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Scorching raw soul from Charles Bradley – backed by the tight Menahan Street Band! "World (Is Going Up In Flames)" might be the best track yet from Bradley – an incredible groover with a heavy theme – but the apocalypse never sounded so sweet! The groove is raw and emotive, given a deeper feel thanks to some piano in the mix – with a rubbery bass line and backing vocals by the Gospel Queens! The flip "Heartaches And Pain" is another emotional workout – and has the feel of a lost southern soul scorcher, but with funkier bassline and drums! Amazing stuff!

A pair of great ones from this overlooked soul group from Illinois! Modern Heart is wonderful work from Champaign – a really self-contained group, and one who really rise above the rest of the early 80s soul scene! The album's got a tightness that's hard to beat – yet a sound that's never too slick or commercial either – kind of that best balance you'd find more in late 70s mainstream soul work, save for the fact that any upbeat numbers here have more of an 80s groove style than a disco one. The mellow tracks balance things out nicely, and show a deeper songwriting sound from the group than we might have expected – further testament to the strength of the album, along with the group's own arrangements and production. Titles include "Cool Running", "Party Line", "Try Again", "Let Your Body Rock", "Get It Again", "Love Games", and "Walkin". Woman In Flames is sweet, tight, and right on the money – a stellar bit of soul from Champaign – one of those great 80s groups who never seemed to get their due, but managed to make some really wonderful music right from the start! The album's got a slightly heavier production tip than before – arrangements from James Newton Howard that link Champaign a bit more to the sound of their mid 80s contemporaries – especially some of the other groups on Columbia. Yet there's also a healthy core to the album that comes from the group's own contributions – their continued strong sense of songwriting and performance, which makes their overall sound a lot less reliant on outside help than other groups of the period. Titles include "This Time", "Off & On Love", "Be Mine Tonight", "Mardi Gras", "Capture The Moon", "Woman In Flames", and "Intimate Strangers".

Rock 'n' soul from South Africa's The Flames – their '67 set Burning Soul and '68's Soultime – on a single CD! Burning Soul wasn't the group's first album, but it's the first featuring vocalist Blondie Chapman, who helped steer the group's more rocking roots to a sound more indebted to classic Motown and Atlantic soul! They do keep a nice undercurrent of rock & roll, though,and this is a nice little set with some really groovy covers. Titles include "You Got It Made", "Stop, Look And Listen", "Knock On Wood", "Hold On I'm Coming", "Purple Haze" and more. Soultime has a pretty cool mix of straighter late 60s style soul-rock with a bit of trippy psyche influences in the mix. At this point, the group reminds us a little bit of Soul Survivors and some of the acts on Dunwich – and the bass-heavy groove of the tracks is really wonderful. Titles include "Lost", "If You Think You're Groovy", "I Was Made To Love Her", "Useless Illusions", "Restless", "Wishes", and "Solitude".

Before the album, this was the first-ever issue of this monster PE cut! Picture cover with the long lost Black Flames (whatever happened to them?)

Killer funky cuts, back to back! "Thoughts Of Old Flames" is slower than the usual Pleasure groove – but that doesn't stop it from being a killer – slowly stepping with a marvelous groove, and some of the most hook-heavy vocals the group's ever used! "Glide" is more upbeat – a nice dancefloor tune that was one of the group's most popular numbers!

Sure, a number of Shirley's early Prestige sessions were real snoozers – but this album, with husband Stanley Turrentine on tenor, cooks nicely, and has a lot more going on than usual. The pair were a great team while they lasted, and this album's one of their best together – as you'll hear on soulful cuts like "The Funky Fox", "Hip Knees an Legs", "Five Spot After Dark", and "Grand Street".

Features very early work with Chris Powell & His Blue Flames – on "Ida Red" and "I Come From Jamaica" – plus 3 longer Philly sides from 1956, with Billy Root on tenor and Sam Dockery on piano – on titles that include "Walkin", "Donna Lee", and "Night In Tunisia".

Surprisingly great work from Full Force – a set that seems to only get better with the passage of time, set apart nicely from most of its 80s soul contemporaries with a good deal of homegrown charm! Sure, there's some pretty heavy beats here – and sure, the sound is a few notches towards commercial/crossover territory – but there's also a really honest appeal to the record, a kind of intimate group feel that's an update of 70s funky groups – taken more strongly into an electric 80s style! Vocals come through nicely on some of the best tracks, and relax into the groove on some of the others – and titles include "Unfaithful", "Never Had Another Love", "Temporary Love Thing", "Old Flames Never Die", "Child's Play (parts 1 & 2)", and "Chain Me To The Night". CD also features lots of bonus tracks – including "Only Temporary", "Temporary Bow Legged Theatre", "Unfaithful (faithful rmx)", "Old Flames (My Desire My Burning Fire)", "Love Scene (12" mix)", and "Unfaithful (doctor no na na no no no)".

