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My Melody from Deniece Williams and it's definitely one of here most beautiful albums of the early 80s – the more we think about it, it may be one of her best ever from beginning-to-end! It's lush and beautifully produced set Thom Bell, providing such a lovely backdrop for Deniece's incomparably soaring vocals – but it doesn't skimp on the soulfulness, either. Really great stuff! Titles include "It's Your Conscience", "My Melody", "Silly", "What Two Can Do", "All That Matters", and "Suspicious". This Big Break UK remastered edition has bonus single versions of "It's Your Conscience" and "Silly".

Wild sounds from Indonesia – music that definitely lives up to the "pop" promised in the title – even though most of the tracks here are light years from chart music here in the US! The tunes are pulled from cassette recordings of the 70s and 80s – and often have a tight, focused energy that shows a desire to go pop by the artists – even though the overall execution, production, and instrumentation can get mighty wild at times! Most impressive are the electronic touches – often used in these higher-end levels that may well be further increased by the qualities of the cassette – really hoping to make some of the best cuts here sound nice and offbeat. Titles include "Bangla Desh" by Orkes Melayu Purnama, "Kawnku" by Ira Maya Sopha, "Endar Lela" by Kamar Ruddin Z, "Hidupku Untuk Tijinta" by Akenka Ragam, "Borondong Garing" by Bimbo, and "Dikijoknyo" by Kim.

A smoking selection of seventies funk – a perfect introduction to the genre, and one that's overflowing with the kind of classics that got first got us started loving music like this! The set list is decidedly hip – cuts that didn't always get much play back in the day, but which have gone onto become huge over the decades – thanks to deep digging by serious collectors, or sampling by hip hop acts – or even by the raving reviews of funk fanatics like us! The package features a massive 19 tracks in all – with loads of heavy drums, sharp guitars, and raw soul vocals – on titles that include "Watts Breakaway" by Johnny Otis, "Got To Get A Knutt" by New Birth, "Afro Strut" by Nite-Liters, "The Dapp" by African Music Machine, "It's Alright" by Bobby Rush, "Good Thing (part 2)" by Casey Jones, "Ice Cold Daydream" by Shuggie Otis, "One Monkey" by Kim Melvin, "Get It Where You Find It" by Jesse Gresham Plus 3, "Pull My Coat" by Eddie Jacobs Exchange, "Toe Hold" by Al Kooper, "Soul Train" by Little Royal, "It's Not How Long You Make It" by Shay Holiday, "It's Just Begun" by Jimmy Castor, "Soul Drums" by Bernard Purdie, and "Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter" by Nina Simone.

A masterpiece of obscure jazzy groovers – the excellent 2nd entry in the Tempo Jazz series, and every bit as wonderful and eye-opening as the first! The vibe is incredible – soulful, spiritual, and free-thinking – with just the right touches of modernism to keep things sharp, but enough of an emphasis on the groove to help a few of these cross over to the dancefloor! The set's filled with great numbers you'll never find in the original – like "Funky Billard" by Renato Sellani, "Bankok" by Giorgio Azzolini, "Bloom" by Gianni Basso, "Eskimo Fakiro" by Cladio Fasoli, "Tin Tin Deo" by Tullio de Piscopo – and the fantastic "Duke" by Roberto Mussolini, which has a beautiful mellow electric groove, and this haunting whistling throughout. One of fave tracks ever, and the rest of the stuff's excellent too!

The sound here is definitely timeless, thanks to some always-strong work on piano from Don Friedman – one of those players who first shone brightly in the early 60s, then dropped off the radar for many years – but has reemerged lately with a new level of brilliance in his work! Friedman's touch on the piano is confident and compelling – still prone to some of the nicely bright and round tones of earlier years, but also imbued with a stronger sense of presence that well suits the rhythm team of John Patitucci on bass and Omar Hakim on drums. Titles include "Star Eyes", "Alone Together", "Emily", "Turn Out The Stars", "What Is This Thing Called Love", and "Body & Soul".

Rip Rig & Panic's first album – and one of the most brilliant post punk albums to come of the early 80s UK scene – mixing up global rhythms, avant jazz horns and winds, and spiritually resonant stream of consciousness vocals! Gareth Sanger paved the way with his earlier work in Pop Group – which melded punk, funk, dub and otherworldly textures into a primal sound all its own – and at this early point, Rip Rig & Panic does that and more – bringing in all this eclectic percussion, out jazzy clarinet, sax and trumpet, and both male and female lead vocals for a more expansive personality. RR & P's female voice is a young Neneh Cherry – and her father Don Cherry guests on trumpet, as he would again on the follow-up. Includes "Constant Drudgery Is Harmful To Soul, Spirit & Health", "Through Nomad Eyeballs", "Totally Naked (Without Lock Or Key)", "Howl! Caged Bird", "Those Eskimo Women Speak Frankly", "Shadows Only There Because Of The Sun", "Mis Pib" and more. This 2013 remastered CD edition has 6 bonus tracks: "Bob Hope Takes Risks (7" Version)", "Go, Go, Go! (This Is It)", "Billy Eckstein's Shirt Collar" and more.

