All Categories — All Formats  

A mixing of modes – although basically music that has a bouncy Batida touch on all tracks! "Ncongo J'Ami" is an older groove, remixed by Batida – and given a jumpy finish that's mighty nice – almost a 70s African vibe, filtered through contemporary Columbia – with just a few twists and turns along the way! The group's own "Yumbala" is reworked by AJ Holmes in an equally bouncy version – one that's got plenty of great basslines that move things along!

Produced by Premier.

A pair of disco gems back to back in a 2CD set – with great bonus tracks too! First up is Evita, a loving take on the hit 70s musical – one that serves up all the best tracks in a sweet disco mode – and moves the sound from Broadway to the main floor of Studio 54! Festival present the material, but the key force here is disco maestro Boris Midney – who really helps craft some compelling keyboard-heavy grooves for the set – wicked dancefloor rhythms that have lots of sweet funky touches, topped with vocals that still retain some of the drama of the original! The approach worked surprisingly well with audiences at the time – and titles include "Don't Cry For Me Argentina", "Buenos Aires", "I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You", "Rainbow High", "She Is A Diamond", and "High Flying Adored". CD features four more long bonus tracks – including two "Special Dance Music Version" mixes from promo 12" singles – plus "Don't Cry For Me Argentina (7" version)" and "Don't Cry For Me (Mexican 12" mix)". Next up is another great Boris Midney project – one of the few issued under his own name, and a cool disco-fication of the themes from The Empire Strikes Back! The set only features four tracks, but all of them are relatively long – and filled with cool instrumental touches on keyboards, guitar, and percussion – more than enough to blow similar Star Wars disco projects out of the water! Titles include "Yoda's Theme", "The Imperial March", "Han Solo & The Princess", and "Star Wars".

The cover's a silly one, but the record is rock-solid all the way through – a wonderful blend of funky jazz and warmer soul, and a real lost treasure from the 70s TK Records empire! Fat is Fats Gallon – who plays drums on the record, and also sings lead vocals a bit too – with this raspy southern soul style that's a great counterpoint to the smoother sounds on the set! Things get plenty funky and tough throughout – and the small combo lineup ensures that the record steers quite clear of the more commercial styles that were coming out of the Miami scene in the 70s. There's a jazzy inflection to most of the instrumentation, which makes for some compelling changes that have kept this set going strongly with new generations over the years – and the instrumentation includes loads of great guitar and keyboard bits too. Titles include "Doing Bad", "Tip Of My Tongue", "How Can I Explain", "Magician Man", "Life Is A Beautiful Thing", "Satan's Dream", and "Free My Mind".

One of the instant classic Wu Tang solo projects – Ghostface Killah's essential, early peak Ironman – and a a record that stands strongly among the best hip hop albums of the its era! Produced by The RZA at a point in which it seemed there was little he could do wrong. An absolute high water mark for Ghostface and the entire Wu Tang empire. This incredible limited edition version from Get On Down really raises the bar for audiophile CD reissues – it's unbelievable! The CD is a 24K gold disc – encased in a heavy duty box – pretty much a full sized cigar box, actually – with a full color 48 page hardcover book inside, with extended artwork, lyrics and additional liner notes. Titles include "Winter Warz", "Daytona 500", "Motherless Child", "Soul Controller", "Wildflower", "Poisonous Darts", "Fish", "Camay", "Black Jesus", "The Faster Blade", "260", "Assassination Day", "Box In Hand", "After The Smoke Is Clear" and "All That I Got Is You".

One of the instant classic Wu Tang solo projects – Ghostface Killah's essential, early peak Ironman – and a a record that stands strongly among the best hip hop albums of the its era! Produced by The RZA at a point in which it seemed there was little he could do wrong. An absolute high water mark for Ghostface and the entire Wu Tang empire. Titles include "Winter Warz", "Daytona 500", "Motherless Child", "Soul Controller", "Wildflower", "Poisonous Darts", "Fish", "Camay", "Black Jesus", "The Faster Blade", "260", "Assassination Day", "Box In Hand", "After The Smoke Is Clear" and "All That I Got Is You".

An overlooked gem from the glory days of the TK soul empire – a mix of sweet soul steppers and more upbeat groovers – all set to tight arrangements from Snoopy Dean! There's a great Miami groove to most numbers – especially that modern soul style that started coming in during the Lew Kirton generation – almost more of a Philly sense of sophistication at times, which comes through especially well on the midtempo numbers! Joey's vocals have a nice sort of rasp to them – a bit less polished than the arrangements, which makes for a nice sense of balance – and titles incude "Let's Boogie On Down", "Get All You Want", "Give Me Your Love", "Rhythm In My Bone", "It's Here", and "Funny Feeling".

A massively tripped-out set of guitar-based funk – played to perfection by the legendary Eddie Hazel, best known for his work in the George Clinton P-Funk empire! The album offers a different side of Eddie's talents – one that's produced with a smoothly compressed California groove, in a mode that's almost an extension of some of the themes explored by Shuggie Otis on his own 70s albums – taken with a bit more of a P-Funk style. George Clinton produced the set with Eddie – and the tunes have a nice slow-stepping groove that really opens up the guitar solos wonderfully. The record kicks off with a massive cover of "California Dreamin" – but the whole thing's great, with a wonderfully unified feel throughout! Other titles include "Frantic Moment", "What About It?", "So Goes The Story", "Physical Love", and a great cover of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)".