A stellar set of surviving 70s Black Ark productions by Lee Perry – with rare and unreleased cuts plus pivotal, if long-buried sides by Junior Byles, U Roy, Delroy Butler, Tinga Stewart, The Upsetters, The Flames, The Ethiopians, Jah T and more – Perry-produced gems for Kingston's cultural rebels and sufferers! The Sound Doctor compilation is really an essential, perfectly-collected batch on Pressure Sounds – the UK label that once again proves to be among the finest and most respectful of Sound Doctor devotees. Among the exceptional rarities are the unreleased "Army Of Love" by Junior Byles, an exclusive dub plate mix of the Upsetters "Horny Train", the raw original mix of U Roy's "006" and many more – stirringly soulful Black Ark singles and dub versions including "Sound Doctor" by Bobby Floyd, "Do Good" by Al Maytone", "Different Experience" by Brother Ray", "Smiling Faces" by Tinga Stewart, "It’s Impossible" by The Ethiopians, "Grandfather Land" by Jah T, "King Of Kings" by Pat Francis, "Be Prepared" by Keith Poppin, "Key Card" by Lee & Jimmy, "Start Over" by The Gatherers and more.

An amazing collection of music – put together ostensibly as a tribute to Excelsior label owner Otis Rene – but also a wonderful document of the wealth of wonderful sounds on the LA scene of the 40s and early 50s! The set is especially notable in that it includes rare early recordings by artists who'd flourish later on bigger labels like Capitol, Liberty, and Atlantic – yet heard here at the start of their careers, and already sounding wonderful – coming up with those unique hybrids of musical modes that made LA sounds some of the most compelling of the time – jump blues, smooth vocal R&B, and more – often pointing the way towards musical growth to come in the 60s. Despite the label's small status, its productions were all top-shelf – very polished, and well put-together – as you'll hear on this batch of 44 tracks that includes the titles "Pitchin Up A Boogie" and "All For You" by Nat King Cole, "Synthetic Joe" and "Groovin High" by Gerald Wilson, "Thursday Blues" and "I've Got To Have You That's All" by Jimmy Rushing, "Jeff Hi Stomp" and "Volcano" by Johnny Otis, "John The Revelator" by Luvenia Nash Singers, "Mobile" by Otis Rene, "I'm Still Crazy" and "Ribbely Bop" by The Drifters, "Strange Land Blues" by The Hollywood Flames, "Huckle Boogie" by Preston Love, "Crazy Baby" and "Think It Over" by Phil Flowers, "You Better Change Your Way" by Charles Brown, and "At Least You Could Save Me A Dream" by Herb Jeffries.

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

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

Rare funky 45 tracks and previously unreleased masters – the best and deepest compilation yet from the Super Funk series on BGP UK – 70s instrumentals and hard funky soul vocal treasures from around the regional US scenes by SOUL, The Eternal Flames, Linda Lyndall, Sue Ann Jones, David Camon, The Ebony Godfathers, The Six Sense and many more! Mission Impossible is the first new compilation in a few years from the top shelf Super Funk series – and the time taken to dig deeper really turns this into the most impressive set yet! 13 of the 20 tracks are previously unreleased masters and there's a lucky 7 from rare 45s. Includes "Burning Spear" by SOUL, "What The Matter For Ya" by Eternal Flames, "Stir It Up" by Johnny Jacobs, "Junkyard Dog" by Miles Grayson, "Gonna Have A Good Time" by David Camon, "Confusion" by The Two Things In One, "Don't Knock My Love" by The Sixth Sense, "Help Me" by Archie Russell, "Fix It" by OC Tolbert and more. 20 rare funky numbers in all!

"Prisoner Of Love" is a version of the 50s pop hit – done by James in a style that's still pretty raw, despite the string-heavy backings! I've Got To Change" is in a similar style – James singing in a "Please Please Please" mode, with The Flames behind him in a raw harmony sound!

