The only full length album ever issued by Suburban Lawns – a real standout in the southern California scene at the end of the 70s, and a group whose potential seems to know no bounds! These guys are clearly rooted in punk, but already reaching past it – getting creative and playful with their song structure, then rolling back into these short, sharp bursts of guitar energy that shows that they can go head to head with the best of them – a combination that makes the record pretty darn fantastic all the way through! Vocals are nice and jagged, and really fit the spirit of the songs – which were all penned by Su Tissue, who sings lead on a number of them. Titles include "Janitor", "Flying Saucer Safari", "Anything", "Green Eyes", "Jam The Controls", "Intellectual Rock", "Gossip", "Unable", "When In The World", "Not Allowed", and "Mom & Dad & God". LP, Vinyl record album

A masterpiece from prime era Tribe Called Quest! Midnight Maurauders was Tribe's third LP, and even though there were no tracks yet credited to the Ummah, this is pretty much the beginning of Tribe's transition to that sound – with the same mellow, laid back vibe as their best early material, but less of an overtly jazzy reference in their sound. Phife and Tip are still on point lyrically, and honestly, this is pretty much the last LP that Tribe dropped that's got nearly all hits and no misses on it. With the cuts "Award Tour", "Midnight", "Electric Relaxation", "Clap Your Hands", "Oh My God", "The Chase, Part II", and "Keep It Rollin". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest records of all time – and don't you forget it! Despite the countless lines of type that have been written about this record, nothing does it full justice like an all-through listen – something we're reminded of every time we put this one on the turntable, which is a heck of a lot over the years! Brian Wilson busted his ass making this little gem – and the rest of the world, and the band, were never the same again – awash in harmonies that most other groups tried to match, set to themes of young loss, longing, and frustration that really mark an emotional development – not just in the Beach Boys, but in pop music in general. And although some of the tracks are ones you've heard a million times on oldies stations, they somehow resonate together much more strongly here – taking on new meaning as the smaller elements of each song come into constellation with each other – creating a complicated tapestry of feelings set to near-godlike orchestrations. Titles include "God Only Knows", "Caroline No", "Pet Sounds", "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times", "Wouldn't It Be Nice", and "You Still Believe In Me". LP, Vinyl record album

Possibly one of the most essential Billie Holiday albums for Verve – a set that carries the same title as her famous autobiography, and which also features many key numbers from her songbook at the time! The feel here is quite easygoing and relaxed – with small group backing behind Billie's vocals, which themselves are recorded cleanly and clearly throughout. One side features backing by a combo that includes Wynton Kelly on piano, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Charlie Shavers on trumpet, and Paul Quinichette on tenor – and the other features a group that includes Bobby Tucker on piano, Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Barney Kessel on guitar, and the great Willie Smith on alto sax. Titles include plenty of classics – including "God Bless The Child", "Strange Fruit", "Lady Sings The Blues", "No Good Man", "Good Morning Heartache", "I Must Have That Man", and "Trav'lin' Light". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful soundtrack material for the last film ever from Alejandro Jodorowsky – composed and performed by his son Adan – aka Adanowsky – in a style that's surprisingly sensitive, and wonderfully thoughtful throughout! The movie is a fantasy autobiography from the legendary filmmaker – and Adan scores the music at a level that takes us back to some of our favorite French soundtracks of the 60s and 70s – sentimental, but never soppy – carefully emotive, yet never overdone – with a haunting blend of keyboards, piano, and light strings – all used in very focused ways, on melodies that range somewhere between the furniture music of Satie, and the whimsical themes of Nino Rota. First-ever release of the soundtrack – with titles that include "Los Mineros", "Bucefalo", "Jose", "Bodisua", "The Midget", "God Doesn't Exist", and "The Clowns". LP, Vinyl record album

