Beautiful harmony soul from Act 1 – a group we totally love when they're in this mode – just grooving enough to open up the vocals a bit, stepping along with some great east coast sweet soul production! "Night Of The Wolf" is a completely different track, but equally groovy – a sharp funky instrumental with all sorts of fast-riffing guitar, taken from a rare Italian sound library album of the 70s – and topped with a cool whistle that almost has a spaghetti western vibe! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Nothing halting about this killer cut – a fuzzy, funky number that has lots of tripped-out guitar over heavy drums – and some phase-shifting chromatic element in the mix that may be processed vibes, or something far more mysterious! "Euler Spiral" is equally heady, but a very different number – a slow, spacey groove that takes its funk very slow – almost like some of the cool Johnny Harris instrumentals from years back! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A stunning bit of sweet soul from this very obscure Ohio group – done in a soaring harmony style that would have made the late 60s Impressions proud – but given this nicely stark backing and production that's maybe more in the New Jersey mode of the time! The Aswads are backed by the Naturall Band on the vocal cut – and the flipside is a searing take on the territory explored by James Brown in "There Was A Time" – moving nicely quick, and with all sorts of riffing guitar and electric piano! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A really romping single from the lesser-known Connie Austin – a cut that's as funky as is soulful, with a set of backings that comes down right on the money, while a little conga line kicks things right back over the top! The approach allows Connie's vocals to really soar – giving the whole thing an unexpectedly righteous vibe! Charles Spurling steps out on the flipside – a storming Northern Soul number recorded in the 60s, but which appears here on a 45 for the first time ever! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A hard bluesy soul number – with a punchy funky sound that feels like it was recorded right off the west side! The best cut is actually the instrumental – as Ernest's vocals are dropped out, leaving more room for vamping guitars and a Hammond organ to take a solo. Backing is by The Pipes Of Peace, a groovy little Chicago combo – with lots of horns on this one! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A great return to form for the legendary Sidney Barnes – known best as a onetime member of both Rotary Connection and the P-Funk universe – but working here with great small combo backing from the Speedometer combo! "Best Thing" is an original by Barnes – sung in this sweet raspy style that gets great support from the funky group – who even thrown in a sweet Hammond solo in the middle! The flipside is a remake of Nolan Porter's "If I Could Only Be Sure" – a midtempo burner that has Sidney sounding even better on vocals! 7-inch, Vinyl record

2 early soul sides by the woman who later went on to marry Lester Bowie, and sing jazz vocals with the Art Ensemble Of Chicago. Both tracks have Fontella's raw hard soul sound firmly in place, with the kind of groove that was stolen from her to bigger fame by Aretha Franklin. 7-inch, Vinyl record