A wonderful album from Pleasure – one of the few jazz funk bands who actually seemed to get better and better the more they recorded! Unlike some of their contemporaries, who kind of lost their edge when the production got slicker, Pleasure actually picked up more of a beat, and tightened up their act in a way that made for some of the funkiest and most soulful moments of their career. You can hear that well on the cut "Space is the Place", which has great funky drums on the intro; on the mellow "Thoughts of Old Flames", a real stunner with a great moody feel; and the classic "Glide", a great dancefloor groover that still stands up well!

Late 60's issue of a record that's also known as Rocket Number Nine Take Off For The Planet Venus. The material was recorded in 1959 and 1960, but unissued until the mid 60's. Ra plays piano, chimes, and gong, and the tracks have a nice laid back spacey feel, with some ensemble vocals chanted by the group. Ronnie Boykins also plays the space gong on one cut, which sounds very nice. Cuts include "Somewhere In Space", "Space Loneliness", "Space Aura", and "Interplanetary Music". The cover's got a brilliant red and white drawing of volcanic land, piano keys floating in space, and a mysterious female figure in flames!

One of the deeper collections we've seen from Pressure Sounds – great stuff and largely overlooked numbers from the vaults of the Micron Music label – with crisply chopping rhythms, steady harmonies, and echoey dub from Junior Byles, I Roy, Bobby Ellis, Tommy McCook and many more! Micron isn't among the more famous Jamaican enterprises of the period but the tunes more than live up to the pedigree of its better known peers – with Pete Weston in the production booth for many of the tunes, and a couple with Bunny Lee and Lee Perry at the controls. There's an impressive range of artists and styles, and a number of tunes that have more than a little bit of Motown sounds in the mix, which we totally love. Titles include "Conference At Waterhouse" by Jah Sticah, "Lorna Banana", "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" and "Last Of The Love Songs" by Junior Byles, "Message From The Top" by I Roy, "Revolution Is For The Chinaman" by Pete Weston & The Flames, "Ska Baby" by Bobby Ellis, "Black Organ" by Blacker Black , "Our Rights" by Defenders, "Tribute To Muhammad Ali" by Tommy McCook and more. 20 tracks in all.

Very very very cool compilation of rare James Brown-produced singles from the People Records years, with loads of stuff that's never shown up on the other James Brown comps. Cuts include 3 tracks by Sweet Charles ("Hang Out and Hustle", "Together", "I Wont' Last a Day"), 2 by The Flames – a little known soul group that James produced ("My Lonely Hour", "Stand Up And Be Counted"), and some hard to find singles by the JBs, including their covers of "Watermelon Man" and "Backstabbers", plus a 2 part reading of "Giving Up Food for Funk", and the cuts "Everybody Got Soul" and "All Aboard the Funky Soul Train". The comp finishes off with 2 great Maceo cuts, and is an excellent package from PVine, and a must for the JB fan!

Rare LA doo wop from the late 50s – sung by a great quartet that features a young Jesse Belvin! The Turks were one of a number of groups graced by vocalist Gaynel Hodge in the LA scene of the 50s – including the Hollywood Flames and an early version of The Platters. But the sides here are especially noteworthy because of Belvin's presence – a warming, calming influence that really creates a magical sort of sound – one that goes past the poppier doo wop of the time, and shows some of the increasing sophistication of the genre. The CD features material produced by Bumps Blackwell for the Keen label – and is unique in that it features some full tracks – "Okay", "It's You", and "Father Time" – plus other numbers as "session takes" – "It's You", "My Baby", and "Father Time" – in ways that show the development of the numbers over a variety of different performances of the tunes!

Hard grooving psychedelia and other wise astral rock from the South African underground scene – and a variety of sounds – some from the Hendrix school of hard bluesy psyche sounds, others airier and more based on soaring vocals and trippy songcraft, and still others with surprising bits of soul! This second volume in the Astral Daze series stands up proudly with the first, with a few recognizable names for deep rock nugget diggers, Blondie Chapman for one, here with his group The Flames, and lots of others that are totally fresh to our ears! 18 tracks in all: "The Kid He Came From Aazareth" by Freedoms Children, "Spider Spider" by Tidal Wave, "Solitude" by The Flames, "I Wish I Was A Purple Door" by Falling Mirror, 'Woman Yeah" by The Gonks, "She's A Mermaid" by Band Of Gypsies and much more.

