One of our favorite Funkadelic albums ever – a tightly grooving classic that never lets up at all! There's a sense of perfection to everything here – one that really gets the group past their tripped-out early years, and firmly into the sublime territory George Clinton hit with Parliament – an amazing sound that's wrapped up perfectly on every single track – grooves that definitely raised the bar for a huge amount of mainstream funk acts who were popping up at the time. Production is never too slick, and there's still lots of tasty guitar licks wrapped up in the mix – and titles include the classics "Freak Of The Week" and "Not Just Knee Deep" – plus "Field Maneuvers", "Holly Wants To Go To California", and "Foot Soldiers". LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite Funkadelic albums ever – a tightly grooving classic that never lets up at all! There's a sense of perfection to everything here – one that really gets the group past their tripped-out early years, and firmly into the sublime territory George Clinton hit with Parliament – an amazing sound that's wrapped up perfectly on every single track – grooves that definitely raised the bar for a huge amount of mainstream funk acts who were popping up at the time. Production is never too slick, and there's still lots of tasty guitar licks wrapped up in the mix – and titles include the classics "Freak Of The Week" and "Not Just Knee Deep" – plus "Field Maneuvers", "Holly Wants To Go To California", and "Foot Soldiers". CD

One of our favorite Funkadelic albums ever – a tightly grooving classic that never lets up at all! There's a sense of perfection to everything here – one that really gets the group past their tripped-out early years, and firmly into the sublime territory George Clinton hit with Parliament – an amazing sound that's wrapped up perfectly on every single track – grooves that definitely raised the bar for a huge amount of mainstream funk acts who were popping up at the time. Production is never too slick, and there's still lots of tasty guitar licks wrapped up in the mix – and titles include the classics "Freak Of The Week" and "Not Just Knee Deep" – plus "Field Maneuvers", "Holly Wants To Go To California", and "Foot Soldiers". CD

George Clinton may have pretty well disbanded Parliament and Funkadelic by the time the 80s came around, but the Mothership is still soaring highly on this first album from the P-Funk All Stars project – featuring some (but not all) of George Clinton's better players from various groups! Urban Dancefloor Guerillas his a pretty great little set of jammed-up cuts produced by Clinton, Bootsy, Gary Shider, and Sly Stewart. The flame was still burning, even in the "dark years" of the litigious early 80s – on a set that's actually a bit more stylistically diverse than some the related projects, though unified by never wavering funk! Titles include "Copy Cat", "Pumpin' It Up", "Catch A Keeper", and "Generator Pop". CD

George Clinton may have pretty well disbanded Parliament and Funkadelic by the time the 80s came around, but the Mothership is still soaring highly on this first album from the P-Funk All Stars project – featuring some (but not all) of George Clinton's better players from various groups! Urban Dancefloor Guerillas his a pretty great little set of jammed-up cuts produced by Clinton, Bootsy, Gary Shider, and Sly Stewart. The flame was still burning, even in the "dark years" of the litigious early 80s – on a set that's actually a bit more stylistically diverse than some the related projects, though unified by never wavering funk! Titles include "Copy Cat", "Pumpin' It Up", "Catch A Keeper", and "Generator Pop". LP, Vinyl record album