DAMN!, indeed – Kendrick has yet to take even a small step down from the creative peak he's been riding for years – and takes another daring step forward with this strong, strident, no-mess-taking classic in the making! The surprise-announced DAMN! finds him taking on timely concerns – some longtime inherent to everyday racial, social, and class struggles in American life, and others that are purely personal. The production is diverse to a degree, but a bit straight forward compared to the sprawling, years-in-the-making To Pimp A Butterfly – all by design, as DAMN! is clearly made to sound fresh and urgent right now. But like all great musical art, it's built to stand the test of time. Includes guest producers, musicians and vocalists as varied as Thundercat, U2, Kamasi Washington, Kid Capri and Rihanna. Titles include "BLOOD.", "DNA.", "YAH.", "ELEMENT.", "LOYALTY." feat Rihanna, "PRIDE.", "LUST." with strings arranged by Kamasi Washington, "XXX." feat U2, "FEAR.", "GOD." and "DUCKWORTH." LP, Vinyl record album

A less tense and caustic Roots than the crew that hit us on the majority of Rising Down a couple years earlier – and this one's as strong of an album as they've delivered since moving over to Def Jam. In truth, we were a little scared when we saw some of the guests credited – Monsters Of Folk, John Legend, Joanna Newsom and other headscratchers on top of more likely collaborators such as Phonte, Blu, Peedi Peedi and Dice Raw – it gets over very, very well here! How I Got Over is a Roots effort through and through, with contemplative and soulful tracks that simmer and stew in tried and true fashion. The tracks with those indie rock guests turn out to be among the Roots-iest tracks on the record. Believe that! So you can rest easy, the Roots are The Roots here, just what we wanted and just what we get! Includes "A Peace Of Light" feat Amber Coffman, Angel Deradoorian & Haley Dekle, "Walk Alone" feat Truck North, PORN & Dice Raw, "Now Or Never" with Phonte & Dice Raw, "Dear God 2.0" with Monsters Of Folk, "The Day" feat Blu, Phonte & Patty Crash, "Doin It Again", "Tunnel Vision" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A hell of a sharp set from Black Milk – a record that seems to really refine the vision of his previous records, and send him forth into very soulful territory too – maybe no surprise, given that he's got guests along who include Phonte, Karriem Riggins, and Raphael Saadiq! The production is nice and spacey, but never sleepy – a crisp edge, even when laidback – as keyboards wrap their arms around some of the rougher edges in the beats, cradle them nicely, and set up this wonderful presence for the vocals! Titles include "Is It Just Me", "The Black Surf", "Downs Got Up", "Wait Til Fate", "God Willing", "Feelings Don't Feel", "No Wish", "Fews & Trues", and "Yeah Really". LP, Vinyl record album

A Donald Byrd treasure – and an album that was almost left in the vaults by Blue Note, until they briefly released it at the end of the 70s! The cover and title are a bit unfamiliar, but the music is right up there with Byrd's classic sessions with baritonist Pepper Adams – a great player here, with a deftness on his horn that's incredible – matching all the sharp changes and soulful undercurrents of Byrd's sparkling trumpet! There's a nice hard sound to the whole thing – almost the raw power of the pair's albums for the Warwick label – and as with those, Herbie Hancock is on piano – giving the whole thing an excellent soul jazz groove that really kicks the main soloists into action! Titles include "Great God", "I'm An Old Cowhand", "That's All", "You're Next", and "Chant". LP, Vinyl record album

The Black Jazz recordings of Doug Carn are always a revelation – some of the most powerful, progressive work on the American underground of the early 70s – music that got Carn into way more record collections than you might expect! The sound here is a perfect summation of Doug's early genius – his own work on organ and keyboards, never overdone and mixed perfectly with a righteous array of acoustic sounds from Rene McLean on alto and tenor and Olu Dara on trumpet – both players who soar to the skies on waves of energy begun by Carn! Wife Jean Carn sings on a number of tracks – with this heavenly style that's mighty righteous – every bit as soulful as her later work at Philly International, but in a very different way. The set includes Doug's great reading of "Naima" – plus other wonderful cuts that include "Power & Glory", "Feel Free", "Jihad", "Fatherhood", and "God is One". LP, Vinyl record album

Andra Day takes on a host of Christmas classics here, but delivers them in a very contemporary style – with stripped-down instrumentation, and a nicely crispy edge in the rhythms – perfect for her wonderfully expressive vocals that soar over the top! Stevie Wonder duets with Andra on a version of his classic "Someday At Christmas" – and other tunes include "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "Carol Of The Bells", "The First Noel", and "Winter Wonderland". LP, Vinyl record album

