A funky soul double-header – one that features live material both by Osaka Monaurail and the legendary Marva Whitney! The set starts out with a few tracks by OM – playing in that razor-sharp, James Brown-inspired groove that we love so much – easily the greatest contemporary JB-driven funk we can think of! Singer Ryo Nakata throws in a bit of vocals over the group's instrumental grooves – but then steps aside so that Marva Whitney can take center stage for the remaining three-fourths of the album – singing with the same raw fury as on her recent studio set with Osaka Monaurail! The sound here is incredible – easily some of the best funk-revival work we can think of, and the sort of record that should make Marva plenty proud after all these years. Titles include "New New Type Thing", "Evil", "I Made A Mistake", "It's My Thing", "Your Love Was Good For Me", "Things Got To Get Better", "What Do I Have To Do", and "Daddy Don't Know About Sugar Bear". (Soul, Deep Funk) CD

A set that's partly an album by massive funk trio Khruangbin, and partly a tribute to some of the musicians they worked with on a recent tour – as side one has the other performers in the lead, while Khruangbin gets plenty of instrumental space on the flipside! The group themselves turn in a great James Brown tribute in the mix of "Blind Man Can See It/It's The Monaurail" – and also serve up "Bin Bin", "Friday Moring", "People Everywhere", and "Number 4". Other titles include "Nobody Smokes Anymore" by Robert Ellis, "Woman Trouble" by Kelly Doyle, "At The Trailride" by Ruben Moreno, and "Don't Bother Me" by The Suffers. LP, Vinyl record album

A killer entry in this excellent series – and a set that feels like you've stacked up a whole batch of deep funk 45s, but all packed together in one great album – with a price that's a lot lower than buying some of those too-expensive limited 7" singles! There's plenty of heavy drums, raw breaks, and soulful vocals throughout – and titles include "Wind Up" by Cookin On 3 Burners, "The Scoop" by the Oscillators, "Saved" by Glenn Fallows, "On The Hook" by Misha Panfilov, "Something Wonderful" by Mike Bandoni, "Auras" by Gentle Nature, "Enough" by Ray James, "A Better Woman" by Cole James, "Seek & Destroy" by Great Revivers, "It's Gonna Be Alright" by Carlton Jumel Smith, and "Fleet Streak" by Kerbside Collection. LP, Vinyl record album

The title definitely gets it right – as this set's certainly a unique Christmas collection – one filled with original tunes in a funk and soul mode, all by artists who normally record for the Unique Records label! There's a nice retro soul vibe running through the set – a vibe that's similar to the recent deep funk direction that Unique has taken, and which makes the collection a great companion to some of the Holiday records from Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings! Titles include "Christmas Time Baby" by The Soul Snatchers, "When The Winter Comes" by Palace Fever, "Relax & Love" by Glen Anthony Henry, "These Little Things" by Al Supersonic & The Teenagers, "Blackout" by Impuls, "Beautiful" by The Sweet Vandals, and "Christmas Day With Me" by Laura Vane & The Vipertones. (Holiday Music, Deep Funk) CD

A really great package of contemporary funky cuts – put together in collaboration between the folks at Wax Poetics Japan and P-Vine Records – and filled with an international assortment of artists that all lean very heavily on the best spirit of 70s funk and soul! We love the albums by almost all of the artists in the set – but somehow, these individual cuts sound even better in the company of each other – running through a long set list of 17 tracks in all, with a very funky spirit throughout! Titles include "Chase The Dream" by Funkshone, "Don't Take It Too Hard" by Tuomo, "I Believe In Miracles" by Eddie Roberts & The Fire Eaters, "Where I'm At" by Push with Candi Staton, "Self Reliance" by The Liberators, "The Bouncer" by New Cool Collective, "Yellow Soul Force" by Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro, "Pick Up The Pieces (parts 1 & 2)" by Osaka Monaurail, "Above The Law" by Federation Of The Disco Pimps, and "This Time" by Baby Charles. (Funky Compilations, Deep Funk) CD