All Categories — All Formats  

Sweet exotic sounds from the Arthur Lyman group – heavy on vibes and lots of hip percussion – recorded with a gently swaying feel that recalls the best energy of the Hawaiian scene in the postwar years! The set's one of Lyman's early solo dates – recorded Henry Kaiser Aluminum Dome in Hawaii – which you can almost hear in the way the sounds here resonate, and hang sweetly in air. The tunes are pretty mellow, but in a good way – more sonically sensitive than some more gimmicky, sound effect-heavy exotica – and titles include "Adventures in Paradise", "Andalusia", "Yellow Bird", "Arrivederci Roma", "Sweet & Lovely", "Bamboo Taboo", "Granada", and "Ravel's Bolero". Fire up that console stereo and break out the Tiki glasses!

A tasty Latin-tinged set by Bobby Hutcherson – one that recalls his classic Montara album for Blue Note, but handled here with perhaps a bit less electricity overall! Hutcherson's got a wonderful way with colors and tones on the set – extremely evocative, and bursting out with a sunny, soulful energy that really stands out, even from his other records of the time. The group's a strong west coast Latin one – with Francisco Aguabella on congas and Roger Glenn on percussion and flute – and Bobby gets some strong help in the front line from James Spaulding, who plays flute exclusively on the session. Tracks are long, and done with a breezy and open groove – and titles include "Pomponio", "Yelapa", "Poema Para Ravel", "Tin Tin Deo", "Beep D Bop", and "Both Worlds".

One of Gene Ammons' classics from the 60s, and a straight ahead session of soul jazz tenor and piano, with drums by Art Taylor and a bit of extra conga from Ray Barretto. Nice rolling 60's soul jazz groove, and some nice piano comping behind Jug by Patti Brown and Walter Bishop Jr. Tracks include "Travelin", "Soft Summer Breeze", "Carbow", and "Song of The Islands".

A really wonderful document of of the Takamba style of music in Northern Mali and Niger – passionate, energetic and hypnotically performed by Ali Ag Amoumine! Ali's home is in Timbouctou, a couple hundred kilometers upriver from the Takamba region, and it was here that this excellent recording by Christopher Kirkley took place. It's essentially traditional regional guitar music, electrified and played in droning, wholly entrancing patterns, while the rhythm is played on the calabash. The songs here are described as being informed by Ali's travels and including his own compositions, and it does have inimately personal feel, while also pulling us in strictly on the basis of the soaring, hypnotic sounds. Includes "Adernibah", "Khomeissa", "Fatimatou", "Damara", "Kalitay", "Hali Diallo", "Taliat Nouhirase", "Nouvelle Annee" and "Mali".

Mindblowing music from The Association – a heady double-length package that features every single the group ever cut for the Valiant and Warner Brothers label – which together make for an amazing evolution in sound! Although best remembered for their few soft rock hits, The Association were a hell of a group who never stopped growing back in the 60s – from sublime folksy harmonies at the start, to more complicated baroque pop as years went on, to some psych elements, and even a return to rootsier sounds they never had in the first place – always delivered with qualities that were head and shoulders above most of their contemporaries – and perfectly put together in the best LA studio styles, with help from giants like Curt Boettcher, Gary Paxton, Bones Howe, and others. The group also became quite skilled in the studio themselves – as you'll hear in the book's copious notes and comments from members themselves – all a perfect package for a set that features 37 mighty tunes that include "Six Man Band", "Goodbye Columbus", "Like Always", "No Fair At All", "Standing Still", "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies", "Looking Glass", "Birthday Morning", "Makes Me Cry", "PF Sloan", "Just About The Same", "Traveler's Guide", "I Am Up For Europe", "Hear In Here",a nd "Forty Times" – not to mention some bigger hits!

The collected work of a mighty trippy group from the Indian scene – a psychedelic combo who worked in the 70s, but who had the same sort of edge you'd hear from the American and British scenes of the late 60s! In truth, there's a fair bit of Anglo influence going on in the music – not just in the English language lyrics, but also in the way the guitars come together with stretched-out, soaring brilliance – flying eight miles high to the sky in a heady brew of freak and fuzz – and turning this approach to some surprising soundtrack numbers too! Production is perfect for the band's vibe – often spacing things out in a really cool way – with some slightly primitive modes that also remind us of the South American psych scene of a few years before. Now Again did a brilliant job with the package – bringing together a host of the group's best tracks from the mid 70s, and a bonus 20 page booklet with full notes on the group, and some very cool photos and ephemera. The whole thing even features a few unreleased numbers – and titles include "Obsession 77", "Sunshine Day", "Butterfly Version 1", "Theme From The Godfather", "Theme From The Fox", "Windmills Of Your Mind", "Booboo Lullaby", "Man You're Not Number One", "Travel On", "Gesthemene", and "Foxy Lady".

A masterpiece! This is one of David Axelrod's most perfectly realized albums – and it's a brilliant batch of baroque arrangements, jazzy solos, and slightly subtle funky bits! The album contains the much-sampled song "Holy Thursday", but the whole thing has a very similar feel to that track – with lots of sinister strings, rumbling drums, and archly-modern bits of instrumentation. A real killer – and with the cuts "The Smile", "A Dream", "Song Of Innocence", and "The Mental Traveller". William Blake never sounded so funky!

Fantastic funkiness! Although Les Baxter's best known for his easy listening work in the late 50s/early 60s, this 1969 biker flick soundtrack is a motherlode of funky funky tracks, and a veritable cornucopia of breakbeats. The drums are nice and hard, and there's plenty of fuzzy guitars to give a razor sharp edge to the groove! A few tracks have vocals, but it's the funk rock instrumentals that drive this one into pulp soundtrack classic status. Highlights include the classics "Hogin' Machine" and "Hot Wind", but there's lots of other nice ones like "Soul Groove", "Chain Fight", "Dan's Theme", "Scoobee Doo" and the killer "Wheels (Main Title Theme)". This great limited edition CD version has a 4 bonus tracks made up of the full version of the end title song, medleys of shorter cues from the film, instrumental bits and more. "Travelin' Man", "Take It From Me (Source)/Gila Monster/Cathy Left Behind /Mongoose Gets Beans", "Gang Rides Through The Hills/Tosses Bike Over Bank/Snake Or Rope" and more.