Four Christmas classics in one package – two from Verve, two from Chess Records! First up is the album Ella Fitzgerald Wishes You A Swinging Christmas – a wonderful Holiday album that's stayed fresh for years! Ella's got a perfect style to interpret these numbers – working with Frank DeVol and Russ Garcia in a set of lightly jazzy versions of Christmas favorites like "Sleigh Ride", "Jingle Bells", "Winter Wonderland", "White Christmas", "Frosty The Snowman", and one of the best versions of "What Are You Doing New Years Eve" ever recorded! The Sound Of Christmas album by Ramsey Lewis is a classic – and probably one of the best-selling Christmas jazz albums of all time! Ramsey and his classic trio with Redd Holt and Eldee Young serve up a tight set of grooves based around Holiday favorites like "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Winter Wonderland", "Here Comes Santa Claus", "The Christmas Song", and "Sleigh Ride" – and also carve out a few nice originals like "Christmas Blues" and "The Sound Of Christmas". Side one features the trio on its own, and side two features added arrangements by Riley Hampton – swirling around to expand the groove even more! Christmas 64 – also issued as Christmas Cookin – is as cookin a Christmas album as you'll ever find! Jazz organ giant Jimmy Smith works with Billy Byers to craft some sublime instrumentals that have his Hammond interpreting Christmas classics like "We Three Kings", "White Christmas", "Silent Night", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". If you know Jimmy from the time, you know that he can really make tracks like these groove nicely – and take them to places you never expected! Last up is the album Have Yourself A Soulful Little Christmas, from guitarist Kenny Burrell – on which he grooves nicely and gently over arrangements by Richard Evans, perfectly crafted in that soul jazz mode of his 60s work for Chess – not Kenny's most challenging format, to be sure, but proof that he often works better in a more structured environment than a freer one. Titles include "Away In A Manger", "My Favorite Things", "Little Drummer Boy", "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", "Merry Christmas Baby", and "Go Where I Send Thee". LP, Vinyl record album

Al Green explores your mind – then moves onto your heart, your soul, and everything in between! The album's a classic in the best Hi Records tradition – and features Al moving into a style that's even more spiritual than before – serving up the sublime tracks "Take Me To The River" and "God Blessed Our Love", both of which seem to point strongly at the direction he would take in later years – but also managing to mix the secular with the spiritual, in a way that's as sexy as ever! Other tracks include the hit "Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)", plus "One Nite Stand", "The City", "I'm Hooked On You", and "Stay With Me Forever". LP, Vinyl record album

A key moment in the flowering of guitarist Pat Martino – a set that has him really moving away from his soul jazz roots, into a deeper exploration of freer ideas in jazz – touched with a bit of Eastern philosophy! The tracks on the set are all quite long – played by a group that augments Martino with second guitarist Bobby Rose, plus flute and alto from Gregory Herbert, bass from Richard Davis, drums from Charlie Persib, and added tabla and tamboura that really help push the "Eastern" agenda of the set! Martino's solos are still picked out in a clear, clean style – but his phrasing is even more chromatic, and done with a searching quality that befits the album's inspiration from the Koran! Titles include "Distant Land", "Baiyina", and "Where Love's A Grown Up God". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little album from Masta Ace – part of his early-millennium comeback moment! Ace caught us off guard with his damn strong Disposable Arts LP – which immediately went on our short list of all time best hip hop comeback LPs, along with Slick Rick's Art Of Storytelling – and he mines some of the same lyrical territory on this album – with some straight up, no BS storytelling in which he contemplates his status as one of hip hop's true pioneers, a near legend in his own medium who nevertheless has to deal with day jobs and bills! There's also some more common street hop stuff, but Ace that pretty deftly – on titles that include "Big City", "Good Ol' Love", "Da Grind", "Beautiful", "Soda & Soap", "The Ways", "Wutuwankno", "Oh My God", and "Revelations". LP, Vinyl record album

