from the musical, presented here with notes, a cool gatefold package, and backings conducted by Galt MacDermot himself! The tracks are all pretty great – lots of them short and really messed up, a lot more down and dirty than the tracks that did make the musical, with subject matter that's a lot raunchier too. Not really that funky, but with plenty of nice moments – and vocalists that include Melba Moore and George Tipton. Titles include "Hello There", "I'm Hung", "Climax", "Washing The World", "Manhattan Beggar", "Exanaplanatooch", "One Thousand Year Old Man", "Dead End", "Mess O'Dirt", and "The Bed".

A very dark little score by Ennio Morricone – written for an obscure 1969 period film that starred Marlon Brando (and a very disheveled Brando at that!) – filled with cool tunes that mix the Morricone western mode with some haunting elements that almost have a spiritual approach! Many numbers have these moody, airy notes floating through – on organ on some of the best cuts – and even the overall orchestrations tend to hang in the air, but with a lightness that's often different than the usual drama you'd find in such a score. CD features 31 tracks in all – with some vocals by I Cantori Moderni – on titles that include "Qaueimada", "Abolicao", "Jose Dolores", "Verso Il Futuro", and "Preparazione".

The start of a legendary run for vocalist Alexander O'Neal – and a set that really helped redefine the sound of male soul in the 80s! O'Neal got his start in an early version of The Time, and he's working here with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis – but the sound of the record is way deeper than all of those references put together – a careful, classy set that definitely lives up to the vintage look of Alexander on the cover! Jam and Lewis play tightly in the group, handling most of the key instrumentation – often with a restrained style that's quite different than their pumping hits, which lets O'Neal's great vocals flow out with an undeniably soulful power. Rhythms often hit the best sort of groove for Alexander's style – which sounds best in a mellow or midtempo mode – and the set's filled with classics, including "A Broken Heart Can Mend", "If You Were Here Tonight", "Innocent", "What's Missing", "You Were Meant To Be My Lady", and "Look At Us Now". 2CD version features a cool book-like cover, new notes, and lots of bonus tracks – including "Are You The One", "Innocent (dance rmx)", "If You Were Here Tonight (soft version)", "You Were Meant To Be My Lady (ext dance rmx)", and "What's Missing (dance rmx)".

Amazing sounds from this really unique ensemble – a group with a feel that's much looser than you might expect from the orchestra in their name – and a wonderful blend of electric and acoustic instruments, all with a feel that's as exotic and evocative as some of the best Ethiopian sounds from the same time! The tunes have some really wonderful flute and trumpet lines, which often snake around the vocals by taking a different path themselves – but which are also layered with spare guitar lines that often have a cool watery sort of texture – not nearly as tight as in highlife, and used more to fill in little sonic corners between the rhythms. The approach is hard to describe in words, but is wonderful on record – and especially great when mixed with the soulful lead vocals of the tunes too. The package features a booklet of notes in English – and titles include "Souga Sosso", "Chabab El Bilad", "Mauritanie Mon Pays", "Senam Mosso", "Kamlat", and "La Femme Mauritanienne".

Heavy funk, all the way through – a brilliant batch of cuts from The Original Black Sheep Of The Family – and one of the only true testaments we've ever seen to their obscure funky work! The set begins with the massive "In The Forest" – a wicked, wangly groove that features righteous vocals on part one – then really takes off instrumentally on part two – with more than enough energy to warrant spanning both sides of the single! "Heaven" is a wonderful cut – warmly bubbling with a bit of modern soul energy, but also coming across with a more deeply spiritual undercurrent too – a bit like the best balance you'd find on some of the Soul Cal reissues, but also a totally unique cut on its own! "Do You Wanna" is a cut with a cool complicated bassline at the start, almost fitfully making its way into some funkier rhythms – all handled by the group with the best late 70s ensemble funk modes!

One of the best-remembered Sun Ra albums from the 70s – a really cool little session that features Ra playing the unusual "rocksichord" all the way through! The instrument's a very weird one – kind of like a messed-up electric piano, with lots of cool broken notes and a weird fuzzed-out tone – one that almost feels like a guitar's being fitted into a keyboard, with almost psychedelic results! Ra's use of the rocksichord gives the album a really eerie, outer spacey sound – one that mixes strongly with more familiar jazz lines from John Gilmore on tenor, Marshall Allen on alto and flute, Danny Thompson on baritone, and Ahmed Abdullah on trumpet. Titles include "The Mystery Of Two", "Interstellar Low Ways", "Cosmos", "Moonship Journey", "Neo-Project #2", and "Jazz From An Unknown Planet".

One of the best-remembered Sun Ra albums from the 70s – a really cool little session that features Ra playing the unusual "rocksichord" all the way through! The instrument's a very weird one – kind of like a messed-up electric piano, with lots of cool broken notes and a weird fuzzed-out tone – one that almost feels like a guitar's being fitted into a keyboard, with almost psychedelic results! Ra's use of the rocksichord gives the album a really eerie, outer spacey sound – one that mixes strongly with more familiar jazz lines from John Gilmore on tenor, Marshall Allen on alto and flute, Danny Thompson on baritone, and Ahmed Abdullah on trumpet. Titles include "The Mystery Of Two", "Interstellar Low Ways", "Cosmos", "Moonship Journey", "Neo-Project #2", and "Jazz From An Unknown Planet".

Classic work from Del Shannon – put together from a UK perspective, and featuring loads of great tracks we've never heard before! Sure, the set's a singles package – and does include some of the bigger hits – but it also features UK singles and their flips, and features over 40 tracks on 2CDs – so it's got loads of really cool little bits that help take you way way past Del's hits – and show that the Shannon sound was a mighty one, when spread over material this great! Lots of the tunes have that eerie organ line you'll know from the hits – but used in very cool, varied ways – and the rhythms are tight, and make most of these numbers mighty nice swingers. Notes are great – in the usual Ace style – and titles include "Stains On My Letter", "Give Her Lots Of Lovin", "Break Up", "Over You", "Stranger In Town", "Cry Myself To Sleep", "Hey Little Girl", "You Never Talked About Me", "From Me To You", "His Latest Flame", and "My Wild One".

The incredibly rare underground funk of Stone Coal White – whose couple of raw, incendiary psych funk 45s have been furiously sought for years – fleshed out here with newly discovered and previously unissued tracks for this most amazing full length on DJ Shadow's Cali Tex label! Stone Coal White featured a core lineup of bassist Melvin Payne, drummer Joe Roddrick and guitarist Tommy Mundy (or is it Munday?) – busting out a hazy, raucous and fuzzed out groove that's steeped in both funk and psychedelia. It's got more of a raw edge than most of their contemporaries and the later 70s combos to come out of the fertile Dayton scene – really cool stuff that's a joy to see respectfully issued all these years later. Mucho thanks to Dante Carfagna and Josh Davis for seeing it through! There's a revolving cast of vocalists – Dennis Mundy on "You Know" and "Hell Below", King Solomon Prather on "People's", Robert "Dapp" Brown on the gritty cover of "Ain't No Sunshine" and a cat called Cookieman on "Move Your Hand". Also includes "Stone Coal White", "Warm Up" and "Free".

The funkiest version we've ever heard of this great Bruce Lee soundtrack – one that brings together all the sweet instrumental moments by Peter Thomas, with sound that's much better than any other reissue! While previous versions have taken the music along with the dialogue, this gem of a set does a great job of isolating all the instrumental grooves – finally showcasing Thomas' excellent funky backings for Lee's onscreen antics, and also throwing in some sweet mellower moments that haven't appeared on other soundtrack releases too! The package is great, too – with English and German notes on the film and music, plus cool images too – finally telling the whole story behind one of the grooviest martial arts soundtracks ever. 20 tracks in all – including "The Amulet", "Hard Drugs", "Girl Loves Cheng Li", "Mukuri", "Big Boss Theme", "Big Boss & His Gang", "Blood & Dead Friends", and "EKG".

That's "swinging pool", not "swimming pool" – a distinction that's easy to get once you hear the first few notes of the album! The set's an obscure 80s vocal jazz date from East Germany – recorded by female singer Pascal Von Wroblewsky in a style that feels more like some of the best electric vocal sets from the US a decade before! Backings have keyboards and guitars mixed with acoustic lines on tenor, trumpet, and flute – and the arrangements have an easy-grooving feel that's a really great fit with the warm, raspy style of Pascal's vocals! Titles include cool versions of "Watermelon Man", "Maiden Voyage", "Fool On The Hill", and "Everything Must Change" – plus this totally great original called "Swinging Pool" – which has some great breezy scatting vocals!