A pair of numbers by Brooklyn soul great Charles Bradley backed by The Menahan Street Band – including a wonderful take on Neil Young's classic "Heart Of Gold"! The cover works incredibly well, with Bradley's gravely vocals carrying the emotion of Young's lyrics in really moving way. Incredible! It's backed by the stellar "In You (I Found A Love)" from the instant classic No Time For Dreaming LP.

One of the lesser-known sets in Dave Brubeck's classic "time" series for Columbia – even more inventive than Time Out! Paul Desmond plays alto – and titles include "Travellin Blues", "He Done Her Wrong", "Cassandra", "40 Days", "Time In", and "Lost Waltz".

A brilliant extension of the Love set from Build An Ark – focusing on some of the more improvisational spirit that's integral to their cosmic groove! Love Part 2 is mix of intimate moments and soaring atmospherics from Carlos Nino, Miguel-Atwood Ferguson and the rest of the stellar ensemble, plus guests and fellow travelers such as vocalists Dwight Trible, Carmen Lundy, Leisei Chen and Mia Doi Todd, violinist Michael White and others. The overall vibe and instrumentation are unpredictable from one movement to the next, but there's always a hypnotic mood at play, be it spun by sparely furnished strings and percussion, earthy global jazz influences or far spacier dynamics! Titles include a lively (and live sounding) string jazz improvisational take on "What The World Needs Now Is Is Love" with passionate vocals and pared down lyrics by Leisei Chen flavored with violin, viola, cello and sitar – plus "Cosmic Tuning", "Nature", "Ginger", "Say Yes!", "Improvisation Day 1", "Improvisation Day 2", ""Improvisation Day 8", "Cadence Of The Love Messengers" and wonderfully unique take on Donny Hathaway's "Tryin Times" with vocals by Carmen Lundy and Dwight Trible.

A beautiful, sweetly jazz-based set from LaVerne Butler – and we can't imagine why you'd lose the love for her voice and style, if you've ever found it in the first place – but this is a great place to find it! Bruce Barth is on piano and handles the arrangements, with the great Houston Person on tenor for over half the set – and the group is rounded out by bassist Ugonna Okegwo and drummer Rudy Royston. The intimate, though elegant small combo approach works really well! Includes "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home", "Be A Sweet Pumpkin", "Everybody's Somebody's Fool", "The Bluest Blues", "Travelin' Light", "In My Own Little Corner", "I'll Never Be Free", "Smile" and more.

An excellent album from this sublime soul trio! The record's got a nice heavy style – similar to the funky soul that was creeping into the sound of other artists on the Invictus label – and it rumbles along with a nice fuzzy edge that adds a whole new dimension to the incredible vocals of the group. Holland-Dozier-Holland produced, but the real skill here is that of General Johnson and Greg Perry – who wrote all the songs on the album save one – and whose vocal genius really makes the whole thing soar. The album yielded no hits for the group, but still has plenty of great numbers – and with General Johnson's vocals, just about anything would sound great! Cuts include "Bittersweet", "Weary Traveler", "So Glad You're Mine", "Elmo James", "Working On A Building Of Love", and "Men Are Getting Scarce". CD featyures two bonus tracks – "Let Me Down Easy" and "Everybody's Got A Song To Sing".

Led Zeppelin and "The Untold Story Of Houses Of Holy" is the cover feature – commemorrating that most classic of rock album's 40th anniversary! The tales behind Bowie's landmark Aladdin Sane are also featured, along with a look back at the brief, but legendary Axl Rose vs. Kurt Cobain feud, prog torch carrier Steven Wilson, forgotten grunge supergroup Mad Season, metal survivors Saxon and "20 Things You Didn't Know About Dark Side Of The Moon". Also includes a free CD – Hobgoblin Unleashed – 15 Of The Hottest New Bands In Britain. Includes tracks by The Graveltones, Rumhoney, Pearl Handled Revolver, Electric River, Chris Buck, Silver Arm, Voodoo Vegas and more.

The killer first album from Don Covay – working here with his classic Goodtimers combo in a nicely gritty groove! The record really stands out from other Atlantic soul of the time – as Covay keeps things tight, and fresh – providing most of the tunes himself, and working in a style that has echoes of southern soul, but which comes off with a bit more of an east coast sort of groove! Lots of tracks are upbeat, party soul type numbers – and the backings by the Goodtimers are totally great – just the sort of rollicking backdrops you'd expect to hear Don singing with on any of his well-traveled live dates of the time. Titles include the hit "Mercy Mercy" – plus "Daddy Loves Baby", "Take This Hurt Off Me", "I'll Be Satisfied", "Can't Stay Away", and "Come On In".

Italy from the sky, served up in a wonderful 60s soundtrack from Francesco DeMasi – a really unique record that moves past most of the familiar genres of the period! The cover looks a bit cartoony, but the music is much more serious overall – yet never try or boring, as you might expect from a travelogue film – and instead touches with these beautiful scene-setting elements that also have occasional moments of whimsy – and groovy enough sounds that there's no attempt at realism or localization in the music either. A really great discovery, and a real standout in the long career of DeMasi – with cuts that include "Nebbie Sulla Palude", "Altalena Party", "Nuvole Nel Cielo", "Filessi Nella Laguna", and "Little Bar". CD has 4 bonus tracks too!

One of the great entries in Duke Ellington's "exotic" albums of the 60s – records that aren't exactly exotica by any stretch of the imagination, but which have musical themes that were inspired by the international travels of the Ellington band at the time! In this case, the locale is the Virgin Islands – where Ellington performed in 1965, and returned home to record this set as a memory of tunes played by the band in St Croix and St Thomas. The core of the set is the initial Virgin Islands suite – made up of four new tunes that include "Island Virgin", "Virgin Jungle", "Fiddler On The Diddle", and "Jungle Kitty" – all nicely rhythmic numbers that explore some fresh themes with especially nice horn solos from the members of the group. Other tracks are older numbers performed on the tour, given a bit of a new twist here – on titles that include "Fade Up", "Mysterious Chick", "The Opener", and "Big Fat Alice's Blues".

One of Ellington's greatest albums of the 60s – and a record tinged with Eastern themes and darkly angular modern arrangements. The group here features Ellington stalwarts Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney, Cootie Williams, Mercer Ellington, and Rufus Jones – and the players work together tightly to craft the suite of tracks based on Ellington's impressions of recent travels through the Mid and Far East during the 60s. Titles include "Tourist Point Of View", "Isfahan", "Depk", "Mount Harissa", "Amad", "Agra", and "Blue Pepper".