Rare funky 45 tracks and previously unreleased masters – the best and deepest compilation yet from the Super Funk series on BGP UK – 70s instrumentals and hard funky soul vocal treasures from around the regional US scenes by SOUL, The Eternal Flames, Linda Lyndall, Sue Ann Jones, David Camon, The Ebony Godfathers, The Six Sense and many more! Mission Impossible is the first new compilation in a few years from the top shelf Super Funk series – and the time taken to dig deeper really turns this into the most impressive set yet! 13 of the 20 tracks are previously unreleased masters and there's a lucky 7 from rare 45s. Includes "Burning Spear" by SOUL, "What The Matter For Ya" by Eternal Flames, "Stir It Up" by Johnny Jacobs, "Junkyard Dog" by Miles Grayson, "Gonna Have A Good Time" by David Camon, "Confusion" by The Two Things In One, "Don't Knock My Love" by The Sixth Sense, "Help Me" by Archie Russell, "Fix It" by OC Tolbert and more.

A dark little soundtrack that we'd pitch right up there with The Wicker Man or Rosemary's Baby – and one with a sound that's somewhere in between those two classics! The work was penned for an obscure early 70s film in the Czech new wave – and features music that's sometimes a bit folksy, sometimes a bit spiritualist – served up in a blend of light orchestrations, occasional choral passages, and eerie isolated instruments that include flute, harpsichord, organ, and bells! There's a darkly brooding quality that really reminds us of Komeda's last great moments for Polanski – but the overall sound is a bit freer, and more illustrative as well – little snippets of poetry in sound, created with a feel that's as evocative as the images they were designed to accompany. CD features 23 tracks in all – titles that include "The Magic Yard", "Talk With Grandmother", "The Letter", "The Sermon", "Sacrifice", "Questions & Answers", "Homeless", "Puppets", "In Flames", "Brother & Sister", "Forgiveness", and "And The Last".

One of the most sought after Upsetter sides, from the late Black Ark period! Back in the day, this was issued in a small batch and it was almost hopelessly hard to find for years. As for the music: on top of the incredibly fun Kung Fu exploitation vibe that proved to be so hugely influential, it's also a straight up excellent dub LP! Spare, hauntingly funky dubs rolling along on heavy bass, quacking clavinet and earth shaking drums. 12 smoking jams on the vinyl version. Includes "Enter The Dragon", "Hold Them Kung Fu", "Scorching Iron", "Black Belt Jones", "Fungaa", "Flames Of The Dragon", "Skango" and "Iron Fist".

A stellar set of surviving 70s Black Ark productions by Lee Perry – with rare and unreleased cuts plus pivotal, if long-buried sides by Junior Byles, U Roy, Delroy Butler, Tinga Stewart, The Upsetters, The Flames, The Ethiopians, Jah T and more – Perry-produced gems for Kingston's cultural rebels and sufferers! The Sound Doctor compilation is really an essential, perfectly-collected batch on Pressure Sounds – the UK label that once again proves to be among the finest and most respectful of Sound Doctor devotees. Among the exceptional rarities are the unreleased "Army Of Love" by Junior Byles, an exclusive dub plate mix of the Upsetters "Horny Train", the raw original mix of U Roy's "006" and many more – stirringly soulful Black Ark singles and dub versions including "Sound Doctor" by Bobby Floyd, "Do Good" by Al Maytone", "Different Experience" by Brother Ray", "Smiling Faces" by Tinga Stewart, "It’s Impossible" by The Ethiopians, "Grandfather Land" by Jah T, "King Of Kings" by Pat Francis, "Be Prepared" by Keith Poppin, "Key Card" by Lee & Jimmy, "Start Over" by The Gatherers and more.

A bursting treasure chest of prime rocksteady from Treasure Isle – featuring incredible 60s soulful and steady rockin' numbers by Alton Ellis & The Flames, The Paragons, Lester Sterling & Tommy McCook, The Melodians, Phyllis Dillon, The Three Tops, Joya Landis, Dobby Dobson, John Holt and many more! The consistency throughout this set, as well as the geniune love for the material that went into compiling is pretty wonderful – as are the songs. It's all from the fertile period of the rocksteady style, that soulful and steady sound that simmered out of the preceding ska style – spanning '66-'68 – backed by Duke Reid and backed by Tommy McCook & The Supersonics. 40 tracks on 2CDs: "Girl I've Got A Date", by Alton Ellis & The Flames, "You Don't Need Me" by Melodians, "In The Midnight Hour" by The Silvertones, "Wear You To The Ball" by The Paragons, "Queen Majesty" by The Techniques, "It's Raining" by The Three Tops, "Soul Serenade" by Tommy McCook & The Supersonics, "I'm A Loving Pauper" by Dobby Dobson, "Angel In The Morning" by Joya Landis and many more.