A second great look at Italy's legendary Baia Degli Angeli disco – presented in a package that's possibly even better than the first! As with that volume, this one's delivered in a book-style format – hardcover, and filled with color pages that contain images of the club in the 70s, a recent revival series, and a host of wonderful artifacts used for promotion – flyers, t-shirts, and other giveaways that are all pretty darn cool! Plus, there's notes on the club, scene, and music in both Italian and English – making for a whopping 60 pages that offer us a look at a key musical force from many years back. But the CD alone is pretty great too – filled with 16 great club classics that played well at the Baia Degli Angeli – including "You Are The Star" by Jakki, "Shu Dig Dancin" by Inner City Express, "Sing Sing" by Gaz, "Dr Doo Dah" by Kongas, "Funky Road" by The Invitations, "Crocos Dance" by Revelation, "Everybody Dance" by Bumblebee Unlimited, "I Think I'm Gonna Fall In Love" by Skyline, "Block Party" by Anthony White, "Rock Spank Freak" by High Voltage, and "Mary Hartman Mary Hartman" by The Sound Of Inner City.

One of the greatest songwriting partnerships of the 60s – featured here in a great mix of soul, rock, and vocal numbers from the time – including a fair number of unusual versions of hits from the team of Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil! Weil's got a style that's sometimes a bit deeper than her contemporaries – and when mixed with Barry's strong sense of punch in a tune, has a way of bringing some surprising sophistication to pop music – little emotive moments that peek out from more hook-heavy numbers – but all without ever sounding lachrymose or overblown. As part of that quality, lots of these tunes have some great New York-styled production – that uptown balance of emotion and class – and as with other titles in Ace's excellent songwriter series, the notes alone are almost worth the price of admission – given all the historical detail, cultural commentary, and cool images. Titles include "New World Coming" by Mama Cass, "Love Is Only Sleeping" by The Monkees, "Angelica" by Scott Walker, "Looking Through The Eyes Of Love" by Gene Pitney, "Love Him" by Doris Day, "Good Good Lovin" by Bobby Hebb, "You Baby" by Len Barry, "Born To Be Together" by The Ronettes, "This Is A Love Song" by Bill Medley, "Make Your Own Kind Of Music" by The Happenings, "Shape Of Things To Come" by Slade, and "Proud" by Johnny Crawford.

A killer collection of funk and soul from an ultra-hip Bay Area label of the 70s – Oakland's enigmatic Brown Door Records – headed up by funk maestro Marvin Holmes! The music's got a beautifully sunny vibe – all the best Bay Area elements of the time, reflected in the scene-crossing, genre-stepping modes that often made the East Bay way more exciting than anything going on in San Francisco – particularly in the cool crossbreeding that would happen between Berkeley, Oakland, and other communities. Holmes' cuts here are a great example of that – still the funk and jazz of his late 60s music for bigger labels, but also pretty stretched-out and open too – filled with an all-encompassing spirit that rivals the best music from the Fantasy studios at the time – but with a hipper, indie vibe all the way through. This spirit also steps over to the work by other artists on the collection, too – and is told in the rich notes and images included with the heavy booklet – both in English and Japanese, at a level that shows the Shout Productions folks stepping into Numero territory. A wonderfully deep compilation – filled with great cuts that include "You & Me", and "Goin Home" by Faye Marshall, "Making New Friends" and "Trippin On The Sounds" by Jeanie Tracy, "Cain't Get Anuff" by Bill Bell, "I Can't Go Without You (parts 1 & 2)" by Doroth Morrison, "Love Yo Love" and "Confess Your Love" by John Turk & The 3rd Street Annex, and the tracks "Kwame", "You Better Keep Her (7" version)", "Find Yourself (parts 1 & 2)", "Gimme Some Tonight (parts 1 & 2)", "Feel So Good (inst)", "You Girl", "Tell The Truth", and "Kimani Mdogo" by Marvin Holmes & Justice.

A reimagined version of the legendary Yellow Pills compilation on Numero – 20 songs from the original compilation, plus two bonus tracks, new liner notes, and lots of cool sleeve scans, photos, and more! Forget everything you know about rock music in the late 70s – all the punk rock and new wave that's been immortalized over the years – and get ready to discover a whole new world of power pop! At the time, the power pop underground was as important to some ears as the artier and angrier work coming out of the east coast and UK – and the power pop world was one that could co-exist a bit more peacefully with mainstream rock, while still offering a great opportunity for bands on various local scenes. The work here has echoes of more famous acts of the time – like The Cars, The Kings, or The Knack – but it's also got a bit more of a home-grown, punk rock edge – one that comes through beautifully in the guitar parts, vocals, and unabashed hooks of the tunes. The set's a follow-up to the original Yellow Pills set by zine publisher Jordan Oakes – and it delves deeper than even that one, with a real focus on work from the end of the 70s, and acts that never had great chart success overall. Titles include "High School" by Tommy Rock, "She's Hi Fi" by The Trend, "There Goes My Heart Again" by The Kids, "Not My Girl Anymore" by The Bats, "All I Want" by The Colors, "Domestic/Imported" by The Toms, "Sunshine USA" by Randy Winburn, "One In A Million" by Luxury, "She's The Girl" by The Tweeds, "Rave It Up" by Colors, and "Hey Little Girl" by The Kids.

Possibly the best-ever collection of blacksploitation grooves we've ever seen – a really comprehensive package that not only manages to cover the classics, but which also digs deep enough to come up with lots of fresh bits too! The set really sets a new level for the Soul Jazz label – and is carried off with enough authority towards Black Action films as the label's legendary efforts towards a host of less mainstream genres – truly an achievement for the label's crew, not to mention a heavier bonus for our funky listening pleasure! There's way more here than just a slapped-together batch of tunes from the early 70s – as the set's very carefully put together to showcase a wide range of sounds, along with notes that really get at the social and political power of both the music and the films. 2CD package features a massive color booklet inside the slipcase – and features 34 tracks that include "Shaft In Africa" by Johnny Pate, "Down & Out In New York City" by James Brown, "Wilford's Gone" by The Blackbyrds, "Run Fay Run" by Isaac Hayes, "Theme From Black Belt Jones" by Dennis Coffey, "Willie Chase" by JJ Johnson, "T Plays It Cool" by Marvin Gaye, "Charley" by Don Costa, "Brother's Gonna Work It Out" by Willie Hutch, "Blacula" by Gene Page, "Theme From Cleopatra Jones" by Joe Simon, "Pursuit Of The Pimpmobile" by Isaac Hayes, "Sweetback's Theme" by Earth Wind & Fire, "Aragon" by Roy Ayers, "Strung Out" by Gordon Staples, "Easin In" by Edwin Starr, "The Bus" by Solomon Burke & Gene Page, "Make A Resolution" by The Impressions, "Ed & Digger" by Cotton Comes To Harlem, "Las Vegas Strut" by Jack Ashford, "Lay It On Your Head" by Don Julian, and "Zombie March" by Nat Dove & The Devils.

Funky Japanese soundtracks galore – served up by the legendary DJ Muro! Muro's a name we can really trust for mixes of rare American funk and soul – but this time around, he turns his talents towards his homeland, and comes up with an incredible blend of rare Japanese grooves pulled from film scores – the kind of cool cuts we've been digging in the Hotwax & Trax series we've stocked from Ultra Vybe – but all filtered down into one sweet little set by Muro! The package has a whopping 38 tracks in all – all funky, and filled with loads of great beats, basslines, keyboards, and guitar – kind of a perfect distillation of the best cuts from a wide range of rare soundtracks – many of which have been reissued on CD over the years, but which are now out of print. The notes and titles are all in Japanese – but take it from us, the grooves are more than enough – and the set features over 70 minutes of rare funk!

