Chess compilation of some popular dance tunes of the time. The Vibrations are featured the most with such songs as "The Watusi", "The New Hully Gully", "Let's Pony Again", and "Continental With Me Baby". Other tracks include "The Madison" by Al Brown's Tunetoppers featuring Cookie Brown, "Mashed Potatoes" by Ned Kendricks & The Swans, "The Walk" by Jimmy McCracklin and "Popeye" by Lamont Anthony. LP, Vinyl record album

The funky sitar of Ananada Shankar – recorded in the 80s, but with all the brilliance of his 70s work! Like his other great albums, the production's a mix of soundtrack and funky instrumental styles with more traditional Indian ones – and the bulk of the set comes off sounding like some lost Bollywood score from the 70s – funky and spacey at the bottom, without as much of the clunky styles that you might expect from the cheesy 80s image on the cover. The set includes the long mellow tune "2001", plus shorter groovier numbers that include "Planet X", "Flights Of Fantasy", "Universal Magic", "The Voyager", "Vibrations", and "Explorations". LP, Vinyl record album

The genius of Roy Ayers knows no end – and as this set of unreleased work from the 70s proves, Roy was always working at top form back in the day – even above and beyond his classic albums from the time! The grooves here are tremendous – funky, soulful, jazzy, and every bit as wonderful as the work that Roy did for his classic albums on Polydor – and in a way, the whole set's even tighter and heavier than any of Roy's full LPs, because it's a distillation of his sound from the time, hand-picked from the vaults with an ear towards the kind of timeless grooves that have been a huge influence on many worlds of music for years! You've never heard any of these tunes before, but we can promise you'll love them every bit as much as Roy's tracks on albums like Coffy, Vibrations, Mystic Voyage, and other classics – and the quality of the set only further pushes our jaw-dropping respect for the man! Titles include "Holiday", "Kwajilori", "I Am Your Mind (part 2)", "Touch Of Class", "Third Time", "Come To Me", "Wide Open", "Funk In The Hole", "Liquid Love", "Tarzan", "Sunshine (demo)", and "I Like The Way You Do It To Me". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest jazz vocal albums of all time – and one of the first true moments of genius from a young Dee Dee Bridgewater! The album's a Japanese only release (proof that they're always hipper to our jazz artists than we are!) – and it features Dee Dee singing material that's quite different than her later R&B-inflected sides from the late 70s – very soaring and spiritual work, delivered in a way that set a whole new standard for jazz at the time! Backing is by a small combo with brothers Ron and Cecil Bridgewater, plus Roland Hanna on acoustic and electric piano, George Mraz on bass, and Motohiko Hino on drums and percussion – but the star of the set is always Dee Dee, who sparkles beautifully on the album's classic versions of "Afro Blue" and "Little B's Poem" – both of which have been redone by many other singers over the years. Other great cuts include "People Make The World Go Round", "Love From The Sun", and "Love Vibrations". LP, Vinyl record album

A really fantastic album from trumpeter Ian Carr and his legendary Nucleus group – a combo who are really right on the money here, finding their own sort of space at a level that's very different than some of the other rock/jazz projects on the UK scene at the time! There's often a lot more space between the notes going on here than on more jamming, more progressive records – a laidback groove that's wonderfully soulful, and which ties this Nucleus set a bit more strongly to American jazz funk that was rising up at the time – or maybe like some of the better Euro work by groups like Cortex or Placebo! Ian Carr leads the group on trumpet, Dave MacRae plays a lot of great keyboards, and Brian Smith blows strong solos on tenor, soprano, and flute – on titles that include "Southern Roots & Celebration", "Capricorn", "Images", "Caliban", "Roots", and "Whapatiti". LP, Vinyl record album

The second album of funky fusion from this all-star CTI group that included Stanley Turrentine, Stanley Clarke, Ndugu, Tom Brown, Eric Gale, Ronnie Foster, and George Benson! The ensemble come together for a great set of laidback fusion tracks that groove with a nice soulful undercurrent – surprisingly fresh, and not nearly as slick as you'd expect from the date of the session – showing that the original open-ended CTI vibe could still be strongly alive on the right records! Tracks have a great mix of acoustic and electric touches – and although Stanley Clarke was the musical director of the album, the whole thing's clearly a group effort. Titles include "Silk", "Hot Fire", "Sunwalk", and "In Celebration Of The Human Spirit". LP, Vinyl record album

Quite an unusual date – both for the players, who are normally more at home on Prestige Records – and for the Pacific Jazz label, who were then a cornerstone of west coast cool jazz! That setting doesn't keep the album from being a killer, though – as Gene Ammons wails away on tenor, next to some lean, clean work on Hammond from the young Groove Holmes – who's already at his rhythmic best, and getting help here from Gene Edwards on guitar and Leroy Henderson on drums! Most tracks are nice and long – half recorded live, half in the studio – and titles include "Morris The Minor", "Good Vibrations", "Hey You What's That", and "Groovin' With Jug". LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant standout in a late 60s world of blues rock – a set that goes way beyond what most of Steve Miller's contemporaries were doing at the time – to find a brave new world that's all its own! As before, the drums are key to the group's sound – harder and funkier than most of their contemporaries – with a propulsive energy that really pushes the group past any sort of sleepy cliches, and allows Miller to grab a whole host of other influences, and manage to forge them into the sound. Tim Davis is the mighty man on the kit – really kicking it throughout – and the group also features work from future jazz singer Ben Sidran on keyboards, and an appearance by Paul McCartney on one track too! Titles include "Space Cowboy", "Got Love Cause You Need It", "Celebration Song", "In My Dark Hour", "Kow Kow", and "Brave New World". LP, Vinyl record album

The first album from guitarist John Tropea – an ace 70s session musician, who played on countless records for other folks – and a surprisingly great leader and arranger in his own right too! Tropea's working here in a vibe that's clearly influenced by the CTI sound – smooth but funky fusion – laid down in prime studio conditions, but still nicely soulful throughout, and without any of the BS that crept into other overly-jamming or too-slick records from the time. Guitar's the lead solo instrument on the set, but the album has a lot of other strong work by players that Deodato, Steve Gadd, Rick Marotta, and Rubens Bassini – making for a very tight set that's stood up wonderfully through the years. Titles include "The Bratt", "Tambourine", "7th Heaven", "The Jingle", "Just Blue", "Muff", and "Dreams". LP, Vinyl record album

