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Hip hop, street soul, and lots lots more – a really revolutionary selection of music from the legendary Celluloid Records – a label that was virtually a genre unto itself! Celluloid was a key force tying together the New York downtown scene at the start of the 80s, and the postcolonial music world of Paris – and as a result, they always operated with a culture-crossing style that few other companies of the time managed to hit – merging together sounds in really unlikely ways, and often coming up with fresh new styles in the process! The label's known for crate-diggers for its hip hop releases – and to world music fans for its electric Africa work – but they also were on the forefront of New York No Wave, avant jazz, and post-punk – and somehow found a way to integrate both young new talents, and older experimentalists who still had plenty to offer. This package finally does Celluloid justice – and goes way past the few simplistic comps of the label's work over the years – training the skilled Strut ear to the whole thing, and also serving up the full story of the label in the process. Titles include "I'm The One" by Material, "Day Tripper" by Shockabilly, "Tele Apres La Meteo" by Fredinand, "Disco Rough (long version)" by Mathematiques Modernes, "Electrique Sylvie (full length version)" by Modern Guy, "Mean Machine Chant/Mean Machine" by Last Poets, "Abele Dance ('85 rmx)" by Manu Dibango, "Change The Beat (French & English)" by Fab 5 Freddy, "The Escapades Of Futura 2000" by Futura 2000 with The Clash, and "Downing Street Rock" by Winston Edwards & Blackbeard. 26 tracks in all!

Hip hop, street soul, and lots lots more – a really revolutionary selection of music from the legendary Celluloid Records – a label that was virtually a genre unto itself! Celluloid was a key force tying together the New York downtown scene at the start of the 80s, and the postcolonial music world of Paris – and as a result, they always operated with a culture-crossing style that few other companies of the time managed to hit – merging together sounds in really unlikely ways, and often coming up with fresh new styles in the process! The label's known for crate-diggers for its hip hop releases – and to world music fans for its electric Africa work – but they also were on the forefront of New York No Wave, avant jazz, and post-punk – and somehow found a way to integrate both young new talents, and older experimentalists who still had plenty to offer. This package finally does Celluloid justice – and goes way past the few simplistic comps of the label's work over the years – training the skilled Strut ear to the whole thing, and also serving up the full story of the label in the process. Titles include "I'm The One" by Material, "Day Tripper" by Shockabilly, "Tele Apres La Meteo" by Fredinand, "Disco Rough (long version)" by Mathematiques Modernes, "Electrique Sylvie (full length version)" by Modern Guy, "Mean Machine Chant/Mean Machine" by Last Poets, "Abele Dance ('85 rmx)" by Manu Dibango, "Change The Beat (French & English)" by Fab 5 Freddy, "The Escapades Of Futura 2000" by Futura 2000 with The Clash, and "Downing Street Rock" by Winston Edwards & Blackbeard.

Recorded live at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City, February 7-10, 1983. A HUGE amount of material! Includes the tracks "Say Hello", "Walk The Dog", "Violin Solo", "Closed Circuits", "For A Large And Changing Room", "Pictures Of It", "Language Of The Future", "Reverb", "If You Can't Talk About It, Point To It", "City Song", "Finnish Farmers", "Democratic Way", "Private Property", "Neon Duet", "Difficult Listening Hour", "So Happy Birthday", "Dance Of Electricity", "Sax Duet", "Born, Never Asked", "From The Air", "Beginning French", "Talkshow", "Cello Solo", "Blue Lagoon", "Stiff Neck", "Hothead", "Telephone Song", "Sweaters", "We've Got Four Big Clocks", "I Dreamed I Had To Take A Test", "Big Top", "It Was Up In The Mountains", "Big Science", "Red Map", "Strike", "False Documents", and many, many more!

Badu is back with some of the deepest, funkiest and best music of her career – a mindblowing treatise for a New Amerykah – and what we'll consider an instant classic whether the world at large catches on or not! Erykah steps up this time with a set that balances the wilder impulses of her criminally underappreciated Worldwide Underground and more of a hip hop based, righteously grooving style – but still bursts with a freshness that's unrivaled to say the least. From free spirited soul, to sparse hip hop funk this record is both blunt and beautiful – with a slow-building emotional resonance that'll reach the most jaded souls. Modern soul music of the first order that gives us goosebumps from the first spin to the last beat! The album kicks off with Erykah riffing on and remixing Ramp's "American Promise" as an intro – and it just gets deeper from there. Producers/collaborators include Madlib, Sa-Ra, Karriem Riggins, James Poyser and ?uestlove. Amazing!!! Titles include "The Healer", "Me", "My People", "Soldier", "The Cell", "Twinkle", "Master Teacher", "The Hump" and "Telephone". The 9th Wonder produced single "Honey" is an unlisted bonus track.