Sample funk spun from records rescued by The Numero Group – edited by white label production crew Shoes without Numero's consent – which was then seized by Numero at the pressing plant, they bootlegged the bootleg, and release it here legitimately as Eccentric Breaks & Beats! The breakbeat funk aware will recognize the packaging for its parody of the Ultimate Breaks & Beats series – and however you feel about the politics of grey market music – creatively, this thing is a total win! Numero takes such impeccable care with their reissues, from the masters to the notes and packaging, we actually never really thought of the music as sample material – funky as the funkiest of their ouvre is! That's a testament to the curators of Numero, as the singers, players and producers of the original material are of paramount importance and we think of them individually when we listen to those compilations. Shoes, on the other hand (. . .or foot), heard potential for hypnotic, swirling psych funk blends and spins an undeniably creative set to suit. Titles include "Give Me Another Day", "Not Ready For School", "John Goodman Is Too Cool To Cry", "Peopleibrium", "Feel What Lies Behind You", "Saving Mr Billy's Soul", "Cosmic Clock", "Which Jesus Am I", "Everything" and more.

Very cool compilation featuring a whole mess of great lost funk tracks from the legendary Westbound label – including a few unreleased cuts! There's a number of tracks on here that we just about never see, and some more that you'll only find on rare funky 45s. Tracks include "Getting It Off", an instrumental by Fuzzy Haskins, "Super Funk" by Erasmus Hall, "In The Pocket" by Boots, "Funk It Down" by Caesar Frazier, "Just Us" by Crowd Pleasers, "Funky Beethoven" by Gene Anderson, "Be What You Is" by U.S. Music & Funkadelic, and "Funky World (parts 1 & 2)" by Silky Vincent. Very cool stuff, and with a good set of notes! Plus, this CD version includes the extra tracks "Hickey Burr" by Caesar Frazier, "Loose Booty" by Funkadelic, "Sweet Thing" by Houston Outlaws, "Hit It & Quit It" by Bobby Franklin's Insanity, and more!

Indian music with a Nigerian twist – heard here in a set of recordings from the Hausa cinematic scene! At first listen, you can hear the Bollywood influence right away – both in the rhythms of the tunes, which have that festive, bouncing quality of an Indian film music number – and in the vocals, which often feature upbeat female choruses, or male/female trading lyrics back and forth! The instrumentation is sometimes a bit more contemporary, but in a cool way – as vocal processing and keyboards bring a fresh take on the approach, as do some more locally-specific rhythmic touches at times. The package comes with some helpful notes on the music – and titles include "Fashion" by Karamin Lilisco, "Kauna" by Mudassir Kassim, "Aure" by Maryam Olomi, "Tofi" by Abubacar Sani & Fati Niger, and "Oloufemi" by Mai Dawayya.

Indian music with a Nigerian twist – heard here in a set of recordings from the Hausa cinematic scene! At first listen, you can hear the Bollywood influence right away – both in the rhythms of the tunes, which have that festive, bouncing quality of an Indian film music number – and in the vocals, which often feature upbeat female choruses, or male/female trading lyrics back and forth! The instrumentation is sometimes a bit more contemporary, but in a cool way – as vocal processing and keyboards bring a fresh take on the approach, as do some more locally-specific rhythmic touches at times. The package comes with some helpful notes on the music – and titles include "Fashion" by Karamin Lilisco, "Kauna" by Mudassir Kassim, "Aure" by Maryam Olomi, "Tofi" by Abubacar Sani & Fati Niger, and "Oloufemi" by Mai Dawayya.

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.

Hard-hitting Harlem soul – a sweet selection of indie singles from the late 60s and early 70s – most of which are light years away from the mainstream! The sound of many cuts here is quite unique – elements of soul modes of the era, but swirled up and spit out in really fresh ways – often with a bit of grit in the grooves, and some unusual, offbeat production, instrumentation, and rhythms – all of which help keep things cool throughout! We'll be honest in saying that we'd hardly heard most of these singles before, and only knew a few of the artists – but there's a wealth of wonderful music to discover in the package – all quite different than you might find on other funk or soul collections, with almost the revelatory approach we're used to getting from the Numero Group. CD features track-by-track notes on the tunes – and titles include "I'll Do It For You" by Little Willie, "She Said I'd Be A Failure" by Clarence Ashe, "I Pray To Keep Our Love Strong" by Johnnie & Joe, "I Got A Feeling" by Dicky & Billy, "24 Hours Of The Day" by The Gillettes, "Stay Away From My Baby" by Taffie Lee, "Dancing In A Dream World" by Jimmy & Arthur, "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" by Miss Johnnie, "You Needn't Tell Me" by Sity & James, "I Won't Ever Try To Change You" by Henry Hodge, "Money & All Your Love" by Freda Allyne, and "It Doesn't Matter" by Niece Dezel.

A much-needed look at the massive amount of music recorded in Kenya during the 70s and 80s – an incredibly fertile time for local culture in the nation – and a time when it seemed like there was a great new groove coming out nearly every day! The work here really rivals the best of the classic Soundway compilations – especially their strong surveys of Ghana and Nigeria, with an ear for grooves that go way beyond the usual mainstream sounds of world music! There's more than enough grit and funk here to please any fan of American funk and soul – but the sounds also go way way deeper, too – and echo not only a long Kenyan cultural heritage, but also reflect the unique place the nation had at the crossroads of East Africa – a site that often made the scene especially vibrant in these years. The presentation is superb – with detailed notes and wonderful imagery that includes vintage label scans – and titles include "Mu Africa" by The Rift Valley Brothers, "Wendo Ti Mbia" by Gatanga Boys Band, "Ware Wa" by The Loi Toki Tok, "Sweet Sweet Mbombo" by Orchestre Baba National, "Cha Umheja" by Afro 70, "See Serere" by Sophia Ben & The Eagles Lupopo, "Mutumia Muriu" by The Lulus Band, "Nzaumi" by Ndalani 77 Brothers, "Teresia" by Huruma Boys Band, and "Week End" by Afro 70.

A Japanese jazz jam session from the late 50s – offered up in this really cool format that has the record starting out with Tokyo street sounds, and an announcer speaking in Japanese! The notes are all in Japanese (dammit!), but from what we can tell, the set features great early reed work from Sadao Watanabe and Akira Miyazawa – plus other musicians on vibes, trumpet, and guitar – and some mighty tight rhythm section work too! Tracks swing with a nice boppish vibe overall, definitely showing the spontaneous energy of the performance – and titles include "Goose Neck", "Strike Up The Band", "I'll Remember May", "Plug & Connector", and "The Blues".

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.

Uptempo soul from Jewel, Paula and Ronin labels – the Shreveport, LA base of Stan Lewis – record store and label opener, distributor, and all around behind-the-scenes wizard of the 60s & 70s independent soul scene! The singles are wonderful throughout, bridging the mid 60s to the 70s very nicely – with tracks by Billy Joe Young, The Objectives, Cliff Wagner, Peppermint Harris, Montclairs, Barbara West, Jay Jay Taylor and many more. The liner notes have a reprint of a cool vintage feature on Stan's empire from Billboard in 1973 – and the titles include "Got You On My Mind" by Billy Joe Young, "I'm Waiting" by Bill Bush, "Love Went Away" by The Objectives, "Wait Until It Happens To You" by Peppermint Harris, "Not Too Long Ago" by The Uniques feat Joe Stampley, "I'm A Fool For You Baby" by Barbara West, "Fight Fire With Fire" by Shay Holiday, "Hung Up On Your Love" by Montclairs, "Sugar Coated Words" by Miki Honeycutt, "I'm Not Tired Yet" by Jay Jay Taylor and more.

The first ever compilation of the best music made for MoWest – the eclectic, but still soulful cuts made when Berry Gordy Jr. relocated from Motown to the west coast in the early 70s – releasing cool and sometimes strange music with a soul background, yet toasted by LA sunshine! The MoWest subsidiary lasted just a few years, and gets overlooked in the canonization of Motown at it's most classic and revolutionary – but the legacy is pretty incredible. Funk, sunshine rock and soul fused adventurously by a stunningly diverse roster – late period Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (who's comp-opening track is a slept on sunshine pop-soul classic), breezy-jazzy-soul from Odyssey, the sister funk of Sisters Love, a stunning solo left turn from Spinners singer GC Cameron and more great stuff from Syreeta, The Commodores, Suzee Ikeda, Thelma Houston and others. We've been dying for a well selected MoWest comp like this for years, and Light In The Attic stepped to the plate and knock it right out of the park. The songs choices are great, the notes are great. . .everything about it is a win. Essential! Includes "You're A Song (That I Can't Sing)" and "The Night" by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, "Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love" and "Broken Road" by Odyssey, "Don't You Be Worried" by The Commodores, "A Heart Is A House" Nu Page, "I Ain't Going Nowhere" by Thelma Houston, "I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You" by Suzee Ikeda, "You've Got To Make The Choice" and "Give Me Your Love" by The Sisters Love and more.

