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A great take on the sound of Philadelphia International – a double-length set of re-edits of Philly gems from years back – but all done in ways that are completely respectful to the originals! The approach here is wonderful – as warm and soulful as the Philly grooves from back in the day – but often extended and reworked slightly – the way you might have heard on a vintage 12" promo – which is even more impressive once you consider that some of these tracks never came out in that format! The choice of tracks is totally right on the money – and a great demonstration of that old school edit mode that never tried to mess with the track at all – just increase the pleasure it brought to the dancefloor – and the set features 21 very long tracks, including "Satisfaction Guaranteed (Morning Star re-edit)" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "Only The Strong Survive (J*Ski re-edit)" by Billy Paul, "Free Love (Victor Rosado re-edit)" by Jean Carn, "Life On Mars (DJ Mila re-edit)" by Dexter Wansel, "Ain't No Stoppin Us Now (The Noodleman re-work)" by McFadden & Whitehead, "Nights Over Egypt (Womack & TOT re-edit) by The Jones Girls, "Strategy (Touchsoul re-edit)" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "Let The Dollar Circulate (Scratch N Sniff's ext re-reub)" by Billy Paul, "Darlin Darlin Baby (Deep & Disco re-work)" by The O'Jays, and "Be For Real (Tim McAllister re-edit)" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes.

An amazing little record – not just for the music itself, which is inherently great – but also for its straight jazz presentation of players you might know in more of a reggae-based setting! The album's a smoking set of hardbop numbers, played with plenty of soul – by a combo billed as the Jamaican Jazz Crusaders – featuring Roy Bubbles Burrows on trumpet, Ernst Ranglin on guitar, Roland Alphonso on tenor, Aubrey Adams on piano, Harold Williams on bass, and Carl McLeod on drums. The format's a bit unusual, in that the album's bracketed by interviews and introductions from Jamaican jazz DJ Nevil Willoughby – but in the core are some great performances, with very inventive arrangements, especially in the way Ranglin's guitar is used – on titles that include "The Highest Mountain", "On Green Dolphin Street", "Split Kick", and "Round Midnight".

Seminal work from The Brecker Brothers – 6 of the group's best albums, plus the two Blue Montreux live albums – packaged together in one very cool set, in tiny LP-like sleeves! The self-titled Brecker Brothers album is the first super effort from the team of Randy & Michael Brecker, whose twin-horn frontline forged a very popular sound in the mid 70s – some really well-crafted numbers, done with a strong smooth approach that still sits well after all these years! Back To Back features the twin horns of Randy & Michael Brecker, along with alto by David Sanborn, keyboards by Don Grolnick, and guitar by Steve Khan – but one of the things that really makes the album great is the vocal arrangements, which were handled by Luther Vandross, who also sung on the album along with Patti Austin. The set's got a great soulful feel – with some wonderful mellow groovers that have a sweet 70s sound! Don't Stop The Music is a stone classic from The Brecker Brothers – working with touches of club and disco grooves to give an even smoother edge to the jazz funk of the pair. And thanks to some solid soloing that's not afraid to go for the easy spots, the album's a lot more solid than an number of sound-a-like copycat LPs to come out at the time! Heavy Metal Be Bop is tight and funky jamming, with a bit more guitar here than on some of their other records – hence, possibly, the title! Keyboards and guitar jam strongly, but Randy and Michael still get in plenty of space for their solos – pushing their jazz licks with the jamming intensity that might normally be relegated to guitar heroes in the rock world. On Detente, the Brecker's are still rooted in jazz, but definitely step out with plenty of soul in the mix too – vocals from DJ Rogers, Carl Carlwell, Luther Vandross, and others – all of whom really add a lot to the set! On Straphangin, the BBs manage to groove with a sharpness and depth that most of their smoother fusion contemporaries just weren't hitting – an edge that reminds us of the deeper roots these guys had before they started hitting the mainstream! Last up are the live fusion classics Blue Montreux Vols 1 & 2 – both recorded as a unique live all-star outing by a group of Arista's best jazz players at the time! The group's an octet, but plays together in differing formations throughout the record – with Warren Bernhardt on keyboards, Michael Brecker on saxes, Randy Brecker on trumpet, Steve Jordan on drums, Steve Khan and Larry Coryell on guitars, Tony Levin on bass, and Mike Maineri on vibes – the last of which really make for some of the best numbers on the album!