A tasty bit of late P-Funk! The album was recorded in 1980, on the wane of the main P-Funk groups – and it features Bootsy and Fred Wesley teaming up on the arrangements, in a set of bass-heavy, mostly instrumental tracks that groove hard like the best early work by Zapp! There's a great jazzy groove to the record – with loads of tasty keyboards, and less of the slapp bass funk that could sometimes ruin other efforts like this. Titles include "Love Munch", "Hyper Space", "Freak to Freak", "Body Shop", and "We Do It All Day Long". LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of early 80s gems from this Brazilian keyboard legend – back to back on a single CD! Night Cruiser is a key record in Deodato's move from funky jazz in the 70s to modern soul in the 80s – and one that showcases the best of his talents in both genres! The approach here is more tightly arranged and produced than that of his earlier CTI sides – but in a mode that's still plenty nice to our ears – as Deodato's uncanny sense of rhythm and timing is still very firmly in place, making the set way way more than just a smooth jazz album – and pushing it strongly into the realm of soulful spacey fusion! There's some really great tracks on the set – like the amazing "Skatin", a sweet keyboard number that's a perfect roller skating jam (in case you couldn't guess from the title) – plus "Love Magic", "Uncle Funk", "East Side Strut", and "Night Cruiser". Happy Hour is a classic from Deodato's soul-based years with a nice little R&B-inspired groove! Happy Hour was done at a time when Deodato was really getting into a lot of modern soul production and arranging work with other groups – and here, he tries his hand wonderfully at the style himself – transforming his 70s jazz funk groove into a tightly snapping 80s soul approach! Most tracks on the set feature vocals – by singers who include Kelly Barretto, Eban Kelly, and Candi Staton – but the instrumentation behind them is still plenty jazzy too, thanks to some nice work by Deodato on Fender Rhodes, mini moog, Arp, and other keyboards. Titles include "I Never Get Enough", "Keep On Movin", "Happy Hour", "Just This One Night", "Tears Of A Clown", "Sweet Magic", and "Keep It In The Family". CD features two bonus tracks – "Uncle Funk (7" mix)" and "Keep On Movin (7" mix)". CD

2 beautiful later albums from Deodato – back to back on one CD! Knights Of Fantasy is smoth and jazzy – done in an LA late 70s style that's kind of like work by Joe Sample or The Crusaders, but a bit more R&B oriented, and with a deeper soul style overall! You can definitely hear Deodato's growing taste for modern soul here – especially on the seminal club jammer "Whistle Bump", which is a tight keyboard-driven groove, with some sweeping strings underneath wah wah guitar. The cut's the real standout on the album – although there's a few other nice moments, like "Space Dust" and "Lovely Lady", which has a great mellow Bob James-ish sound. Night Cruiser is a key record in Deodato's move from funky jazz in the 70s to modern soul in the 80s – and one that showcases the best of his talents in both genres! The approach here is more tightly arranged and produced than that of his earlier CTI sides – but in a mode that's still plenty nice to our ears – as Deodato's uncanny sense of rhythm and timing is still very firmly in place, making the set way way more than just a smooth jazz album – and pushing it strongly into the realm of soulful spacey fusion! There's some really great tracks on the set – like the amazing "Skatin", a sweet keyboard number that's a perfect roller skating jam (in case you couldn't guess from the title) – plus "Love Magic", "Uncle Funk", "East Side Strut", and "Night Cruiser". 11 tracks in all! CD

Includes the classic "I'd Love To Change The World" – plus "One Of These Days", "Once There Was A Time", "Uncle Jam", "Here They Come", "Over The Hill", "Let The Sky Fall", and more! LP, Vinyl record album

Benchmark 80s electro – and also part of the blueprint for the sound of west coast hip hop – the groundbreaking work of Arabian Prince! Perhaps one of the most overlooked innovators of the west coast scene, Arabian Prince played an integral role in shaping the LA hip-hop sound, from the early electro days of Uncle Jam's Army to the gangster rap explosion of the late 80s. With the current electro resurgence in full swing, now is prime time to look back at his contributions, which sound just as fresh today as the day it was made. 10 tracks total spanning from '84 to '89, including solo tracks "Strange Life" & "It Ain't Tough", a few tracks with The Shieks including "Innovator" & "Situation Hot", and production work for others like Professor X, plus the NWA classic "Panic Zone". 2 bonus tracks for the CD: "Simple Planet" and "Beatdabeat". CD