Quite an unusual soundtrack from Les Baxter – not just because it's a rare one done for an early 60s horror film, but also because this presentation of the music features a handful of very long songs – rather than the usual shorter film score numbers! In a way, the music works like one long suite, divided up into a few passages – heavy on the kind of exotic scoring that Baxter was using in his key Capitol Records sides a few years before – but also turned towards darkness a bit more, as you'd guess from the setting! Instrumentation isn't far off from Baxter's exotic records – light strings, percussion, vibes, offbeat woodwinds, and more – but the phrasing is a lot more eerie – and at points, a lot more dramatic too. Titles include the short "Main Title" – plus the longer "Drop Of Water", "The Telephone", and "The Wurdalak".

The monumental debut of BT Express – and an excellent funk album that often gets overlooked by fans of the music because of the band's bigger fame as a disco group! This first record has the combo grooving hard and instrumentally – in the mode of a tight blacksploitation soundtrack, with plenty of tight wah wah guitar riffing, conga beats, and funky flute and sax – topped off by just the right amount of strings to make the set soar even more! The album's best known for the title track "Do It (Til You're Satisfied)" – which was a big hit, but is still an excellent groover – and the set also includes loads of other great cuts too – like "Express", which was the original song that the created the JBs' response track "Monorail"; "This House is Smokin'", which has lots of funky descending horn bits; and other great tunes that include "Mental Telepathy", "If It Don't Turn You On", and "Do You Like It".

A great guitar session from late 60s Brazil – bossa at its core, but with some other groovy touches too! Guitarist Heraldo Do Monte plays light acoustic, in a style that's right up there with Luiz Bonfa or Baden Powell – but the overall setting of the album also gives a nod towards some of the more advanced changes going on in Brazilian instrumental music at the time – the first inkling of some of the Blue Brazil touches from EMI/Odeon, with a deeper sophistication in some of the arrangements than just straight bossa. A few moments are straight ahead, mixed with others that have a nice degree of darkness – and titles include "Teletema", "My Cherie Amour", "Recit De Cassard", "Que Maravilha", "Casa Forte", and "Moanin".

Jimi's legendary live recordings for BBC radio and television – live studio sessions from 1967 to 1969 – remastered from BBC tapes and sounding incredible! Most of the tracks feature the trio of Hendrix, Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell at their fiery best, on classics like "Foxey Lady", "Fire", "Love Or Confusion", "Purple Haze", "Hey Joe" and more, plus some great, loosier, bluesier performances, such as"Drivin South", "Hear My Train A Coming" and more. The few guest musician appearances are incredibly notable – Alexis Korner plays some slide guitar on "(I'm Your) Hoochie Choochie Man" – and Stevie Wonder plays drums (!!!) on "Jammin" and "I Was Made To Love Her". Also includes the never before released bonus track "Burning Of The Midnight Lamp", a cover of "Day Tripper" and more. 37 tracks on 2 CDs.

The lone early 70s masterpiece from Gary Higgins! Red Hash is monumental on a few fronts, one huge one being how far his influence reached despite the album spending so many years as a rarity, beloved by the relative few who've heard it. Seriously. . .we can think of a few icons of the indie folk 90s & 00s whose music simply would not exist if not for this record, but Red Hash is incredible on it's own terms. Post 60s psych folk at it's finest! Includes "Thicker Than A Smokey", "It Didn't Tak Too Long", "Windy Child", "Telegraph Towers", "I Can't Sleep At Night", "Cuckoo", "Stable The Spuds", "Unable To Fly", 'Looking For June" and more.

Hildegard Knef isn't always the hippest singer in the world, but this album is plenty darn groovy – a real masterpiece of baroque pop that really stands out from her other recordings! The session was done in close collaboration with arranger Hans Hammerschmid – with all original lyrics by Hildegard and original music by Hans – done in a mode that easily rivals the best from Jimmy Webb or Burt Bacharach on the US scene at the end of the 60s! Larger orchestrations play easily with lighter instrumental touches – sometimes sweeping, sometimes slightly funky – creating a sense of counterpoint that's filled by Knef's snappily punctuated vocals. Lyrics are all in German, but the whole thing's so groovily compelling that you hardly notice the language difference – and titles include "Im 80 Stockwerk", "Eisblumen", "Schwertfisch", "Ich Brauch Tapetenwechsel", "Elvira O", "Mein Zeitbegriff", "Der Tag Holt Luft", and "Liebe Auf Den Hundersten Blick".