Massive mixes from the mighty Tom Moulton – a huge package that not only includes some classic lost and rare mixes from the 70s, but also previously unreleased Moulton mixes, appearing here for the first time ever! If there's anyone who's ever been well-suited to reworking a Philly groove, it's Tom – given his long standing association with the soul scene in the City Of Brotherly Love – and his crucial role in pushing soul tracks into the clubs during the 70s. As with most of Tom's best work, the mixes here are richly faithful to the originals – and never try to overstate themselves at all, just focus on the best elements, and bring them to the forefront of the groove! This totally cool package features 31 mixes in all – pressed up as eight 12" EPs – most with four tracks each, leaving plenty of room for very long mixes! Titles include Moulton mixes of "Jam Jam Jam" by People's Choice, "I Don't Love You Anymore" by Teddy Pendergrass, "Party Time Man" by The Futures, "Intro/My Love Don't Come Easy" by Jean Carn, "Trusting Heart" by The Trammps, "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "Let's Groove" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "Dirty Ol Man" by Three Degrees, "Slow Motion" by Johnny Williams, "I'll Always Love My Mama" by The Intruders, "The Devil Made Me Do It" by Robert Upchurch, "Back Stabbers" by The O'Jays, "See You When I Get There" by Lou Rawls, and "Love Epidemic" by The Trammps.

Raw rompers from the Louisiana scene of the late 50s and early 60s – a more R&B twist on the sort of material covered in the great Boppin By The Bayou series from Ace! The package features some wicked rare singles, mixed with even more obscure unreleased tracks – all pulled together to showcase a style that's kind of like a grittier take on the sound of New Orleans – bits of rock and blues mixed in with the soul – all folded together with stomping rhythms that never know when to quit – and which really send home the tunes' raw vocals, sharp tenor, and tight guitar lines! The package features almost 30 tracks in all, plus great notes too – and titles include "Go Go Cat" by Flo, "Crazy About Love" by Elizabeth, "Rocky" by Rockin Sidney & His All Stars, "I Don't Care" by Tabby Thomas, "Honey Bee" by Blue Charlie, "Pretty Little Dolly" by Mad Dog Sheffield, "Sound The Bell" by Clarence Garlow, "Cool Down Baby" by Jerry Morris, and "I Wanna Know I Know Now" by Big Chenier.

A great funky 45 collection! The set's a brilliant package from the crate-digging funk-searching team at Now Again – and features repressings of 7 rare funk singles, all with the original label, packaged into a cool box that comes with an oversized booklet that contains information on all the artists, and some very cool vintage photos! The whole thing's tremendous – a funk compilation to beat Funky 16 Corners set from Stones Thrown, and packaged in a way that vinyl-digging funk hounds can really appreciate it! Titles include "Dap Walk" and "Things Are Better" by Ernie & The Top Notes, "Popcorn 69" and "Sissy Walk" by Billy Ball & The Upsetters, "Mr Chicken" and "The Cissy's Thang" by Soul Seven, "Heart N Soul" and "Maxi Midi" by Booker T Averheart, "Trespasser (parts 1 & 2)" by Bad Medicine, "Funky Soul Music (parts 1 & 2)" by Soul Commanders, and "I've Got To Find A Way" and "The Dump" by Soul Vibrations.

Heavy funk galore – and easily one of the best titles in the massive Super Funk series! This one seems to go deeper than all the previous volumes – really digging down for some obscure tracks that push past the obvious funky 45 standards, to include some lost gems from rare sources in the southern scene! The set's awash in hard drums, fuzzy bass, tripped out guitar, and lots of rootsy deep soul vocals – stepping from track to track with a quality level that beats most other funky 45 collections on the market, made even better by some superb liner notes from compiler Dean Rudland! Titles include "I Got Some" by Billy Garner, "Deep Soul (part 2)" by Ron Buford, "Doin The Model" by Eddie Clearwater, "Crazy Legs (part 2)" by Albert Washington, "Momma Momma" by Betty Barney, "Don't Ever Change" by Chet Ivey & His Fabulous Avengers, "The Warm Up (part 1)" by Clifton White, "Chicken Scratch" by The Chili Peppers, "Fat N Funky" by Charles Crawford, "Super Cool (You're Just A Super Fool)" by Pat Hunt, "Out Of Sight" by The Soulsetters, and "Boogaloo Party" by Joe Swift's International. 20 tracks in all!

Heavy funk galore – and easily one of the best titles in the massive Super Funk series! This one seems to go deeper than all the previous volumes – really digging down for some obscure tracks that push past the obvious funky 45 standards, to include some lost gems from rare sources in the southern scene! The set's awash in hard drums, fuzzy bass, tripped out guitar, and lots of rootsy deep soul vocals – stepping from track to track with a quality level that beats most other funky 45 collections on the market, made even better by some superb liner notes from compiler Dean Rudland! Titles include "I Got Some" by Billy Garner, "Deep Soul (part 2)" by Ron Buford, "Doin The Model" by Eddie Clearwater, "Crazy Legs (part 2)" by Albert Washington, "Momma Momma" by Betty Barney, "Don't Ever Change" by Chet Ivey & His Fabulous Avengers, "The Warm Up (part 1)" by Clifton White, "Chicken Scratch" by The Chili Peppers, "Fat N Funky" by Charles Crawford, "Super Cool (You're Just A Super Fool)" by Pat Hunt, "Out Of Sight" by The Soulsetters, and "Boogaloo Party" by Joe Swift's International. 20 tracks in all!

The story of one of the most legendary soul clubs in the UK – home to the great wave of Northern Soul enthusiasm that burst big in the 60s – plus a fair bit of hanky panky as well! This collection shows a decidedly raw side of the club's roots – American soul from the 60s, plus a fair bit of R&B as well – a groove that's rougher than you might find on other Northern Soul collections – which often tend towards some of the tighter Detroit productions of the period. The CD features a whopping 28 tracks in all – with lots of tracks from Chicago and the Motor City – and the package is a cool book-style one, with 24 pages of full-color images and photos, plus notes as well. Titles include "Road Runner" by Bo Diddley, "Good Times" by Gene Chandler, "Turn On Your Lovelight" by Bobby Blue Bland, "Do The 45" by The Sharpees, "Get Down With It" by Bobby Marchan, "I Spy For The FBI" by Jamo Thomas, "And Get Away" by The Esquires, "I Can't See Your Love" by The Ballads, "Searchin" by Alvin Robinson, and "You Shot Me Through The Grease" by Alvin Cash.

Some of the wildest sounds we've ever heard from Iran – a wealth of wonderful grooves that show that there was plenty happening in that unique scene before the Ayatollah came in and clamped down on Western culture! Styles really intertwine nicely throughout – mixing funk with pop with psych, disco, and even some soundtracky styles that feel a bit Bollywood at points – all coming across with a really cool, groovy, and other-worldly sound that has us loving the whole thing all the way through! The folks at Guerssen have done a great job with the package – adding enough good notes and quality sound to ensure that this one's not just a knockoff – and instead features a great range of well-chosen tracks, put together beautifully. Titles include "Setareh" by Azita, "Aroos Khanom" by Amir Rassaie, "Zandooni" by Farzin, "Bi Vafa" by Kambiz, "Safar" by Hassan Shamaizadeh, "Ey Vatan Iran" by Emad Ram, "Ghebleh" by Nooshafarin, "Gholake Cheshat" by Simin Ghanem, and "Rahgozar" by Morteza.

The title gets it perfectly right on this sweet little set – as the grooves are raw and stripped down – often just to the core elements of Afro Funk! The music may be the most hard-hitting we've ever heard from this legendary combo – and it's served up beautifully in this well-selected compilation, right down to the detailed notes on the group and their long journey in sound! There's a core groove here that goes way beyond the boundaries of nation or culture – and which is plenty appealing to ears that have only ever been trained on American funk – and even more so on those who dig the great African sounds of the 70s. Plenty of heavy drums and ultra-cool guitar – and titles include "Adjro Mi", "A O O Ida", "Pourquoi Pas", "Ecoute Ma Melodie", "Min We Tun So", "Ai Gabani", and "Aku We Non Houme".

