All Categories  

We can remember when this one spooked the heck out of us -- and now it remains as a charming period piece from the days when New York was overrun by gangsters dressed up like baseball players or Hamburglers! The CD includes some of the cool spoken bits by the radio DJ who creeps in and out of the film, and it's got more cheesy guitar licks than you ever thought you'd find on one CD! Includes "Echoes In My Mind" by Mandrill, "Baseball Furies Chase" by Barry De Vorzon, "In Havana" by Kenny Vance & Ismael Miranda, "Nowhere To Run" by Arnol McCuller, and of course the classic "In The City" by Joe Walsh.

Although some of the albums that Mandrill made were a bit weak, and had too much hippy-dippy stuff, this one is one of their best albums, and has a nice hard funky sound that they didn't always match. The album includes the funky break classic track "Fencewalk", plus other groovers like "Hang Loose", and "Don't Mess with People".

Mandrill's first album of funky Latin jazz and soul -- a landmark in crossover styles that still sounds remarkably fresh today! Unlike later records, which feature a tighter funk sound, this one has the band jamming out in a Latin-inflected mode that sounds like some of the best Chicano bands from LA during the early 70s. There's loads of funky flute, sweet organ riffing, and heavy drum and bass interplay. Includes the extended suite "Peace & Love", plus other funky goodies like "Symphonic Revolution", "Rollin' On", "Warning Blues", and "Mandrill".

Two Arista gems from Mandrill -- back to back on a brilliant CD! New Worlds is a bit smoother than some of the group's earlier work, but still plenty darn great -- and in a way, there's a warmer, more soulful vibe going on here that really opens things up! The album kicks off with the incredible modern soul cut "Too Late" -- a killer blend of jazzy soul with some slightly southern touches -- all hung around these warmly crackling vocals you'd never have expected from the group in years past! Other cuts are a bit more funk-directed -- often in that late 70s mainstream mode with plenty of bass at the bottom, almost in a pre-boogie sort of groove. Cuts include the modern soul classic "Too Late" -- plus "Having A Love Attack", "When You Smile", "Mean Streets", "Stay Tonight", and "It's So Easy Lovin' You". Getting In The Mood is surprisingly wonderful later work from Mandrill -- really stretching out in their style, but in a warmly soulful way! By this point in their career, Mandrill had come a long way from the proto-spiritual/Latin/funk sound of earlier days -- but surprisingly, they'd actually matured into a pretty darn sweet harmony soul band, with plenty of spacey elements from the old days, tied into their more modern production style. Sure, pure funk fans might wince at this album -- but it's a great record from a modern soul perspective, with plenty of great soulful numbers. Titles include "When you Shake", "Getting In The Mood", "My Kind Of Girl", "Feeling Good", "Love Made Me Over", and "Coming Home".

One of the best records ever by Mandrill -- and a perfect balance between the looser jazzy spirituality of earlier albums, and the tighter (sometimes too tight) style of later ones. The band is incredibly tight on the funk tip -- with lots of hard drums and guitars, and other sweet instruments floating in and out of the mix. Includes the great cut "Fat City Strut", with a nice intro that's been sampled by Schooly D, plus the cuts "Mango Meat", "Afrikus Retrospectus", and "Aspiration Flame". Great reissue, and at a much lower price than the original!

A fantastic bit of hard jamming funk from Mandrill -- rougher than later work, with a mix of soul, jazz, and Latin influences, all coming together in a mode that reminds us of early 70s LA groups like War or El Chicano. The best element of the album's the mix of keyboards, bass-driven rhythms, and flute -- which cuts across the top of the heavy jams in a light way that really spices things up! Tracks include "Cohelo", "Ape is High", "Universal Rhythms", "Central Park", and "Git It All".

A weird little album from the early 80s -- one that has Mandrill picking up a lot more electric touches than before, going for a compressed electrified sound that feels a lot like Fatback from the same period! The sound's quite different than the earlier Mandrill groove -- a bit less acoustic and organic -- but it more than makes up for that change with a tight electro funk sound that's very much on the money! Titles include "Bust Loose", "Put Your Money Where The Funk Is", "Believe In You", "Soar Like An Eagle", and "Get It While It's Hot". CD also features bonus tracks -- "Wired For Love (12" mix)", and radio and instrumental mixes of "Put Your Money Where The Funk Is".