An incredible amount of classic and obscure film music, original compositions, orchestral arrangements and more from maestro Ennio Morricone – a 15CD retrospective, and at a stunningly affordable price – selected by the man himself! We wouldn't assume that the set is literally the complete Morricone, he's been so productive, it's hard to imagine that a true complete Morricone box set is possible, but it's absolutely the most encompassing set we've ever seen for him! Of course he's most famous for his international film score work, from cult horror to classic Hollywood – so 9 of the 15 discs are film themes and score material, selected by Morricone and sequenced chronology on discs 1-9, selections including the themes or other bits from Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo, Escalation, Galileo, Gli Intoccabili, Slalom, Svegliati E Uccidi, Metti Una Sera A Cena, Veruschka, La Donna Della Domenica, Copkiller, Malena, and so much more! Discs 10 & 11 cover his best work for television, disc 12 is a set of Ennio's contemporary classical compositions, disc 13 features favorite original songs he composed for a wide range of international artists, disc 14 includes favorite orchestral arrangements, and disc 15 features arrangements he did for hit songs by artists such as Gino Paoli, Donatella Moretti, Paul Anka, Jimmy Fontana and others.

Articles, reviews, interviews and comics covering the history of Rock, punk, soul and hip hop on television. The main feature is an exhaustive, critical episode guide to every episode of Behind The Music. Also features interviews with 60s garage band Daughters Of Eve, Snoop Dogg, King Diamond, Eddie Shaw of The Monks, Cannibal Corpse, Art Fein, Jim Peterik of The Ides of March and Marv Wolfman of Marvel Comics. Plus Hanna-Barbera, The Goodies, The Beatles, Jerry Lee Lewis and much more.

An incredible record from Labi Siffre – spare, simple, and totally beautiful – in a space beyond category! The album is the sort that should have been a real standout in the 70s – early work by one of the freshest songwriters to hit the British scene, sung in a style that's a bit jazzy, a bit soulful – with playful inflections that never get in the way of the beautiful lyrics at all. Labi's got a unique blend of modes here that ranks with a rare few in music – Terry Callier, Joni Mitchell, and a few other beyond-category artists from the same generation. The whole thing's extremely beautiful – and Labi's voice and guitar are backed by some subtle arrangements that shade in the bottom with electric keys, a bit of bass, spare strings – and sometimes nothing at all! Titles include "Thank You Lucky Star", "Bless The Telephone", "There's Nothing In The World Like Love", "You're Lovely", "A Number Of Words", "Who Do You See", "Not So Long Ago", "Relax", and "Interlude". CD also features 6 bonus tracks that include "Oh What A Day", "Seasons Come Seasons Go", "Get To The Country", and "Fallin For You".

An incredible album from Tavares – every bit as great on the uptempo end, as you'd expect from their bigger hits, as it is on the sweeter ballad tracks – which step out here as a tremendous surprise! The set was crafted with help from Philly maestro Bobby Martin – and begins with a groove that certainly shows Martin in all of his Sigma-inspired glory – but as the set moves on, it glides into some sweeter, gentler tracks that come across with a mighty mellow soul approach! The set features 3 stellar tracks written by the great Sam Dees – "Games, Games", "Let Me Heal The Bruises", and "My Love Calls" – all of which show a strong deeper soul side of the group. Other tracks are great, too – and include "I'm Back For More", Never Had A Love Like This Before", "Straight From Your Heart", "One Telephone Call Away", and "Positive Forces". 3 bonus tracks: "Never Had A Love Like This Before (US Capitol 12" Single" – and the great instrumental version for that – plus ""Straight From Your Heart (US Capitol 7" Single)".

Jr Parker gets some great help from Ray Parker – not that Ray's a family member or anything like that – he's just got a great ear for the kind of groove Jr's going for in his music! Ray produced and plays sweet guitar and keyboards on most tracks – giving the music that great Raydio bounce – which turns out to be a wonderful fit for the youthful Jr's vocals – almost styled in a Michael Jackson mode at points, but a bit deeper at other times too! Titles include "I Was Made For Dancing", "Too Young To Fall In Love", "If It's Love You're After", "Treat Me Right", "Mr Telephone Man", and "Bad Girls".

