... CD

Sampler tracks from Funkmaster Flex Mixtape Vol 3. 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... CD

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

If you grew up in Chitown, like we did, you'll know that Jerry Butler never got old – and through the years he continued to make some pretty darn great music, even when he was falling far from the limelight in the rest of the country! This album's a great little early 80s effort that steps off from territory that Jerry explored on his LPs for Philly International – a smoothly stepping, sophisticated soul style that's a fair bit like work happening over at Chi-Soul records in its waning years. Jerry's voice is still incredible, and sounds really great on the mellower tunes on the set – perfect numbers for his maturing vocals, in a similar mode to Walter Jackson's late work. Titles include "No Fair Falling In Love", "All The Way", "Don't Be Afraid To Show How You Feel", "Ask Me What You Want", "Simple Beautiful", and "Night Life In The City". LP, Vinyl record album

Killer stuff – as Jerry's getting the full early Philly treatment here, with arrangements by Thom Bell, Bobby Martin, and Roland Chambers, and production by a young Gamble and Huff! The sound isn't nearly as icy as the old Vee Jay days – but that's fine with us, as Jerry is nice and soulful on tracks like "Moody Woman", "When You're Alone", "I Forgot To Remember", "Brand New Me", "What's The Use Of Breaking Up", and "Walking Around In Teardroops". Nice cover, too – with Jerry standing in a pile of fake diamonds! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the great albums from Terry Callier's "second chapter" on record – a time when he was working for Elektra Records, and doing work that was a bit straighter soul than before – and also slightly jazzy as well! The record's kind of a mix of jazzy grooves and smoother soul – typical for the fusion division of Elektra at the time, where Callier's hard-to-peg work was relegated. There's some really great songs on the record – and although the arrangements sometimes lack the sensitivity of the Cadet scorings of earlier years, they're still pretty great from a modern soul perspective. Richard Evans is producing and arranging the session, and Terry's still got help from a lot of Chicago friends like Minnie Riperton, Eddie Harris, and Phil Upchurch – all of whom help to keep the album relatively strong. Titles include some really nice originals, like "African Violet" and "Butterfly", both of which are some of Terry's best compositions from the time – plus "Love Two Love", "Martin St Martin", "Street Fever", and "Be A Believer". CD

The final recording from the good Captain and his last crew, and one of our favorites. Sideways rhythms collide with arthritic guitar parts in a remarkable gumbo topped off by Don Van Vliet's unique lyrical vision. A modern classic! Includes "Ice Cream For Crow", "Semi Multi Coloured Caucasian", "Hey Garland, I Dig Your Tweed Coat", "The Past Sure Is Tense", "The Witch Doctor Life" and "81 Poop Hatch". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A record with a really beautiful title – and a sound that definitely lives up to the "Sailing Ice" on the cover! The music is very much in the best post-Coltrane mode – played by a group led by the great Japanese drummer Motohiko Hino, and featuring Mabumi Yamaguchi on tenor and Yasuaki Shimizu on soprano and tenor – two reed players who really express themselves with a great sense of spirituality, and lots of searching energy throughout. The tracks are mostly originals (save for a version of "Soultrane") – served up in freewheeling modal grooves, and peppered with sharp, soulful solos that search out bold new territory, but which never get too free and sloppy. The set was recorded live, but the recording quality is excellent – and titles include "Sailing Ice", "New Moon", and "Soultrane". LP, Vinyl record album

A record with a really beautiful title – and a sound that definitely lives up to the "Sailing Ice" on the cover! The music is very much in the best post-Coltrane mode – played by a group led by the great Japanese drummer Motohiko Hino, and featuring Mabumi Yamaguchi on tenor and Yasuaki Shimizu on soprano and tenor – two reed players who really express themselves with a great sense of spirituality, and lots of searching energy throughout. The tracks are mostly originals (save for a version of "Soultrane") – served up in freewheeling modal grooves, and peppered with sharp, soulful solos that search out bold new territory, but which never get too free and sloppy. The set was recorded live, but the recording quality is excellent – and titles include "Rio Rome", "Sailing Ice", "Milky Shade", and "New Moon". CD