One of the hippest albums from the funky empire that includes Poets Of Rhythm and The Whitefield Brothers – a set of Afro-exotic grooves that really blows our minds – and which opens the group up into whole new territory! There's echoes of Mulatu, Salah Ragab, and other older exotic funk artists in the mix – but as usual for the Poets, the whole thing's put together with a sharp edge of its own – a keen ear for catching the best elements of the original music, and distilling them down to a super-powerful essence – then re-presenting and oddly-producing them with some very unique sounds! Karl Hector joins the group on vocals and percussion – and other instrumentation includes ballaphon, metallophon, horns, and keyboards – all used in really enigmatic ways, and with other-worldly sounds that are simply amazing! Titles include "Followed Path", "When The Sun Breaks Through", "Sahara Swing", "Jabore (part 3)", "Debere", "Transition", "Mystical Brotherhood", "Toure Samar", and "Passau Run".

A rare document of a short-lived slice of the King Kong myth – a Saturday morning cartoon in which Kong was the friend of some little kids in the jungle, and a much less threatening force than when climbing the Empire State Building! The soundtrack offers capsulized episodes of the show – with music by Jules Bass & Maury Laws, plus narrated adventures by Bob McFadden, voices from the show, and even a bit of sound effects! Adventures include "Under The Volcano", "Dr Who", "The Treasure Trap", and "The African Bees" – as well as nice versions of the cool theme song!

Life is good, and so is Nas – and that's an understatement – as he's one of the most vital MCs of the early 90s onward! Life Is Good finds Nas in a somewhat liberated mode, though still rocking an Empire State Building-sized chip on his shoulder – and spitting charismatic vitriol at any target deemed worthy – but he's too smooth and too sharp of a lyricist for it come off as too ill-mannered. Good stuff from a legend. Includes "No Introduction", the standout "Loco-Motive" with Large Professor, "Daughters", "Reach Out" with Mary J Blige, "Back When", "The Don", "Stay", "Bye Baby", "World's An Addiction" with Anthony Hamilton, "Summer On Smash" with Miguel & Swizz Beatz, "A Queen's Story" and more.

One of the best-remembered groups from the Detroit scene of the early 70s – thanks to the massive title track on this album, and a whole host of other wonderful cuts as well! The group features the great Steve Marcus on vocals – an artist who'd cut some key Northern soul singles for smaller labels in the 60s – but who really bursts out of the box here with great presentation from the Holland Dozier Holland empire! The record features some great songs by General Johnson and Greg Perry – and Perry also handled some of the production work for the record – really pushing the group with the sort of full, rich sound the Chairmen Of The Board brought to their own work. Titles include "Somebody's Been Sleeping", "Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup)", "One Man's Leftovers", "Love is Sweeter", "Age Ain't Nothin' But a Number", and "Back Track". CD features five bonus tracks – "90 Days Freeze", "Somebody's Been Sleeping (UK single edit)", "If I Could See The Light In The Window (version 1)", "Driveway", and "Somebody's Been Sleeping (US single)".

Spacey hip hip soul production from Portformat – with compelling beats and electronics – and bringing in a diverse roster of guest vocalists who all work well in the format! Guests include Georgia Anne Muldrow & Dudley Perkins, Miles Bonny, Colonel Red, Stan Smith, Eagle Nebula, Alicia Renna, Amalia and more. Includes "Bitter Sweet" with Eagle Nebula & Trezure Empire, "Cosmic Rays" with Pursuit Grooves, "It's Been A Long Time" feat Astrid Engberg, "Scream & Shout" with Miles Bonny, "The Bear", "So Good" by Stan Smith, "Move On Up" with Colonel Red, "Dream" with Shuanise, "Science Fiction" with Distant Star, "King Smiles" with Alex Rita Bramsen, "These Haters" with Georgia Anne Muldrow & Dudley Perkins and more.

A killer side project from Roy Ayers – recorded right around the same time as the Ramp album, but with a different feel over all – proof that the Ayers empire was really exploding at the end of the 70s! The vibe here is quite similar to some of Roy's own albums over at Polydor – a great balance between upbeat groovers and mellower steppers – all done with a nice undercurrent of jazz, thanks to some sweet keyboards from Philip Woo and saxes from Justo Almario – both of who played often with Ayers as well. The vocals are especially great – wrapped up warmly along the rhythms, mixing the male/female leads of Jimmy Haslip and Sylvia Cox with some additional backing vocals from group members – creating a righteous ensemble sound that's totally wonderful, and very much in the Roy Ayers spirit. Titles include "Spread It", "If You Wanna See The Sunshine", "The Five Flies", "Midnight After Dark", and "Love Is Love".

Wax Poetics goes nearly all hip hop for this issue – covering original game-changers and the best contemporary revisionists alike – with cover features on Nas, Danny Brown, Master P and his No Limit legacy, and Shabazz Palaces! Wax Poetics, tasked with following up their decade milestone issue, pulls that off brilliantly here. It's got one of the best, realest interviews with Nas we've ever read, a great look at Master P's No Limit and the Beats By The Pound production empire, a resurgent El-P, the legendary Kurtis Blow, Killer Mike, Oddisee, THEESatisfaction, Cities Aviv, modern jazz great Robert Glasper and much more!