Groovy psychedelic rock from Brazil – the self-titled effort from Ronnie Von – a Brazilian television personality and musician who stayed incredibly busy from late 60s through the 70s – but recorded few albums as sublime as this album from 1968! It's really a near-perfect batch of sunshine rock – sung in Portuguese and featuring some of the similar freeform sounds of his Brazilian contemporaries of the time – with groovy western touches in the instrumentation. Ronnie's vocals are backed up by organ washes and piano, buzzing guitars and walloping drums – but the overall feel is quite melodic. A wonderful blend of California sunshine and Brazilian rock grooves! Tracks include "Meu Novo Cantar", "Chega De Tudo", "Espelhos Quebrados", Anarquia", "Esperahca De Cantar", "Contudo, Todavia", "Anarquia", "Mil Novecentos E Alem", "Canto De Despedida" and more – plus 6 bonus tracks!

Way more than just a live recording – and instead a host of original material from bassist Ben Wolfe –- really sparkling with the strength of a well-crafted studio session! The tunes are fresh, and handled by a dynamic group that really brings out some wonderful energy in the music – the soaring horn combination of Marcus Strickland on tenor and Ryan Kisor on trumpet – and the rhythm trio of Wolfe on bass, Luis Perdomo on piano, and Gregory Hutchinson on drums – leaping into the fray in a way that really gets things moving. The recording quality – like most of these Smalls Live sets – is excellent, and perfect for capturing the nuances of both Wolfe's writing, and the interplay of the members of the group. Titles include "For The Great Sonny Clark", "Telescope", "Contraption", "Coleman's Cab", and "Double Czech".

Soul & blues performances from Hoss Allen's 1966 Rhythm & Blues Revue program which ran on US television and is purported to be the first syndicated series ever revolving around black singers in the US! The history is incredible, but the compilation is all around the music and it's great stuff – featuring Gatemouth Brown, Rodge Martin, The Beat Boys, Earl Gaines, The Might Hannibal, Robert parker, Cleo Randle and many more. 24 tracks in all: "Have You Ever Been Mistreated" by Gatemouth Brown, "Hitch Hike" by The Beat Boys, "Empty Arms & Bitter Tears" by Gerri Taylor, "Respect" by Rodge Martin, "I Don't Know Why I Love You" by Clarence "Frogman" Henry, "24 Hours A Day" by Earl Gaines and much more.

England was a surprisingly funky place in the 60s and 70s – home to a rich array of great grooves created by the scene's important sound library labels – staffed by the cream of the crop of the British jazz musicians and soundtrack composers of the time! The work of these cats often backed bigger names in film and TV – James Bond, The Avengers, Dave Allen, and others – but this set digs even deeper, to uncover a host of great instrumental moments that go way beyond famous movie themes – a wealth of excellent cuts from the late 50s through the late 70s – starting with exotic jazz modes, moving into 60s mod swingers, and including a fair bit of 70s electric funk as well! This scene's been reissued a bit before, but never this well – as Soul Jazz do their usual top-shelf job of bringing the music together – and offering up detailed notes and a great package that really sends the whole thing home. 2CD version features 36 tracks that include "Condition Red" by Barry Stoller, "Light Flight" by Pentangle, "Man Alive" by Tony Hatch, "The Contract Man" by Bullet, "Echo Four Two" by Laurie Johnson, "Man Friday" by Syd Dale, "Hard Hitter" by Keith Papworth, "Fragment Of Fear" by Johnny Harris, "Sort Of Soul" by Birds & Brass, "Fiesta Numero Uno" by The Marleybone Orchestra, "The Persuaders" by John Barry, "Getting Nowhere In A Hurry" by Roy Budd, "Canvas" by Brian Bennett, "Death Line" by Will Malone, "Folk Song" by James Clarke, "Steam Heat" by Barbara Moore, "Artful Dodger" by Syd Dale, "Jaguar" by John Gregory, "Whole Lotta Love" by CCS, "Face Up" by Alan Moorehouse, "Angels" by Alan Parker, and "Soul Thing" by Keith Mansfield.

England was a surprisingly funky place in the 60s and 70s – home to a rich array of great grooves created by the scene's important sound library labels – staffed by the cream of the crop of the British jazz musicians and soundtrack composers of the time! The work of these cats often backed bigger names in film and TV – James Bond, The Avengers, Dave Allen, and others – but this set digs even deeper, to uncover a host of great instrumental moments that go way beyond famous movie themes – a wealth of excellent cuts from the late 50s through the late 70s – starting with exotic jazz modes, moving into 60s mod swingers, and including a fair bit of 70s electric funk as well! This scene's been reissued a bit before, but never this well – as Soul Jazz do their usual top-shelf job of bringing the music together – and offering up detailed notes and a great package that really sends the whole thing home. Part 1 – 2LP version features 19 tracks that include "Condition Red" by Barry Stoller, "Light Flight" by Pentangle, "Man Alive" by Tony Hatch, "The Contract Man" by Bullet, "Echo Four Two" by Laurie Johnson, "Man Friday" by Syd Dale, "Hard Hitter" by Keith Papworth, "Fragment Of Fear" by Johnny Harris, "Sort Of Soul" by Birds & Brass, "Fiesta Numero Uno" by The Marleybone Orchestra, "The Persuaders" by John Barry, and "Getting Nowhere In A Hurry" by Roy Budd.