A quartet session that mixes vibes and piano – the former from Aleksander Sever, the latter from Floris Kappeyne – but in a way that's nicely different from any sort of historical precedents – such as work from the MJQ or George Shearing, and maybe even more recent recordings from duos like Joe Locke and Kenny Barron! There's a round sort of warmth going on here – a flow that's maybe directed first by piano, then followed by the vibes – and driven equally by the richness of the rhythm work of Omer Govreen on bass and Wouter Kuhne on drums, both players who give the record a dynamic energy that's a really nice change from some of the colder, gentler efforts that might feature vibes and piano. As with other albums on the JMI label, the recording quality really brings out a great deal of color in the performance – on titles that include "Tired", "Trust", "God's Word", "Maya", "Heal", "Fragility", and "Inwoods". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few albums issued as a leader by bassist Cecil McBee – and like all of the rest, a really amazing record that showcases the visionary talent that often made McBee such a key part of other folks' groups! The tracks are long and spiritual, but with slight avant leanings – and Cecil both plucks and bows his instrument, creating a masterful leadership to a group that includes Chico Freeman on flute and tenor, Joe Gardner on trumpet, Dennis Moorman on piano, Don Moye on drums, and Steve McCall on percussion – definitely a strong AACM influence in the lineup but with some of the soulful warmth that you'd expect more from a set on India Navigation. The performance was recorded at Sweet Basil – and includes 2 long tracks – "Agnez" and "First Song In The Day" – plus the shorter "God Spirit". LP, Vinyl record album

A jazz mass, but unlike any other variation on the theme that's ever been recorded – thanks to a very righteous performance from James Tatum – who makes the whole thing feel much more like an organic spiritual jazz set than anything you'd ever find in a church! James himself plays both Fender Rhodes and piano – at the helm of a progressive combo from the Detroit underground of the early 70s – a group that features soprano sax from Theodore Buckner, trumpet from Judge Gray, tenor and alto from Louis Barnett, and trombone from Norman O'Gara – all lesser-known players, but who work beautifully alongside James' lead! The Fender Rhodes work is wonderful – as great as you'll find on any other record of the time – and there's also two singers who add to the sound – but step out at all the right moments to let the solos open up. Titles include "Gloria", "Offertory", "Holy Holy Holy", "Amen", "Lamb Of God", and "Communion" – but the overall sound is way more than you'd expect from those titles! LP, Vinyl record album

An early Christmas gem from Jackie Wilson – a record that really shows his versatility as a singer, as he takes on a number of different Holiday tunes in a variety of moods! Jackie's a soul singer first and foremost, but he can also sparkle with jazzier and more traditional material – which he touches on here in the company of arrangers Nat Tarnopol, Dick Jacobs, and Alan Lorber. The sound is socking soul on the best numbers – but also gets ambitious and somber on some of the others – making for a nice well-rounded Holiday set, on titles that include "Joy To The World", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "Silent Night", "White Christmas", "The First Noel", and "Silver Bells". LP, Vinyl record album

A really really beautiful little compilation – one with a sound that's every bit as powerful as the image on its cover! The music here all comes from the Gospel Roots label of Miami soul powerhouse TK Records – a key force in mainstream soul in the 70s, but also a company who issued some excellent spiritual material at the time! The work here isn't rootsy gospel – and instead reflects all the hip, righteous changes that were coming into the music during the 70s – bits of blacksploitation funk in the rhythms, powerful lead singers upfront, and an impeccable production style that often mixed deep soul vocals with modern soul presentation. This side of the TK legacy has been crucially ignored over the years – but this wonderful package more than corrects that fault – by offering up some of the key tracks from the Gospel Roots label, alongside a lavish booklet that's filled with notes, photos, and record images – all recounting the overdue tale of this great music. Not all artists are southern – there's a number from up north, and even a few from Chicago – and titles include "Tell Me" by The Fantastic Family Aires, "After The Rain" by Pastor TL Barrett, "Will You Save Me" by The Jordan Singers, "Never Say What You Want" by The Phillipians, "Help Me To Carry On" by The Fabulous Luckett Brothers, "I've Got To Make A Change" by Bright Clouds, "Wake Up Everybody" by The O'Neal Twins, "On Jesus Program" by The Original Sunset Travelers, "Blessed Be The Name Of God" by The Brooklyn All Stars, and "Christians Catch Hell" by Reverend Edna Isaac & The Greene Sisters. LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning overview of work from the small D-Vine Spirituals label in Memphis – a really homegrown imprint who were as important to the sound of the city's spiritual music as Stax Records was to soul in the 60s! In fact, the vibe here is often more 60s than 70s – maybe a testament to the finances of D-Vine when it came to recording this music – but also an indication of the way the company was able to go to the roots of what makes these tracks great – which is usually just a great lead voice or tight harmonies, and an important message in the music! This wonderful collection brings together rare 45rpm tracks issued by the label – and titles on this first volume include "God's Going To Blow Out The Sun" by Elder Ward & The Gospel Four, "I Feel Like Flying Away" by The Joy Of Memphis, "When I Looked" by The Traveling Stars, "The Reason I Love Him" by The Kingdom Airs, "Where You Gonna Run" by The D-Vine Spiritualettes, "One River To Cross" by The Seven Brothers, "Look At Your Life" by Evelyn Taylor, and "I'm A Soldier In God's Army" by The Southern Sons. LP, Vinyl record album