Weird work from Wicked Witch – tunes that are half funky, half punky – with a mysterious sound that's all their own! At some level, Wicked Witch might be an offshoot of the P-Funk empire – a lost mission to a dark planet way out in the galaxy – trapped out there on their own, and slowly losing touch with the original groove of the Mothership as they mess around with heavy basslines, spacey keyboards, and some very stark rhythms – sometimes played live, sometimes from a drum machine. There's a bit of vocals in the mix, but they're usually second-tier next to the rhythms – which themselves take plenty of weird twists and turns. Billed as "evil psycho machine funk" – which is a pretty accurate description! Titles include "Fancy Dancer", "Erratic Behaviour", "X Rated", "Vera's Back", and "Electric War (inst)". CD features bonus tracks "Fancy Dancer (previously unreleased rmx)", and "Electric War (voc)".

A massive amount of rare Northern Soul cuts – almost all of them from the Heritage Records empire of producer Jerry Ross! There's plenty of Philly elements in the mix, but the set also shows Jerry's good ear for crossing over into other camps too – and some of these tunes also have a sound that would have been right at home in the Detroit scene of the late 60s. A few numbers are even rock/pop cuts, but still work very well in the context of the soul material – and the CD features 20 titles that include "Green Grow the Lilacs" by The Festivals, "Ain't Nothin' But A House Party" by The Showstoppers, "I Dig Everything About You" by The Mob, "You Gave Me Somebody To Love" by The Dreamlovers, "Loan Shark" by Chapter One, "I Get By Without You" by Kenny Gamble & Tommy Bell, "Baby Show It" by The Festivals, "Bok To Bach" by Father's Angels, "Eeny Meeny" by The Showstoppers, "Pick Up My Toys" by The Devonnes, "I've Been Hurt" by Bill Deal & The Rhondels, and "You Aint' Sayin' Nothin' New" by Virgil Henry.

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.

A massively expanded version of the original Sehorn's Soul Farm compilation – one that adds in a huge amount of bonus tracks, and makes for an even more essential batch of New Orleans soul! The cuts here all come from the original Sansu empire formed by Marshall Sehorn and Allen Toussaint – a key force in New Orleans soul of the 60s – thanks to Toussaint's amazing ear for new talent, and bold new styles of production in the studio! Toussaint went onto much greater fame on bigger labels in the 70s, but his work here is still his best – a hard-edged, uniquely rhythmic groove that forever changed the sound of soul in the Crescent City. The 2CD set brings together material that appeared on both original Sehorn's Soul Farm collections in the 80s – mostly culled from labels like Sansu and Deesu, plus bits from other sources – and it also adds in 18 more bonus cuts too, which makes for a whopping batch of 50 New Orleans soul classics. Cuts include "Sadie Mae" by Joe Haywood, "Did You Have Fun" by Willie West, "A Lady" by Warren Lee, "Chicken Strut" by The Meters, "Look Way Back" by Diamond Joe, "Man Of The Street" by Ironing Board Sam, "How To Pick A Winner" by Diamond Joe, "Lovely Woman" by Eldrige Holmes, "Hotcha Mama" by Ernie K Doe, "Mean Man" by Betty Harris, "Hercules" by Aaron Neville, "Sinner Girl" by Benny Spellman, "Blues Tears & Sorrow" by John Williams, and "Star Revue" by Warren Lee.

Heavy sounds from Melbourne, Australia – a really unlikely source for soul music a few decades back, but quite a hotbed of activity in recent years! The set's put together by Lance Ferguson of The Bamboos – whose funky work you'll know from a variety of different projects – and the artists here not only represent a few of his other projects, but also some of his best contemporaries on the funk scene down under – including a few that we'd never heard before! The collection's like finding a pile of deep funk 45s all stacked tight together – and this CD version also features four titles exclusive to this set – tracks that include "Waz That" by The Putbacks, "Baby Your Lovin" by The Electric Empire, "Love & Feeling" by Chet Faker, "Debris" by Axolotl, "Nakamurra" by Hiatus Kaiyote, "Is It Because I'm Black" by Syl Johnson with The Bamboos, "Skeletor" by Cookin On 3 Burners, "Stepping Stones" by Gypsy Brown, "Love Letter" by Clairy Brown & The Bangin Rackettes, and "Hippy Skippy Moonstrut" by The Mighty Show Stoppers.

Heavy sounds from Melbourne, Australia – a really unlikely source for soul music a few decades back, but quite a hotbed of activity in recent years! The set's put together by Lance Ferguson of The Bamboos – whose funky work you'll know from a variety of different projects – and the artists here not only represent a few of his other projects, but also some of his best contemporaries on the funk scene down under – including a few that we'd never heard before! The collection's like finding a pile of deep funk 45s all stacked tight together – and titles include "Waz That" by The Putbacks, "Baby Your Lovin" by The Electric Empire, "Love & Feeling" by Chet Faker, "Debris" by Axolotl, "Nakamurra" by Hiatus Kaiyote, "Is It Because I'm Black" by Syl Johnson with The Bamboos, "Skeletor" by Cookin On 3 Burners, "Stepping Stones" by Gypsy Brown, "Love Letter" by Clairy Brown & The Bangin Rackettes, and "Hippy Skippy Moonstrut" by The Mighty Show Stoppers.

An amazing little set – one that shines a brilliant light on music made in America by immigrants from the dissolved Ottoman Empire – all cuts recorded in New York in the teens and twenties, but with a feel that's definitely got an other-worldly feel! The sounds are very exotic right from the start – unusual percussion, string inflections, and offbeat vocals – a melange of Middle Eastern modes brought together by the expansive power of the Ottoman cultural melting pot – then re-sifted by the cultural shakeup of New York! Turkish elements collide with Greek, Syrian, and other regional styles – and instrumentation is heavy on oud and violin, both played with very melancholy tones that possibly indicate a longing for the homeland. Spare percussion figures in often too – and the tracks are a mix of vocal and instrumental numbers – working together surprisingly well, despite the range of artists and nationalities. Compiled by Ian Nagoski, who also wrote the excellent notes and worked on the sound restoration!