Another Santana LP you'll probably be embarrassed to admit you own because it's such a hackneyed classic rock relic, but we won't tell on you, because it's also a great batch of Latin rock numbers with more than a shade of funk and jazz inflection underneath the pyrotechnic guitar solos. Drop cuts like "Batuka","Toussaint L'Overture", "Jungle Strut" or "Para Los Rumberos" next to tracks by War, Mandrill or Tower Of Power and you'll see what we mean. Also includes "No One To Depend On","Taboo", "Guajira" and "Everything's Coming Our Way". Expanded edition includes new interviews, liner notes, photos and unreleased live bonus tracks.

A rare 70s soul set from Carol Woods -- a singer who's done a fair bit of work on the musical stage, but who has plenty to offer in this obscure debut album! The record was mostly cut in New York, yet only issued in the UK -- which is part of the reason for its obscurity -- and the sound is full, proud, and plenty darn soulful -- almost a post-Supremes sort of vibe, but with a hipper 70s approach -- very well put together by producer Beau Ray Fleming, who's probably better known for his later work with Mandrill and Sun. Woods' vocals are full and rich, but never overdone -- and she reminds us a lot of some of her other 70s contemporaries who'd worked the stage, but could slide into a soul session equally well -- such as Melba Moore. Titles include "If I Let You", "But You Know I Love You", "Bigger Than I", "There's Gotta Be A Way", "The Woods Are Full", "Can You Remember", and "Why You Wanna". Bonus tracks include "We'll Sing In The Sunshine" and "I Wonder What Will Happen".

The blueprint for Kanye West's incredible work of the past few years -- served up in an all-legit package of original tunes sampled for his own albums and productions for other artists! The range of styles here is really amazing -- and the set runs through old soul, pop, jazz, and R&B -- all of which is pretty great on its own terms, but which will resonate even strongly through its familiar sample used by Kanye! 2CD package features 11 tracks from West's own music, plus 10 more used for his productions -- a total of 21 tracks that include "Sunrise" by The Originals, "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" by Gil Scott Heron, "Diamonds Are Forever" by Shirley Bassey, "Wildflower" by Hank Crawford, "Through The Fire" by Chaka Khan, "Move On Up" by Curtis Mayfield, "Distant Lover" by Marvin Gaye, "My Funny Valentine" by Etta James, "I Just Wanna Stop" by Jimmy Castor Bunch, "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City" by Bobby Bland, "Let's Do It Again" by The Staple Singers, "Simply Beautiful" by Al Green, "Gilly Hines" by Mandrill, and "Never Had It So Good" by The Chi-Lites.

The blueprint for Kanye West's incredible work of the past few years -- served up in an all-legit package of original tunes sampled for his own albums and productions for other artists! The range of styles here is really amazing -- and the set runs through old soul, pop, jazz, and R&B -- all of which is pretty great on its own terms, but which will resonate even strongly through its familiar sample used by Kanye! 2CD package features 11 tracks from West's own music, plus 10 more used for his productions -- a total of 21 tracks that include "Sunrise" by The Originals, "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" by Gil Scott Heron, "Diamonds Are Forever" by Shirley Bassey, "Wildflower" by Hank Crawford, "Through The Fire" by Chaka Khan, "Move On Up" by Curtis Mayfield, "Distant Lover" by Marvin Gaye, "My Funny Valentine" by Etta James, "I Just Wanna Stop" by Jimmy Castor Bunch, "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City" by Bobby Bland, "Let's Do It Again" by The Staple Singers, "Simply Beautiful" by Al Green, "Gilly Hines" by Mandrill, and "Never Had It So Good" by The Chi-Lites.