An overlooked fusion set from the mighty Muse Records – an early 80s date recorded under the leadership of keyboardist Mitch Farber, and featuring work from Randy Brecker on trumpet, Gary Campbell on tenor and soprano, and Steve Khan on guitar! Given the players, there's almost a major label fusion feel to the set, although the overall sound is more open and laidback – not slick at all, and a nice reminder that in the farther corners of jazz in the early 80s, fusion didn't always have to be focused on commercial hits. Rhythm is from Mark Egan on bass, Danny Gottlieb on drums, and Sammy Figuera on percussion – and titles include "Monuments", "Sky Dance", "The Chooser", "Lonely Promises", and "Starclimber". CD also features the bonus track "Theme From Travels" – recorded in 1990.

Amazing sounds from this very hip group – a contemporary combo, but one who play with a depth of sound to warrant their inclusion on the Jazzman label! The style is almost spiritual jazz, but a bit more laidback too – sounds that are cosmic, yet never soaring to the skies – and almost more content to contemplate their own existence in these cool little rhythmic progressions – a very hip approach that draws a lot of power from its minimalism! Instrumentation is a bit trippy at points – but mostly in the way the players fold things together – so that tinkling piano tipples over brooding basslines, or organ lines hum softly to encourage string sounds to start too – a beautifully poetic style that only gets better as the album moves along! Titles include "Cast Adrift", "For A Breath I Tarry", "Have Spacesuit Will Travel (part 2)", "Clear Skies Select Stick", "Girl & Robot With Flowers (part 6)", and "Girl & Robot With Flowers (part 4)". CD features four tracks not on the limited LP pressing.

Amazing sounds from this very hip group – a contemporary combo, but one who play with a depth of sound to warrant their inclusion on the Jazzman label! The style is almost spiritual jazz, but a bit more laidback too – sounds that are cosmic, yet never soaring to the skies – and almost more content to contemplate their own existence in these cool little rhythmic progressions – a very hip approach that draws a lot of power from its minimalism! Instrumentation is a bit trippy at points – but mostly in the way the players fold things together – so that tinkling piano tipples over brooding basslines, or organ lines hum softly to encourage string sounds to start too – a beautifully poetic style that only gets better as the album moves along! Titles include "Cast Adrift", "For A Breath I Tarry", "Have Spacesuit Will Travel (part 2)", "Clear Skies Select Stick", "Girl & Robot With Flowers (part 6)", and "Girl & Robot With Flowers (part 4)".

Amazing sounds from this very hip group – a contemporary combo, but one who play with a depth of sound to warrant their inclusion on the Jazzman label! The style is almost spiritual jazz, but a bit more laidback too – sounds that are cosmic, yet never soaring to the skies – and almost more content to contemplate their own existence in these cool little rhythmic progressions – a very hip approach that draws a lot of power from its minimalism! Instrumentation is a bit trippy at points – but mostly in the way the players fold things together – so that tinkling piano tipples over brooding basslines, or organ lines hum softly to encourage string sounds to start too – a beautifully poetic style that only gets better as the album moves along! This limited EP features four songs that won't be on the vinyl pressing of the full album – "Girl & Robot With Flowers" parts 1, 2, and 3 – and "Have Spacesuit Will Travel (part 1)".

Funky and free-thinking fusion from the Texas scene of the mid 70s – a great indie album by a group who travelled in the same territory as the soul combo Starcrost! Although American, the work here has some great qualities that remind us of some of the best European fusion from the same time – a sense of soaring, stretching energy – and one that never resorts to too much jamming to carry across its message, and which juxtaposes heavier rhythms with some gentler tunes that really allow the horn parts some wonderful moments! Instrumentation include soprano sax, tenor, trumpet, electric and acoustic piano, and a fair bit of percussion too – all recorded with a great sense of warmth, almost in the mode of some of the best Fantasy Records 70s sessions! Titles include "Jig", "Halyards", "Cumulo Nimbus", "47 Tears", "March Of The Goober Woobers", and "Weedhopper"

Sweet! The full length debut from Schema's great modern groove ensemble collects material that has been floating around for a while on separate 12-inch eps, plus previously unreleased gems – and the CD was well worth the wait! The groove here ranges from light, mellow space trip jazz, to driving latin-tinged batucada beaters, to clubbier percussion heavy tunes with lots of tonal atmosphere floating over the top! "De Muse" kicks of the set on the mellow jazzy tip, with a very slow building, soundtracky style. "Sambita" is another slow-builder, but picks up steam with a progressive, Latin beat and some really sweet chimes, synth washes, and rich electronic touches floating over the beat. "Carioca" and "Back Shop" travel at a slightly faster clip and head for the floor with pulsating, thumpy percussion, hotter Latin beats on the former and some nice jazzy snare in the latter. "Funkita (For The Dining Rooms)" has a 70s electric feel, with slappy bass and deep synth tones, but that hot programmed beat and that moody, watery pulse that travels the tune and the whole album is all modern, and all Fragment Orchestra!

A split single by some esteemed Billys – folkish indie mainstay Bonnie Prince Billy and Texas boogie rock great Billy F Gibbons of ZZ Top – and each covering Fleetwood Mac! Gibbons & company cover the very early Mac song "Oh Well" on the A-side, and honestly, it's pretty great! It's a loose, swaggery, bluesy thing, though not in a typical ZZ Top way – but Gibbons is Gibbons – with his charismatic, gravely voice out front of those signature electric licks. He's backed by Blake Mills, Danielle Haim and Matt Sweeney. Sweeney & Bonnie Prince Billy cover "Storms" on the other side – and it's another win – one that shows real respect for the Stevie Nicks-penned song, by furnishing it sparey and singing it well!

One of the most sublime Jimmy Giuffre albums of all time – and a perfect realization of his piano-less/bass-less trio style! The approach here is really revolutionary, especially for the time – as the group simply features Bob Brookmeyer on trombone, Jim Hall on guitar, and Giuffre on reeds – working with no other rhythm at all, and coming up with this incredible approach to music that's as breathtaking as it is groundbreaking! Notes hang in mid-air, slowly sliding around one another, flying freely from the players, yet still managing to swing in a beautiful way. The titles are a mix of standards and originals – but all tracks sound completely unique, with a sound unlike anything else we can describe – and titles include "Swamp People", "Lonely Time", "Green Country", and "Travelin Light".