A record with a really beautiful title – and a sound that definitely lives up to the "Sailing Ice" on the cover! The music is very much in the best post-Coltrane mode – played by a group led by the great Japanese drummer Motohiko Hino, and featuring Mabumi Yamaguchi on tenor and Yasuaki Shimizu on soprano and tenor – two reed players who really express themselves with a great sense of spirituality, and lots of searching energy throughout. The tracks are mostly originals (save for a version of "Soultrane") – served up in freewheeling modal grooves, and peppered with sharp, soulful solos that search out bold new territory, but which never get too free and sloppy. The set was recorded live, but the recording quality is excellent – and titles include "Sailing Ice", "New Moon", and "Soultrane". CD features bonus tracks "Rio Rome" and "Milky Shade". CD

The crowning achievement of the legendary Keith Hudson – a landmark album of instrumental dub that started out in very small circulation, but soon grew to become one of the most important albums of the genre! The sound here is spare, stark, and simple – but in the best way possible – as Hudson takes the music right down to its core, yet seems to create even more powerful flow in the process – revising the 60s Jamaican love of American soul into a more cosmic mode for the next decade – but all with a raw approach that makes each element come across with a great deal of focus. Titles include "Black Heart", "Pick A Dub", "Don't Move", "Blood Brother", "Michael Talbot Affair", "In The Rain", and "Satia". LP, Vinyl record album

This group is probably best known to the world by their name Lafayette Afro Rock Band – which was their first incarnation, when they were turning the Paris funky jazz scene on its ear in the early 70s! This album's of a later vintage, and the band's tightened up their act a bit – but the groove is still quite strong, and all the right elements are firmly in place. Lafayette Hudson's still on funky bass, Frank Abel lays down wonderful keyboards – and tracks include "Hi Fi Woman", "The Gap", "Funky Bunch", "Funky Lovin", "Quick", and "Passing Dreams". LP, Vinyl record album

Ferran Fages on electronics and Margarida Garcia on electric double bass. CD

Two massive 80s numbers with a futuristic electro sound! 7-inch, Vinyl record

An unlikely contender to the throne of king of electro, this early 80s effort from Eddie Grant helps to prop him up there quite nicely. Heavy synth driven grooves bubble along nicely with that crisp Linn Drum sound, and though this album benefited from some wider pop appeal, there's more than a bit of Eddie's reggae side showing through too! Includes the massive "Electric Avenue", plus "Killer On The Rampage", "Latin Love Affair", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Features AC Reed on vocals and tenor – with Casey Jones on drums, Larry Burton and Marvin Jackson on guitars, and Billy Branch on harmonica! LP, Vinyl record album

A nicely varied live set from this trio of key ECM players of the 80s – captured here with the same sense of sound as some of their studio recordings – which must have been something amazing to hear in person! Abercrombie's still very chromatic at this point in his career – playing fluid, colorful lines on guitar – but also using occasional guitar synthesizer passages too – more waves of sound than individual lines, which sounds especially nice next to more driving drums from Peter Erskine! Marc Johnson's ear for space is perfectly tuned for the proceedings – working at a level that's far beyond standard bassmanship – and titles include "Light Beam", "Drum Solo", "Four On One", "Samurai Hee Haw", "Furs On Ice", "Stella By Starlight", and "Innerplay". CD

A great set in the short run of classics that Carl Anderson cut for Columbia Records in the 1980s – albums that never cracked the charts that strongly at the time, but which have gone on to be remembered well over the years! On this record, Anderson nicely balances a tight groove with some looser, more personal vocals – in the process avoiding some of the stiffer cliches of the Columbia hitmaking crowd of the time – and reminding us that the label could still come up with classy, well-rounded soul efforts like this! Titles include "Let's Talk", "Can't Stop This Feeling", "Love On Ice", "Girl I Won't Take No", "Saving My Love For You", "Somebody Up There Likes Me", and "What Will Happen Now". Bonus cuts include "Let's Talk (UK rmx)", "Light Me", and "Can't Stop This Feeling (12" ext version)". CD

An incredible leap forward for Antibalas – a record filled with bolder sounds and deeper grooves than ever before – and one that even tops the already-great sound of their previous albums! The mix of modes here is really amazing – some of the group's familiar Afro-Funk at the core, but also a much wider range of influences too – bits of dub, choppy Latin guitar, Sun Ra-like organ lines, and gamelon-styled metal bits – all wrapped together in a groove that has some particularly hypnotic undertones! The set was produced by John McIntire, who's no doubt a big influence on the sound here – and the record really shatters any expectations you might have from the group – proof that they're way more than just another Afro Funk combo. Titles include "Beaten Metal", "Filibuster X", "Sanctuary", "Hilo", "War Hero", "ICE", and "Age". CD