Funky jazz for the hip hop generation – a set that features warm instrumental solos over some well-crafted beats – all with a vibe that effortlessly links the 70s with the 21st Century! Pat Van Dyke plays a host of instruments – including vibes and Fender Rhodes – in a lineup that also features tenor and flute from Zac Colwell, and some guest tenor from Dayna Stephens too – both players who help enforce the jazz side of the spectrum here, amidst the spacious funky beats from the leader. Titles include "Slow Shimmer", "Vibrate Higher", "Falls To Pieces", "Rising Tide", "Say It Again", and "A Faded Dream". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the key records that really helped cement the strong reputation of Tatsuro Yamashita in the 70s – served up with the kind of standout material that easily made him one of the most soulful Japanese singers of his time! Yamashita arranged and produced the whole set, which has these warm jazzy backings that include some early keyboard work from Ryuichi Sakamoto – and Tatsuro has an ear for well-produced grooves that almost rival some of the best Cali soul of the period, save for the fact that his lyrics here are all in Japanese! Titles include "Bomber", "Monday Blue", "Love Celebration", "Follow Me Along", "2000 Feet Of Rain", "This Could Be The Night", and "Paper Doll". LP, Vinyl record album

A fabulous furry freakout from Frank Zappa – the start of a legendary run in the late 60s – and a record that is still as mindblowing now as it was all those many years back! There's a deadpan quality to the vocals that's unlike anything other groups were trying for at the time – a snotty aspect that's often forgotten amidst all the celebrations of Zappa's hippiedom, but which really makes the record stand out from the pack – giving it a kind of darkness that's a wonderful change from some of the too-earnest psych or folk rock elements of the period. Music is great too – and a lot more simple than in later years – a really tight blend of garage and psych that furthers the almost punky quality of the record. Titles include "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet", "Motherly Love", "I Ain't Got No Heart", "Hungry Freaks Daddy", "Wowie Zowie", "You Didn't Try To Call Me", "Any Way The Wind Blows", and "I'm Not Satisfied". LP, Vinyl record album

A tremendous entry in this wonderful series – a set that proudly proclaims its contents with the "NOW" on the cover! Back when the Spiritual Jazz series first started on the Jazzman label, the music was mostly relegated to material of the John Coltrane generation and the generation that followed – but in the past decade or so, there's been a huge explosion in new artists that explore the deeper, more righteous currents of jazz – music that's pulled in from the farther reaches of free improvisation, to righteous, message-oriented styles that often mix modal rhythms with more exploratory solo passages. Yet this new generation is hardly slavish to the sounds of Impulse Records – as they've really moved beyond, and have used a globe's worth of influences and new 21st Century concepts to bring fresh spirit to the music – opening things up in ways that have made this new movement one of our greatest sources of inspiration in recent years. This double-length entry is a fantastic overview of the sounds that are currently reshaping the planet – and titles on volume 2 include "Flute Song" by Wildflower, "Slow Sweet Burn" by Abeeku, "Palms To Heaven" by The Cosmic Range, "Nova" by Menagerie, "Avo's Tune" by Teemu Akerblom Quartet, "Paris" by Jonas Kullhammar, "Vessels" by The Jamie Saft Quartet, "What Do I Tell My Children Who Are Black "by Angel Bat Dawid, "Trane's Groove" by Carla Marciano, "For Coltrane" by Steve Reid Foundation, "Empty Streets" by Vibration Black Finger, and "Memory Ritual" by The Pyramids. LP, Vinyl record album

Boy, does the heavy slab psychedelic sludge grooves of Blue Cheer ever sound wonderful, even more than 40 years since it originally walked the earth! Outsideinside hit not too long after the classic Vincebus Eruptem, and damned if we can determine why it's not as celebrated as the debut. That fuzzed out stomp of a sound is back in full effect, as are the titanic drums and an overall sound that uses an electric blues influence as a springboard into heavy cosmic space. Includes their ferocious cover of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" plus "Feathers From Your Tree", "Just A Little Bit", "Gypsy Ball", "Come And Get It", "The Hunter", "Babylon" and "Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger". LP, Vinyl record album

Need to blow your mind? This is definitely the record to do it – one of the weirdest instrumental albums we've heard from the 60s – and a very messed-up batch of psychedelic tracks that use strange echoey techniques to create a fake "electronic" sound! Most of the cuts have heavy guitars in the lead, produced in a way that really distorts them, and which moves them through an echo chamber to create lots of feedback and lots of strange vibrations. Other tracks seem to use more electronics – although it might be conventional instrumentation, made weird via studio trickery – all with some very spacey sound. The drums are heavy enough, but the main groove is the guitar sound – and it's pretty darn wild! Titles include "Asbury Tripper", "Lunar Sea", "Prism On Prism", "Shadows Of Vibrate", "Mindblower", and "Zenquake". LP, Vinyl record album

Another killer from Brass Construction – served up in that fantastic Randy Muller groove! The group's a bit one, but they've got a tightness that's really incredible – horns, bass, keys, and drums all focused together perfectly – hitting a pulsating rhythmic line that's perfect for the dancefloor, yet still funky enough to keep up with their roots. The vocals crackle nicely on the best cuts – sung together in an ensemble mode that's not really harmony, but has a fullness that supports the themes of the lyrics nicely. Titles include "Celebrate", "Get It Together", "Love", "Top Of The World", "Happy People", and "Wake Up". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most enduring albums on the Prelude label, and a great bit of modern soul by James "D-Train" Williams. Hubert Eaves produced the album, and he added lots of tasty electro keyboards to the set, played with his usual jazzy touches and a nice flourish that gives Williams' voice a strong kick on the best cuts. Sparklingly sophisticated – and proof that the indie labels could still churn out quality soul as well as they could disco! Includes the cuts "You're The One For Me", "D Train Theme", "Walk On By", "Lucky Day", and "Love Vibration". LP, Vinyl record album