The first true moment of genius from the legendary Curt Boettcher – an early 60s folk-rock set that's already overflowing with the warm harmonies and creative arrangements of his later classics! The Goldebriars boast some incredible vocals in the duo of Sheri and Dottie Holmberg – both of whom take the lead on most tracks here, sometimes singing solo, but often harmonizing beautifully – in a mode that's nearly timeless, but which has some incredible musical touches from Boettcher, who pushes the vocals far from traditional folk mode, into a really unique sound that points the way towards countless post-folk imitators in years to come! Titles include "Long Time Travellin", "No More Auction Block", "Voyager's Lament", "Railroad Boy", "Come Walk Me Out", and "He Was A Friend Of Mine".

Paris was always a great city for Lionel Hampton – but it seemed like in the mid 50s, it was also a place where he cut some of his best work, too! The French New Sound pair of albums are both classics in Hamp's book – records that take off from the looser, longer-form style that he'd been hitting with his Verve recordings of the early 50s – yet which also retain some of the tighter, fuller elements of his famous large ensembles. Players on the records are great – a lineup that includes travelling American jazz greats like Benny Bailey and Nat Adderley on trumpets, and a young David Amram on French Horn – plus crack Parisian players who include Sacha Distel on guitar, Rene Urtreger on piano, and Guy Pederson on bass. The tracks are simple jamming numbers – long and open-ended, in the mode of some of Hamp's very popular live work at the time, and the vibes are right out front – hard-edged, with that soulful sound that Hamp pioneered on the instrument – and the other players are given very ample room to solo. Titles include "Voice Of The North", "A La French", and "Zebu".

Electro funk, boogie soul and spacey hip hop from Hawthorne Headhunters – completely delivering on the promising earlier EP and rivaling the best of their similarly-traveling peers – particularly Plug Research labelmate Shafiq Husayn, along with leftfield leaders Dam Funk and Georgia Anne Muldrow – and we do not take those comparisons lightly! The Hawthorne Headhunters started as more of a freewheeling collective, though here as more of a partnership between Coultrain and Black Spade. 70s jazz funk, 80s synth soul and otherwise spacey sounds and the insistent underlying bounce of the best hip hop continue to inform the sound. Titles include "Sum People Don't Change", "Collage" feat Rockwell Knuckles & Tef Po, "Luv Galactic" feat I Am, "Teleport", "Yellow Cougar", "Whirlwind", "Ghostfields", "Fairweather" feat Von Pea & Haz Solo, "Hole In The World", "Tribute" and more.

One of the greatest albums ever from the mighty Al Hibbler – a record that's filled with subtle power and deeper soul – and which really has Al working at the height of his vocal talents! Although Hibbler recorded often before this in the 50s, this session seems to have a specially magic feel – the kind of album in which all elements gel together perfectly – almost to Al's career what Two Steps From The Blues was to Bobby Bland. And like that other classic, there's a mix here of jazz and blues that's really unique – instantly timeless, and still quite powerful today. Titles include "Tell Me", "Travelin Light", "Dedicated To You", "You Will Be Mine", "Song Of The Wanderer", "If I Knew You Were There", and "The Blues Came Falling Down".

Kelly Hogan makes a huge step up to Anti- – home to fellow traveler Neko Case and some of her heroes and heroines, from Mavis Staples and Bettye Lavette to Booker T and Tom Waits – and with I Like To Keep Myself In Pain, Kelly's made a better record for Anti- than any of them! If you're unacquainted with Kelly Hogan (which is forgivable if you're not a Chicagoan...maybe), she's always singing and performing, though rarely recording – for herself, anyway. Not only is Hogan's first new album in years near-perfect, she makes it sound easy! A love for country soul and the best kinds of 60s vocal pop inform the style, but she makes it all her own – and that's especially impressive given the diverse crop of songwriters she interprets. Truly one of best albums from a solo singer in recent years – in any genre! Booker T, Dap-King Gabriel Roth, and longtime Hogan-friend Scott Ligon play on the record, and songs include "Dusty Groove" (it's not about us, though if it's possible to be flattered by a coincidence, we'll take it), "We Can't Have Nice Things", "Daddy's Little Girl", "Golden", "Ways Of This World", "Plant White Roses", "Whenever You're Out Of My Sight", "Pass On By" and more.

Two excellent early albums from Shirley Horn – back to back on a single CD! Travelin Light is one of the greatest jazz vocal albums of the 60s, and probably the greatest album ever by Shirley Horn! The session's got a beautiful lively sound, with extremely interesting arrangements by Johnny Pate, and a flute/piano/guitar sound that works perfectly with Shirley's lovely voice. The material is a great mix of lesser-known songs, sung with a maturity and honesty that will make your heart break. We love this one way better than any of Shirley's recent albums, and we can't recommend it highly enough! Titles include "Sunday In New York", "Yes, I Know When I've Had It", "Someone You've Loved", "I Could Have Told You", "Travelin Light", and "Don't Be On The Outside". Horn Of Plenty is hip stuff from Shirley Horn – very mature and swinging jazz! The set features the sharp early vocals of Shirley Horn nicely set up with some larger backings – hip arrangements handled by Quincy Jones, Thad Jones, and Billy Byers – with all the groovy 60s punch you can imagine from a lineup like that! And although Horn later became well known for some gentler, mellower cuts, we're huge fans of her singing like this – which has a righteous power that really tops some of the vocalists from the previous generation. Titles include "Wee Small Hours", "That Old Black Magic", "The Great City", "On The Street Where You Live", and "Let Me Love You".

Ron Trent and Jose Rico working together as Indigenous Travels – on a single that serves as a tribute to Azymuth's Jose Roberto Bertrami – and sure enough, it's got the tropical percussion and Brazilian flavour to show for it! "Paradise Ritmito Carnival" really does show some love for the feverish percussion and spacey atmoshere of Azymuth – blended with the cosmic clubby soul of Ron Trent and Downbeat Records' Jose Rico.