A better soundtrack than you might expect – as the set features a number of Christmas classics, mixed with a few new cuts for the record, and a few instrumentals too! The set leads off with Tyler The Creator doing "You're A Mean One Mr Grinch" and "I Am The Grinch" – and Danny Elfman also contributed a few instrumental titles too – but the bulk of the record is classic Holiday material, with titles that include "Christmas Is" and "Christmas In Hollis" by Run DMC, "My Favorite Things" by The Supremes, "Deck the Halls" by Jackie Wilson, "Run Rudolph Run" by Brian Setzer, "Zat You Santa Claus" by Buster Poindexter, "The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole, and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by Pentatonix. LP, Vinyl record album

An expanded version of this classic set of Motown Christmas tunes – one that features some of the best cuts from the individual artists' Holiday albums cut for the label, plus some harder to find tracks from singles! The set's got 24 tracks in all, with titles that include "Santa Claus Is Comin To Town" and "Give Love On Christmas Day" by The Jackson 5, "What Christmas Means To Me" and "One Little Christmas Tree" by Stevie Wonder, "Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer" and "The Little Drummer Boy" by The Temptations, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Jingle Bells" by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, and "Children's Christmas Song" and "White Christmas" by Diana Ross & The Supremes. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the deepest-digging entries in this wonderful series – a set that explores the wealth of spiritual jazz issued on small indie labels in the 70s – material that's sometimes referred to as "private", although that's really just a factor of how little circulation these records saw back in the day! As is well-known, the 60s influence of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy set countless fires on players in the generation that followed – including some older musicians who really changed up their groove in the post-Coltrane energy, and recorded material that was full of searing solos, modal rhythms, and a new sort of spiritual vibe! The set features plenty of nuggets from that time – including some very rare 45s – and even includes one or two earlier tracks, which makes for a great span of sounds within. As always with Jazzman, the detailed notes are as great as the track selection – and titles include "By The Grace Of God" by Erni Clark, "Ethiopia" by Carmelo Garcia, "Desiree Song" by Bobby Jackson, "Pharoah's Thing" by Compass, "Symbiosis" by Almanac, "A'Keem" by Cullen Knight, "Themes & Variations" by Black Is, "Middle Eastern Fantasy" by Radam Schwartz & Leslie Ford, "Spanish Boots (parts 1 & 2)" by Don Menza, and "Delilah" by Andrew McPherson. LP, Vinyl record album

A wickedly sharp album from Earl Sweatshirt – a set that comes on strong from the very first notes, then keeps on with a tightness that really makes a nice difference from some of Earl's other albums – an approach that's maybe more compact in terms of the way the songs are laid out, especially compared to sprawling efforts from bigger names – at a level that shows that there's plenty to learn from the left side of the spectrum in hip hop! Production is by Black Noise and The Alchemist, Armand Hammer make a guest appearance on "Tabula Rasa", and other cuts include "Old Friend", "2010", "Sick", "Fire In The Hole", "Titanic", "Vision", "God Laughs", and "Lye". LP, Vinyl record album