A soul record we'd put up there with some of our favorites produced in Chicago during the early 70s – a gospel album from Pastor TL Barrett, but one that's gone on to legendary status among funk and soul collectors over the years! Barrett works here with his Youth For Christ Choir, of Mt. Zion Baptist Church – a south side ensemble that's filled with genuine spirit and passion, aimed towards lofty ideals – but set up with some deep secular soul production touches and instrumentation that keep things razor sharp throughout! The album was cut at the affordable Sound Market Studio – but behind the soaring, spirited lead and chorus vocal arrangements are players supervised by Chess Records sax player and arranger Gene Barge – with other Chess players Richard Evans and Phil Upchurch on the sessions too. Raw drums, grooving organ, and incredible bass lines lay the foundation, but it's the voices that really shine on this completely wonderful, totally essential set! Titles include "Like A Ship", "Wonderful", "It's Me O Lord", "Ever Since", "Nobody Knows", "Joyful Noice", "Medley/Dr. Watts Hymn & The Disciples Prayer" and "Blessed Quietness". LP, Vinyl record album

The first-ever Beastie Boys hip hop effort – a really great single done after their early punk material, and already a great showcase for their strong sense of humor! The gimmick here is great – the trio call up a number of Carvel Ice Cream stores, and ask to speak to various ice cream cakes – and the responses of the store staffers on the phone becomes most of the text of the song – over raw early hip hop breaks and beats! 4 tracks "Cooky Puss", "Bonus Batter", "Beastie Revolution" and "Cooky Puss (censored version)". 12-inch, Vinyl record

Think the Beastie Boys went straight into hip hop? No – back at the start, they were three guys with plenty of energy who dabbled in a number of modes that were brewing big in the New York scene of their youth – including punk rock and reggae, both of which are featured here along with early hip hop experiments! The set begins with their searing "Egg Raid On Mojo" – the moves through "Beastie Boys", "Transit Cop", "Jimi", "Holy Snappers, "Riot Fight", "Beastie Rvolution", and "Michelle's Farm". But maybe best of all, the album includes the incredible Cooky Puss EP – which features the original "Cooky Puss" song that has the group calling up Carvel Ice Cream, and harassing the staff by asking to talk to an ice cream cake! LP, Vinyl record album

The Black Pumas went from underground status to much bigger fame in just a short span of time – and this smoking second album will definitely continue that nonstop rise to stardom! As before, the group are heavy on older references to funk and soul, but given a lean, contemporary spin in the production – handled by Adrian Quesada, with all the richness he's forged on countless other projects over the years – so that the grooves and instrumentation are right on the money, and augmented by these slight sonic surprises that really keep things interesting! The vocals seem even better than before – raw, raspy, and very powerful – on titles that include "Mrs Postman", "Gemini Sun", "Sauvignon", "Angel", "Hello", "Chronicles Of A Diamond", "Ice Cream", and "More Than A Love Song". CD

The Black Pumas went from underground status to much bigger fame in just a short span of time – and this smoking second album will definitely continue that nonstop rise to stardom! As before, the group are heavy on older references to funk and soul, but given a lean, contemporary spin in the production – handled by Adrian Quesada, with all the richness he's forged on countless other projects over the years – so that the grooves and instrumentation are right on the money, and augmented by these slight sonic surprises that really keep things interesting! The vocals seem even better than before – raw, raspy, and very powerful – on titles that include "Mrs Postman", "Gemini Sun", "Sauvignon", "Angel", "Hello", "Chronicles Of A Diamond", "Ice Cream", and "More Than A Love Song". LP, Vinyl record album

The Black Pumas went from underground status to much bigger fame in just a short span of time – and this smoking second album will definitely continue that nonstop rise to stardom! As before, the group are heavy on older references to funk and soul, but given a lean, contemporary spin in the production – handled by Adrian Quesada, with all the richness he's forged on countless other projects over the years – so that the grooves and instrumentation are right on the money, and augmented by these slight sonic surprises that really keep things interesting! The vocals seem even better than before – raw, raspy, and very powerful – on titles that include "Mrs Postman", "Gemini Sun", "Sauvignon", "Angel", "Hello", "Chronicles Of A Diamond", "Ice Cream", and "More Than A Love Song". LP, Vinyl record album