A mindblower from Jamiroquai – the album that really broke them out of the box, thanks to an increasingly complicated sense of rhythm! For the set, Jay and the group pulled up some of the more dynamic sounds from the London underground, and wove them together with their increasingly great songwriting – coming up with tunes that played beautifully on the dancefloor, yet also offered deeper listening than on previous Jamiroquai efforts! There's still some great 70s elements here, but there's also a more cosmic, righteous vibe too – a hint at spacey London to come, but sent home with a bit more polish here. Titles include "Virtual Insanity", "Cosmic Girl", "Everyday", "Alright", "High Times", "Travelling Without Moving", "Spend A Lifetime", "Use The Force", and "Didjital Vibrations". 2CD version features lots of bonus tracks – including "Cosmic Girl (Quasar mix)", "Virtual Insanity (Salaam Remi mix)", "Alright (Alan Braxe & Fred Falke rmx)", "Do You Know Where You're Coming From (full horns mix)", "High Times (Sanchez radio edit)", "Bullet", "Slippin N Slidin", "Hollywood Swingin", and live versions of "Alright" and "Virtual Insanity".

String-heavy early genius from a young Michel Legrand – tracks from some of his best travelogue albums for Columbia from the 50s! The first half of the set is Legrand's original I Love Paris album – a sparkling postwar musical fantasy of Paris, made up of a host of famous themes from French pop music of the 20th century, all set to lush string arrangements! The album's not as upbeat or jazzy as some of Legrand's later soundtrack work, but it's got a wonderful quality all its own – a warmly romantic vision of a Paris that was still putting the pieces back together less than a decade after WWII, presented in a way that glosses sweet sounds over darker corners with a vaguely eerie feel. The record instantly made Legrand an international favorite, and features 16 tracks that include "Mademoiselle De Paris", "The Last Time I Saw Paris", "Paris Canaille", "Autumn Leaves", "A Paris", "La Vie En Rose", "Under Paris Skies", and "April In Paris. Next up are 11 more tracks from another postwar site – Italian themes from Legrand's Holiday In Rome record, done in a similar style to the Paris session – with titles that include "Vieni Vieni", "Aveva Un Bavero", "Fiorin Fiorello", "Torna A Surriento", and "Funiculi Funicula". The travels are completed in Vienna – with 3 more titles from Legrand's Vienna Holiday album, including "Vilia", "Third Man Theme", and "The Cafe Mozart Waltz".

Lovely work from Charles Lloyd – recorded at the point when he was just pushing off from Chico Hamilton's group, and before he got too noodly for his own good! Side one of the record features Lloyd with his own group – jazzing it up in a mix of flute, guitar, and percussion on a number of short tracks that have a light and breezy feel. There's a nice dose of bossa in the set, plus some of the other freer rhythmic styles that Lloyd and Hamilton experimented with together at the time – but all of the tracks have a strong rhythmic pulse, and never lose their groove for too much experimentation. Side two features two wonderful tracks with Hamilton's group at a point when Lloyd was still working with the ensemble – both long tracks with a modal pulse and a great deal of spirituality – again free, but never too much so! A nice little album – with tracks that include "Island Blues", "Carcara", "Long Time Baby", "One For Joan", and "Freedom Traveler".

A wonderful record by Bobby Lyle – and a genius blend of jazz, soul, and lots of other righteous sounds! Lyle started out as a keyboardist, but this album really has him taking off as a vocalist too – working in a sweet Roy Ayers-styled groove – one that blends mellow rhythms with warmly jazzy inflections – with roots in fusion, yet a tighter soul finish overall! Lyle's still got a few keyboard flights – of the sort heard on The Genie – but with Wayne Henderson at the production helm, things are a bit tighter overall – given a really wonderful focus that makes Bobby sound better than ever. Titles include the great funky number "Groove (Ain't No Doubt About It)", the warm stepper "Good Inside", and cool keyboard grooves like "Star Traveler", "Missing Your Love", and "Inner Space".

MF Doom and Madlib, two of the most ubiquitous characters in underground hip hop – hell, perhaps THE most ubiquitous characters in underground hip hop, pair up for an outing on Stones Throw! "Money Folder" is Doom's real showpiece of the couple of tracks here. Metal Face kicks his gravelly, atomically charged word bombs over some really hot start & sto(m)p beats by 'Lib. "America's Most Blunted" is the DJ's game, with a string of strange samples and soundtrack vibe with a Cut Chemist feel. Madlib's knob twirlin' and wheel spinnin' on the two main cuts and remixes is much more in his funk beats and wacked samples guise than the mad jazz vibe he's been rocking on other recent projects.

A great debut from The Malemen – a short-lived group in the recording studio, but one who spent many years on the southern scene as a well-travelled showband! The group have a more modern vibe here than they might on the stage – a sweet 80s groove approach that features plenty of tight basslines bumping up the rhythms, with keyboards following quickly in step – all while the group often do a great job of harmonizing together alongside the groove! There's a nicely varied sound to the record – one that goes way past the usual slapbass funk of the time – and titles include the nice mellow cuts "Baby Doll" and "The Love We'll Share" – plus "Shakedown", "Party Time", "Hard On It", and "Take You Out".

A great debut from The Malemen – a short-lived group in the recording studio, but one who spent many years on the southern scene as a well-travelled showband! The group have a more modern vibe here than they might on the stage – a sweet 80s groove approach that features plenty of tight basslines bumping up the rhythms, with keyboards following quickly in step – all while the group often do a great job of harmonizing together alongside the groove! There's a nicely varied sound to the record – one that goes way past the usual slapbass funk of the time – and titles include the nice mellow cuts "Baby Doll" and "The Love We'll Share" – plus "Shakedown", "Party Time", "Hard On It", and "Take You Out".

Brilliant early recordings from Blind Willie McTell – easily one of the most distinctive bluesmen of his generation! McTell's guitar is subtle, but effective – often used in these strummed passages that seem to let his vocals do most of the work on the tunes – save for some key points when Willie steps out with a few bold solos. And the vocals have these really unique quality – maybe a notch or two higher than most others, but with plenty of bite – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Statesboro Blues", "Stomp Down Rider", "Broke Down Engine Blues", "Travelin Blues", "Writing Paper Blues", "Talkin To Myself", and "Southern Can Is Mine".

A beautiful way to dive right into the some of best work ever by Joni Mitchell – a 10CD set that brings together her first 10 albums in a single set – including her great couple of early efforts for Reprise and her incredible Asylum work from throughout the 70s! These albums travel from gentle folk pop and rock, to an ambitious blend of jazzy experimental instrumental touches as a backdrop – and feature some of very best songcraft of the era by anyone! The titles include Songs For A Seagull, Clouds, Ladies Of The Canyon, Blue, For The Rose, Court And Spark, The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter and Mingus – and nearly every one is essential!