A funky soul instrumental classic – all the way through! The team of Eldee Young and Redd Holt first came to prominence with Ramsey Lewis' first Chicago trio, then branched out on their own as a jazz act – but by the time of this set, they'd picked up a hipper, funkier late 60s sort of soul groove – and were working with larger backings and a nice deal of extra bass! The pianist in the group is the super-dope Hysear Don Walker – a player who uses space as much as he uses notes – providing a cool counterpoint to the funky and jazzy riffing of the Young/Holt bass/drum combo. The album includes the landmark track "Soulful Strut" – with tinkling piano over funky backings mixed with sweetened strings – and other tracks include "Funky Is As Funky Does", "Baby Your Light Is Out", "Who's Making Love", "Ain't There Something Money Can't Buy?", "Be By My Side", and "Please Sunrise". A high point in the Chicago soul scene – with backings by Willie Henderson!

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.

Some of the wildest sounds we've ever heard from Iran – a wealth of wonderful grooves that show that there was plenty happening in that unique scene before the Ayatollah came in and clamped down on Western culture! Styles really intertwine nicely throughout – mixing funk with pop with psych, disco, and even some soundtracky styles that feel a bit Bollywood at points – all coming across with a really cool, groovy, and other-worldly sound that has us loving the whole thing all the way through! The folks at Guerssen have done a great job with the package – adding enough good notes and quality sound to ensure that this one's not just a knockoff – and instead features a great range of well-chosen tracks, put together beautifully. Titles include "Setareh" by Azita, "Aroos Khanom" by Amir Rassaie, "Zandooni" by Farzin, "Bi Vafa" by Kambiz, "Safar" by Hassan Shamaizadeh, "Ey Vatan Iran" by Emad Ram, "Ghebleh" by Nooshafarin, "Gholake Cheshat" by Simin Ghanem, and "Rahgozar" by Morteza.

The collected work of a mighty trippy group from the Indian scene – a psychedelic combo who worked in the 70s, but who had the same sort of edge you'd hear from the American and British scenes of the late 60s! In truth, there's a fair bit of Anglo influence going on in the music – not just in the English language lyrics, but also in the way the guitars come together with stretched-out, soaring brilliance – flying eight miles high to the sky in a heady brew of freak and fuzz – and turning this approach to some surprising soundtrack numbers too! Production is perfect for the band's vibe – often spacing things out in a really cool way – with some slightly primitive modes that also remind us of the South American psych scene of a few years before. Now Again did a brilliant job with the package – bringing together a host of the group's best tracks from the mid 70s, and a bonus 20 page booklet with full notes on the group, and some very cool photos and ephemera. The whole thing even features a few unreleased numbers – and titles include "Obsession 77", "Sunshine Day", "Butterfly Version 1", "Theme From The Godfather", "Theme From The Fox", "Windmills Of Your Mind", "Booboo Lullaby", "Man You're Not Number One", "Travel On", "Gesthemene", and "Foxy Lady".

Carleen & The Groovers are one of THE monumental groups in the funky 45 scene of the early 70s – and they've got an incredibly tight sound that rivaled the JBs – with hard heavy drums, choppy scratchy guitar, and a blaring horn groove! Vocals are very upfront in the mix, and the whole thing's super raw. "Can We Rap" is a monster, and has appeared on the odd comp or two over the years – but "Right On" is even better! It's got a very nice breakbeat in the middle, and some cool strung-out guitar! "The Thing" and "Hot Pants" are two equally great – but lesser-known grooves by the group – and the whole single comes with a great set of notes on Carleen and the tracks!

Excellent stuff from one of the hippest poets of all time – the amazing Sarah Webster Fabio – a 70s poet with a really wonderful groove! Unlike some of her contemporaries in the Folkways poetry scene, Sarah often recorded with music – in a way that's very similar to Camille Yarbrough or Wanda Robinson – very hip stuff that's sort of a female equivalent to the early work of Gil Scott-Heron! The album features both Sarah's voice and that of a male reader – and the music is a mix of spare percussion or larger funky rhythms with some great bass and riffing guitar – very cool elements that make for some wonderfully soulful music. Titles include "Work It Out", "Boss Soul", "Black Back", "Fungi & Calau", "Glimpses", "Soul Through A Lickin Stick", "Rainbow Sign", and "After Birmingham".

Amazing sounds from the delta – but way different than the usual blues you might expect! Sid Hemphill is a really unique talent – a multi-instrumentalist who made most of the records heard on this set – and a strong proponent of the earlier Mississippi use of panpipes! The local variant heard here is referred to as "quills" – and often mixed with a rocking fiddle accompaniment in the background – moving up and down with kind of a devilish quality that really sets an edge underneath the rough-edged vocals, too! Also, the vintage recording feel also gives the music a very offbeat feel – and from the notes inside the package, it sounds like Alan Lomax really worked hard to track down these sounds of Sid's. Titles include "The Devil's Dream", "Leather Britches", "Sidewalks Of New York", "Rye Straw", "Boll Weevil", "Jesse James", and "Come On Boys Let's Go To The Ball".

A great bit of 70s electric work from Quincy – and probably his funkiest album ever! Quincy's really stepping out here from the straighter and spacier styles of earlier records – going for more of the dirty grooves he was cutting up for soundtrack albums, and hitting notes that were a lot more fitting for the blacksploitation era. The record includes the massive funky track cut "Hikky-Burr", which was the theme to the first Bill Cosby Show, and which has a sinister groove, and some wild shouted lyrics! Also features two more great themes – "Ironside" and "The Anderson Tapes" – both of which have a cool electric sound to them, and the nice title cut, which actually features Quincy on vocals! Other tracks include "Cast Your Fate To The Wind", "What's Going On", "Brown Ballad" and more.

Trumpeter Ryan Kisor's got a great partner in the frontline here – alto player Sherman Irby, whose angular tones really give the record an edge! As we love in Irby's own sessions, there's a mix here of soulful and modern that's really wonderful – kind of an open flow on the horns, but this off-kilter edge, too – as if Kisor and Irby are carefully choosing never to get too sweet in their choice of notes, and doing a good job of avoiding cliches in the process. Other players include Peter Zak on piano, Carlos Henriquez on bass, and Ali Jackson on drums – and tracks are quite long and open – a really great setting for a group like this! Titles include "Con Alma", "Enigma", "Blues For Worm", and "Cool & Hot".

John Lewis takes on the music of Gary McFarland – working here in a very cool set of McFarland compositions and arrangements – often with a lot more tone, color, and feeling than usual for a Lewis album! John often punctuates his piano notes, almost as if he's using vibes – and the larger backings have this way of being quite spacious – as in some of McFarland's more modern recordings for Impulse from the same time – very open, and quite revolutionary for the time! Players include Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Eric Dolphy on alto, Phil Woods on clarinet, and Benny Golson on tenor – and titles include Tillamook Two", "Night Float", "Notions", "Another Encounter", and "Wish Me Well".

Some of our favorite soundtracks by Ennio Morricone – 8 different scores originally issued by the Cinevox label – packaged here as a cool little set of CDs that come in LP-styled covers! The set only features 4 CDs, but each disc features two different film scores – an archetypal range of Morricone modes – with some sweet bossa groovers, some very weird atonal horror moments, and some beautiful action work that balances the two beautifully – creating the sort of tension that made Morricone greater than just about any other film composer at the time! Original album art for each record is offered on one side of the CD sleeve – and the set features the albums Metti Una Sera A Cena, Forza G, L'Assoluto Naturale, Anche Se Volessi Lavorare Che Faccio, L'Uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo, Quattro Mosche Di Velutto Grigio, Il Gatto, and Il Giocattolo – plus a booklet of notes too!

Every great album from Milton Nascimento – packaged here together in one sweet little set – and all done as cool special sets that contain individual book-style jackets too! The style is amazing – better than any other Brazilian box set like this we've seen – with each individual album done like one of the Abril Cultural book and CD sets – a hardcover case, lots of pages inside, with a wealth of notes and photos – plus all the essential music that makes these records so wonderful! The set begins with Nascimento's earliest albums – and runs through his excellent work for EMI/Odeon in the 70s – and even includes some great 80s albums too. Includes the full albums Milton Nascimento (1967), "Milton Nascimento (1969), Milton (1970), Courage, Clube Da Esquina, Milagre Dos Peixes, Milagre Dos Piexes Ao Vivo, Minas, Geraes, Cacador De Mim, Journey To Dawn, Milton (1976), Sentinela, Milton Nascimento Ao Vivo, Missa Dos Quilombos, A Barca Dos Amantes, Encontros E Espedidas, Anima, and Clube Da Esquina 2.