A great set of archival DJ Shadow instros from the early-to-mid 90s – from back when his primary means of production was the Akai MPC sampler – along with his endless arsenal of vinyl and limitless creative inspiration! This is formative, but essential material for fans of classic Shadow. It's a superior follow up to the 4 Track Era compilation, and a solid blueprint for his very best work to come! This is all previously unreleased, and it was produced from 1992 to 1996 – which is the period that beat heads and leftfield hip hop production historians outta know culminated in the release of the classic Endtroducing album. That said, this is not a set of Endtroducing leftovers – it's strong, original and legacy-building instrumental work from a crucial period – assembled by the man himself! 24 tracks on the CD. Includes "Intropy (Original Version)", "Vee In Detroit", "Alright", "Don't Try It", "Falling Up", "Aye", "Britty But Magic", "Atmospheric Disturbances", "Quickstep", "Freddi's Popcorn", "From The Old School", "Mystical With Solo", "Fast Rap Fanfare" and more.

A long-overdue collection – and a rich document of one of our favorite sides of the Chicago soul scene! The package is devoted to the tiny Nickel and Penny labels, but it's also equally a set dedicated to legendary radio DJ Richard Pegue – whose work in both mainstream soul and later dusties formats really helped to shape our understanding of soul music! Pegue produced and wrote nearly every track on the set – which makes the collection one of the most unified the Numero Group has ever produced – a true tribute to Richard's great ear for a groovy soul record, and to all the smaller-name groups he helped support on the Windy City scene. The booklet does a great job of telling Pegue's story – really getting at the unique vision he brought to Chicago soul, and the wit and warmth that made him a favorite of many folks over the space of decades. The music alone is enough – stuff we've been waiting to get reissued for years – but together with the Numero research and booklet, the end result is sublime! Titles include "Just Say The Word" by Jerry Townes, "Fall In Love Again" by The Voices, "Never More" by Little Ben & The Cheers, "Why Do You Want To Make Me Sad" by The Norvells, "Instrumental 1" by Richard Terry & Company, "Shadows" by South Shore Commission, "This Is The Woman" by Sidney Pinchback, "The Ember Song" by Sidney Barnes, "Sign Of The Zodiac" by South Suburban Electric Strings, "This Love Of Mine" by Extensions, "Forever Is A Long Long Time" by The Voices, "Do The Pearl Girl (part 2)" by The Matta Baby, "I've Got To Find A Way" by Hallelujah Chorus, "First Thing I Do In The Morning" by Joyce Williams, and "I'm Gonna Get Even With You" by Little Ben & The Cheers.

Massive music we've never heard before – a really heavy helping of grooves from the Ivory Coast – an African scene that's hardly been tapped by crate diggers and collectors! There's a really fresh feel to the grooves overall – not just the familiar Afro Funk modes, but a nice range of styles that moves between rootsy local numbers through some great crossover styles, through even a few of the African Disco modes that are better known from other scenes! The tracks here are all massively funky – scoured out over the course of a number of different crate-digging trips to the coast – and the package presents the music with great images of the original record covers, too – so that you can still retain some of the feel of the rarity of the work, even though the collection presents things in an easy to handle format. Definitely one for fans of Soundway and Analogue Africa titles – with cuts that include "True Love" by Rato Venance, "Yatchiminou" by Jimmy Hyacinthe, "Kalabuley Woman" by Pierre Antoine, "Mammy Nia" by Nguessan, "Wazi Doble" by Gougoumangou, "Zadie Bobo" by Ernesti Djedje, "Unite" by Moussa Doumbia, "Mon Falou Nan" by Soro N Gana Et L'Orchestre Guilana-na, "Onginwe" by Prince Dgibs, and "Essemon Moupoh" by Jean Guehi.