An amazing little set – one that shines a brilliant light on music made in America by immigrants from the dissolved Ottoman Empire – all cuts recorded in New York in the teens and twenties, but with a feel that's definitely got an other-worldly feel! The sounds are very exotic right from the start – unusual percussion, string inflections, and offbeat vocals – a melange of Middle Eastern modes brought together by the expansive power of the Ottoman cultural melting pot – then re-sifted by the cultural shakeup of New York! Turkish elements collide with Greek, Syrian, and other regional styles – and instrumentation is heavy on oud and violin, both played with very melancholy tones that possibly indicate a longing for the homeland. Spare percussion figures in often too – and the tracks are a mix of vocal and instrumental numbers – working together surprisingly well, despite the range of artists and nationalities. Compiled by Ian Nagoski, who also wrote the excellent notes and worked on the sound restoration!

An amazing little set – one that shines a brilliant light on music made in America by immigrants from the dissolved Ottoman Empire – all cuts recorded in New York in the teens and twenties, but with a feel that's definitely got an other-worldly feel! The sounds are very exotic right from the start – unusual percussion, string inflections, and offbeat vocals – a melange of Middle Eastern modes brought together by the expansive power of the Ottoman cultural melting pot – then re-sifted by the cultural shakeup of New York! Turkish elements collide with Greek, Syrian, and other regional styles – and instrumentation is heavy on oud and violin, both played with very melancholy tones that possibly indicate a longing for the homeland. Spare percussion figures in often too – and the tracks are a mix of vocal and instrumental numbers – working together surprisingly well, despite the range of artists and nationalities. Compiled by Ian Nagoski, who also wrote the excellent notes and worked on the sound restoration!

A tripped out mix of spacey, funky and psych-soaked soundscapes compiled by Doug Shipton – the main main behind the incredible Finders Keepers/B-Music empire of exotic funk reissues and compilations! Dedicated Swallower Of Fashion is a set built from of 45 different, unlisted vintage cuts from around the world – distilled into a fantastic hour long set! The Finders Keepers-esque groove is in full swing here – Kollywood funk, Bolshevik beats, Pan-Asian pop and more flow in and out of the set, co-produced and programmed by Andy Votel. Vinyl is unmixed.

The beginning of an empire! This was the first solo album cut by the now-famous Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds – cut after years of work in the music business that included stints in the groups Manchild and The Deele, and lots of production work for other LA soul acts. The record's kind of a rougher version of the modern R&B style that you'll know from Babyface's big hits of the early 90s – more in the style of some of the Solar Records acts of the early 80s, and some of the other big keyboard/bass pedal bands on the market at the time. The real contribution, though, is Kenny's ability to infuse the whole thing with soul – taking these tinny little tracks and making them come out kind of sweet, not only through his famous production, but through his faltering vocal style, which is about the most honest-sounding aspect of the record. Titles include "Lovers", "Marry Mack", "If We Try", "Take Your Time", and a cover of "You Make Me Feel Brand New".

The cover's a silly one, but the record is rock-solid all the way through – a wonderful blend of funky jazz and warmer soul, and a real lost treasure from the 70s TK Records empire! Fat is Fats Gallon – who plays drums on the record, and also sings lead vocals a bit too – with this raspy southern soul style that's a great counterpoint to the smoother sounds on the set! Things get plenty funky and tough throughout – and the small combo lineup ensures that the record steers quite clear of the more commercial styles that were coming out of the Miami scene in the 70s. There's a jazzy inflection to most of the instrumentation, which makes for some compelling changes that have kept this set going strongly with new generations over the years – and the instrumentation includes loads of great guitar and keyboard bits too. Titles include "Doing Bad", "Tip Of My Tongue", "How Can I Explain", "Magician Man", "Life Is A Beautiful Thing", "Satan's Dream", and "Free My Mind".

A massively tripped-out set of guitar-based funk – played to perfection by the legendary Eddie Hazel, best known for his work in the George Clinton P-Funk empire! The album offers a different side of Eddie's talents – one that's produced with a smoothly compressed California groove, in a mode that's almost an extension of some of the themes explored by Shuggie Otis on his own 70s albums – taken with a bit more of a P-Funk style. George Clinton produced the set with Eddie – and the tunes have a nice slow-stepping groove that really opens up the guitar solos wonderfully. The record kicks off with a massive cover of "California Dreamin" – but the whole thing's great, with a wonderfully unified feel throughout! Other titles include "Frantic Moment", "What About It?", "So Goes The Story", "Physical Love", and a great cover of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)".

A great return to recording for Son House – a musician who'd stopped playing the guitar in the postwar years, but rose again to fame during the great folk blues revival of the 60s! The style here is every bit as classic as some of Son's earliest music – just recorded a lot better, too – with beautiful focus on the subtle inflections he brings to the strings of his acoustic guitar, and vocals that ring out a lot stronger than they might have on a 78. Titles include "John The Revelator", "Empire State Express", "Preachin Blues", "Sundown", and "Grinnin In Your Face".