In case you think you stumbled upon the wrong record, these guys are the legendary Motorhead – and on this groundbreaking debut, they play straightforward rock and roll! This is pre-Ace Of Spades Motorhead – groundwork-paving, gnarly, primitive and incendiary Motorhead – too loud and fast for mainstream rockers, too menacing for fancy lads of all stripes – too gutteral and nasty even for most early metal fans – the world just didn't know what to make of Lemmy & Co – but they'd catch up, eventually! Titles include "Motorhead", "Vibrator", "Lost Johnny", "Iron Horse/Born To Lose", "White Line Fever", "Keepers On The Road", our second favorite version of "Train Kept A Rollin'" (sorry, Aerosmith), and "The Watcher". LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent! You're probably familiar with the Aquarius Dub set, an early, early dub LP, featuring some great rockers from Herman Chin Loy and Augustus Pablo – this groovy set from Pressure Sounds collects many of the vocal, dee jay and instrumental tracks that those rhythms laid the base for! 2 dozen bouncing numbers from the Scorpio and Aquarius imprints, with Chin Loy's rippling offbeat approach to production and top flight chats, scats and voicing from some of Kingston's finest, including Augustus Pablo & Herman "Aquarius Rock" and "Iggy Iggy", 2 versions of Alton Ellis' "Alton's Official Daughter", The Aquarians "Funky Aquarius", Sounds Unlimited "Roadrunner" and "Middle East Skank", Archie McKay "Pick Up The Pieces", Leroy Parker "Groove With It", Beres Hammond "No More War" plus its version by Herman, Dennis Alcapone "Return Of Sabata", James Eastwood "Darkest Night", Charlie Boy "Funky Strip", The Teacher "Soul Vibration", Dennis Brown "Song My Mother Used To Sing", Herman "Aquarius Dub", "River Nile Version", "Sabata" and "I Man" and Augustus Pablo "The Red Sea", "Snowball & Pudding", "Song Of The East" and "East Of The River Nile". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic collection of rare funky nuggets – put together by the folks at the Numero Group, and an album that's billed as "the only funk album you'll ever need"! That might be a big claim, but the record is pretty darn great – a set that features a few older underground classics, plus a number of cuts we haven't heard before – all brought together from the farther reaches of the Numero universe, into one fantastically funky set! Instrumentals sit nicely next to vocal tracks – and the whole thing is filled with heavy drums, riffing guitars, and other great elements – all chosen by the sorts of folks who really know their thing. Titles include "Corruption Is The Thing" by Creations Unlimited, Slow Burner" by Swithold, "Human Race" by Human Race, "First Thing I Do In The Morning" by Joyce Williams, "Soul & Sunshine" by Harvey & The Phenomenals, "The Vibration" by Sonny Harris, "Jungle" by The Young Senators, "Ghet-To Funk" by Doralcha, "So Dam Funky" by Hot Chocolate, "Akiwana" by Village Callers, and "Iron Leg" by Mickey & The Soul Generation. LP, Vinyl record album

Grandmaster Flash is best known for his work in the world of hip hop, not the sort of club scene that Salsoul helped feed back in the day – yet this surprisingly great package has Flash adding in some hip hop energy to the catalog of the legendary label – spinning tracks that emphasize the funkier currents of Salsoul, and drawing a link between disco singles and the sorts of rhythms that first helped feed the old school street party scene! Titles include "High" by Skyy, "Doctor Love" by First Choice, "Make Up Your Mind" by Aurra, "Runaway" by Salsoul Orchestra, "Let's Celebrate" by Skyy, "Slap Slap Lickedy Lap" by Instant Funk, "Love Sensation" by Loleatta Holloway, "Ten Percent" by Double Exposure", "I Got My Mind Made Up" by Instant Funk, "Spring Rain" by Silvetti, "Ooh I Love It" by Salsoul Orchestra, and "Checkin You Out" by Aurra. LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet sounds from a real golden age in Japanese music – a time when the scene had picked up plenty of influences from the US scene, but was carefully crafting some great styles of their own! The music here has touches of jazz, fusion, soul, and AOR – but there's a special balance that's a bit different than American chartbound material of the time – tight, but never too slick – and with a great ear for allowing the more interesting sides of the music to come forth in all the best ways – so that although catchy, the tunes aren't just going slavishly for a hook or a hit! There's a lot of resonance in the instrumentation with some of the scene that had Japanese jazz musicians working with American fusion players – but the overall approach is maybe more soul-based overall. An even deeper set than the first volume – with titles that include "Kanpoo" by Yumi Murata, "Hidari Mune No Seiza" by Tetsuji Hayashi, "Yubikiri" by Eiichi Ohtaki, "Vibration" by Kimiko Kasai, "Pink Shadow" by Bread & Butter, "The Tokyo Taste" by The Sadistics, "Blind Curve" by Momoko Kikuchi, "Skyfire" by Eri Ohno, and "Rainy Saturday & Coffee Break" by Junko Ohashi & Minoya Central Station. LP, Vinyl record album

A lot smoother than most of Airto's other work – and almost more of a soul record than a jazz one – but also a great batch of grooves with a really spirited feel! Airto's percussion is still relatively up front in the mix, and smooth funky LA arrangements take the album to a warm soulful place – giving the more uptempo tracks a tight dancefloor groove that's still kept a bit rootsy by all the acoustic percussion. Tom Scot lays down great solos on two tracks – "I'm Fine, How Are You" and "The Road Is Hard (But We're Going To Make It)" – and other good tracks include "The Happy People" and "Celebration Suite". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest jazz vocal albums of all time – and one of the first true moments of genius from a young Dee Dee Bridgewater! The album's a Japanese only release (proof that they're always hipper to our jazz artists than we are!) – and it features Dee Dee singing material that's quite different than her later R&B-inflected sides from the late 70s – very soaring and spiritual work, delivered in a way that set a whole new standard for jazz at the time! Backing is by a small combo with brothers Ron and Cecil Bridgewater, plus Roland Hanna on acoustic and electric piano, George Mraz on bass, and Motohiko Hino on drums and percussion – but the star of the set is always Dee Dee, who sparkles beautifully on the album's classic versions of "Afro Blue" and "Little B's Poem" – both of which have been redone by many other singers over the years. Other great cuts include "People Make The World Go Round", "Love From The Sun", and "Love Vibrations". LP, Vinyl record album

A surprisingly sweet little soundtrack at times – with tunes that are nicer than you might expect from the title or the image on the cover! Some of the material here is definitely in keeping with the horror setting of the movie, but other tracks have a slinky, almost jazzy feel – bits of piano, keyboards, or guitar skipping along with some lightly rhythmic backings that lilt them up and down with a gentle swing. Other tracks are slower, and sparer, but even these are usually not too dark, and certainly not in the atonal modes of other Italian scores from the time. The DeAngelis approach here is almost like Stelvio Cipriani at his best – and titles include "Perugia", "Il Primo Omicidio", "Corpi Smembrati", "La Strage Ha Inizio", and "Marcellazione". LP, Vinyl record album

Mayer Hawthorne's looking a bit cheesy on the cover, but sounding pretty darn great within – really sparkling with those mellow soul elements that have just gotten better and better with each new release, at a level that's a plenty strong musical answers to any of the haters out there! There's a warm glow to the set – a sense of heart-ful feelings that clearly inspire Mayer in his lyrics, and which really comes through on the slower-paced tracks on the set! Titles include "Standby", "Cream Interior", "Hawthorne Rides Again", "Without You", "Physical Touch", "The Pool", "Deeper Vibration", "Tell Me", "Deuce & A Quarter", "On The Floor", and "Sweet Temptation Woman". Features the bonus track "Eyes Of Love". LP, Vinyl record album

