Alex Attias has always given us some really creative sounds in his own music – so we've got some mighty high expectations when he brings together a selection of tracks by other artists for BBE! Fortunately, the record not only lives up to those expectations, but does them one better – by opening us up to some overlooked contemporary cuts that all have the cosmic touches of Attias' work on the London scene – then interweaving them with some older tracks that resonate even more strongly in the territory! There's some wonderful work from recent years that show just how far the best side of the broken beat legacy has evolved – and other older cuts have a cosmic vibe that's plenty righteous too, with some great jazzy currents that really deepen the vibe of the collection. Titles include "Midnight Magic" by Cro Magnon with Roy Ayers, "My Dream Came True" by Root Soul, "Cascade" by Tatham Mensah Lord & Ranks, "Do The Dance" by Grooveman Spot, "Over & Over" by Material with Nona Hendryx, "Curiosity (Zanzibar rmx)" by Nicole Willis, "Could You Be Me (Theo's SS translation)" by Kathy Kosins & Paul Randolph, "Earth Overshoot Day (Hugo LX rmx)" by Cotonete, "Party Hardy (Alex Attias edit)" by Velvet Hammer, "Her Boyfriend Assesses His Value & Pleads His Case" by Kip Hanrahan, and "It's You (disco alert mix)" by Sunaga T Experience. (New Grooves, Funky Compilations) CD

A way way deeper set than the first volume of Bay Area Funk – and a collection that shows that things got pretty heavy on the San Francisco and Oakland scenes of the 70s! A good number of the tracks here are instrumental, and show some wonderful interplay between the trippier sides of funky jazz and the harder sides of soul going on in the Bay Area back in the day – killer music from the fringes that often got lost in the shuffle of all the better-known music coming out on the bigger labels! The work here is all from very tiny labels – expertly selected and all officially cleared by the Luv N Haight team with keen respect for the artists involved – and in a way, the package has set a new high standard for the label! A tremendous discovery, and filled with tracks we'd never heard before – titles that include "Stop Look Listen" by Primevil, "Poor Sad Child (part 1)" by The Windjammers, "Born To Live With Heartache" by Mary Love, "Move In The Room" by Dawn & Sunset, "Ebony" by Project Soul, "Acid Lady" by San Francisco TKOs, "Hip Breakin" by Little Denise Stevenson, "Devil's On The Run" by Uptights Band, "Brute Strength" by Mile Selesia, and "Lenient With My Love" by The Relatives. CD

A wonderfully genre-hopping collection – put together by Toru Hashimoto, the man behind such incredible Japanese series as the Free Soul, Cafe Apres Midi, and Suburbia compilations for many different labels! Toru really lives up to his legend here, and mixes music from different scenes and styles, but in a way that not only makes total sense – but also seems to have the tracks resonate even more strongly in the company of each other – moving from soul to bossa, jazz, vocal, and even hip hop cuts! Titles include "It's You" by Joyce Cooking, "I've Got You Under My Skin" by G9 Group, "Persian Love" by Holger Czukay, "Never Did I Stop Loving You" by Alice Clark, "What Else Can I Say" by Ingram, "Another Day" by Precise Hero, "NYC Tonight (version voc Shintaro Sakamoto)" by Dump, "Beautiful Love" by Myron & the Works with Meshell Ndegeocello and Robert Glasper, "Just The Way You Are" by Meta Roos & Nippe Sylwens Band, "Little Girl Lost" by Penny Goodwin, "Hunk Of Heaven" by Lemuria, "Why Don't We Fall In Love" by John Valenti, "Love Oh Love" by Vince Andrews, "You've Got To Have Freedom" by Pharoah Sanders, and "In All The Wrong Places" by Kero One. CD

Sweet grooves from the Duomo Sounds label – a short-lived Nigerian imprint who cut some mighty funky sounds at the start of the 80s! The title here uses the word "disco", but these cuts have none of the strings and polish of the sounds you'd hear at Studio 54 – as most numbers here are stripped-down and raw, really more in a clubbier take on the more famous Nigerian funk of a few years before! However, there's also a quality here that could easily cross over to the hipper clubs on the New York underground – as most of these guys are also using the same sort of small combo funk instrumentation of the best of the indie post-disco scene – which means that some tracks resonate with the work of labels like P&P, and others echo some of the more global currents that were showing up in New York funk during the period! Most lyrics are in English, which further gives these tracks a universal appeal – and titles include "Perfect Disco Machine" and "Disco Connection" by Bindinga, "Aimiuugwia" and "Advice" by Christy Ogbah, "Xmas Eve" by Johnny O Bazz, "Look At Me" and "Shake You Body" by Mike Umoh, "You Do Good You Do For Yourself" by Godfrey Odili, "On My Mind" by Bassey Black & The Natty Messiah, and "Ariro" by Eunice Mokus Arimoku. (Global Grooves, Funky Compilations) CD