Classic funky disco material from George Clinton and the trio of lovelies that recorded under the name Parlet. The backing's by the rest of the P-Funk empire – with arrangements by Bernie Worrell and Fred Wesley. Titles include "Mr. Melody Man", "Cookie Jar", and "Pleasure Principle".

Here's where it all happens! George Clinton lands the mothership, forges the space-funk image, and blows the P-Funk empire into an arena-filling mega-star act! The record's got some extremely tight numbers that mix the best of the group's new slick playing with the edgieness and naughtiness of the earlier years – and virtually every cut on the album's a classic. The whole thing slides from track to track in a sublime document of the future of funk – and titles include "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)", "Handcuffs", "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)", and "Unfunky Ufo".

A killer blend of soul and funk from Pockets – a group with a very jazzy pedigree in their roots, but who stretch forth here with some great studio help from the Kalimba Productions team of the Earth Wind & Fire empire! The groove is very much in the best 70s EWF mode – tight, but never uptight – impeccably played throughout, but with a looseness that also really hearkens back to the small club origins of the group. Lead singer Larry Jacobs really makes the tunes cook – with a style that's deft enough to match the instrumentation, yet still strong enough to soar soulfully on its own. The blend is sublime throughout – and titles include "Tell Me Why", "Take It On Up", "Heaven Only Knows", "Got To Find My Way", "Sphinx", "In Your Eyes", "Happy For Love", and "You And Only You". CD features a bonus track too – "Take It On Up (ext 12" mix)".

Wax Poetics goes nearly all hip hop for this issue – covering original game-changers and the best contemporary revisionists alike – with cover features on Nas, Danny Brown, Master P and his No Limit legacy, and Shabazz Palaces! Wax Poetics, tasked with following up their decade milestone issue, pulls that off brilliantly here. It's got one of the best, realest interviews with Nas we've ever read, a great look at Master P's No Limit and the Beats By The Pound production empire, a resurgent El-P, the legendary Kurtis Blow, Killer Mike, Oddisee, THEESatisfaction, Cities Aviv, modern jazz great Robert Glasper and much more!

London's always been one of the hippest cities in the world – but back during the postwar years, there was an especially wonderful outpouring of music on the scene – a rich array of new sounds and styles pulled from around the globe – as so many residents from crumbling British empire came to live in the UK! Musicians and listeners arrived in London with plenty of cultural baggage on hand – influences from the Caribbean, West Africa, and India too – plus other smaller scenes that once fell under the British banner, all now the fuel for the cultural fire that was happening in England! The title here tells plenty about the music being made in this newly-formed scene – bits of African highlife, Jamaican calypso, American jazz, Cuban Latin, and more – all filtered into the modernism of the 50s, and given a new twist that was decidedly urban as well. The package may well be the most impressive so far in this legendary series – and is certainly the one that moves the farthest past any sort of easy expectations or cultural conventions. Titles include "Women Police In England" by Mighty Terror, "My Sorrow" by West African Swing Stars, "Cricket Umpires" by Lord Kitchener, "Jordhu" by Caribbean Swing Band, "Trumpet Highlife" by Shake Keane, "Calypso Mambo" by George Browne, "Cuban Nightingale" by Buddy Pipp's Highlifers, "Kitch" by The Quavers, "Tabu" by Mona Baptiste, "King Jimmy Foo Foo" by Tejan Sie with The West African Rhythm Brothers, "The Escape" by Dizzy Reece, "Mambo Contempo" by Ginger Johnson, "Life In Britain" by Mighty Terror, "Sway" by Buddy Pipp's Highlifers, "Song Of Joy" by Rupert Nurse's Calypso Band, "Joe Louis Calypso" by Lord Beginner, "Uncle Joe" by Fitzroy Coleman Quintet, "Me Donkey Want Water" by Tony Johnson, "Belly Lick" by Eric Hayden, "Nigeria Odowoyin" by West African Rhythm Brothers, and "Football Calypso" by King Timothy.

A very strong second LP by BEP that initially failed to rock our world the way similarly minded artists like the Roots did with Things Fall Apart, Slum Village did on Fantastic, Vol 2 and De La did on Stakes Is High. Listening to this a couple years on without the expectations, though we hear a strong & soulful record indeed, particularly the deep soul sheen that glosses most of the sides. Tracks include the Premier-produced "Bep Empire" (is it just us, or are most of the NuHoppers nearly always at their best when they rely on tried and true hip hop production?), "Weekends", "Get Original", "Cali To New York" featuring De La Soul, "On My Own" featuring Les Nubian & Mos Def, "Release", "Bridging The Gaps", "Go Go", "Rap Song" featuring Wyclef, "Bringing It Back", "Tell Your Mama Come", the great single "Request Line" featuring Macy Gray, and more.

A funky female duo from the P-Funk empire – one of George Clinton's few girl-based projects of the 70s, and a group who are markedly more funk-based than Parlet! Vocals are by the duo of Lyn Mabry and Dawn Silva – but the main sound of the set comes from the tightly crafted rhythms served up by a cast of well-known P-Funk regulars – all hitting a spaciously snapping vibe that reminds us a lot of the best energy of late 70s Parliament albums on Casablanca! Tracks are longish, but nicely focused – with less of the disco that you might expect, and more of a slow-stepping groove overall! Titles include "Disco To Go", "War Ship To Touchante", "Just Like You", "When You're Gone", "Amorous", "Nappy", and "Birdie".