Man, that east coast harmony sound couldn't miss in the 70s – as proven by the huge AM radio success of New York City! The band wasn't the greatest harmony group in the world – although they did feature John Brown, who'd cut his teeth in the Five Satins – but when you teamed them up with production by Thom Bell, and backing from the Sigma Sound Studios, they created an unstoppable sound that was a perfect pop peddling of the harmony group sound. This album was their biggest – and it includes the classic "I'm Doin' Fine Now", plus lots of other nice tracks like "Hang Your Head In Shame", "Quick, Fast, In A Hurry", "Uncle James", and "Reach Out". LP, Vinyl record album

Wax Poetics is back with another excellent hip hop rooted issue – with front & back cover stars split between classic Janette Beckman shots of KRS One and EPMD, plus iconic pics of Ice Cube and Ice T! The issue revisits nascent hip hop from NYC boom bap to early west coast hip hop and onward – with articles on Souls Of Mischief, DJ Disco Wiz, a great Record Rundown with Easy Mo Bee, an excellent interview with Ice T (touching on his electro roots with Uncle Jamm's Army), a look back at Ice Cube's uber classic AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, the gospel of KRS-One, Grandmixer DXT and more! Also includes In Memoriam respect for Guru, Chilly B and Malcolm McClaren and much much more. Magazine

A baker's dozen from Darkstar, Hurt 'Em Bad, Ronnie Hudson, Uncle Jamm's Army, King M.C. & D.J. Flash, Ice-T, Kid Frost, The Triple Threat Three, L.A. Dream Team, Bobby Jimmy & The Critters, The Egyptian Lover, Rodney-O & Joe Cooley, and D.J. Matrix. CD

Dancefloor cookers from the prime Northern Soul years – all instrumental numbers on this sharp compilation on Kent – 45 sides from a labels like Money, Villa, Swan, King, Epic and Warner Brothers! For all the wonderful Kent soul compilations we've gotten our dusty fingers on over the years, it's a wonder they're never been one devoted to instrumentals – until now! Rhythms roll along at a tight tempo, the tight guitars punch it up, some strings soar, and a pounding Northern beat keeps it all stomping! Those core elements are key, but others weave in an out, from hand claps on the beat, to organ grooves, bursts of brass and more. 24 tracks in all: "Double Cookin" by Checkerboard Squares, "Make Me Yours" by Arthur Wright & His Orchestra, "Festival Time" by San Remo Golden Strings", "The Sounds Of Lane" by Tracks To Your Mind, "Champion Pt 1" by Willie Mitchell, "The Guys From Uncle" by The Spy, "Stirrin Up Some Soul" by The Mar-Ketts, "Hey America (Sing Along)" by James Brown, "California Montage" by Young-Holt Unlimited and more. CD

An excellent bit of southern funk – very much in the early mode of Little Beaver, but with a sound that's even harder! James Knight is The Black Knight – leading a tight little combo with a raw funky 45 sound, heavy on the horns for backing, but with James' guitar right up front in the mix, jamming hard in a way that would have made Hendrix proud! The tracks are a mix of heavy funk numbers and more tripped-out jams – and Knight's vocals remind us a bit of Charles Wright in the old days, blaring out of the speakers with a bit of distortion and lots of soul, really driving home the quality of the songs. Titles include "Fantasy World", "Save Me", "Flyin High", "Funky Cat", "Uncle Joe", "Cotton Candy", and "Just My Love For You". CD

A great little album by James Brown – and very different than his other work! He cut this one with the groovy Dee Felice Trio – a jazz-based combo that he recorded on their own for King, on another very rare, very excellent record. The band's in similar form here, although not necessarily as funky – and they do a great job of giving James' vocals a jazzy twist that they don't have on other albums – proving yet again that The Godfather can handle just about any sort of groove that he wants! Features a wonderfully groover version of "Sunny", which moves along very nicely – plus remakes of "There Was A Time" and "Cold Sweat", along with the tracks "Uncle" and "That's Life". LP, Vinyl record album