The title reads like a typo, but the album's a great set of smooth fusion from Freddie Hubbard – self-produced, and almost a summation of all the styles he'd mastered in the 70s! The session's never too over the top or too ambitious – just features Freddie working with a hip group in a laidback setting – blowing lean and mellow lines that almost take him back to his best CTI funk. The group features Billy Childs on keyboards, Hadley Caliman on tenor and flute, and some guest work by George Duke and Paulinho Da Costa – on titles that include "Skagly", "Rustic Celebration", "Happiness Is Now", and "Cascais". LP, Vinyl record album

The first album in a mighty legendary run from Taj Mahal – one of the first generation of blues musicians to really learn to recast their sound for the younger crossover generation! By that, we don't mean that Taj is commercial at all – it's just that he's kind of reclaiming the blues roots that had been filtered into mainstream rock by the late 60s time of this recording – stripping things down, and getting back to basics in a mighty nice way! He gets key help on the record from a young Ry Cooder, and from guitarist Jessie Ed Davis too – and titles include "Leaving Trunk", "EZ Rider", "Dust My Broom", "Diving Duck Blues", "The Celebrated Walkin Blues", and "Statesboro Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Buddy certainly knew how to keep the customer satisfied – as you'll hear on this hip set of big band grooves, recorded by Buddy for Liberty Records in 1970. The set's got Buddy working with a tight group of younger players, in a mode that's not exactly funky, but which owes a lot to the funking up of the big band scene that was going on during the late 60s. There's electric bass underneath most of the cuts, and bubbly organ emerges from the horns on a good number of titles. Tracks include "Groovin Hard", "The Juicer Is Wild", "Long Day's Journey", "Celebration", "He Quit Me", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A fabulous furry freakout from Frank Zappa – the start of a legendary run in the late 60s – and a record that is still as mindblowing now as it was all those many years back! There's a deadpan quality to the vocals that's unlike anything other groups were trying for at the time – a snotty aspect that's often forgotten amidst all the celebrations of Zappa's hippiedom, but which really makes the record stand out from the pack – giving it a kind of darkness that's a wonderful change from some of the too-earnest psych or folk rock elements of the period. Music is great too – and a lot more simple than in later years – a really tight blend of garage and psych that furthers the almost punky quality of the record. Titles include "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet", "Motherly Love", "I Ain't Got No Heart", "Hungry Freaks Daddy", "Wowie Zowie", "You Didn't Try To Call Me", and "I'm Not Satisfied". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet sounds from a real golden age in Japanese music – a time when the scene had picked up plenty of influences from the US scene, but was carefully crafting some great styles of their own! The music here has touches of jazz, fusion, soul, and AOR – but there's a special balance that's a bit different than American chartbound material of the time – tight, but never too slick – and with a great ear for allowing the more interesting sides of the music to come forth in all the best ways – so that although catchy, the tunes aren't just going slavishly for a hook or a hit! There's a lot of resonance in the instrumentation with some of the scene that had Japanese jazz musicians working with American fusion players – but the overall approach is maybe more soul-based overall. An even deeper set than the first volume – with titles that include "Kanpoo" by Yumi Murata, "Hidari Mune No Seiza" by Tetsuji Hayashi, "Yubikiri" by Eiichi Ohtaki, "Vibration" by Kimiko Kasai, "Pink Shadow" by Bread & Butter, "The Tokyo Taste" by The Sadistics, "Blind Curve" by Momoko Kikuchi, "Skyfire" by Eri Ohno, and "Rainy Saturday & Coffee Break" by Junko Ohashi & Minoya Central Station. LP, Vinyl record album

There's plenty of R&B Christmas collections on the market, but this is one of the best – a really well-done collection that goes way past the over-played hits, and features some really rare treasures in the genre! Although a holiday set, this one's put together with the same depth and care of Ace Records' usual rare soul collections – and features a well-chosen batch of obscure singles, mostly from the west coast and Memphis scenes of the 50s – all supported by great notes, top-shelf packaging, and a really overstuffed set list! Titles include "Christmas Celebration" by BB King, "Santa Claus Baby" by The Voices, "White Hot Christmas" by The Elves, "I Wanna Spend Christmas With You" by Lowell Fulsom, "I Want You With Me Christmas" by Jesse Belvin, "Dig That Crazy Santa Claus" by Oscar McLollie & The Honey Jumpers, "Crazy Santa Claus" by The Debonaires, "Gonna Have A Merry Xmas" by The Nic Nacs, "Merry Christmas Baby" by Mari Jones, "Christmas Bells" by Bobby Nunn, and "Xmas Baby" by Riff Ruffin. LP, Vinyl record album

Not girl pop, not chart hits, and instead a whole host of hard-burning tracks from the underground – a well-done collection that showcases a huge range of positive, powerful female musical expressions from the mid 70s onward! The set begins during the heyday of the early punk years, and focuses on a few key acts who were offering a great antidote to some of the more testosterone-fueled work of the time – then picks up some especially great pos-punk tracks, before making a brief stop in the early 90s, and ending up with a few key grrrl power cuts from the current century! As always with Ace records, the presentation is as great as the music – very detailed notes that tell as much of a store as the songs themselves – in support of a set list that includes "Survive" by The Bags, "Iama Poseur" by X-Ray Spex, "Kray Twins" by Mo-Dettes, "Popcorn Boy" by Essential Logic, "It's About Time" by The Pandoras, "Shakedown" by Au Pairs, "Das Ah Riot" by Bush Tetras, "Earthbeat" by The Slits, "Come On Now" by The Pussywillows, "Rules & Regulations" by We've Got A Fuzzbox, "What's Wrong With You" by Bratmobile, "Rebel Girl" by Bikini Kill, "I Gave My Punk Jacket To Rickie" by Mary Monday & The Bitches, "You're A Million" by The Raincoats, and "Expert" by Pragvec. LP, Vinyl record album

No soundclash here – as the grooves are all right on the money, and fit perfectly together throughout – a blinding blend of tropical-styled sounds that really lives up to the promise of the package! Sofrito have outdone themselves here – and come up with the kinds of tracks we'd never have found in a million years of digging – mostly vintage numbers from the late 70s and early 80s tropical scene – mixed with a few contemporary numbers that seem to have an equally classic sort of vibe! The package is an instant global grooves party right from the start – and titles include "O Ti Yo" by Midnight Groovers, "Cumbia Y Tambo" by La Pesada, "Ebolo" by Bell'A Njoh, "Vibrations Groove" by Lord Shorty & Vibrations International, ""Mwekuru Muthao" by Melodica Teens Band, "La Zorra Y El Perol" by Grupo Canalon De Tinbiqui, and "The Path (Sofrito edit)" by Concept Neuf. LP, Vinyl record album