Wonderful work from drummer Gunter Baby Sommer – a player who always seems to bring a lot deeper feelings to his music than some of his European free jazz contemporaries – a sense of history and melancholy that really make records like this a treat! The group has a wonderful format – drums and percussion from Sommer, bass from Akira Ando, and some especially evocative reeds from Floros Floridis – who plays alto sax, clarinet, and bass clarinet – alternating instruments, and creating these really evocative sounds that are perfect for Gunter's inspiration. The style is definitely free at times, but there's an older sense of European melody too – a quality that's incredibly haunting, and which makes the record one of the best we've heard from Sommer in years. Titles include "For Kim", "Inside Outside Shout", "Hymnus", "Hora", "Goze", "Flageloet For PH", and "Blues For PK".

A stunner of a collection of psychedelic funk from all over the world – incredible material with the spiraling atmosphere and free spirit of the psychedelic scene – and the furious sense of groove learned from the funk movement! Psych Funk 101 sets out to be a definitive overview, and makes a heck of strong case for itself as such – with a couple recognizable names (including Mulatu, who simply could not be overlooked, on a compilation with aspirations of serving as a psychedelic funk standard bearer) and more from Istanbul, Athens, Paris, Beirut, Cairo, Paris, Lagos, Moscow and beyond! Pummeling funky drums & percussion, hazy organ drones, middle eastern rhythms & melodies, fuzzy guitars and more – disparate material with relative psychedelic funk atmosphere! 14 tracks in all: "Su Derenin Sulari" by Husnu Ozkartal Orkestrasi, "Respect" by Kukumbas, "Alemiye" by Mulatu Astake feat Belaynesh Wubante, "The Man Who Must Leave" by Kim Sun, "What You Can Do In Your Life" by Petalouda, "Ghabileh-Ye Lily" by Mehr Pooya., "The Feed-Back" by The Group, "Circuito Chiuso" by Armando Sciascia, "Mevlana Boyle Dede" by Metin H Alatli, "Dagon" by Eskaton and more.

A stunner of a collection of psychedelic funk from all over the world – incredible material with the spiraling atmosphere and free spirit of the psychedelic scene – and the furious sense of groove learned from the funk movement! Psych Funk 101 sets out to be a definitive overview, and makes a heck of strong case for itself as such – with a couple recognizable names (including Mulatu, who simply could not be overlooked, on a compilation with aspirations of serving as a psychedelic funk standard bearer) and more from Istanbul, Athens, Paris, Beirut, Cairo, Paris, Lagos, Moscow and beyond! Pummeling funky drums & percussion, hazy organ drones, middle eastern rhythms & melodies, fuzzy guitars and more – disparate material with relative psychedelic funk atmosphere! 14 tracks in all: "Su Derenin Sulari" by Husnu Ozkartal Orkestrasi, "Respect" by Kukumbas, "Alemiye" by Mulatu Astake feat Belaynesh Wubante, "The Man Who Must Leave" by Kim Sun, "What You Can Do In Your Life" by Petalouda, "Ghabileh-Ye Lily" by Mehr Pooya., "The Feed-Back" by The Group, "Circuito Chiuso" by Armando Sciascia, "Mevlana Boyle Dede" by Metin H Alatli, "Dagon" by Eskaton and more.

Scattered Melodies spun from traditional Korean Kayagum Sanjo recordings – and the deepest vinyl excavation to date by Sublime Frequencies – the label's first compilation material culled from rare 78s! The music is mostly from the 20s & 30s, but it has at least one piece from the 50s - all spare, hypnotic string melodies and raw drum accompaniment! The titles refer to tempo and rhythmic patterns, as opposed to standing as subjective song titles, with the slowly plucked "Chinyangjo", the faster "Chungmori" and the even faster "Chungchungmori" alternately played by Kim Hae Sun, Jung Nam Hee, An Ki-Ok, Kim Chongi-Ki and Shim Sang-Gun, plus some additional/alternately-titled movements. It's a riveting look at a Korean folk tradition that we'd never had the pleasure of hearing before this – and another great reason to cherish the deep diggers at Sublime Frequencies – with a concise, yet informative set of notes. 13 performances in all – each as captivating as the one before!

A masterpiece of obscure jazzy groovers – the excellent 2nd entry in the Tempo Jazz series, and every bit as wonderful and eye-opening as the first! The vibe is incredible – soulful, spiritual, and free-thinking – with just the right touches of modernism to keep things sharp, but enough of an emphasis on the groove to help a few of these cross over to the dancefloor! The set's filled with great numbers you'll never find in the original – like "Funky Billard" by Renato Sellani, "Bankok" by Giorgio Azzolini, "Bloom" by Gianni Basso, "Eskimo Fakiro" by Cladio Fasoli, "Tin Tin Deo" by Tullio de Piscopo – and the fantastic "Duke" by Roberto Mussolini, which has a beautiful mellow electric groove, and this haunting whistling throughout. One of fave tracks ever, and the rest of the stuff's excellent too!