That's a sweet image on the cover – and the grooves inside are equally dynamic too – a really wonderful collection that's easily one of the most compelling in Numero's Eccentric Soul series! The work here all hails from the tiny San Antonio scene of the late 60s – but much of the music has a sound that's way different than you might expect from Texas soul – often with great harmonies that recall the best of the east coast groups of the time, and occasionally with a few brown-eyed touches that echo the style of East LA! There's a wonderfully heartbreaking feel to many of these tracks – and the set's heavy focus on mellower numbers is totally great – and gives the whole thing a wonderful late nite sort of vibe that's usually quite hard to find in compilations like this. As usual, Numero's done a great job with the notes and history of the label – but the music alone is more than enough – a heady brew of cuts that include "Little Girl Blue" and "Try Loving Me" by The Webs, "I Gotta Know" by Tonettes, "Give Your Love To Me" and "Ain't No Big Thing" by Little Jr Jesse & The Tear Drops, "Cry & Wonder Why" by Doc & Sal, "Must Be Alright" and "Hey It's Love" by The Commands, "She's Gotta Have Soul" by Bobby Blackmon & The Soul Express, and "I Can't Take No More" by Willie Cooper & The Webs. CD

Hardly the gospel of your father's generation – and hardly even the gospel of previous Numero releases either – as the set's a wonderfully offbeat batch of tracks that definitely lives up to the "apocryphal" in the title! Production sounds and musical styles go way past the mainstream – and lots of these numbers feel like secular soul from the definite left end of the spectrum in the 70s – especially the mellower cuts, which have a trippy quality that comes from weird instrumentation and unusual studio work – often matched by vocal presentation that's anything but spiritual, and which feels more like Darondo overall! These tunes are a real discovery – a deeper level of unusual gospel recordings than even the funk and or soul sides featured on other compilations – all pulled from the hinterland of self-released albums and singles from back in the day. As usual, Numero's done as great of job with the notes and packaging as they have with the music – really telling the full tale of this unusual stream of music – in a smoking set that features "That's All I Need" by Sensational Saints, "A Message Especially From God" by Robert Vanderbilt & The Foundation Of Souls, "Come Holy Spirit" by God's Band, "Faith" by Soul Superiors, "Can't Run This Race Alone" by Flying Eagles Gospel Singers, "Searching For The Truth" by Dwain Vinyard, "Get Involved" by Jonah Thompson, and "I Hear You Calling" by Francis Reneau & The Mission Singers. CD

A soaring collection of rare jazz from the Tokyo scene – all music originally recorded by the Japanese branch of Columbia Records – the same imprint that put out some exclusive and very hip Japanese-only albums from Miles Davis, Roy Ayers, and Herbie Hancock! The musicians here are all Japanese, and play with a vibe that definitely lives up to the label's legacy with American artists – mixing spiritual jazz, funky styles, and other soulful modes in a really great way – with a sense of variety that not only makes the collection a stellar listen throughout, but also really opens up your ears to the wealth of excellent Japanese jazz recordings that were never issued in the US! Titles include "Trial Road" by Tomoki Takahashi, "A Muddy Muffin" by Masahiko Sato, "Toppu" by Shigeharu Mukai, "Scramble" by Hiromasa Suzuki, "Samba De Negrito" by Takashi Mizuhashi & Herbie Hancock, "Ogi Denju Shiki" by Toshiyuki Miyama & His New Herd, "The Ground For Peace" by Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media, "Chakkiri Bushi" by Nobuo Hara with Hozan Yamamoto, "Mickey's Samba" by Mikio Masuda, and "Jones Street" by Kiyoshi Sugimoto. LP, Vinyl record album