Titles include "Some Kind Of Nature", "On Melancholy Hill", "Broken", "Plastic Beach", "To Binge", "Pirate Jet", "Rhinestone Eyes", "White Flag", "Stylo", "Superfast Jellyfish", and "Empire Ants".

Amazing material from this mini-soul empire – the mighty New Birth collective, which also features great backing work from The Nite-Liters! The package is a bit low on notes, but features some really standout performances from the ensemble – hard-hitting soul produced by the mighty Harvey Fuqua, and easily some of the most memorable material from RCA Records in the early 70s. The vocals are amazing – strong harmonies with really breakout leads, both male and female – and titles include the classic "Wild Flower" – plus "Dream Merchant", "I Can Understand It", "It's Impossible", "I Don't Want To Do Wrong", "I Wash My Hands Of The Whole Damn Deal (part 1)", "How Good It Feels", "Do It Again", "Until It's Time For You To Go", and "Granddaddy (part 1)".

Here's where it all happens! George Clinton lands the mothership, forges the space-funk image, and blows the P-Funk empire into an arena-filling mega-star act! The record's got some extremely tight numbers that mix the best of the group's new slick playing with the edginess and naughtiness of the earlier years – and virtually every cut on the album's a classic. The whole thing slides from track to track in a sublime document of the future of funk – and titles include "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)", "Handcuffs", "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)", and "Unfunky Ufo". CD features a bonus version of "Star Child", a promo radio version!

A killer blend of soul and funk from Pockets – a group with a very jazzy pedigree in their roots, but who stretch forth here with some great studio help from the Kalimba Productions team of the Earth Wind & Fire empire! The groove is very much in the best 70s EWF mode – tight, but never uptight – impeccably played throughout, but with a looseness that also really hearkens back to the small club origins of the group. Lead singer Larry Jacobs really makes the tunes cook – with a style that's deft enough to match the instrumentation, yet still strong enough to soar soulfully on its own. The blend is sublime throughout – and titles include "Tell Me Why", "Take It On Up", "Heaven Only Knows", "Got To Find My Way", "Sphinx", "In Your Eyes", "Happy For Love", and "You And Only You".

Weird work from Wicked Witch – tunes that are half funky, half punky – with a mysterious sound that's all their own! At some level, Wicked Witch might be an offshoot of the P-Funk empire – a lost mission to a dark planet way out in the galaxy – trapped out there on their own, and slowly losing touch with the original groove of the Mothership as they mess around with heavy basslines, spacey keyboards, and some very stark rhythms – sometimes played live, sometimes from a drum machine. There's a bit of vocals in the mix, but they're usually second-tier next to the rhythms – which themselves take plenty of weird twists and turns. Billed as "evil psycho machine funk" – which is a pretty accurate description! Titles include "Under Your Spell", "Fancy Dancer", "Erratic Behaviour", "X Rated", "Vera's Back", and "Electric War (inst)".

The soundtrack to the excellent Dub Echoes documentary and a wild trip across the landscape of dub, both new and old! Syncopated rhythms, deep, dark bass, and cosmic reverb and echo abound on this fine set that connects the modern dubstep scene with heavyweight Jamaican originators of the sound. While it would take a massive box set to cover even a portion of the music featured in the film, the selector's at Soul Jazz of kept this set nicely concise, tight and right all the way through! 17 numbers in all, including "Witness (One Hope) (Walworth road rockers dub)" by Root sManuva, "Sega Beats" by Disrupt, "Forever More" by Dub Syndicate, "Psalms Of Drums" and "Ruffer Version" by King Tubby, "Sine Of The Dub" by Kode9 & The Space Ape, "Rootsman" by U Roy & Francois Kevorkian, "King In My Empire" by Rhythm & Sound with Cornell Campbell, "Deb Dub" by Digital Dubs Vs Dubiterian, "Congo Man Chant" by the Congos and "Rejoicing Skank" by the Upsetters.

Marvelously mixed-up work from the Horse Meat Disco team – a great way for all of us to sample the revolutionary grooves they've been laying down at their famous club night in London! The work here is hardly the conventional disco you'd find on other compilations (although maybe you already guessed that from the "horse meat" in the title) – and instead, the grooves are an odd range of funky club styles from the late 70s and early 80s – including many tracks that have a jagged, percussive edge that's a far cry from smoother disco. Don't get us wrong, though – as there's definitely some great disco touches here too – yet these are still far from the mainstream, and just slide on in to warm things up before the beats take over on the next tune. 2CD set features one disc mixed by the team, one unmixed – with titles that include "In The Evening" by Sheryl Lee Ralph, "Danger" by Gregg Diamond, "Dancing Shoes" by Plaza, "Freakman" by Empire Projecting Penny, "And I Don't Love You (Larry Levan inst)" by Smokey Robinson, "Detour (party mix)" by Karen Young, "Disco Jam" by Eddie Drennon, "Love Bite" by Richard Hewson Orchestra, "I Don't Depend On You" by Two Tons, and "It's Alright" by Gino Soccio.