A really unusual second chapter of the first album from 80s underground psych giants Black Sun Ensemble – material that was recorded for that initial record, but which was lost in all sorts of different ways over the years – finally unearthed and brought together here as a stunning second album, thanks to the research that went into a recent reissue of the debut! There's plenty of freak, fuzz, and drone going on here – the group in territory that just about nobody else was touching on the American scene at the time – very dark, heady styles that are completely different from the polished pop of the paisley underground, and much more like some of the more substance-altered psych that was beginning to emerge in the UK. Titles include "Mayan Dance", "Ice Breaker (alt)", "Red Ocean", "Blue Thunder", "Heart Of The Sky", "Ruby Eyes Of China", "Mandolin Winds", "A Chunk Of Mandolin Love", and "Dove Of The Desert". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Running Up That Hill", "Under Ice", "The Big Sky", "Hounds Of Love", "Cloudbusting", and "Hello Earth". CD

Nice compilation of tracks that features some fine (and famous) moments from one of our favorite Chicago soul singers, recorded for the Vee Jay and Mercury labels. Most of these songs are pretty hard to get a hold of on vinyl any more, and though the package is a bit low budget, this is still a great set of some of the Ice Man's best numbers. Tracks include "He Will Break Your Heart", "For Your Precious Love", "Find Another Girl", "I Don't Want To Hear Anymore", "I Stand Accused", "Let It Be Me", "Never Give You Up, "Hey, Western Union Man", and "Only The Strong Survive". CD

Features Joshua Abrams on "Some Other Time" and Marc Riordan on "Be What You Are" and "Ice Fishing". LP, Vinyl record album

Rootsy noise sweetened by raggedly alluring melodicism from Califone – still one of the most vital and idiosyncratic groups of their time! We can no long heap the experimentalist tag on Califone – if we ever really could. They've got quite a sonic blueprint laid down after 8 or so albums, but they do continue to surprise us. Roots And Crowns is a strange and compelling blend of crackling, somehow rural sounds & percussion, strummed and sometimes chugging guitars, pastoral found-sound atmosphere and singing that's no more or less part of the ether than any other element. A timeless piece of work! Tracks include "Pink & Sour", "Spider's House" (which references Brian Wilson at his furthest out stage), "The Eye You Lost In The Crusades" (which references Nick Drake a bit in the guitar), "A Chinese Actor", "Our Kitten Sees Ghosts", "The Orchids", "Black Metal Valentine", "Rose Petal Ear", "3legged Animals", "If You Would" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

African rhythms, jazzy instrumentation, rock inspiration, and a motherlode of funky sound library grooves from two of the best British maestros working in the business! The album's an early 70s gem from the KPM catalog – one of the most sought-after records ever issued by the label – and like the rest, never really made for public sale back at the time! Despite that humble origin, though, the grooves here are right up there with the funkiest work coming out from that side of the Atlantic at the time – a brilliant post-colonial blend of acoustic percussion, electric keyboards, and a fair bit of fuzzy guitar – all presented with a stripped-down, no-nonsense approach to the rhythms that's often funkier than work by some of the bigger names in the genre. Titles include "Heavy Water", "Ice Breaker", "Solid Satin", "Punch Bowl", "Frozen Steam", and "Black Light" by Alan Parker – and "Swamp Fever", "Range Rover", "Survival", "Afro Waltz", "Heat Haze", "Rocking Rhino", and "Afro Metropolis" by John Cameron. LP, Vinyl record album

A late 70s return to glory for the Captain – and a set that has a bit of a checkered path, in that it was originally done for Frank Zappa's Discreet label as the album Bat Chain Puller – then was held back, and mostly re-recorded for this seminal release on Warner Brothers! The set shows all the grown that Don Van Vliet had undergone during the decade – and also echoes his previous collaboration with Zappa – served up with instrumentation that is wonderfully complex, but still quite personal and earthy – a blend of composition, improvisation, and individuality that almost has Beefheart rivaling the work of Hermeto Pascoal during the decade, yet in a very different mode – given his vocal styles and occasional spoken musings! The Cap sings, plays harmonica, and blows soprano sax – alongside Jeff Moris Tepper on slide guitar and spell guitar, Bruce Lambourne Fowler on trombone, Eric Drew Friedman on Fender Rhodes and bass, Art Tripp III on marimba and percussion, Robert Arthur Williams on drums, and Richard Redus on slide guitar, bottleneck guitar, fretless bass, accordion, and guitar. Tracks include "The Floppy Boot Stomp", "Ice Rose", "Bat Chain Puller", "Candle Mambo", "Love Lies", and "Suction Prints". This 2LP version features a full bonus record of rare material – including "Love Lies (demo)", "Harry Irene (rough mix)", "Witch Doctor Life (demo)", "Brickbats (inst rough mix)", "Suction Prints (inst demo)", "You Know You're A Man (inst alt version)", and "When I See Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy (demo)". LP, Vinyl record album