One of the crowning achievements of Alexander O'Neal – a set that uses cool little intro tracks to help structure the standout songs on the set – giving the whole thing a much more well-conceived approach than other mainstream soul albums of the time! Some of the cuts draw from O'Neal's own life and experience, and that feel is definitely augmented by the spontaneous, conversational feel of the intros and links – a really nice contrast to the wonderfully tight R&B production from the superteam of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis! Of course, lots of these tracks also struck big as singles for Alexander – proof that the cuts are more than strong enough to stand on their own – yet taken over the course of the whole album, with all the extra bits, the whole thing really sounds great. Titles include "Hearsay", "The Lovers", "Fake", "Criticize", "Crying Overtime", and "Sunshine". 2CD version is overflowing with bonus tracks – including "Fake (patty mix)", "Fake (inst)", "Fake (edit)", "Sunshine (edit)", "Never Knew Love Like This (edit)", "Hearsay '89", "The Lovers (bonus beats)", "Criticize (critical mix)", and "Criticize (nag mix)". Great package too – book-style cover, with new notes!

The title gets it perfectly right on this sweet little set – as the grooves are raw and stripped down – often just to the core elements of Afro Funk! The music may be the most hard-hitting we've ever heard from this legendary combo – and it's served up beautifully in this well-selected compilation, right down to the detailed notes on the group and their long journey in sound! There's a core groove here that goes way beyond the boundaries of nation or culture – and which is plenty appealing to ears that have only ever been trained on American funk – and even more so on those who dig the great African sounds of the 70s. Plenty of heavy drums and ultra-cool guitar – and titles include "Adjro Mi", "A O O Ida", "Pourquoi Pas", "Ecoute Ma Melodie", "Min We Tun So", "Ai Gabani", and "Aku We Non Houme".

One of the best-remembered Sun Ra albums from the 70s – a really cool little session that features Ra playing the unusual "rocksichord" all the way through! The instrument's a very weird one – kind of like a messed-up electric piano, with lots of cool broken notes and a weird fuzzed-out tone – one that almost feels like a guitar's being fitted into a keyboard, with almost psychedelic results! Ra's use of the rocksichord gives the album a really eerie, outer spacey sound – one that mixes strongly with more familiar jazz lines from John Gilmore on tenor, Marshall Allen on alto and flute, Danny Thompson on baritone, and Ahmed Abdullah on trumpet. Titles include "The Mystery Of Two", "Interstellar Low Ways", "Cosmos", "Moonship Journey", "Neo-Project #2", and "Jazz From An Unknown Planet".

A musical autobiography from Lalo Schifrin – but one that's also filled with lots of rare gems too – including some cuts never reissued on CD before, and even a few previously unissued tracks! The scope of Schifrin's talents is amazing – as you've probably heard us rave time and time again in these pages – and this hand-picked 4CD set only furthers our respect of the maestro, and reminds us of all the movie moments he's illuminated over the decades – as well as some side projects that stand alongside his cinematic work. The package features first-time release of music from Charley Varrick, Joe Kidd, The Beguiled, and Coogan's Bluff – plus loads more music from films that include Rollercoaster, Caveman, Fast Walking, Ins & Outs, Dead Pool, Telefon, Cool Hand Luke, Firebird, Che, Something To Believe In, Brubaker, Dirty Harry, The Venetian Affair, Osterman Weekend, and many other films! Packaged with a 48 page book that includes notes and archival photos too!

A cool Capitol quartet from the end of the 60s – every bit as Sunshine Pop sounding as you'd guess from their name and image on the cover! There's a style here that's a bit different than some of the sweeter pop of the time – a slight undercurrent of darkness that's hard to peg easily, but which comes a bit from the way the male and female voices interact – and from the slightly unusual arrangements, which seem to rely heavily on some of the bluer notes in the spectrum. Vocals are arranged by Peter Mann, the leader of the group – and the instrumentation is by Mort Garson, whose presence is always appreciated. Titles include "Take Me Away", "Privilege", "Hanging Together", "The Candy Children Song", "Papa Won't You Let Me Go To Town With You", "Baby Baby", "Let The Truth Come Out", and "The Attitude". CD features lots of bonus tracks too – acetate takes of "Easy To Be Hard" and "Save The Country, a live version of "Charlie & Fred", and mono versions of "Let The Truth Come Out", "Privilege", and "Skip A Long Sam".

A driving 60s spy soundtrack from Piero Umiliani – and a perfect bridge between his earlier jazz work and his groovier styles to come! The album's almost in a crime jazz mode – ala American work of a few years before – but there's also some sweet touches that definitely mark it as the work of the maestro, including some cool bossa elements, and tenser moments that definitely resonate strongly with the growing strengths of the Italian soundtrack scene in the mid 60s. Most tracks are relatively short, and slide together seductively – and the CD features 19 numbers from the film, with notes in English and Italian.

Possibly the best-ever collection of blacksploitation grooves we've ever seen – a really comprehensive package that not only manages to cover the classics, but which also digs deep enough to come up with lots of fresh bits too! The set really sets a new level for the Soul Jazz label – and is carried off with enough authority towards Black Action films as the label's legendary efforts towards a host of less mainstream genres – truly an achievement for the label's crew, not to mention a heavier bonus for our funky listening pleasure! There's way more here than just a slapped-together batch of tunes from the early 70s – as the set's very carefully put together to showcase a wide range of sounds, along with notes that really get at the social and political power of both the music and the films. Vinyl volume 1 features an insert with notes – and tracks that include "Shaft In Africa" by Johnny Pate, "Down & Out In New York City" by James Brown, "Wilford's Gone" by The Blackbyrds, "Run Fay Run" by Isaac Hayes, "Theme From Black Belt Jones" by Dennis Coffey, "Willie Chase" by JJ Johnson, "T Plays It Cool" by Marvin Gaye, "Charley" by Don Costa, "Brother's Gonna Work It Out" by Willie Hutch, and "Blacula" by Gene Page.

Tremendous soul from a massively overlooked label – the GWP imprint on the New York scene of the late 60s – home to a wealth of rare soul nuggets, just waiting to be discovered! The package is wonderful through and through – a great mix of male and female soul work, some with a sweet groove, some with a funkier undercurrent – all top-shelf productions all the way through, kind of a hipper update of the earlier uptown sound of New York – taken into even more sophisticated territory for the 70s! Vocals are superb, and the arrangements are ultra-cool – handled by Larry Banks, George Kerr, Teacho Wilshire, and Ed Bland. The package offers up full notes, and some great images too – and titles include "Here It Comes" and "Detour" by The Persians, "Without Your Love" by Bobby Penn, "My Life Is No Better" by Larry Banks & Jaibi, "Go Away" by The Hesitations, "Never Gonna Let Him Know" by Debbie Taylor, "So Much In Love" by The Exceptions, "You Got Me" by Jaibi, "Don't Let Your Mind Go Wild" by Benny Gordon, "Happiest Girl In The World" by Plus 4, "Stop" by Debbie Taylor, "I Don't Care What He's Done" by The Devonnes, "All In My Mind" by Benny Gordon, "Changes" by Lilly Fields, and "You Hit Me" by Alice Clark.

Totally cool compilation that brings together a huge amount of hard to find sides that feature some of the great female soul singers that have worked with James Brown over the years. The set's divided into 2 discs – one for the 60's, and one for the 70's – and includes a huge amount of stuff we almost never see, by singers like Anna King, Bea Ford, Yvonne Fair, Tammy Montgomery (Tammi Terrell), Vicki Anderson, Marva Whitney, Shirley Jean, Kay Robinson, and of course, Lyn Collins. And don't worry about already having most of this stuff, because there's a huge amount of tracks on here that you probably don't have. Plus, there's a good set of notes, with lots of details, and a whopping total of 46 cuts in all!

Important work from the youth uprising years in mid 70s Thailand – a time when the group Caravan were central to some of the bigger protest themes against the nation's restrictive government! According to the notes, the power of this music led to group members' later exile – but to our western ears, which can't understand the lyrics, the album's got a totally different appeal – these beautifully-spun tunes that have slightly folksy undercurrents, but lots of dark shadows around the corners – almost like some psych group got too tripped-out, and turned to acoustic instrumentation to regain their cool. Most guitars are acoustic, and there's also some slide guitar too – alongside violin, harmonica, and local instruments phin and wut. Vocals are often a lot more melancholy than you'd expect for a protest record – but that also adds to the charm of the set a lot!