The Grateful Dead in the early 80s – still going strong in a live setting, and with a vibe that's maybe even closer to their roots than some of their Arista studio material at the time! The set is a massive ten-sided representation of a show that has the group soaring and stretching out on nearly every track – with jamming versions of "Ramble On Rose/El Paso", "Althea", "Feel Like A Stranger", "Stella Blue/Good Lovin", "Space/The Other One", "Uncle John's Band/Drums", "Ship Of Fools", "Estimated Prophet", "China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider/Samson & Delilah", "Deep Elem Blues", "New Minglewood Blues", "Beat It On Down The Line", "US Blues", and "Bird Song". LP, Vinyl record album

Features 22 tracks including "St. James Infirmary", "Walkin In A Daze", "Lovin Mama Blues", "Indiana", "When You're Smiling", "Limehouse Blues" and "Got An Uncle In Harlem" –plus alternate takes and a few unreleased cuts. CD

The aura here is spreading wide – as George Duke really grows his sound strongly from the early years, and takes hold of a whole host of cosmic influences! The record's one of Duke's biggest for MPS – a beautiful balance between jazzy fusion and spacey soul – served up with help from an array of great singers and players from the west coast scene. Duke's still stretching out plenty on keyboards – but never in a too-jamming, too-indulgent way – always sensitive enough to never mess up the groove, and always with a sense of space and timing that never showed up this well in his later records. Players include Airto on percussion, Alphonso Johnson on bass, Ndugu Chancler on drums, and Duke himself on more keyboards than we could ever hope to list here! Vocals are by Sylvia St James, Gee Janzen, and Kathy Woehrle – as well as Duke himself – and titles include "Foosh", "For Love", "Uncle Remus", "Fools", "The Aura", "Enchinda's Arf", "Floop De Loop", and "Dawn". LP, Vinyl record album

An essential early document of the Grateful Dead – a double-length collection of live material that was one of the first to give the rest of the world a chance to hear what they could provide to their ever-growing concert audiences! The tracks were mostly recorded in New York in early 1971, and have the group really spinning out their special sort of magic in ways that are a nice change from their studio records – looser, more jamming, and maybe more acoustic too – that shift from psych to roots that was already going on, but delivered here with the sort of warmth that would hold their fans in sway for years to come. Tracks vary in length – and the set includes an 18 minute take of "The Other One", plus "Bertha", "Big Railroad Blues", "Playing In The Band", "Me & My Uncle", "Wharf Rat", "Not Fade Away/Goin Down The Road Feeling Bad", and surprisingly great takes on "Mama Tried" and "Me & Bobby McGee". CD

Way earlier than the "acid jazz" you might expect from the title – but a great set of classic soul jazz, featuring two rare albums on Prestige! First up is Enough Said, a heavy set of hard-wailing soul jazz – a real lost treasure recorded by guitarist Bill Jennings (formerly "Wild" Bill Jennings during his R&B years), in a lean quintet format with help from organist Jack McDuff! Jennings and McDuff were playing together heavily at the time – and the feel here is quite similar to some of Jack's earliest albums on Prestige – particularly in the way the organ stops are set, with that wide-ranging sound that was quite popular at the end of the 50s – before the changes of the next decade had the instrument tightened up a bit more. Other members of the group include Al Jennings on additional guitar, Wendell Marshall on bass, and Al Johnson on drums – and titles include "Enough Said", "Tough Gain", "Volare", "Blue Jams", and "Dig Uncle Will". Glide On is a groovy glide from the mighty Bill Jennings – making a key transition here from earlier R&B into hipper soul jazz – thanks to the help of organist Jack McDuff! Bill was Jack's guitarist on a few of his key early Prestige dates, but the roles are reversed here – with Jennings as the leader, and McDuff as the sideman – playing some incredible Hammond in a variety of tones and timings that really help keep things cool throughout! Bill's lean guitar lines are out front on all tunes, but Jack's organ follows strongly in second place – alongside other instrumentation that includes vibes from Al Jennings, bass from Wendell Marshall, and drums from Alvin Johnson. Titles include "Azur-Te", "Hey Mrs Jones", "Cole Slaw", "Glide On", "Billin & Burnin", and "Fiddlin". CD