The True Tones provide soul singer Michelle David with some great backings here – a romping sort of groove on most tracks, and one that bristles with plenty of old school instrumental touches that seem to really spur the vocalist forward! Michelle's got a dynamic style that owes a lot to late 60s funk diva styles – a power and focus that really provides some great energy at the top of the group, and a vocal range that really crackles over the top when she lets loose! Titles include "Let Me Tell It", "Karma", "Peace", "Cold Cold World", "Little Girl", "That Is You", "Brothers & Sisters", "If You Don't Try", "More Grace", and "PUSH". CD

The True Tones provide soul singer Michelle David with some great backings here – a romping sort of groove on most tracks, and one that bristles with plenty of old school instrumental touches that seem to really spur the vocalist forward! Michelle's got a dynamic style that owes a lot to late 60s funk diva styles – a power and focus that really provides some great energy at the top of the group, and a vocal range that really crackles over the top when she lets loose! Titles include "Let Me Tell It", "Karma", "Peace", "Cold Cold World", "Little Girl", "That Is You", "Brothers & Sisters", "If You Don't Try", "More Grace", and "PUSH". LP, Vinyl record album

The Faithful Brothers are an Israeli duo, but one who come to their debut after years of collecting Northern Soul 45s – decades of listening, learning, and absorbing – all of which really shows through in this well-done debut! The pair work with a very full lineup of musicians – horns, Hammond, and even a bit of vibes – used like you might hear on some late 60s Detroit indie soul single, with soaring sounds over the romping grooves – all of which really do a great job of elevating the vocals! Yet since the Faithful Brothers themselves just handle instruments, they're also not slavish to the singer – and the album's equally strong on the instrumental tip as it is on the vocal one. Titles include "So Low", "Downtown Uptown", "Night Man", "The Town I Live In", "Joy", "They Don't Know", "Let's Break The Curfew", and "Tell Me One More Time". LP, Vinyl record album

The seventh album from prolific modern funky soul gurus The Baker Brothers – a tight, thunderous mix of vocals and instrumentals that range from rawly raucous numbers to sly little groovers! The group really is a well oiled engine at this point – after a good decade or so of activity. Time To Testify is up there with their best material – a record with a nice, live feel and excellent instrumentation for the group! Chris Pedley on bass and piano, Paul Young on sax and flute, Geoff Lai on guitar and lead vox, Rich Baker on drums & percussion, Ted Carrasco on drums and percussion, and Sott Baylis on trumpet, Rhodes, Hammond, clavinet and Moog. Includes "Make Your Move", "Painting Pictures", "Once I Had A Friend", "Patience", "Feeding Freddie", "Pieces Of The Puzzle", "Hang Loose", "The Bottom Rung", "The Young Patter", "Snap Back", "Head South", "Genki Strut" and more. 16 tracks on the CD version. CD

A new album from the great Willie West – an artist we love for his rare vintage New Orleans work of the 60s and 70s – still sounding surprisingly wonderful all these many years later! Willie's vocals have this raspy, honest charm that's totally great – and like Lee Fields during his revival years, West gets superb backing from a small combo of younger players who really appreciate the best roots of the music – tight but unpretentious grooves that feel just like a vintage 45, and suit Willie West to a T! The style is less New Orleans than it is a more righteous, sophisticated version of funky soul – one with some nice dark corners that really raise our opinion of Willie's talents – again with the sort of deeper vibe we love in the recent work by Lee Fields. Titles include "Slow & Easy", "Cold In The Storm", "She's So Wise", "The Devil Gives Me Everything", "Getting Down", and "I'm Aware Of What You Want". (Soul, Deep Funk) LP, Vinyl record album

Whomp! These guys bring it all down on the beat – hitting harder than Cassius Clay at the Rome Olympics in '60, packing bass, guitar, drums & percussion into one funky punch – pounding out a hard heavy groove all the way through their entire debut LP! Of course, these guys have the talent to do it right – sporting a connection to the fellow early oughties funk standard bearers Poets Of Rhythm that you can certainly hear in some of the album's more stoned-out grooves – and like that hip combo, the Whitefield Brothers maintain a strong mix of classic funky modes, with just the right touches of professional trippiness to push the whole thing over the top. An instant classic from El Michels, Bosco Mann, Neal Sugarman, Jay Whitefield and others who fly the flag for classic style underground funk – with tracks that include "Rampage", "Prowlin", "In The Raw", "Sol Walk", "Eji", "Thunderbird", "Weiya", and "Yakuba". LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool set, and one that mixes Afro Funk and Krautrock inspirations into a mad little groove of its own – thanks to plenty of cool keyboard work from David Nesselhauf! Most tracks just feature another drummer joining the leader – who also plays bass and guitar, while working through a host of different keyboard sources – and the tunes have some of the lean energy of percussion-driven cuts by Can, but more of the warmth that comes from some of the West African influences of the 70s. There's vocals on the record from Nessselhauf, but always processed and vocoded – usually acting just as one more electronic element – on cuts that include "The Void Phenomenon", "The Calling", "Fade To Grey", "Constellation Forming", "Now I Know", "Kosmich Blues", "Three Brothers", "Event Horizon", and "Raumschiff Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Heavy funk from around the globe – and a volume of this series that seems even more focused on classic cuts than contemporary ones – all pulled together in a wicked blend of sounds from Africa, South America, Australia, and even American scenes in Texas and Florida too! There's a solidly 70s vibe throughout – and even the few newer numbers have a sound that stands strongly alongside the older numbers – a vibe so rich we'll forgive the cover (and the series) for its slightly pandering title – and just get on with the work of digging the music in the grooves! Highlights include some great covers – Cymande's "Brothers On The Slide" by Sonny Benton & The Typhoons, Dexter Wansel's "Life On Mars" by Antipodelica, and Donny Hathaway's classic "Valdez In The Country" by The Cuba Libre All-Stars – and other titles include "Black Rite" by Mkali Bahari Orchesra, "Razor Blade" by The Sentinels, "Rotation" by Toshio Asukataei, "The Gold Coast" by Coconut 74, "Buckingham Palace" by Glenn Eden Set, and "Sao Paulo" by Nova Catalina Octet. LP, Vinyl record album