Righteous roots work from the 80s scene – a set that's done with a warmly bubbling vibe that's mighty nice – maybe a bit more old school than so many other productions of the time, and given a really spacious mixing job, thanks to work from Prince Jammy and Scientist! Yet neither of those talents take things too far – just open up the edges of the sound to let the message of Phillip Frazer flow strongly – set to riffing guitar from Chinna Smith, punctuated by organ lines from Jah McKaya – on titles that include "Great Pain We Feel", "Children Of God", "Come Ethiopians", "Righteous Works", "2000 Years", and "Africa". This edition features bonus cuts – "Black Rose", "Ethiopians Dub", "John Saw Them Coming In Disco Style", and "Troubles In Disco Style". LP, Vinyl record album

A great set of tracks by the Kinks – originally written as the soundtrack for a film that barely saw the light of day – yet presented here as a classic late 60s album that's up there with the other gems from the same period as Arthur and Village Green! A few tunes are instrumental – as you might expect from a soundtrack, and the songs hold together well with similar themes – and those cuts are mixed with some wonderful vocal numbers that have Ray Davies working at the top of his game – that picture postcard way of putting over a scene or a story – served up in titles that include the excellent "God's Children", an instrumental version of "Lola", and the cuts "Animals In The Zoo", "Whip Lady", "Dreams", "Helga", and "Willesden Green". LP, Vinyl record album

Way more than just a set of "lost tapes" – but that's what we've come to expect for any project that involves Madlib – an artist for whom even the smallest of moments is a thing of greatness! Lootpack are the trio that first helped Madlib rise to fame in the 90s – working alongside Wildchild and DJ Romes, and really perfecting his production skills – and the cuts here are from the years before they got signed to Stones Throw, including work from the Psyche Move EP that was their first solo release. Yet there's also plenty of Stones Throw guests on the project – including Declaime (aka Dudley Perkins), God's Gift, Kazi, Oh No, and Medaphoar – fleshing things out nicely on tracks that include "Inner Soul", "Psyche Move", "I Come Real With This", "Situation", "Get Whack", "Antidote To Antidope", "Attack Of The Tupperware Puppets", "Forever Beef", and "I Declare War". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the more obscure soundtracks from the great run of early 70s material on Cinevox – and a set that's right up there with the best of the time, like Ennio Morricone or Stelvio Cipriani! The score's an unusual one by Augusto Martelli – for a film about a woman who is converted to the "erotic religion of the Snake God", and sacrifices herself at the end of the film! Who cares about the plot, though, because there's some great little groovy bits on here – played by nicely compressed guitar and Hammond organ, plus lots of exotic percussion, in keeping with the theme of the film. For starters, the score contains the great track "Beryl's Tune", which has a great jangly guitar sample that's been used at least once over the past few years. Other nice ones include "Djamballa", "Beryl No 2", "Ciche Ton Ton", "Beguine Venezuela", "Mood", and "Zombie's Mood". LP, Vinyl record album

Masta Killa's solo debut – keeping the Wu Tang flag flying with pride in the early 00s with all the cinematic soul resonance and maybe a just little bit more of a gritty underground edge! It includes appearances by nearly the whole clique, including Ghostface, Raekwon, RZA, Meth, Deck, U-God and GZA is certainly one of the finer post-millennium Wu Tang solo efforts. production by Mathematics, True Master and Dave West. 16 tracks in all including "Born Chamber", "Last Drink", "Grab The Mic", "Queen", "Secret Rivals", "Digi Warfare", "Silverbacks" & more. LP, Vinyl record album