Incredible work by one of our favorite singers ever – the great Matt Dennis, an artist who's better known for his famous compositions of the postwar years, but who's also one heck of a great vocalist too! Matt's got a friendly, personable style of singing – one that reminds us a lot of Bobby Troup or Roy Kral, but which comes across with an even more relaxed and down to earth feel. The set features material from 2 of Matt's few albums under his own name – the Trend session Matt Dennis Plays & Sings, and the RCA set Dennis Anyone – both recorded live in the mid 50s, in a really unique style that has Dennis accompanying himself on piano, and delivering a bit of patter between the tunes as well. And while you might fear some schmaltzy, loungey sort of style to these sets, don't – because Dennis was cool and comfortable with himself, and there's an amazing sense of casual understatement to both sets. We love both records to death, and it's great to see them presented here like this – accompanied with some great notes that also include lyrics to some of Dennis' best numbers! 24 tracks in all – with titles that include "The Land Of Danger", "Where Do We Go From Here", "Will You Still Be Mine", "Junior & Julie", "It Wasn't The Stars That Thrilled Me", "Let's Get Away From It All", "Show Me The Way To Get Out Of This World", and "Too Late For Love".

They're billed as an "orchestra", and have a sound to match – but the group's mostly a quartet on this sweet little outing – with added help from guest players on different tracks! The sound here is every bit as great as the previous Hidden Orchestra outing – an evocative blend of acoustic instruments and sound slices that seem to have a very organic nature – billed in the notes as "field recordings" by leader Joe Acheson, and used here in these really painterly ways, very much in keeping with the cover! Things are never too processed – and really the music seems to originate from the group's strings, piano, percussion, and horns – then get filled in and expanded by these field recordings, and by other cool acoustic instruments that bubble forth in the mix. There's a majesty to the music that's right up there with Nostalgia 77 or Cinematic Orchestra – and titles include "Vorka", "Flight", "Spoken", "Disquiet", "Seven Hunters", and "Reminder".

An amazing little book, and one hell of a lifelong research project – a huge volume that documents deep details about the American underground of vanity, or "private" press records – obscure pieces of wax that were usually just pressed up by an artist for their own pleasure – but which have gone onto reach the status of legend over time! The format is a genre unto itself – even though the music style can vary widely – and the lavish book brings together a huge amount of rare covers and images, along with notes on the recordings – plus hundreds of reviews, an essay on the format, and even biographies of collectors and enthusiasts who've helped unearth this lost American treasure! Also comes with a download for dozens of tracks, and a cool clear 7" single – and book is over 500 pages, in color, with a very heavy cover!

One of the few live recordings ever done by Horace Silver during his Blue Note years – a real surprise, considering what a crowd pleaser he was at the time! The set catches Horace working with that great quintet that graced most of his best early Blue Notes – with Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Junior Cook on tenor, Gene Taylor on bass, and the always-amazing Roy Brooks on drums. The groove is tight tight tight, and the live set crackles with the same sort of energy as the live sessions by the Jazz Messengers on Blue Note – rolling soul jazz, but with a bit of a lyrical touch to flesh things out. Because of the live setting, tracks are a bit longer than the usual Silver session – which makes for freer soloing, and a bit of a rougher edge that keeps things lively throughout. Titles include "The Gringo", "Filthy McNasty", and "Doin' The Thing". CD also features 2 bonus tracks – "Cool Eyes" and "It Ain't S'posed To Be Like That".

Killer soundtrack work from early 70s Japan – most of it quite funky, at a level that matches American blacksploitation grooves of the time – and other cuts that are kind of weird, but in really cool ways – with odd production touches and some cool trippy instrumentation! A number of cuts have great percussion – heavy bongos or congas – plus some cool guitars, often played in wah-wah mode – showing that the funky soundtrack groove had definitely penetrated the Japanese market by this point in time. The notes and titles are all in Japanese, but the music is more than enough – universally funky in appeal, and packaged with some wild film images too!

Sensual soundtracks from German maestro Peter Thomas – very groovy music recorded for two sex-ed films of the late 60s! The sounds here are every bit as wonderful as those we've come to love in Thomas crime and sci-fi scoring – lots of cool 60s instrumentation on keyboards, funky drums, guitar, and horns – mixed up with odd production effects, weird vocal bits, and larger orchestrations that never get in the way of the core grooves – yet really help take things to the next level! This material is a really under-discovered side of Thomas' career – but stands equally well next to his better-known gems – and given that the sexy films are titled The Perfect Marriage and Every Night Of The Week, you can bet there's plenty of slinky bedroom action going on in the grooves. The package is beautiful – with full color images, and notes in English and German – and the CD features 24 tracks in all, with titles that include "Love Maker", "Big Love", "Teach Me Teacher", "The Grand Day", "Hurdy Gurdy", "The World's History", "Cin Cin Mon Marie", "First First Love", "The Marriage", "Coitude Melanchodelic", "Shaker", "Playboy", and "Gisela's Seduction".

An insanely wonderful album that will always remain one of the all-time favorites of the Dusty Groove staff! This beautiful batch of tracks by Brazilian singer/songwriter Marcos Valle has him pushing waaaay past his bossa work of the 60s – into a cool 70s mix of electronics and sexy scoring, for a sound that's a mix of Brazilian rhythms with other styles that evoke Italian soundtracks and French pop backing. That description hardly does the record justice, though, because the whole thing's wonderful – and it's got a feeling that's unlike anything else we've ever stocked – every bit as warmly watery as the image of Marcos in a swimming pool on the cover. It's no wonder that the album was one of Valle's last great recordings – because with tracks as good as "Mentira", "Mais Do Que Valsa", "Nao Tem Nada Nao", "Samba Fatal", and "Tiu-Ba-La-Quieba", it's hard to top yourself!

Raw, amazing grooves sailing the Afro Beat Airways – organ flavored Afro funk, soul & psychedelia from West African Ghana & Togo in the 70s – one of best compilations yet on the increasingly awe inspiring Analog Africa label! The African percussion is raw and danceable and funk steeped, and most of the numbers have a range of really cool organ sounds, and vocals that range from insistently melodic singing to to funky shouts. From there, the groove is more varied. There's strains of tried & true Afro funk & soul, larger group jazzy jams and more stripped down cosmic and psych influenced nuggets. Exhaustive research on the part of Analog Africa is distilled into a riveting, yet nicely diverse and pretty much perfect compilation with great sound, beautiful packaging and a wealth of notes. 2LP version has 16 tracks in all (2 more than the CD): "Dankasa" by Uppers International, "Ma Mserew Me" by Apoagya Show Band, "Come Along" by Ebo Taylor & The Pelicans, 'Afe Ato Yen Bio" by De Frank Professionals, "Awula Bo Fee Ene" by Orchestre Abass, "Ne Noya" by Cos-Ber-Zam and more, plus the vinyl exclusives "Obiye Saa Wui" by 3rd Generation Band and "Operation Bye-Bye" by Orchestre Abass.

Rare British disco, club soul and jazzy funk from the late 70s & early 80s – compiled by Joey Negro – hard to find numbers from Mirage, Incognito, Hudson People, Intrigue and many more! Negro has long been a trusted compiler and he does a terrific job here – many tracks from the end of the 70s and start of the 80s that wonderfully blend the soaring, dancefloor soul and disco with masterful musicianship of jazz and funk steeped rhythms. It's not a DJ mixed set, the tracks are unmixed – but there are a number of nice Joey Negro edits. 23 tracks on 2CDs: "Summer Grooves" by Mirage, "Keep In Touch" by Freeez, "Trip To Your Mind" by Hudson People, "The Wiggle" by Stikki Stuff, "Zero One" by Surface Noise, "Sore Lip" by Ritual "Express" by 52nd Street, "Parisienne Girl" by Incognito, "Latin Dream" by The Antilles, "Bentley Boogie" by Ed Bentley, "I Wanna Dance" by The Cool Notes, "You Know Too Much" by MBT and more.