A tribute to a lost side of the creative powers of the legendary Sun Ra – his work in prose and poetry, presented here on record by a variety of different voices – all in a production that features some cool electronics from Marshall Allen as well! The instrumental work of Ra and the Arkestra have an undeniably righteous power and spiritual message – and those qualities are presented here in a more focused, more direct style through his pen – ideas that are clear and forthright, and which show very powerful concepts of life, music, politics, race, and the cosmos – all at a level that really showcases the depths of Ra as a philosopher! EVI electronics are played by Allen, who also speaks a bit on the record – alongside others who include Carl Hancok Rux, Zakia Sewell, Abioudun Oyewole, Melanie Charles, Jive Poetic, Tara Middleton, L'Rain, Saul Williams, and Mahogany L Browne. Titles include "When Angels Speak", "The Invisible Giants", "Sun-Day", "Nothing Is", "The Melody of Air", "The Void", "The Neglected Plane Of Wisdom" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A really well done memorial to the (then) recently-departed Charlie Parker – cut with an unusual lineup that features Cecil Payne on baritone sax, Phil Woods on alto, and Frank Socolow on tenor – all working through long, laidback takes of 4 of Bird's best known compositions! There's a really relaxed feel to the record that's totally great – and the players aren't so much aping the sound of Charlie Parker's work, as they are working in the newer freedoms allows by it – stretching out in freely creative lines that never fail to please, and working here with a rhythm section that includes Duke Jordan on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. The album was recorded live at the Five Spot – and titles include "Parker's Mood", "Steeplechase", "Buzzy", and "Scrapple From The Apple". Great 80s pressing – done on 2LPs – with lots of unissued material! LP, Vinyl record album

Hard grooving early work by The Vibrations – recorded before their sides at Okeh, with a style of rough-hewn soul that's very much in keeping with their hit "The Watusi". The album's got plenty of great numbers, very much in a Chicago dance mode of the 60s – and titles include "People Say", "Wallflower", "So Blue", "Doing The Slop", "Serenade Of The Bells", "People Say", and "Cave Man". LP, Vinyl record album

Elzhi serves up plenty of great lyrical work here, but our favorite aspect of the record may be the work of Oh No – who definitely takes the title seriously, and uses plenty of vibes throughout! This may well be the best vibes-driven hip hop project we've ever heard – as each track has some very strong use of the warmly chromatic instrument, but in ways that shift up nicely – used in a strong Madlib-styled way, but balanced with some sharper cuts around the edges. The set includes features by Blu, Dank, and Guilty Simpson – and titles include "Doc No Check Up", "Trick Dice", "Possessed", "Fireballs", "Smoke", "Last Nerve", and "Twilight Zone". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful Verve madness, and a darkly twisted batch of easy instrumentals, put together by the silent genius Pat Williams. The songs are mostly covers – like "Whiter Shade of Pale", "Get Back", "Joy Joy", and "River Deep Mountain High" – and the record's got a great version of Edu Lobo's "Ponteio". Dick Hyman plays organ, and there's lots of other nice jazz players in the group! LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual Beach Boys offshoot project – a soundtrack that features work by a group led by Mike Love with Charles Lloyd on sax and flute, Ron Altbach on piano, Dave Robinson on bass and vocals, Mike Kowalski on drums and percussion, Ed Carter on guitar and bass, Wells Kelly on bass, and Gary Griffin on synthesizers and electric piano – with some songs written by Brian Wilson too! LP, Vinyl record album

A very groovy set of short vibes-based instrumentals – played by Chicago jazzman Bobby Christian, a great player who did a fair bit of studio work in the city (including some for the Gus Giordano dance studio series), but who rarely ever got to record much on his own. The cuts are all short and pop/jazz sounding – with a self professed "tuned-in, turned-on" sound – and titles include "Boogaloo", "Mooganga", "To Whom May We Turn", and groovy covers of "Sunny" and "Games People Play". LP, Vinyl record album

A groovy record from the International Pop All Stars for Decca's Phase 4 label of percussion & strings oriented LPs! Vibrations Around The World has a groovy, moddish, cheeky charm with an international focus, picking themes to represent countries as if this were some kind of easy listening Olympics! "Aquarius" reps the USA, "Greensleeves" is for the UK, "Tulips From Amsterdam" represents Holland, "One One Samba" stands for Brazil, and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Includes performances by Joan Baez, Kris Kristofferson, Country Joe McDonald, the Beach Boys, Merry Clayton, and Linda Ronstadt. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the legendary Perry & Kingsley moog records, with all of their early experiments with the instrument, and all of the weird tape cut-ups and production effects, over some versions of cool sixties pop stuff, and a host of original tracks. Titles include "Pioneers Of The Stars", "Fallout", "One Note Samba", "Umbrellas of Cherbourg", "The Savers", and "Toy Balloons". Also with a nice version of "Mas Que Nada"! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the legendary Perry & Kingsley moog records, with all of their early experiments with the instrument, and all of the weird tape cut-ups and production effects, over some versions of cool sixties pop stuff, and a host of original tracks. Titles include "Pioneers Of The Stars", "Fallout", "One Note Samba", "Umbrellas of Cherbourg", "The Savers", and "Toy Balloons". Also with a nice version of "Mas Que Nada"! LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite Duke Ellington albums, and a sometimes-overlooked work that stands as one of his best compositions from the time. The "Liberian Suite" was originally issued as a 10" LP, and is one extended suite of tracks commissioned by the Liberian government for their centennial celebration in 1947. The piece starts with the haunting "I Like The Sunrise", with vocals by Al Hibbler, then leads into 5 "Dances", with solo work by Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, and Tyree Glenn. "Tone Parallel To Harlem" is added to the album, taking up all of side two, and is another beautiful extended work – the kind that really showed tremendous growth in Ellington's style. LP, Vinyl record album

A rich effort from Morgana King – the first of her rare Reprise LPs – and a record that shows incredible range and an ability to bring a heavy, textural mood to just about any kind of tune! Torrie Zito's arrangements on It's A Quiet Thing are lush, but, well, quietly so – and Morgana's vocals can build from what's kind of a deep vibrato hush to a really soaring affect! It's nice stuff – with an approach to well known songs of the time that's quite unique! Titles include "It's A Quiet Thing", "Dindi", "Gone With The Wind", "Little Blue Girl", "Mountain High, Valley Low", "How Insensitive", "Here's That Rainy Day", "Deep Song" and "If You Should Leave Me". LP, Vinyl record album