England was a surprisingly funky place in the 60s and 70s – home to a rich array of great grooves created by the scene's important sound library labels – staffed by the cream of the crop of the British jazz musicians and soundtrack composers of the time! The work of these cats often backed bigger names in film and TV – James Bond, The Avengers, Dave Allen, and others – but this set digs even deeper, to uncover a host of great instrumental moments that go way beyond famous movie themes – a wealth of excellent cuts from the late 50s through the late 70s – starting with exotic jazz modes, moving into 60s mod swingers, and including a fair bit of 70s electric funk as well! This scene's been reissued a bit before, but never this well – as Soul Jazz do their usual top-shelf job of bringing the music together – and offering up detailed notes and a great package that really sends the whole thing home. Part 2 – 2LP version features 17 tracks that include "Canvas" by Brian Bennett, "Death Line" by Will Malone, "Folk Song" by James Clarke, "Steam Heat" by Barbara Moore, "Artful Dodger" by Syd Dale, "Jaguar" by John Gregory, "Whole Lotta Love" by CCS, "Face Up" by Alan Moorehouse, "Angels" by Alan Parker, and "Soul Thing" by Keith Mansfield.

Groovy psychedelic rock from Brazil – the self-titled effort from Ronnie Von – a Brazilian television personality and musician who stayed incredibly busy from late 60s through the 70s – but recorded few albums as sublime as this album from 1968! It's really a near-perfect batch of sunshine rock – sung in Portuguese and featuring some of the similar freeform sounds of his Brazilian contemporaries of the time – with groovy western touches in the instrumentation. Ronnie's vocals are backed up by organ washes and piano, buzzing guitars and walloping drums – but the overall feel is quite melodic. A wonderful blend of California sunshine and Brazilian rock grooves! Tracks include "Meu Novo Cantar", "Chega De Tudo", "Espelhos Quebrados", Anarquia", "Esperahca De Cantar", "Contudo, Todavia", "Anarquia", "Mil Novecentos E Alem", "Canto De Despedida" and more – plus 6 bonus tracks!

An 80s collection, but one that's filled with gems from Gil Scott-Heron's legendary early years at Flying Dutchman – a time when he was recording some of his most impressively righteous material ever! The music's a hip mix of protest poetry and sweet jazzy numbers – played with great keyboard accompaniment from frequent partner Brian Jackson on nearly every track – plus help from Hubert Laws on flute and sax, and Bernard Purdie on drums. CD features 17 tracks in all – much more than the album – and titles include "Pieces of a Man", "Lady Day & John Coltrane", "Whitey on the Moon", "The Needle's Eye", "Home is Where the Hatred Is", "Did You Hear What They Said?", "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", "No Knock", "Sex Education Ghetto Style", "A Sign Of The Ages", "The Prisoner", and "When You Are Who You Think You Are".

A long-overdue collection of work from the legendary Jack Arel – one of the lesser-known sound library composers of the late 60s and early 70s – but a true giant in his funky field, as you'll hear by the great music on this set! Arel is French, but he often wrote for British sources – including the Prisoner TV show – so his music has a great blend of Parisian pop modes and chunkier London beats – a style that almost mixes together some of the funkier jazz sensibilities of the sound library generation with the tighter, more romping rhythms that were usually penned for TV and commercial use. The first half of this set features 25 originals by Arel – some in collaboration with Pierre Dutor or Jean-Claude Petit – and often done with trippier touches that include fuzzy guitar or funky flute! The second half features remixes of the originals – tunes that are often a bit longer, and almost restructured as whole new songs. Originals include "Shore Of Sumatra", "Sideral Rhythmic", "De Paris A Liverpool", "Jungle Soul", "Game Trap", "Picture Of Summer", "Train Bleu", "Strange Galaxy", and "Sundown". Remixes include "Drugstore Party" remixed by Le Tone, "Jungle Soul" remixed by Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra, "The Night Squad" by Danny Wild & Goldfinger, "Loco Robo" by Luke Vibert, "Chicago Girl" remixed by Barth, "Electric Railman" remixed Mowo, and "Crystal Abyss" by Telepopmusik.