London's always been one of the hippest cities in the world – but back during the postwar years, there was an especially wonderful outpouring of music on the scene – a rich array of new sounds and styles pulled from around the globe – as so many residents from crumbling British empire came to live in the UK! Musicians and listeners arrived in London with plenty of cultural baggage on hand – influences from the Caribbean, West Africa, and India too – plus other smaller scenes that once fell under the British banner, all now the fuel for the cultural fire that was happening in England! The title here tells plenty about the music being made in this newly-formed scene – bits of African highlife, Jamaican calypso, American jazz, Cuban Latin, and more – all filtered into the modernism of the 50s, and given a new twist that was decidedly urban as well. The package may well be the most impressive so far in this legendary series – and is certainly the one that moves the farthest past any sort of easy expectations or cultural conventions. Titles include "Women Police In England" by Mighty Terror, "My Sorrow" by West African Swing Stars, "Cricket Umpires" by Lord Kitchener, "Jordhu" by Caribbean Swing Band, "Trumpet Highlife" by Shake Keane, "Calypso Mambo" by George Browne, "Cuban Nightingale" by Buddy Pipp's Highlifers, "Kitch" by The Quavers, "Tabu" by Mona Baptiste, and "King Jimmy Foo Foo" by Tejan Sie with The West African Rhythm Brothers.

London's always been one of the hippest cities in the world – but back during the postwar years, there was an especially wonderful outpouring of music on the scene – a rich array of new sounds and styles pulled from around the globe – as so many residents from crumbling British empire came to live in the UK! Musicians and listeners arrived in London with plenty of cultural baggage on hand – influences from the Caribbean, West Africa, and India too – plus other smaller scenes that once fell under the British banner, all now the fuel for the cultural fire that was happening in England! The title here tells plenty about the music being made in this newly-formed scene – bits of African highlife, Jamaican calypso, American jazz, Cuban Latin, and more – all filtered into the modernism of the 50s, and given a new twist that was decidedly urban as well. The package may well be the most impressive so far in this legendary series – and is certainly the one that moves the farthest past any sort of easy expectations or cultural conventions. Titles include "The Escape" by Dizzy Reece, "Mambo Contempo" by Ginger Johnson, "Life In Britain" by Mighty Terror, "Sway" by Buddy Pipp's Highlifers, "Song Of Joy" by Rupert Nurse's Calypso Band, "Joe Louis Calypso" by Lord Beginner, "Uncle Joe" by Fitzroy Coleman Quintet, "Me Donkey Want Water" by Tony Johnson, "Belly Lick" by Eric Hayden, "Nigeria Odowoyin" by West African Rhythm Brothers, and "Football Calypso" by King Timothy.

A fantastic follow-up to the legendary Mutant Disco compilation on Ze Records – one that's newly put together by the revived label, but which features some of the company's best club cuts from the late 70s and early 80s! The "garage" in the title is a sly reference to the fact that Larry Levan's work at the Paradise Garage helped break some of the best Ze tunes on the New York scene – and overall, there's a definite early 80s downtown groove to the tracks on the package – a wonderful blend of post-disco and punk-funk elements, all served up with the usual Ze sense of style and whimsy! The best part of the package is that it brings together a number of harder to find Ze tracks – including a large number of tunes we haven't been able to track down in years, plus a few more that are making a much-needed first appearance here on CD! 15 tracks in all – with titles that include "I'm An Indian Too" by Don Armando, "Yaya" by Ron Rogers, "Sey Hey" by Coati Mundi, "Man Vs The Empire Brain Building" by Was Not Was, "Maladie D'Amour" by Aural Exciters, "Outlaw (August Darnell rmx)" by Alan Vega, "Dance Or Die" by Sweet Pea Atkinson with Was Not Was, "Techno Freqs" by Junie Morrison, "Read My Lips" by Thousand Points Of Night (Was Not Was), "No Time To Stop Believing In Love" by Daisy Chain, "He's The Groove" by Snuky Tate, and "Dream Baby Dream (long version)" by Suicide.

One of the lesser-known groups of the early 80s funk scene in Ohio – but a killer combo with a groove that's as good as their contemporaries! The album's got production and arrangements from Ranhi Harris of Dayton, who also plays a bit on the record as well – and the groove is kind of a funkier take on the territory of Dayton – a more pumped-up sound rhythmically, with traces of both older P-Funk modes and some of the newer styles from the Prince empire. The keyboards are one of the tightest aspects of the record, and really hold things together nicely, even when the beats get a bit jaunty – coming across with a warmth and almost a hint of jazz at points – clearly a lesson learned from the Dayton groove. The album's only an EP with 5 tracks that include "Come See The Band", "Crazy", "The Best In Me", "On My Radio", and "Just Like In The Movies".

The third in DJ Nu-Mark's Broken Sunlight Series – and the best yet – with a killer re-edit of the funky break classic "Our Generation" by Ernie Hines! "Our Generation" and the Electrified album it appeared on is one of the more unsung should-be-classics of the Stax empire, but it's got plenty of love from the hip hop generation for the unstoppable drums and heavy bass grooves. Nu-Mark, being the perceptive DJ that he is, fully respects all that makes the original version great on his re-edit. Also includes his instrumental and isolates the beats on his "drumapella". The flip is a tight Nu-Mark original.

A full length bow for Detroit hip hop veteran House Shoes –a producer and proponent for some of the best hip hop that city has produced from the mid 90s onward – with an album on Tres that lives up to all of it! Let It Go features a mix of accessible single-worthy cuts with A-game rhymes, moody/hypnotic interludes and gritty beats. The head-nodding full length instrumentals on 2LPs: includes "Let It Go (The Beginning)", "Empire", "Dirt", "Crazy", "Sweet", "So Different", "Sunrise", "Cry Now", "Roller Coaster" and more.