Early 70s ensemble funk from Mugo – a DC group made up of students from McKinley Tech High School – combining tightly energetic, fairly sprawling instrumentation and soulful vocals – a number of unreleased tracks from the sessions that also produced their rare 70s single, newly mixed by Kenny Dope for the Kay Dee label! The school band vibe really kind of comes into play via the uncommon mix of instruments, and that works really, really well – B-3, Rhodes and Korg synthesizer provide for some spacier touches, while flute and piano also find room in the group's sound alongside the funky drums, guitar and bass – with feverish vocals and some killer instrumental passages. The performances are inventively strong, too – it doesn't sound like a bunch a kids, that's for sure! We we flipped over the single Kay Dee put out of the group, and we're all the more ecstatic over the great LP! Includes "Change", "Organized (Kenny Dope Edit)", "Space Traveler", "I Love Music", "How Time Fly's", "All About Love", "Love Has Gone", "Sing A Song" and "Water".

An obscure one from the great Riz Ortolani – a travelogue film with a bit of vocals too!

A double-length live set from this tight Japanese fusion combo – a quartet with very heavy keyboards in the mix, as you might guess from the Korg placement on the cover – and some razor-sharp guitar from Hirokuni Korkikaia! Hiro's got a style that's tight, but never overly polished – at least not in the live setting here – and he steps out with a frenetic edge that recalls some of the most jamming fusion guitarists of the 70s – a quality that's bound to reach out and impress non-jazz audiences with his deft work on solos. Tracks are long, and plenty jamming – and titles include "Gold Rush", "Purple Saurus", "Now Or Never", "Last Blues", "Tears Of Mermaid", "Dimension Traveler", and "Z Paradise".

A travel-themed set from Patti Page – and a pretty darn great one at that! Patti nicely shakes off some of cliches here – working with full, jazzy backings, and often hitting sounds that are a bit more mature than on her familiar pop numbers – modes that nicely match the global scenes and locales featured in most of the tunes. And while the gimmick is a relatively common one for 50s vocal dates, the mix of worldly tunes really does wonders with Patti – making the set a real standout in her Mercury catalog. Titles include "Mississippi Mud", "South Of The Border", "Aautumn In Rome", "Just A Little Bit South Of North Carolina", "Basin Street Blues", "Let's Get Away From It All", and "Under Paris Skies".

A great bit of moogy madness! The Peppers were a bit like Hot Butter and other early 70s moog-based combos, but they also had a style that was a bit more funky – and was geared more towards the soul market, in which most of their singles usually travelled. This album's one of the group's few, and it's a pretty tasty batch of moogy tunes that lie somewhere between European and American styles of instrumental electronic funk – sometimes slow, but usually grooving – and always handled with plenty of moog, often like a hip 70s soundtrack! Titles include "Pinch Of Salt", "Athena Beach", "Hot Caramel", "Pepper Box", "Au Revoir", "Just A Rock", and "Do It Do It". CD also features 2 bonus tracks – "Doctor Music" and "Velvet Moon".

An amazing set of music – two rare albums from Ohio funk legend Lou Ragland, plus bonus tracks, and a whole set of unreleased sessions too – a huge amount of new music, even if you've got some of the previous reissues! First up is the legendary Hot Chocolate album – one of the greatest lost funk records of all time! The group is not the British pop band, but an Ohio funk group led by the great guitarist Lou Ragland. The album's originally from Canada, which makes it super rare – and these guys are funky funky funky, and kick some major booty with a heavy guitar sound that's just great! Some of the cuts are instrumental, and some of them have some excellent soul vocals that are produced with a nice deep sound that's brought out nicely by the excellent quality of the reissue. The record's got a bit of Sly Stone, a bit of Grant Green, and a bit of Mike James Kirkland – with a tasty raw indie soul vibe – and the original album was only pressed up at 500 copies. Titles include "So Dam Funky", "Ain't That A Groove", "Sexy Moods Of Your Mind", "Messin With Sly", and "What You Want To Do" – plus 8 more tracks from the same vintage – "Good For The Gander" by Hot Chocolate, "I Travel Alone" and Big Wheel" by Lou Ragland, "Red Robin" and "I've Got Something Going On" by Volcanic Eruption, and "I Can't Take It" and "What The Doctor Prescribed" by Lou Ragland & Hot Chocolate. Next is The Conveyor – the second album from Lou Ragland, stepping out here in a great set of mellow soul tracks! The album's quite different from the heavy funk of the Hot Chocolate album – more of a message-oriented approach to soul, in the vein of similar 70s indie work by Mike James Kirkland. The arrangements are also bigger – not smooth, but ambitious, in a style that perfectly matches the higher vision Lou's going for in tracks like "Understand Each Other", "What Should I Do?", "The Next World", and "It's Got To Change". Conveyor also comes with bonus tracks too – "Tend To Your Business" by Wildfire, plus "Since You Said You'd Be Mine" and "I Didn't Mean To Leave You" by Lou Ragland. And last up is an incredible batch of unreleased material – maybe the biggest and best so far from Ragland – tracks that have this really ambitious quality that mixes soul, funk, and larger orchestrations – especially some light strings, which really expand the sound, and push the music into this righteous territory that reminds us a lot of the creative experiments in Chicago during the Cadet/Concept years! Lou's vocals are great, and the message is totally righteous – and even though the tape quality is slightly aged, the soulful vibe really comes through – on cuts that include "Understand Each Other", "It Ain't My Fault", "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love", "Spend My Life Loving You", "Until I Met You", and "Brother Louie". Lovingly packaged by Numero – with a huge booklet of photos and history – and cool mini-LP sleeves too!

One of Della Reese's greatest records – and a unique little session cut "live in the studio" before a very appreciative crowd! Bobby Bryant wrote out some very hip charts for the session, and they're made even better by organ work by Bill Doggett and piano lines by Gerald Wiggins – both of whom are in Della's group on the record. The whole thing's got a very nice groovy feel – similar to some of the best pop jazz coming out of LA at the time – and titles include "Gotta Travel On", "Girl Talk", "Driftin Blues", "Good Morning Blues", and "Detour Ahead".