The third in Led Zeppelin's spectacular run of early albums – each one either matching or topping its predecessor, depending on one's personal favorite – and a record with an influence that's as massive as the sound! The record's got a pair of of Zep's best-remembered songs in "Immigrant Song" and their take on the traditional "Gallows Pole", but the whole thing is great – and a great balance of their earlier bombast with a lot more acoustic moments. Other tracks include "Friends", "Celebration Day", "Tangerine" and "Hats Off (To Roy Harper)". LP, Vinyl record album

The third in Led Zeppelin's spectacular run of early albums – each one either matching or topping its predecessor, depending on one's personal favorite – and a record with an influence that's as massive as the sound! The record's got a pair of of Zep's best-remembered songs in "Immigrant Song" and their take on the traditional "Gallows Pole", but the whole thing is great – and a great balance of their earlier bombast with a lot more acoustic moments. Other tracks include "Friends", "Celebration Day", "Tangerine" and "Hats Off (To Roy Harper)". LP, Vinyl record album

The third in Led Zeppelin's spectacular run of early albums – each one either matching or topping its predecessor, depending on one's personal favorite – and a record with an influence that's as massive as the sound! The record's got a pair of of Zep's best-remembered songs in "Immigrant Song" and their take on the traditional "Gallows Pole", but the whole thing is great – and a great balance of their earlier bombast with a lot more acoustic moments. Other tracks include "Friends", "Celebration Day", "Tangerine" and "Hats Off (To Roy Harper)". LP, Vinyl record album

A sublime celebration of this amazing spiritual ensemble from the Los Angeles scene – a 60th anniversary record from the group, and one that features a track recorded in every decade of their existence! The material comes from the group's archives, and has a surprisingly unified sound, despite the span of time and range of great musicians here – a shifting lineup that includes key work from group founder Horace Tapscott on piano, plus Phil Ranelin on trombone, Butch Morris on cornet, Nate Morgan on piano, Dwight Trible on vocals, and Arthur Blythe, Jesse Sharps, Adele Sebastian on reeds. With players of that nature, you can bet that there's a lot here that resonates with classics on the legendary Nimbus label – and the set is a great addition to the too-few recordings from that scene over the years. Titles include "Little A's Chant", "Nation Rising", "The Ballad Of Deadwood Dick", "Justice", "Dem Folks", and "The Golden Pearl". LP, Vinyl record album

Incendiary live set by The Ramones at their early prime – with the original, most classic line-up of Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy – recorded in all their raw glory at The Roxy in the summer of 1976! Includes "Loudmouth", "Beat On The Brat", "Blitzkrieg Bop", "I Remember You", "Glad To See You Go:", "Chain Saw", "53rd & 3rd", "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", "Havana Affair", "Listen To Your Heart", Let's Dance", "I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The birth of punk rock as a bonafide genre, and not only that, a record that changed the rules – stripping rock and roll back down raw essentials – and unwittingly appearing as one of the greatest rock albums ever made. Given the stripped, buzzing simplicity, it's impossible to describe this record without sounding like a blow hard, but you really can't overstate what these four goony guys from Queens accomplished. 30-odd years of the most visceral pop music concentrated into 2 minute, 3 chord blasts of beautiful sonic catharsis – and they could barely even play! It's astonishing. Thanks boys! Tracks include "Blitzkrieg Bop", "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", "Beat On The Brat", "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue", "I Don't Wanna Around With You", "Loudmouth", and "Today Your Love Tomorrow The World". LP, Vinyl record album

Quite possibly the most celebrated album ever from keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith – a groove-heavy classic that's burned up many a dancefloor in its day, yet also a record that features some great mellow moments as well! The title track "Expansions" is virtually a blueprint for the migration of the cosmic jazz sound onto the dancefloor – a tune that's as funky as it is righteous – but other cuts on the album slow down the pace a bit too, and show off the mellower, more introspectively spiritual side that's always made Lonnie way more than just a funky jazz artist. Easily the best place to start in the all-great Lonnie Liston Smith catalog – and featuring tracks that include "Expansions", "Summer Days", "Desert Nights", "Shadows", "My Love", "Peace", and "Voodoo Woman". LP, Vinyl record album

Cool cuts from around the globe – all brought together in one wonderfully funky set! The music here all draws heavily from American funk and psych styles – and often uses some slightly different instrumentation, or more regional inflection – to make the usual psych funk styles sound even more groovy and exotic – in a mindblowing way that makes the entire set a real musical delight! Most tracks are instrumental – heavy on drums and fuzzy guitar – but there's a few vocal moments, too – and the funk current is super-strong, way more so than on other collections that promise a heavy bottom, but usually just present offbeat psych. Titles include "Jet Pop" by Bana Pop Band, "Foxy Lady" by 49th Blue Streak, "Karate Chop" by The Tijuana Brats, "Stari Dvorac" by Pro Arte, "Nie Przejziemy Do Historii" by Krzysztof Klenczon, "Louis Louis" by Friar Tuck, "Time Of Machines" by Sergio Ferraresi, and "The Shaman's Dance" by Alexandr Sergeyevich. LP, Vinyl record album

A second set of material issued in celebration of the legendary Wattstax concert by Stax Records in LA in 1972 – and a set that mostly features material from the famous show at the Los Angeles Coliseum, but also includes some sly studio material that was pumped up with applause to fit nicely into the mix! Richard Pryor acts as the MC – although his tracks weren't recorded at the actual concert – and as with the original album, there's a mixture of some self-contained "show" passages here, plus individual songs by other artists too! David Porter delivers a mighty batch of tracks that include "Reach Out & Touch", "Ain't That Loving You", and "Can't See You When I Want To" – followed by a Johnnie Taylor show that includes "Steal Away", "Stop Doggin Me", and "Jody's Got Your Girl & Gone". Other live material includes work by Rance Allen Group, Kim Weston, Jimmy Jones, and The Golden 13 – augmented by additional cuts from The Emotions, Mel & Tim, and Little Milton too! LP, Vinyl record album