Badu is back with some of the deepest, funkiest and best music of her career – a mindblowing treatise for a New Amerykah – and what we'll consider an instant classic whether the world at large catches on or not! Erykah steps up this time with a set that balances the wilder impulses of her criminally underappreciated Worldwide Underground and more of a hip hop based, righteously grooving style – but still bursts with a freshness that's unrivaled to say the least. From free spirited soul, to sparse hip hop funk this record is both blunt and beautiful – with a slow-building emotional resonance that'll reach the most jaded souls. Modern soul music of the first order that gives us goosebumps from the first spin to the last beat! The album kicks off with Erykah riffing on and remixing Ramp's "American Promise" as an intro – and it just gets deeper from there. Producers/collaborators include Madlib, Sa-Ra, Karriem Riggins, James Poyser and ?uestlove. Amazing!!! Titles include "The Healer", "Me", "My People", "Soldier", "The Cell", "Twinkle", "Master Teacher", "The Hump" and "Telephone". The 9th Wonder produced single "Honey" is an unlisted bonus track.

A fantastically soulful album from Jorge Ben – one of his greatest records ever, and a key part of Brazilian music in the 70s! The album marks an earthier shift for Jorge – a sound that's still rooted in the samba influences of the 60s, but which also takes on a bit more soul at the bottom – thanks to rhythmic contributions from Trio Mocoto, who work here famously to help Ben shape the overall feel of the set! There's still a bit of larger orchestrations at moments, but these are used sparingly just to sweeten the sound – leaving the main force of the music to come from Jorge's guitar, and the cuica, percussion, and tamborim of the trio. The vocals are wonderful too – slightly raspy, and with a bit more feeling than we ever remember Jorge having on record – sometimes a bit intimate, yet always with an undeniable presence throughout. One of those records that still sends chills up our spines, year after year – with tracks that include "Oba La Vem Ela", "Ze Canjica", "Pulo Pulo", "Apareceu Aparecida", "Terezinha", "Mulher Brasileira", "Forca Bruta", "O Telefone Tocou Novamente", and "Charles Junior".

The first post-Tommy Boy De La Soul album – and it's a winner! We've been on board with De La throughout their long career – anyone with open ears must know that even their spottiest records (and this is NOT one of those) feature at least a handful of treasure tracks. Grind Date is easily the best later De La Soul album, and brevity is as key to the album as the group's proven longevity. 12 tracks, 49 minutes, no skits. Two songs in you'll find the stellar "Verbal Clap", one of J Dilla's finest productions ever, with precise on beat rhymes by De La. Other highlights include "He Comes" with Ghostface, a soulful track that would sound just as great on Ghost's Supreme Clientele. Is Grind Date the new sound for the mid 00s? Will it blaze trails and be co-opted by the next hot producers? Are the lyrics as solid as they could be? Probably not in each scenario, but that's not the point – these guys are consummate musicians, molding their rhyme schemes to the tracks with focus and precision. Most critics will say this is De La's best album since Stakes Is High. We'll say it's better! Featuring production by Dave West, J Dilla, Madlib and 9th Wonder – plus guest appearances by Yummy, Ghostface, Carl Thomas, MF Doom, Common and others. Other tracks include "The Future", "Much More" feat Yummy, "The Grind Date", "Shopping Bags", "Days Of Our Lives" with Common, "Come On Down", "Rock Co. Kane Flow" featuring MF Doom and more.

A classic bit of Esquivel, with a genius summed up perfectly in the cover image – a photo that features Juan Garcia gazing into a telescope, looking at the stars and contemplating his next musical direction! The sound here is great – a hard-swinging blend of dynamic orchestrations, wordless scatting vocals, and other instrumentation that feels like it seeped out of some spaceship that was just passing by! There's some nice percussion touches at times, and the interplay between all instruments is quite lively – never nearly as sleepy as other easy albums from the time. Titles include "My Blue Heaven", "My Number One Love", "All Of Me", "Spellbound", "Whatchamacalit", "La Ronde", and "Bella Mora".

A wide-ranging group of collaborators add some deep dimensions to Slicker's trademark electronic pulse groove on We All Have A Plan – possibly the strongest album yet from Hefty Records' flagship project! The sticker on the album's cover states "This Is Future Roots Music" – which is certainly a more accurate description than anything we could dredge up. The electronic core is dense, crisp and immediate – maybe a bit more so than earlier Slicker work, and similar to Telefon Tel Aviv and more of the label's output. What really sets this one apart though are the guest contributors – from soul jazz mavens Phil Ranelin and Wendell Harrison, to MCs Phat Kat and Elzhi of Slum Village and many others – all of whom bring their own distinct elements to the electro-synth thump. Tracks include "God Bless This Mess", This Test We Pass", "When The Dog Goes Lame", "Knock Me Down Girl", "Call Up All The Relief Now", "A Strong Donkey", "We All Had A Plan", "Decorate Your Walls", "Straight Mess", "Village Dub Gate" and "Can't Cope".

