All Categories — 7-inch  

All 4 US singles from Paul Weller's Sonic Kicks – plus a bonus single – in a great 5 X 7" box set! Sonik Kicks is Weller's eleventh solo album – one that shows him in vital form late in the game! Includes "That Dangerous Age" w/ "The Piper", "Dragonfly" w/ "Portal To The Past", "When Your Garden's Overgrown" w/ "Lay Down Your Weary Burdon", "The Attic" w/ "We Got A Lot" and the bonus "That Dangerous Age (Live Acoustic)" w/ "Be Happy Children (Live Acoustic)". Also includes a signed poster!

A wicked groove from Third Coast Kings – a cut that has the same title as an old Curtis Mayfield composition, but which comes across with a totally different vibe! The track begins with these sinister dipping horns, then quickly gets into gear and unleashes a badass female soul vocal over the top! "Tonic Stride" is another great female funk track – lots of riffing guitar, all nice and scratchy – and very bold vocals and horns.

Heavy funk from Robert Moore – an artist who's best known for his work with the group Miami, but who's heard here on 2 rare tracks from the 70s! "Everything's Gonna Be All Right" starts with JBs-styled horns and guitar that step along with incredible precision – almost a "Clean Up Woman" groove, but speeded up – and then topped with Moore's rough-edged, all-soul vocals! "Can't Help Myself" follows in a similar southern funk groove – totally precise, but never slick at all – just vamping and romping at top speed, and sounding great all the way through!

Classic style funky soul from Daptone supergroup the Menahan Street Band – featuring members of the Dap-Kings, El Michels Affair, and Budos Band – and a killer guest vocal by Charles Bradley! "The Telephone Song" sounds like a lost soul nugget, from the gritty 70 style instrumentation to the old school telephone sound effect that kicks it off – with Charles's achingly soul vocals in full control. The flip side is essentially the instrumental version, titled as "Tired Of Fighting" as it appears on the Menahan Street Band's Make The Road By Walking. The very embodiment of the neo classic funky soul sound!

Rare soul from Sam Dees – Shelby Singleton productions for SSS International – starting with a nice, rumbling bassline and piano before Sam's achingly soulful voice kicks in the with the horns – with a raspy style that's completely sublime. Killer! The flip has an alternate version & chorus.

Kenny Dope kicks it big here on both sides of the single – making Funkshone sound even harder and heavier than usual! It's great that they start out here with a "part 3" – as the 45 begins with the flurry of instrumental riffing and grooving you'd usually get in an extended jam on a longer single – percussion breakdowns that start right away, amidst heavier drum breaks – then giving forth to some wicked horn parts on "part 4"!

Spacey funk from beats & synth wiz James Pants and guitarist and vocalist Vex Ruffin – working together as Krista – and it's a duo we hope to hear more from! "Space Tom Test" kicks off with that primitivist electro vibe we always dig from James Pants – before Vex's distorted vocals and electric guitar brings in an otherworldly vibe that pairs up really nicely with the James Pants sound. "I Told You Man, I Carry A Gun" has a wicked bass line, raw drums and fuzzy atmosphere carrying over some laidback vocals and effects. Shoegaze funk? Whatever you want to dub it, it's a win!

One of the funkiest tunes ever from Clarence Reid – served up here with a Kenny Dope edit that kicks up the beats even more! The track does a great job of mixing southern soul with a harder, heavier groove – one that's got a famous vamp on the break – which is taken to extremes on the bonus beats on side two!

Ahh, "The Witch" – the tense, sax-backed, fuzzed out blast of genius that put The Sonics on the garage rock map! A stone classic by one of the greatest and first bands of their kind – pre-figuring punk and otherwise primitively rhythmic rock to come – but still with an R&B backdrop! This great 45 EP from Big Beat UK kicks off with the alternate "swithblade version" of the track – which is just a bit more lumbering and than the faster, tighter and better known version of the tune – which closes the EP. Also features the Sonics' cover of "Have Love Will Travel" and their menacing "Psycho".

Trippy organ soul from Crow! "Your Autumn Of Tommorrow" kicks off the this thick, eerie slab of organ and a murky, hazy rhythm and what sounds like reverse tape effects before a brief count off brings the soulful horns and funk into swing. The organ is just as dense on "Uncle Funk" – another cool mix of soul, psychedelia and funk!

A very groovy little number – one that starts with a knock on the door, and a fight between a guy and his landlord! The groove then kicks in even more – a nice slow vamp, complete with tight drums and slinky trombone lines – and mighty nice vocals from Billy! The edit goes straight into the lyrics – and seems to pull out the trombone even more!

Funky and sweet – an amazing little single from Ino Hidefumi! "Serendipity" is an original from Ino – a very catchy tune built up of breaking drums and some sweet Fender Rhodes – a great melody over the top, but still a nicely deep groove on the bottom! "Sentimental Promenade" is a wonderful remake of Vladimir Costa's tune from the movie Diva – a version that still retains the great melody of the original, but really kicks things up a bit on the drums and keyboards!

Legendary Philly soul singer Charles Mintz – backed up by Madrid's funky soul heavies The Sweet Vandals! "Turn On Your Love" gets it going with a call & response from Charles to his Vandals – and kicks into a groove that's a bit reminiscent of Isaac Hayes' soundtrack soul of the late 70s – minus the lush strings, though – and with a rawer vibe that's nice and funky! "I Love Making Love" is a nice mid tempo raw soul tune, Charles in full command of his soulful vibrato and the Vandals backing him up perfectly.

One of the funkiest tunes we've ever heard from Jimi Tenor – a wicked bit of Afro Funk, recorded with his Kabu Kabu group! "Mystery Spot" is an upbeat brace of skittish percussion, romping basslines, and choppy guitar bits – peppered with chorus vocals that bring some soulful undertones to the cut, underneath the raspier male vocals in the lead! "Black January" is great too – a different sort of number, with moog lines over some fast percussion – which really kicks up nicely as the tune grooves in – hitting a spiritually soulful vibe that's like some of Tenor's other recent work.