Miche's at it again – and he's somehow managed to top the great sound of the first volume in the series – digging deeper into the past, coming up with more soulful numbers overall, then throwing in just the right touch of Brazilian grooves to even things out! As before, there's no unifying label or scene to these tracks – they're just brought together in celebration of a really joyous, positive, uplifting vibe – one possessed by each track alone, but which really steps out strongly as they all resonate together! Titles include "Save The Best For Last" by Alice Cohen & Fun City, "You & Me" by Mark Meadows, "Take To The Sky" by Mixed Generation Enterprize, "I Like What She's Doing" by Billy Boomer, "Straight Forward" by PJ City, "Realize" by Maxwell, "High On You" by Freedom, "Blow My Mind" by The Lost Family, "As" by The Family Tree, "A Luz Que Brilha Meu Viver" by Banda 22, "Misterio Brilhante" by Ze Da Lata, "Then I Reach Satisfaction" by Eleventh Commandment, and "Dame Solamente Amor" by Rogers Mitchell. LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool collection of cuts that we might never have encountered otherwise – all brought together in celebration of 20 years of work from the If Music shop, who clearly just keep on refining their ears over the years! There's so many cuts here that fall in a special space between familiar genres – jazzy instrumentation mixed with folksy vocals, electronic rhythms mixed with warmer instrumentation, ethnic instrumentation fused with jazzy expression, and blends that really keep things interesting throughout – especially as most of these cuts are nice and long, and really explore the ideas at their core! Titles include "We Are Not Invisible" by Ola Szmidt, "Big Kalimba" by Greetje Bijma Kwintet, "Fidji" by Christine Schaller, "Sunday Sea Improvisation" by Tamar Osborn, "Fall In To Me (alt version)" by Emanative & Liz Elensky, "Turkish Showbiz" by Atilla Engin Group, "Dennison Point" by Tenderlonious, and "At The Speed Of Light" by Sarathy Korwar. LP, Vinyl record album

As great of a rock & roll album as there's ever been! It's impossible to describe this record without sounding like a blow hard, but you really can't overstate what these four goony guys from Queens accomplished. 30-odd years of the most visceral pop music concentrated into 2 minute, 3 chord blasts of beautiful sonic catharsis – and they could barely even play. Thanks boys! Tracks include "Blitzkrieg Bop", "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", "Beat On The Brat", "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue", "I Don't Wanna Around With You", "Loudmouth", and "Today Your Love Tomorrow The World". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark double-live album that was easily one of the most important soul record moments of the 70s! The concert was an all-star event held in LA to celebrate the anniversary of the Watts riots – but it features a killer lineup of talent from the roster of Stax Records – by then a proud independent with more than enough power to spread a nationwide message from Memphis to Los Angeles without any trouble! The record is nicely segmented – so that it offers up mini "sets" by each artist – really recreating the feel of the event, at a level that lived on in countless living rooms long after the concert was over. Titles include "Son Of Shaft/Feel It" and "I Can't Turn You Loose" by The Bar-Kays; "Ain't No Sunshine" by Isaac Hayes, "I Don't Know What This World Is Coming To" and "Hearsay" by The Soul Children, "I Like What You're Doing To Me" and "Gee Whiz" by Carla Thomas; "The Breakdown" and "Do The Funky Penguin" by Rufus Thomas, "Killing Floor" and "Angel Of Mercy" by Albert King"; "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There" by The Staple Singers; and "Knock On Wood" by Eddie Floyd. Also includes 2 studio tracks recorded after the show – "Oh La De Da" by The Staple Singers, and "Lay Your Loving On Me" by Eddie Floyd. LP, Vinyl record album

The beautiful full scale duets set from Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack – a record that's no doubt defined by it's biggest hit – but the rest is just as great! Born To Love kicks off with "Tonight I Celebrate My Love For You" – a song that's doubtlessly one of the most inescapable slow dance classics ever – and if its ubiquity overshadows the rest of the record, that's not because it's any less excellent! Peabo's affectionate style is in top form here, and Roberta is such a perfect duet partner – with plenty of lead moments of her own. It definitely feels like a perfectly balanced partnership. The record's got some lovely slow jams on par with the aforementioned pop soul standard, plus some great ones that up the tempo a little bit. Other titles include "Blame It On Me", "Born To Love", "Heaven Above Me", "Comin' Alive", "Can We Find Love Again", "You're Looking Like Love To Me" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

An obscure Canadian trio – on titles that include "De La Chambre Au Salon", "Attends Moi", "Si Doucement", "Harmonium", and "Un Musicien Parmi Tant D'Autres". LP, Vinyl record album

We've never been sure if the title's supposed to indicate that Stacy Lattisaw's finally celebrated her 16th birthday, but the album's definitely a key bit of teen pop from the 80s – filled with catchy crossover tunes and a bouncy approach to soul! The record's a bit more unified than some of Lattisaw's earlier albums – and shakes off some of the ballads of before for a range of tunes that playfully deal with themes in a young girl's life. There's a few numbers that get a bit more mature and grown up, but as usual, Stacy actually sounds best on the catchier pop numbers – titles that include "Million Dollar Babe", "16", "Black Pumps & Pink Lipstick", "What's So Hot Bout Bad Boys", and "Johey". LP, Vinyl record album

Pavement's celebrated catalog consolidated and presented for the next gen – and a well chosen collection of tunes from their fairly brief, massively influential albums throughout the 90s! LP, Vinyl record album

Quite possibly the most celebrated album ever from keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith – a groove-heavy classic that's burned up many a dancefloor in its day, yet also a record that features some great mellow moments as well! The title track "Expansions" is virtually a blueprint for the migration of the cosmic jazz sound onto the dancefloor – a tune that's as funky as it is righteous – but other cuts on the album slow down the pace a bit too, and show off the mellower, more introspectively spiritual side that's always made Lonnie way more than just a funky jazz artist. Easily the best place to start in the all-great Lonnie Liston Smith catalog – and featuring tracks that include "Expansions", "Summer Days", "Desert Nights", "Shadows", "My Love", "Peace", and "Voodoo Woman". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful stuff from Sylvia Robinson – the singer who scored big as a youngster in the Mickey & Sylvia group, and who later became the den mother of hip hop with her Sugar Hill label. This set was recorded during the time that Sylvia had a very successful run with her New Jersey group of soul labels like All Platinum and Stang – and it's a monument to her breathy sexy style, and is probably one of the raunchiest records to hit the top of the charts in the early 70s. The hit single "Pillow Talk" was bedroom fodder for couples all over the world – but the whole record's pretty darn nice, and equally sexy! Features the great "Didn't I", a slinky groover with a good sample riff – plus "Give It Up In Vain", "Had Any Lately", and "My Thing". LP, Vinyl record album

A well-chosen batch of rare garage rock gems from the 60s – rare work from labels that include Stax, Fantasy, Original Sound, and Vanguard – including three never-issued tracks! The choice of material is great, and the whole thing features notes from producer Alec Palao – a name we've really come to trust for sets like this, which go way past the hits and obvious choices. Titles include "Can't Get Enough" by The Pullice, "Attention" by Lonnie Duvall, "Harmonica Man" by The Torquays, "Psychotic Reaction (unedited version)" by Count Five, "She's Gone" by Group B, "Double Whammy" by Jack Bedient & The Chessmen, "In The Night" by The Bittersweets, "Short Haired Fathers" by Circus Maximus, "Anytime Anywhere" by The Squires, "This Calls For A Celebration" by The Fantastic Zoo, "Rat Race" by The Tears, "I Can't Make A Friend" by The Vagrants, "The Animal In Me" by The Orfuns, and "The People In Me (full length version)" by The Music Machine. LP, Vinyl record album