Killer jazzy Brazilian grooves! It's common knowledge that Brazilian music has always found a wider audience in Europe than America (at least for most of the past 30 years) – and that a large number of European jazz and groove artists have created their own versions of the music, coming up with some killer hybrids of funk, fusion, and Brazilian rhythms. This excellent set brings together a dozen great cuts in that style – mostly from French, Italian, and German sources recorded during the 70s. The cuts are all super-rare (natch), and the selection of material is put together in a great way that keeps the whole thing very lively. Titles include "Ye Me Le" by Brazil Selection, "Kinky Peanuts" by Sesso Matto, "Bamba" by Dimenzio, "Vai Vai" by Jean Pierre Sabar, "Batucada Erotica" by Michel Colombier, "Senhor Piloto" by Tega & Ricardo, and "Casa Di Moda" by G & Moi Angeus. Also features one authentic Brazilian groover, the great cut "Agibore" by MPB4 – a killer funky number issued only on a 1973 promo LP by the Brazilian Ministry of Telecommunications for a European meeting!

A great set of music that's literally as it's title indicates – compiled from the memory cards from cell phone users in the Saharan Desert – not only a fascinating selection of modern West African music, but a bit of a time capsule of modern "connected" musical culture of the region! It's actual songs, not some collection of ring tones or phone sound errata – with songs by Group Anmataff, Yeli Fuzzo, Amanar, Mdou Moctar, Bayta Ag Bay and others – many with a sound informed by the modernity that goes along with the cell phone era – home studio recordings, synths, loops, etc. It's music that is listened to, and passed along, via modern telecommunications – possibly the primary means of distribution for some of it! Includes "Tinariwen" by Group Anmataff, "Abande" by Yeli Fuzzo, "Tahoultine" by Mdou Moctar, "Faroter" by Joskar Et Flamzy, "Aicha" by Bayta Ag Bay, "Guetna" by Negib Ould Ngainich and more.

A haunting batch of commercial music from the 70s – billed in the notes to Bosworth Ensembles, which makes us almost think that the work's from the Bosworth Sound Library – even though the record was issued in the US by Folkways! Most of the music here is relatively gentle – seductive 70s themes played on piano, keyboards, guitar, and other light instrumentation – the kind of tunes that must have been beautiful slinking behind the products featured in the TV ads – which include Zenith TVs, Buick station wagons, Dannon yogurt, and Revlon perfumes! Composers are listed as T Kinsey, J Pearson, V Flick, B Ebbinghouse, and K Palmer – all names that might be Brit Easy composers – and titles include "Guitarama", "Walking On Velvet", "Theme For Two Lovers", "Pastorella", "Fleeting Clouds", "Devil's Delight", "Apollo 15", and "Slow Glow".

Not everyone digs the later Captain and crew, but the early 80s efforts have finally gotten their just props after all these years – and we'll we'll come right out and say that this second to last album before Don Van Vliet hung up the music for painting has always sounded great to us! The Magic Band is incredible as always – with Jeff Morris Tepper, Drumbo French and Eric Drew Feldman's antics under the Captain's idiosyncratic vocalese. With "Hot Head", "Ashtray Heart", "A Carrot Is As Close As A Rabbit Gets To A Diamond", "Run Paint Run Run", "Sue Egypt", "Brickbats", "Dirty Blue Gene", "Best Batch Yet", "Telephone", "Flavor Bud Living", "Sherriff Of Hong Kong" and "Making Love To A Vampire With A Monkey On My Knee".

A musical autobiography from Lalo Schifrin – but one that's also filled with lots of rare gems too – including some cuts never reissued on CD before, and even a few previously unissued tracks! The scope of Schifrin's talents is amazing – as you've probably heard us rave time and time again in these pages – and this hand-picked 4CD set only furthers our respect of the maestro, and reminds us of all the movie moments he's illuminated over the decades – as well as some side projects that stand alongside his cinematic work. The package features first-time release of music from Charley Varrick, Joe Kidd, The Beguiled, and Coogan's Bluff – plus loads more music from films that include Rollercoaster, Caveman, Fast Walking, Ins & Outs, Dead Pool, Telefon, Cool Hand Luke, Firebird, Che, Something To Believe In, Brubaker, Dirty Harry, The Venetian Affair, Osterman Weekend, and many other films! Packaged with a 48 page book that includes notes and archival photos too!