A pair of classic early 80s soul albums from ex-Dramatics singer LJ Reynolds! The self-titled '81 set is killer material in a modern Detroit mode all the way through – with top-shelf production by Reynolds, Don Davis, and Ronnie McNeir/ Ronnie, who'd been lost to the industry for a few years, also re-emerges as a writer on the songs "Southern Pearl", "Lonely Superstar", and "Ain't No Woman Like My Baby". The real standout, though, is the amazing cut "Key To The World", a killer steppers track that has a hook that won't quit, and this wonderful brassy finish that gives the track a really triumphant sound that works perfectly with the righteous lyric. LJ Reynolds' sounds great on '82's Travelin', too – stepping even more strongly away from his work with The Dramatics, and emerging as one of the best male soul acts of the early 80s! The production on this one is split between Reynolds and Don Davis, in a mode that's contemporary, but which allows LJ plenty of space for old school vocal expression – that far-reaching style of singing that always made him stand out strongly from the pack! There's a sublime mellow version of Aretha Franklin's "Call Me" on the set – and other tracks include "Words", "Trust In Me", "Say You Will", "You & Me", "Let Me Satisfy You", and "Fast Action"…

LJ Reynolds' sounding great on his own here – stepping strongly away from his work with The Dramatics, and emerging as one of the best male soul acts of the early 80s! The groove here is a nice extension of his earlier group work – still produced by Don Davis in a mode that's contemporary, but which allows LJ plenty of space for old school vocal expression – that far-reaching style of singing that always made him stand out strongly from the pack! There's a sublime mellow version of Aretha Franklin's "Call Me" on the set – and other tracks include "Words", "Trust In Me", "Say You Will", "You & Me", "Let Me Satisfy You", and "Fast Action". CD also includes the bonus track "Look What Your Love Has Done For Me".

A really rich second album from Ripple – a group who took awhile to return to the studio, but really developed a lot in the process! The combo started out as a straight funk act – but here, they really take off with a tight approach to their instrumentation – razor-sharp work on guitar, keyboards, bass, and percussion – soaring off into the clouds with energy that more than matches the image on the cover! Given their Atlanta roots, there's a vibe here that's a bit like some of the best Tommy Stewart material of the time – and Floyd Smith produces the group on the record, really finding a great way to blend everything together, but without ever losing an edge! Titles include the club classic "The Beat Goes On and On" – plus "Sons of The Gods", "Do What You Wanna Do", "Here I Stand", "Call Me Traveling Man", and "Victorious". CD features bonus tracks – "The Beat Goes On & On (orig Jim Burgess 12" mix)", "The Beat Goes On & On (orig single version)", and "Today (orig single version)".

Sublime early work from Bud Shank – one of our favorite west coast players ever – captured here away from some of his better-known work on Pacific Jazz! There's a nicely rough edge to some of the material – with Bud really blowing alto strongly on some of the leadoff tracks – which feature a trio of trombones from Bob Enevoldsen, Maynard Ferguson, and Stu Williamson! These players get in a few solo licks – and rhythm is by Claude Williamson on piano, Joe Mondragon on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums – all working with Bob Cooper arrangements, on titles that include "Valve In Head", "Cool Fool", and "Mobile". A few more tracks feature the more playful side of Shank's horns – both alto and flute – in a cool quartet with Williamson on both piano and celeste, Don Prell on bass, and Chuck Flores on drums – on the titles "Tertia", "Theme", and "Have Blues Will Travel". One last track is especially great – "Blues In The Surf", which features a group with Billy Bean on guitar and Gary Peacock on bass – really opening up into some of the most creative modes Shank would showcase in the early 60s, before hiding out in larger arrangements.

A deeper, spacier set from Shaolin Afronauts – and one that goes a bit further into the cosmos, as you might guess from the title and cover art – though it's still firmly rooted in timeless Afro Soul and Funk! Once again, the greatest West African soul, jazz and funk of the 70s provides the most vital inspiration for the group – but the Afronauts go further with the freewheeling jazzy atmosphere on this one – especially on the longer cuts. The majority of tracks run longer than 5 minutes, giving them plenty of evolutionary space to travel, over the funky bedrock that's paved underneath. The horns are fantastic – with nine credited players – along with stellar drums and percussion, guitar, bass, Hammond and Rhodes.Includes "Brooklyn", "Gayanamede Prelude", "Winds Across Gayanamede", "Los Angeles", "Quest Under Capricorn", "End Of A Sun", "Amhara", "Forests Of Io" and "Saturn's Dance". 9 tracks on the vinyl version.

Soaring grooves from Bebu Silvetti – a set that definitely has the disco touches you'd expect on the Salsoul label, but which also seems to pick up a few soundtracky styles as well! Some tunes are upbeat and grooving, with a great blend of strings and beats – the kind that Silvetti does so well – while others are a bit more groovy, and feel like the kind of thing you might hear on an Italian soundtrack of the time – especially when the wordless vocals are scatting along with the music! Titles include "Silvia's Picture", "Winter Rain", "Travel Check", "Steps In The Snow", "A Day In The Country", and "Spring Rain".

Brilliant work – and one of the rare few albums to feature the genius alto of Sonny Simmons from the 60s! The session has the fierceness of other ESP sessions from the time, but it's also tempered with a bit of spiritualism, too – somewhat more introspective in the heavy moments than other albums on the label, due in part to Simmons' personal style of playing, and the presence of John Hicks on piano and Barbara Donald on trumpet – put together in a way that's almost a bridge between the ESP and Impulse Records scenes of the 60s, with perhaps a nod towards the direction the jazz underground would take in the 70s! Other players include Teddy Smith on bass and Marvin Pattillo on drums – and tracks include "City of David", "Metamorphosis", and "Interplanetary Travelers".

One of the best collections of work by Joe Simon we've ever seen – a well-done 26 track set that really pulls together the best cuts from his years at Sound Stage Seven! Joe was unusual in that he was a country singer working out of Nashville, not Memphis, at the end of the 60s – but Joe used this fact to his advantage, picking up some country touches that were often ignored by other artists, but not the audiences in the south, who were often taking equal parts country and soul in their diet. The set features most of Joe's best singles from the late 60s and very early 70s – all wrapped up in a great set of notes, with tracks that include "Long Hot Summer", "The Chokin Kind", "It's Hard To Get Along", "Moon Walk (parts 1 & 2)", "Yours Love", "Farther On Down The Road", "That's The Way I Want Our Love", "The Girl's Alright With Me", "No Sad Songs", "Come On & Get It", "Message From Maria", and "Travellin Man".