It's hard to believe that the German Infracom label has been around for 30 years – maybe because the label was so future-thinking at the start, they helped set the tone for so much music to come! And if you're not hip to Infracom, the collection's a chance to dig the label in all its glory – as the set is filled with cosmic soul and jazzy club tracks that still stand as some of the hippest work to come from overseas in the past few decades – music that we've dug for years at Dusty Groove, served up in a package that really does justice to the label's legacy! Titles include "Freedom" by Gabriele Poso, "Hot Pot" by Mop Mop, "Who's Sorry Now" by Nekta, "Smoke & Regret" by Rime, "The Accessory" by Taxi, "Driver (Joash rmx)" by Matthias Vogt Trio, "Herbie's Delight" by Valique, "Love Is A State Of Mind" by Jhelisa, "Celebration Of Life" by Woodland Conclave, "You Can Dig" by Metropolitan Jazz Affair, "Tears" by Re:Jazz, "Calling" by Aromabar, "La Seule Fleur Dans Le Jardin" by Kosma, and "Something's Missing" by Dublex. LP, Vinyl record album

A great little album of dramatic pop tunes – notable not only for Mel Carter's richly vibratic vocals, but also for sublime early production work by Nick DeCaro! Nick handled the arrangements with Jimmie Haskell and Harold Battiste, and the set's a gem that's right up there in the Gene McDaniels/Tommy Edwards camp, sort of an LA answer to the New York uptown sound of the 60s. Titles include "Band Of Gold", "If You're Wondering", "All Of A Sudden My Heart Sings", "Love Is All We Need", "You've Got To Take The Bad With The Good", and "I Miss You So". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing record, and one of the most spiritual, righteous sets to ever come from Jamaica in the 70s – and that's saying a heck of a lot, given that scene at the time! The vibe here is really rootsy, and almost more spiritual jazz than reggae – with lots of spare percussion from Count Ossie and crew, under spoken passages by Brother Samuel Clayton and Ras Jose – all set to these spare but powerful arrangements from Cedric Im Brooks, who plays some great tenor and flute on the record too! Brooks' performance gives some jazzy currents to the music, and ties it to American underground work of the time – but the message in the vocals is very Jamaican overall, exactly what you'd expect from the "mystic revelation of Rastafari"! Titles include "Bongo Man", "Mabrat", "Four Hundred Years", "Groundation", "Oh Carolina", "Ethiopian Serenade", and "Way Back Home". LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool bit of blue-eyed soul from Chuck Senrick – recorded in the hinterlands of Michigan in the late 70s, but with a timeless vibe that's made the set ripe for rediscovery all these many years later! Chuck uses acoustic guitar, electric piano, and some spare drum machine lines – which puts part of the sonic quality of the record in the territory of Timmy Thomas or Shuggie Otis, save for the fact that Senrick's got these jazzy inflections in his vocals, but with particular phrasing – almost Kenny Rankin meets Cat Stevens, although such a tag might be too specific to highlight Chuck's particular charms! Whatever the case, the album's a gem – way better than its obscure status might make you think – with titles that include "Celebration Lover", "Kids", "The Duke Is Gone", "Drop A Dime", "Wedding Trilogy", "Downtown", "Gray Days", and "Dreamin". LP, Vinyl record album

It's hard to believe that the German Infracom label has been around for 30 years – maybe because the label was so future-thinking at the start, they helped set the tone for so much music to come! And if you're not hip to Infracom, the collection's a chance to dig the label in all its glory – as the set is filled with cosmic soul and jazzy club tracks that still stand as some of the hippest work to come from overseas in the past few decades – music that we've dug for years at Dusty Groove, served up in a package that really does justice to the label's legacy! Titles include "Freedom" by Gabriele Poso, "Hot Pot" by Mop Mop, "Who's Sorry Now" by Nekta, "Smoke & Regret" by Rime, "The Accessory" by Taxi, "Driver (Joash rmx)" by Matthias Vogt Trio, "Herbie's Delight" by Valique, "Love Is A State Of Mind" by Jhelisa, "Celebration Of Life" by Woodland Conclave, "You Can Dig" by Metropolitan Jazz Affair, "Tears" by Re:Jazz, "Calling" by Aromabar, "La Seule Fleur Dans Le Jardin" by Kosma, and "Something's Missing" by Dublex. LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark double-live album that was easily one of the most important soul record moments of the 70s! The concert was an all-star event held in LA to celebrate the anniversary of the Watts riots – but it features a killer lineup of talent from the roster of Stax Records – by then a proud independent with more than enough power to spread a nationwide message from Memphis to Los Angeles without any trouble! The record is nicely segmented – so that it offers up mini "sets" by each artist – really recreating the feel of the event, at a level that lived on in countless living rooms long after the concert was over. Titles include "Son Of Shaft/Feel It" and "I Can't Turn You Loose" by The Bar-Kays; "Ain't No Sunshine" by Isaac Hayes, "I Don't Know What This World Is Coming To" and "Hearsay" by The Soul Children, "I Like What You're Doing To Me" and "Gee Whiz" by Carla Thomas; "The Breakdown" and "Do The Funky Penguin" by Rufus Thomas, "Killing Floor" and "Angel Of Mercy" by Albert King"; "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There" by The Staple Singers; and "Knock On Wood" by Eddie Floyd. Also includes 2 studio tracks recorded after the show – "Oh La De Da" by The Staple Singers, and "Lay Your Loving On Me" by Eddie Floyd. LP, Vinyl record album

A second set of material issued in celebration of the legendary Wattstax concert by Stax Records in LA in 1972 – and a set that mostly features material from the famous show at the Los Angeles Coliseum, but also includes some sly studio material that was pumped up with applause to fit nicely into the mix! Richard Pryor acts as the MC – although his tracks weren't recorded at the actual concert – and as with the original album, there's a mixture of some self-contained "show" passages here, plus individual songs by other artists too! David Porter delivers a mighty batch of tracks that include "Reach Out & Touch", "Ain't That Loving You", and "Can't See You When I Want To" – followed by a Johnnie Taylor show that includes "Steal Away", "Stop Doggin Me", and "Jody's Got Your Girl & Gone". Other live material includes work by Rance Allen Group, Kim Weston, Jimmy Jones, and The Golden 13 – augmented by additional cuts from The Emotions, Mel & Tim, and Little Milton too! LP, Vinyl record album