A late 70s return to glory for the Captain – and a set that has a bit of a checkered path, in that it was originally done for Frank Zappa's Discreet label as the album Bat Chain Puller – then was held back, and mostly re-recorded for this seminal release on Warner Brothers! The set shows all the grown that Don Van Vliet had undergone during the decade – and also echoes his previous collaboration with Zappa – served up with instrumentation that is wonderfully complex, but still quite personal and earthy – a blend of composition, improvisation, and individuality that almost has Beefheart rivaling the work of Hermeto Pascoal during the decade, yet in a very different mode – given his vocal styles and occasional spoken musings! The Cap sings, plays harmonica, and blows soprano sax – alongside Jeff Moris Tepper on slide guitar and spell guitar, Bruce Lambourne Fowler on trombone, Eric Drew Friedman on Fender Rhodes and bass, Art Tripp III on marimba and percussion, Robert Arthur Williams on drums, and Richard Redus on slide guitar, bottleneck guitar, fretless bass, accordion, and guitar. Tracks include "The Floppy Boot Stomp", "Ice Rose", "Bat Chain Puller", "Candle Mambo", "Love Lies", and "Suction Prints". CD

A late 70s return to glory for the Captain – and a set that has a bit of a checkered path, in that it was originally done for Frank Zappa's Discreet label as the album Bat Chain Puller – then was held back, and mostly re-recorded for this seminal release on Warner Brothers! The set shows all the grown that Don Van Vliet had undergone during the decade – and also echoes his previous collaboration with Zappa – served up with instrumentation that is wonderfully complex, but still quite personal and earthy – a blend of composition, improvisation, and individuality that almost has Beefheart rivaling the work of Hermeto Pascoal during the decade, yet in a very different mode – given his vocal styles and occasional spoken musings! The Cap sings, plays harmonica, and blows soprano sax – alongside Jeff Moris Tepper on slide guitar and spell guitar, Bruce Lambourne Fowler on trombone, Eric Drew Friedman on Fender Rhodes and bass, Art Tripp III on marimba and percussion, Robert Arthur Williams on drums, and Richard Redus on slide guitar, bottleneck guitar, fretless bass, accordion, and guitar. Tracks include "The Floppy Boot Stomp", "Ice Rose", "Bat Chain Puller", "Candle Mambo", "Love Lies", and "Suction Prints". LP, Vinyl record album

The long lost Charizma tapes are unearthed and see the light of day! We're real suckers around here for the salad days of the early 90s, before "underground" became a tag line for savvy promoters and music industry folks, and just meant an emcee straight spitting creative rhymes over tight, spare beats, which is exactly what you'll find here. We're not entirely certain all these tracks were set to be released on the Hollywood Basic album that never saw the light of day, but we are certain they're all dope, and a lost, but very necessary, piece of the West Coast puzzle. Includes "Here's A Smirk", "Methods", "Jack The Mack", "Talk About A Girl", "Tell You Something", "Gatha Round", "Devotion", "My World Premiere", "Ice Cream Truck", "Fair Weathered Friend" and "Soon To Be Large". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best albums ever from saxophonist Chris Cheek – and a set that draws a lot from work by Brad Mehldau on piano and Fender Rhodes, and Kurt Rosenwinkel on guitar! Both of those players have risen to great fame on their own – but here, in a 1999 session that features Cheek on tenor and soprano, they've already developed a key sense of color and tone – adding a richness to the record that really holds up over the nicely long tracks on the session! The rest of the group features Matt Penman on bass and Jorge Rossy on drums – and titles include "Reno", "Ice Fall", "The Wing Key", "Granada", "Vine", "So It Seems", and "Not A Samba". LP, Vinyl record album