Righteous jazz, with plenty of soul – a killer collection of the mid 70s work of Lonnie Liston Smith – all based around his legendary recordings for the Flying Dutchman label! Lonnie got his start on the hippest side of the jazz spectrum – including work with Pharoah Sanders on Impulse – but by the time of these tracks, he'd found a way to beautifully mix the righteous energy of his roots with some sweet mid 70s jazz funk touches – all served up in a sublime blend of electric keyboards and acoustic piano, and often expanded with lyrics that helped Smith cross over into a soul audience too! Few artists ever handled the balance as well as Lonnie – although this work certainly inspired dozens of others to try – and the set's a beautiful testament to his lasting power, with 15 great tracks that include "Visions Of A New World", "Cosmic Funk", "Get Down Everybody", "In Search Of Truth", "Expansions", "Beautiful Woman", "Golden Dreams", "Astral Traveling", "Meditations", "Devika", "Shadows", and "Sunbeams".

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".

Three hard-grooving records from late 60s Motor City rockers SRC – self-titled, Milestones and Traveler's Tales – together in a 2CD set! The debut is straight-up one of the greatest rock albums to come out of Detroit in the 60s – even if these guys aren't as well known as The Stooges or MC5! There's a similar brilliance here, though – a heady brew of ripping guitars, burning Hammond, and massively pounding drums – all recorded with a slightly garagey edge and expansively searching quality that stretches things out without overindulging in too much jamming. There's also a really dark feel to the record too – one that has the same sense of danger and urgency as SRC's bigger contemporaries, yet never sounds forced. Titles include "Onesimpletask", "Daystar", "Exile", "Marionette", "Black Sheep", and "Refugeve". Milestones is the wickedly tight follow-up – with perfectly blended guitar, keyboards, and snapping drums – and the kind of a record that should have made them much bigger players at the time! Includes their jamming take on "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" in a medley with "Bolero" – plus the cuts "Checkmate", "The Angel Song", "No Secret Destination", "Eye Of The Storm", and "Show Me". The group had some lineup changes for Traveler's Time, but the lumbering rhythms and heavy organ grooves are as solid as ever! Titles include "Street Without A Name", "By Way Of You", "Diana", "Across The Land Of Light", "The Offering" and more. One bonus track: "My Fortune's Coming True".

A beautiful little record – and one that definitely earns the "suite" distinction in the title – given the thoughtful longform approach of the set! The album's got a more composed feel than other spiritual jazz sessions of the time – not in a stiff way, but in a style that shows that leader Donald Alexander Strachan really has a strong vision in his music – not just in the compositions he spins forth on the record, but also in the way he directs the rich energy of the ensemble! The lineup features Strachan on guitar and piano – but also features Jay Hoggard on vibes, Carl Viggianni on flute, Lee Rozie on tenor, John Thompson on cornet, M Malik Jackson on piano, and Ray Newton and Archie Delerme on percussion. Tracks have this rhythmic pulse and subtle soul that's not unlike some of the more ambitious Horace Silver projects of the time – such as his "with percussion" or "with brass" records – but the feel here is also a bit looser and more intimate too – with a vibe that's very much in the Strata East mode. Titles include "Song Of Searching", "Spiritual Travelers", "Masters Of The Bourchakoun", "Silent Jubilation", "Tenth Door", "Aquarian Voices", and "Soul Release".

The 9th music & film collaborative effort in the FRKWYS series – in which free-thinking modern work with inspirational elder or otherwise further-traveled figures – this one finding Sun Araw and M Geddes Gengres meeting Jamaican music legends The Congos! M Geddes Gengres is skilled synth experimenter and Sun Araw works in a number of psych-steeped projects, and work respectfully with the words and Jamaican vocal harmonies of The Congos, though they fearlessly launch them into some tripped out atmosphere! Includes "New Binghi", "Happy Song", "Food Clothing And Shelter", "Sunshine", "Jungle", "Invocation" and "Thanks And Praise. The set also includes the hour-long Icon Eye DVD, documenting the making the of album as well as serving as a strikingly visual travelogue companion piece. Cool, ambitious stuff that combines classic Jamaican songcraft with wildly creative, experimental soundscapes!

The 9th music & film collaborative effort in the FRKWYS series – in which free-thinking modern work with inspirational elder or otherwise further-traveled figures – this one finding Sun Araw and M Geddes Gengres meeting Jamaican music legends The Congos! M Geddes Gengres is skilled synth experimenter and Sun Araw works in a number of psych-steeped projects, and work respectfully with the words and Jamaican vocal harmonies of The Congos, though they fearlessly launch them into some tripped out atmosphere! Includes "New Binghi", "Happy Song", "Food Clothing And Shelter", "Sunshine", "Jungle", "Invocation" and "Thanks And Praise. The set also includes the hour-long Icon Eye DVD, documenting the making the of album as well as serving as a strikingly visual travelogue companion piece. Cool, ambitious stuff that combines classic Jamaican songcraft with wildly creative, experimental soundscapes!

Exciting flute from the Japanese scene of the 70s – a wicked little set that's filled with funky numbers throughout! The backings are large, but often nice and tight – kind of a groove-ified version of the 60s approach to bigger band jazz albums based around a single soloist – a great choice here for flute man Yokota Toshiaki, whose lead lines are filled with soul, and mighty nice – almost a bit like Hubert Laws at the same time in the US! Most titles are covers – and the set includes versions of "Spinning Wheel", "Vehicle", "Travelin Band", "Little Green Bag", "Born To Be Wild", and "The Maltese Melody".

The classic, finally back in print on LP! The roots of Kool Keith's abstract poetical style are in evidence here in all it's brilliant glory, properly displayed without the smug hipster irony that makes so much of his latter day projects so off putting. Plus, the Ultramags had that amazing production by Ced Gee. This is still one of our all-time favorites late 80s new school hip hop albums. With "Watch Me Now", "Ego Trippin", "Ease Back", "Funky", "Kool Keith Housing Things", "Feelin It", "Ced Gee (Delta Force One)", "Traveling At The Speed Of Thought" and more.