The first ever compilation of the best music made for MoWest – the eclectic, but still soulful cuts made when Berry Gordy Jr. relocated from Motown to the west coast in the early 70s – releasing cool and sometimes strange music with a soul background, yet toasted by LA sunshine! The MoWest subsidiary lasted just a few years, and gets overlooked in the canonization of Motown at it's most classic and revolutionary – but the legacy is pretty incredible. Funk, sunshine rock and soul fused adventurously by a stunningly diverse roster – late period Frankie Vallie & The Four Seasons (who's comp-opening track is a slept on sunshine pop-soul classic), breezy-jazzy-soul from Odyssey, the sister funk of Sisters Love, a stunning solo left turn from Spinners singer GC Cameron and more great stuff from Syreeta, The Commodores, Suzee Ikeda, Thelma Houston and others. We've been dying for a well selected MoWest comp like this for years, and Light In The Attic stepped to the plate and knock it right out of the park. The songs choices are great, the notes are great. . .everything about it is a win. Essential! Includes "You're A Song (That I Can't Sing)" and "The Night" by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, "Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love" and "Broken Road" by Odyssey, "Don't You Be Worried" by The Commodores, "A Heart Is A House" Nu Page, "I Ain't Going Nowhere" by Thelma Houston, "I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You" by Suzee Ikeda, "You've Got To Make The Choice" and "Give Me Your Love" by The Sisters Love and more.

Massive Caribbean funk from the 70s – a killer collection of grooves from the legendary Blue Rhythm Combo! The sound here is way more US-funky than you might expect – as BRC really drew heavily from American acts of the time, especially on the rhythmic tip – which is always mighty heavy on the basslines, and filled with the kind of snapping drums that have made the group a favorite with crate diggers over the years! In fact, we'd dare say that most of these tracks feel more like east coast indie funk from the classic years – with only a hint of island elements to show the group's Barbados origins – modes that you might find in the grooves of a group like Beginning Of The End at the same time. This 7" package is ultra-cool – 6 of the best BRC tracks in a slipcover with full notes – titles that include "I'm Too Old", "BRC's Groove", "Take The Funky Feeling", "Sister Jeanie", and "Get Down".

Rare work from the San Francisco scene of the 50s – issued here on the Crown label, who usually just focused on the sounds of LA! As usual with Crown, the notes are a bit vague – but we can say that the set features some sparkling material that really matches the Fantasy Records 50s best of all players – although with a vibe that's slightly more rough around the edges – but we mean that in a good way! The set begins with a long take on Brubeck's haunting "At A Perfume Counter" – almost more of a showcase for the alto of Paul Desmond, which takes some turns and twists that are simply breathtaking – and which will have you raising your love of his talents another notch – if that's possible at all. Next is Desmond as a leader in the haunting "Purple Moon" – a number with a bottom bassy intensity that's a perfect foil for Paul's raspy alto in the lead. Last up is Cal Tjader on "Jazz Latino" – a number that's got a cool blend of vibes, piano, and guitar!

The rare and originally Japanese-only Seven Waves album from electronic musician Suzanne Ciani – plus her even rarer Voices Of Packaged Souls from 12 years earlier – together in a single set from Bird/Finders Keepers! Seven Waves was originally issued in the early 80s, and composed on a host of instruments that no longer exist! It's got a spare, ethereal sound – with an electronic vibe that's right up there with some of the best German or French soundtrack albums of this nature from the time – kind of post-Cluster, post-Tangerine Dream material – with shorter tunes and a great melodic focus! Titles include "Sirens", "Love In The Waves", "Wind In The Sea", "Sailing Away", "Water Lullaby", and "Birth Of Venus". Voices Of Packaged Souls is one of the first-ever albums to feature the music of Suzanne Ciani – and one of the wildest, too! The set was originally pressed up in a tiny 50 copy run – as part of an art exhibit in Brussels to feature a sound sculpture collaboration between Ciani and another artist – filled with loads of weird, wild, offbeat electronics by Suzanne – including some cool processed vocal passages, and loads of spare, stark sounds that work together as a beautiful collage – moving from noise to notes to noise and back again! This is the first time the Voices Of Packaged Souls material has ever appeared on CD – and the titles include "Sound Of Heat", "Sound Of Wetness", "Sound Of Love Turning", "Sound Of A Lighted Window", "Sound Of A Dream Kissing", "And All Dreams Are Not For Sale" and many more.

The complete recordings of Every Mothers' Son – two full albums, and a bonus single too! First up is the self-titled Every Mothers' Son album – filled with cool, catchy numbers that have a wonderfully sunny feel overall – and a spare approach that's a bit different than most of the group's contemporaries! The drums seem much more up in the mix than usual for this sort of work – snapping with a jaunty quality amidst guitar that's a bit more laidback, and harmonized vocals that have that perfect folk-into-pop mode that other Sunshine Pop groups were using at the time. There's a few blue notes here and there, which give the music some of the darker undercurrents you might hear in The Left Banke – and titles include "Come On Down To My Boat", "For Brandy", "I Won't", "Allison Dozer", "Sittin Here", "Come On Queenie", and "Didn't She Lie". The second album is a great step forward for Every Mothers' Son – a set that's got all the catchy charm of their debut, yet a deeper sound overall! There's a great maturation in the music going on here – as some cuts show a love of pop-psych elements, which comes off in fuller backings that swirl strongly around the lyrics – while other tracks have a leaner quality and more acoustic elements, almost into the territory of Beau Brummels on Reprise, especially given the way the vocals come across. The whole thing's a 60s pop treasure – filled with great original tunes that include "Rainflowers", "Dolls In The Clock", "Only Child", "Sally (Life Story #3)", "Put Your Mind At Ease", and "Larry's Birthday Party". CD also features a bonus mono single mix of "No One Knows".

Heady psych, but with a funky groove too – a cut that feels like some lost Brazilian Fuzz Guitar Bananas number – served up here in a smoking 7" single! "Vou Me Libertar" burns with great Hammond holding a near-steady set of notes alongside really romping drums, and these mad shouted vocals that get as wild as the wah wah pedal that seems to bring some distortion to the keys! "Eu Era Um Cao" is funky too – with this very fuzzy guitar that rifles alongside the dipping bassline at a pretty fast frenzy – spooky, but groovy too – as are the cool keyboards – or is that theremin?

The title's a bit misleading, because the set features unusual music from the second half of Clarence Henry's career – and not the hits you might expect – yet the whole thing's a really cool blend of sounds from the Frogman's overlooked years on the Crazy Cajun label! Henry's easily one of the most unusual singers of both pop and soul music – able to hit these really high notes at some points, or rumble like a frog at others – yet here, he often plays it nicely straight, and reminds us that he's a great soul singer when he gets a chance – working in some Louisiana arrangements that definitely lean towards southern soul at most points. Titles include "It Went To Her Head", "Cheatin Traces", "Sea Cruise", "Lovin Cajun Style", "You Can Have Her", "I Can't Take Another Heartache", "In The Jailhouse Now", "Rock Down In My Shoe", and "We'll Take Our Last Walk Tonight".

An amazing package of Latin Rhythms – 2 CDs worth of work recorded by the Latin Percussion label in the 70s! Volume 1 is one of the very first sessions recorded by the Latin Percussion label – a groundbreaking record that features very heavy rhythms throughout! The group's co-led by Jose Mangual and Carlos Patato Valdez – each of whom handle plenty of percussion, alongside Manny Oquendo on timbales, Milton Cardona on clave, Bobby Rodriguez on bass, and a few other percussion players as well! The sound is tight and jamming – very much in the best LP mode – recorded with a crisp edge that keeps the live, spontaneous sound of the record wonderfully fresh after all these years. One track features a bit of vocals by Ada Charbrier, but all other tunes are instrumental – and titles include "Masacote", "Guaguanco", "Bomba", "Guaguanco", "Mambo", "Shekere", and "Son Montuno". Volume 2 is quite compelling too, and really just features spare percussion jams, mixed with a bit of electric piano – a really cool blend that's unlike anything else we can think of! The session features spoken introductions to different Latin rhythm styles – then moves into percussion interplay between Nelson Gonzalez and Charlie Santiago, plus very stark electric piano lines by Joe Mannozzi – on a keyboard that's quite different than the usual Fender Rhodes. Titles include "Timbale", "Bongo Drum", "Conga Drum", and "Rhythm Ensemble". Also comes packaged with a cool full-sized booklet of notes, photos, and musical notations.