Seminal club tracks from the start of the 80s -- a dozen great boogie numbers pulled together for the second installment in this excellent series! The package is really the cream of the crop from the era, and the set mixes together a few minor hits with other lesser-known numbers for a really fresh array of music -- the kind of collection that goes way past the obvious, and which is bound to re-illuminate your understanding of dancefloor grooves from the time. Titles include "Share The Night" by World Premier, "Our Hearts Will Aways Shine" by Ozone, "Bizzaare" by Rhyze, "You Need A Change Of Mind" by Brooklyn Express, "Can't Get Away" by Carol Williams, "Seventh Heaven (Larry Levan rmx)" by Gwen Guthrie, "Still In Love" by Rose Royce, "Help Is On The Way" by The Whatnauts, "Got To Be Real" by Cheryl Lynn, "This Time Baby" by Jackie Moore, and "Stay Tonite" by Mandrill.

Let there be funk, and plenty of it -- a massive helping of heavy grooves from the 70s -- including some key tracks by some of the funkiest groups of the time! The collection starts with gems from the Fantasy Records vault, then moves out into a range of other labels too -- and it's got a great focus on break-heavy numbers that should easily be recognized from famous sample usage over the years! Titles include "Message From The Meters" by Funk Inc, "The Same Thing" by Sly & The Family Stone, "New Orleans" by Idris Muhammad, "Positive Thing" by Mandrill, "Rated X" by Kool & The Gang, "Let There Be Funk" by Patrice Rushen, "Yes We Can Can" by Pointer Sisters, "Hair" by Graham Central Station, "Funky Force" by Larry Williams, "Give Up The Booty" by Jimmy Smith, "You've Got To Do Your Best" by Pazant Brothers, "Marching In The Streets" by Harvey Mason, and "Potential" by Jimmy Castor. LP version features 3 bonus tracks -- "Lez Git Stoopid" by Space Cadets, "Funky Bunch" by Ice, and "Life Is What You Make It" by Side Effect.

A strong collection of hip 70s soul -- not totally rare material for collectors, but a good selection of lesser-known funk and soul tunes that provides a great introduction to 70s funk, expecially if you don't want to spend money on rare funky 45s! If you buy lots of our other reissues, you've probably got some of these tracks -- but there's a few tasty numbers on here that aren't on other reissues, and the whole set's pretty great overall! Titles include "I'll Bet You" by The Jackson 5, "What It Is" by Garnett Mimms, "Hair" by Graham Central Station, "Loose Booty" by The ElDorados, "Virgo Red" by Roy Ayers, "We Are Neighbors" by Chi-Lites, "Total Destruction Of Your Mind" by Swamp Dogg, "Don't Knock My Love" by Wilson Pickett, "Crumbs Off The Table" by Glass House, "Fencewalk" by Mandrill, "Six O'Clock News" by Bar-Kays, "Come In Out Of The Rain" by Parliament, and "Psycha-Soul Funkadelic" by The Politicians.

Mighty Mandrill get their due on the front cover of Wax Poetics -- and the rest of the issue follows suit in some equally funky territory! Features this time around include bits on Marcos Valle, Andy Smith, Leroy Burgess, Oh No, Larry Harlow, Eddie Cheba, Joe Sample, Herman Hitson, and others -- a great mix of jazz, funk, soul, Latin, Brazilian, and hip hop elements -- all the music we like best! As always, the writing is top-shelf -- extremely well-researched and thoughtful -- accompanied by some great photos, vintage images, and lots lots more. Heck, the magazine's so great -- even the ads look good!

Let there be funk, and plenty of it -- a massive helping of heavy grooves from the 70s -- including some key tracks by some of the funkiest groups of the time! The collection starts with gems from the Fantasy Records vault, then moves out into a range of other labels too -- and it's got a great focus on break-heavy numbers that should easily be recognized from famous sample usage over the years! Titles include "Message From The Meters" by Funk Inc, "The Same Thing" by Sly & The Family Stone, "New Orleans" by Idris Muhammad, "Positive Thing" by Mandrill, "Rated X" by Kool & The Gang, "Let There Be Funk" by Patrice Rushen, "Yes We Can Can" by Pointer Sisters, "Hair" by Graham Central Station, "Funky Force" by Larry Williams, "Give Up The Booty" by Jimmy Smith, "You've Got To Do Your Best" by Pazant Brothers, "Marching In The Streets" by Harvey Mason, and "Potential" by Jimmy Castor.