A record with a groove that's hard to deny – yet one that's also maybe nicely understated, in comparison to some of the late 70s contemporaries of Alhaji Waziri Oshomah on the West African scene! The music's got this seductive quality that ebbs and flows with the groove – not full-on Afro Funk, but this organic building of energy between bubbling basslines, earthy percussion, and these sweet guitar lines that hold the whole thing together – while Waziri's vocals make these very personal exclamations that are sometimes echoed by the rest of the group – and by horn parts as well. The set features four long tracks – "Igwegi Baba", "Iyuchele Opomumhe", "Forgive Them O God Amin", and "Emoi Khakiegwi Aghumheile". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful work from the Brooklyn scene of the early 80s – at a moment when it seemed like some of the more spiritual styles of the 70s had fallen out of mainstream favor, but were still being served up beautifully on obscure records like this! Mustafa Abdul Rahman isn't just a tenor player, as he works here as a fantastically majestic leader – leading a small combo through sounds that soar to the heavens on righteous energy – often with vocals from Odell Grier, and delivered with instrumentation from Ahmed Abdullah on trumpet, Richard Radu Williams on bass, Rafik Abdul Rahim on piano, Gregg Bufford on drums, and Babafumi Akunyon on congas and percussion. There's a spirit here that's a bit like Abdullah's own record of the period, and other players come into the mix from time to time – including a young Malachi Thompson, who plays trumpet on one track. Titles include the originals "Polygamy", "Silent World", and "God Is" – plus a take on Coltrane's "Some Other Blues", and the more traditional standards "Afternoon In Paris" and "One & Only Love". LP, Vinyl record album

The Sex Pistols only gave the world one full album before breaking up – the monumental God Save The Queen, a set that testifies to the raw energy that made it seem inevitable that their light would burn so brightly, it would soon burn out! Yet alongside that set, the group also cut some key singles, covers, and other tracks – the best of which are brought together here next to key cuts from their sole album, to make for an expanded 20 track set that really gets at the core of the group's genius! Even from the perspective of decades, the power of this work hasn't dimmed at all – and most of the messages and politics are, almost sadly, still as important as ever. Titles include "Substitute", "Stepping Stone", "Pretty Vacant", "God Save The Queen", "Bodies", "No Feelings", "I Wanna Be Me", "New York", "Problems", "Lonely Boy", "Silly Thing", "Something Else", "Anarchy In The UK", "Submission", "No Fun", "Holidays In The Sun", "C'Mon Everybody", "Satellite", "Did You No Wrong", and "My Way". LP, Vinyl record album

A treasure trove of rare and unusual gospel recordings from the Memphis scene – work done for the tiny JCR imprint of the also-tiny D-Vine Records label – a real wellspring of under-discovered talent from the south! JCR was kind of the bush league for D-Vine – a custom label that let gospel acts press their own records, some of which were then pulled up to record for the main imprint – some of whom never fully got their due – a great assortment of soulful groups collected here for the first time ever! There's some really wonderful material here – and the set really shows that embrace of deeper soul styles that the gospel world was making in the late 60s on labels like Chess or Peacock, carried over strongly here with a very special Memphis sort of vibe. Titles include "Rock My Soul" by The Masonic Travelers, "Too Late Too Late" by The Chosen Wonders, "You Can't Hurry God" by The QCs, "In The Last Day" by The Hewlett Sisters, "Keep On Pushing" by The Calvary Nightingales, "Call On Him" by The Silver Wings, "Someone Who Cares" by The Dixie Wonders, "I Want To Move A Little Higher" by The Seven Souls, "Sinner Man" by The Bible Tones, "Every Knee Must Bow" by The Southern Nightingales, and "Just Over The Hill" by The Spiritual Harmonizers. LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic funk from the Colemine label – a company who've given us plenty of great albums over the years, but who seem especially well-tuned to the funky 45! Along with Daptone, Big Crown, and a few others, Colemine is one of the labels who turn out top-shelf 7" singles again and again – most of which are in limited pressings, disappear fast, and are sometimes pretty expensive if you can find them! This set corrects that issue, and brings together 27 nuggets that originally appeared as funky 45s – all stacked together nicely as a massive LP set, with a nice price break from trying to track down the singles. Titles include "Gripsweats Them" by The Gripsweats, "Don't You Know" by Durand Jones & The Indications, "NUSAU" by Jungle Fire, "Supermoon" by Ikebe Shakedown, "What A Shame" by Jr Thomas & The Volcanos, "War Room" by Black Market Brass, "Aragon" by Sure Fire Soul Ensemble, "My God Has A Telephone" by Flying Stars Of Brooklyn, "He's On Time" by Harlem Gospel Travelers, "Happiness" by Wesley Bright & The Honeytones, "It Was Only A Dream" by Thee Sinseers, "America" by Soul Scratch, and "Sure Don't Miss You" by The Dip. LP, Vinyl record album