A huge array of soul tracks from the Mainstream label – an imprint that was probably best known for its jazz work of the early 70s, and as the launching pad for a few key rock groups – but one who also cut some killer soul tracks in the best New York and Philly styles of the period! Mainstream only ever issued most of its soul material as singles – 45s issued on their own label, and under the IX Chains, Brown Dog, and New Moon imprints too – spread out in an array of under-circulated, poorly-distributed releases that never fully got their due at the time – partly because much of the music was years ahead of its time! There's a groove here that reminds us of the hippest sounds from bigger labels – including Philly International or All-Platinum – with a similar blend of sweetness, honest vocal performances, and some top-shelf studio work that gives the lyrics a hell of an instrumental push, but all without ever sounding slick or commercial. The package is a much-needed look at this scattered legacy – and brings together 24 rare cuts that include "These Memories" by Almeta Lattimore, "I'm The One Who Loves You" by JG Lewis, "Come Back (part 1)" by The Fantastic Puzzles, "I Can't Give You Up" by Linda Perry, "It Ain't Like It Used To Be" by Randolph Brown & Company, "No Rebate On Love" by The Dramatics, "You're A Friend Of Mine" by Words Of Wisdom, "Satisfy My Woman" by Calvin Arnold, "Plain Out Of Luck" by Nia Johnson, "We're Not Too Young To Fall In Love" by Jackey Beavers Show, "Let The People Talk" by The Steptones, "To Whom It May Concern" by Ellerine Harding, "It's So Real" by McArthur, "Stop & Think A Minute" by Charles Beverly, and "That's The Way She Is" by Bobby Earl Williams. (Soul, Funky Compilations) CD

One of the hippest entries in the Red Hot series so far – a set of tracks dedicated to the legendary Fela Kuti – felled by AIDS after years of influential grooves – still being felt strongly by the rich array of artists collected in the set! Most tracks are contemporary, but feature a strong influence of the 70s modes of Fela's generation – those sharp percussive lines at the bottom of the tracks, soaring Afro-styled horn passages, and a righteous energy that really drives the whole thing all the way through! The package was put together in support of AIDS/HIV awareness, but is hardly an act of charity – as it's overflowing with great cuts that more than make the set stand as an Afro Funk collection on its own. Most tracks are remakes of older Fela numbers – and titles include "Buy Africa" by Baloiji & L'Orchestre De A Katuba, "Yellow Fever" by Spoek Mathambo & Zaki Ibrahim, ""Gentleman" by Just A Band & Baja, "Go Slow" by King, "Sorro Tears & blood" by Kronos Quartet & Kyp Malone, "Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am" by My Morning Jacket, "Afrodisco Beat 2013" by Tony Allen & M1, and "Lady" by Tune Yards, ?uestlove, and Angelique Kidjo. (Global Grooves, Funky Compilations) LP, Vinyl record album

A treasure trove of late 70s French disco funk – actually sound library material from the Tele Music archives – featuring positively killer bass lines, keys and drums, with a warmth and a groove that just slays so much of the better known dancefloor material of the era! Includes great stuff by Spatial & Co, Disco & Co, Voyage and Arpadys – should be classic cosmic disco all the way! The vinyl version features 7 tracks: "Bass Power", "Electric Maneges", "Exotic Guide", "Future Vision" and "All The Bass" by Spatial & Co, ""Phantom Rock" by Disco & Co, and "I Love You Dancer" (instrumental version) by Voyage. LP, Vinyl record album

Weird and wonderful grooves from the Taiwanese scene – tracks that definitely echo some of the disco and funky soul modes of the American market in the 70s, but which have plenty of strange twists and turns of their own! The vibe here is a bit like other collections of Southeast Asian pop hybrids from the 60s and 70s – material that's clearly influenced by the Anglo culture of the time, but which has plenty of localized touches – not just in language and instrumentation, but also in terms of production styles, which gives a lot of these tracks a really cool sound. Titles are all in Taiwanese, but we can say that the set features work from Tian Lu Lu, Liu Guan Lin, Wu Xiu Zhu, Luo Yan Li, Hua Yi Bao, Cui Tai Jing, and others. (Global Grooves, Funky Compilations) LP, Vinyl record album

Glorious girl group pop, solo and group soul singles from the heart of the 60s – beautiful stuff that might have made a splash in their time, but didn't enter the eternal pop culture canon like some of the bigger hits of the day – and we couldn't be happier to have them in our lives all these years later! Where The Girls Are 8 features tunes by The Blossoms, The Orlons, The Sherrys, Dee Dee Sharp, The Four Havens, The Del-Phis, The Bonnetts, The Darlenes, The Pussycats and more – with absolute top shelf craft behind them – but as grand as the productions are and as legendary as the songwriters are – and we're talking about Lou Alder, Ashford & Simpson, Lee Hazlewood, Gamble & Huff and others behind the scenes – nothing outshines the lovely ladies' voices! Includes "Cry Like A Baby" by The Blossoms, "Comin' Home Baby" by Dee Dee Sharp, "Baby It Hurts" by Kelly Garrett, "Stand By Me" by Little Eva, "My Little Baby" by The Witches, "You Don't Have A Heart" by The Bunnies, "I Ain't Comin' Back" by The Orlons, "Come On And Ska" by The Pussycats, "Let's Be Sweethearts" by The Cinnamon Angels and more. 25 tracks in all. (Soul, Funky Compilations) CD