Gil Scott-Heron's first album – and his angriest! Unlike some of Gil's other albums – which have a sweet jazzy vibe and a mix of mellow soul styles – this one's a lot rawer, and features Gil rapping loud over very heavy percussion backing. All the work is his own, and the album's a showcase for his brilliant protest poetry – the most famous example of which is included in "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", which leads off the album with an especially righteous groove! The set's a key link in the African American musical tradition of the 20th century – and proof that the underground, while not always afforded a good place in the broadcast markets of the US, could always burst forth in the "narrowcast" medium of recorded music. A landmark album – one we like even better than the early work by the Last Poets – and great all the way through! Tracks include "Whitey On The Moon", "Who'll Pay Reparations On My Soul?", "The Subject Was Faggots", and "Brother".

An 80s collection, but one that's filled with gems from Gil Scott-Heron's legendary early years at Flying Dutchman – a time when he was recording some of his most impressively righteous material ever! The music's a hip mix of protest poetry and sweet jazzy numbers – played with great keyboard accompaniment from frequent partner Brian Jackson on nearly every track – plus help from Hubert Laws on flute and sax, and Bernard Purdie on drums. CD features 17 tracks in all – much more than the album – and titles include "Pieces of a Man", "Lady Day & John Coltrane", "Whitey on the Moon", "The Needle's Eye", "Home is Where the Hatred Is", "Did You Hear What They Said?", "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", "No Knock", "Sex Education Ghetto Style", "A Sign Of The Ages", "The Prisoner", and "When You Are Who You Think You Are".

One of the greatest spy soundtracks of the 60s – a very groovy batch of tracks written for Stefanie Powers' brief TV show, The Girl From UNCLE! The music here is better than the male version of the UNCLE franchise – hip 60s spy themes, done in a groovy style for the television audience – often a cool blend of swirling strings, jazzy orchestrations, and some very hip rhythms! Dave Grusin penned the music, and Teddy Randazzo arranged – bringing his 60s soul background into the work in a really great way – emphasizing the grooves even more than on other records of this nature, in a way that's made the set very sought after in the crate-digging scene. There's plenty of nice 60s elements – keyboards, wordless vocals, funky flute, and other hip effects – and titles include "Movin On", "Out Of The Frying Pan", "The Girl From UNCLE", "Sneaky Search", "The Countess", and "Bomb Scare".

A full funky set of work from the legendary Janko Nilovic – one of the hippest sound library talents in 70s France, and a composer with a very unique sort of groove! There's a tremendous range of sounds here – all of them groovy – from American-styled soundtrack funk, to spare Latin-sounding rhythms, to weirder more experimental tracks that mix voices up like instruments – and lots more beyond description and simple categorization! The package pulls together the funkiest tracks from Janko's hard-to-find albums – most of which were originally on small French sound library labels, like Montparnasse 2000 or Telemusic. The double-length set features 23 tracks in all – including "Cross Rolls", "Blows & Rhythms", "Improvisation Pour 2 Voix", "Post Scriptum", "Aerospatial", "Weekend A Chelsea", "Funky Village", "Le Vent Dans Les Algues", "To & Fro", "Shadow Of Our Life", and "Golf Open".

A classic album of 50s mood music – partially for its famous cover image of Jayne Mansfield on the telephone! But the music's pretty great too – less of the swinging, dynamic sounds you might guess from the "bachelor" in the title – and more in the mellower, romantic style of earlier 50s instrumentals – with full strings from Henri Rene that swirl and shimmer nicely throughout! Other instrumentation includes piano from Buddy Cole, and guitar from Barney Kessel – and titles include "Easy To Love", "I'm Confessin", "For The Very First Time", "Somebody's Wrong", "Time On My Hands", and "Dinner For One Please James".

The sound here is never too much, baby – as Pete Jolly always swings with a great sense of space and style – a timing that makes his music sound groovy, although often in some deceptively simple ways! At first glance, the album's a simple piano trio date – but it really steps out with a really rich sound – almost waterfalls of notes on the piano from Pete, served up with an intrinsic sense of rhythm that really keeps things moving along. Group members include Nick Martinis on drums and Chuck Berghoffer on bass – and titles include "Favela", "Same Ol Huckleberry Finn", "Do I Hear A Waltz", "I'm All Smiles", "Telephone Song", and "One Morning In May".