Here's where it all happens! George Clinton lands the mothership, forges the space-funk image, and blows the P-Funk empire into an arena-filling mega-star act! The record's got some extremely tight numbers that mix the best of the group's new slick playing with the edginess and naughtiness of the earlier years – and virtually every cut on the album's a classic. The whole thing slides from track to track in a sublime document of the future of funk – and titles include "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)", "Handcuffs", "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)", and "Unfunky Ufo".

Here's where it all happens! George Clinton lands the mothership, forges the space-funk image, and blows the P-Funk empire into an arena-filling mega-star act! The record's got some extremely tight numbers that mix the best of the group's new slick playing with the edginess and naughtiness of the earlier years – and virtually every cut on the album's a classic. The whole thing slides from track to track in a sublime document of the future of funk – and titles include "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)", "Handcuffs", "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)", and "Unfunky Ufo".

Great disco grooves from the TK Records empire of Henry Stone – home to countless club goodies at the end of the 70s! The package brings together some of the more obscure numbers issued on various TK labels – a nice change from some of the overdone TK hits that have been reissued a lot more heavily over the years – showing that there's plenty left to discover in the Henry Stone archives! Many of the numbers have a soaring Miami disco groove – long tracks with nice instrumental moments in the middle, and lots of great guitar bits, basslines, percussion, and keyboards wrapped up in the mix. Tracks on this second volume include "At The Disco Dance" by Wizdom, "Let's Love" by Foxy, "Danger" by Gregg Diamond's Starcruiser, "Burning Love Breakdown" by Peter Brown, "Beyond The Clouds" by Quartz, "If There's Love" by Amant, "One Love" by Celi Bee, and "Hey Sexy Dancer" by Rocky Mizell.

Clubby takes on classic themes – mostly famous film numbers from the 70s, with a few other great cuts mixed in for good measure! The package is definitely heavy on the disco promised in the title – and features some killer cuts that really take off from the original tunes – stretching out the melody over longer readings that rely on heavy rhythms, sweet strings, and lots of other great elements to forge the groove! Meco are the clear stars of the package – as they virtually invented the genre – and the set features their versions of "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band", "The Empire Strikes Back Medley", "Love Theme From The Black Hole", "Love Theme From Star Trek", and "Theme From Close Encounters". But the set also features "Theme From King Kong" and "Theme From Superman" by Love Unlimited Orchestra, "Moonshine" by Philharmonic 2000, "Three Days Of The Condor" and "Lipstick" by Rhythm Heritage, "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Galactic Light Orchestra, "Bolero" by Lalo Schifrin, and "Battlestar Galactica Medley" by Giorgio Moroder.

The first new music by Bill Fay in decades – and it's wonderful stuff – just a beautiful set of songs that balance hauntingly subtle sounds with more enigmatic touches! Bill's voice and piano are front and center for the most part here. The lyrics are poetic, but unpretentious – covering life, love, loss and the big issues we deal with – in a really artful way. Producer Joshua Henry does a great job of creating a stirring sound, without layering anything on too thickly, so not to bury the intimate charm of the songs – and using a subtle backing vocal choir, some lovely strings and additional keys at times. Includes "There Is A Valley", "Big Painter", "The Never Ending Happening", ", "The Healing Day", "City Of Dreams", a wonderfully spare cover of Wilco's "Jesus, Etc.", "This World" featuring Jeff Tweedy (speaking of Wilco), "Empires", "The Coast Man Can Tell" and more.

The first new music by Bill Fay in decades – and it's wonderful stuff – just a beautiful set of songs that balance hauntingly subtle sounds with more enigmatic touches! Bill's voice and piano are front and center for the most part here. The lyrics are poetic, but unpretentious – covering life, love, loss and the big issues we deal with – in a really artful way. Producer Joshua Henry does a great job of creating a stirring sound, without layering anything on too thickly, so not to bury the intimate charm of the songs – and using a subtle backing vocal choir, some lovely strings and additional keys at times. Includes "There Is A Valley", "Big Painter", "The Never Ending Happening", ", "The Healing Day", "City Of Dreams", a wonderfully spare cover of Wilco's "Jesus, Etc.", "This World" featuring Jeff Tweedy (speaking of Wilco), "Empires", "The Coast Man Can Tell" and more.

A fantastic anthology of Flint, MI soul great Regional Garland – 70s soul empires were built on lesser talent than you'll find on this set put together by Egon & Now Again! Garland is a performer, producer, songwriter and arranger of whom we were most familiar with for his work with the group Hunt's Determination – a taste of which is included here, along with Regional's recordings with The Perfections, 21st Generations, Mixed Sugar, Brilliance and others. Even the few Hunts Determination records we were familiar with show a fairly staggering stylistic range, while holding together as a tight whole – and that's all the more impressive with a broader collection of work with varying personnel here. The heart of the collection is early-to-late 70s recordings, from dancefloor soul, funk and strains of disco later in the decade – revelatory stuff for us. We knew the man was good, but, damn! The set also features several mid 80s recordings with that era's synth textured sound with the 70s soul vocals surprisingly well. Includes "I Need Love" & "Hey James" with 21st Generations, "Get On Down" & "Girl You Better Hurry" with The Perfections, "I Need Love" and "Are We Through" with Hunts Determination, "15 Ain't Young No More", "It's A Bad Feeling" and "Disco Jam Bam Bam" with Mixed Sugar, the previously unreleased "Gangster Girl" and "I'm Sad We've Broke Up", "I'm Falling In Love" with Vann & Reggie, "Hit Girl" with Brilliance and more. Nice notes with personnel, and a couple bonus versions "I Need Love".