A heavenly set of southern soul – a package that pulls together a wealth of rare and unreleased singles from the Malaco label – that important Jackson, Mississippi imprint that took on the deeper sounds of the 70s – after the Memphis and Muscle Shoals scenes were losing steam! Some of the artists here are ones who would have ended up on Stax or Volt, had the labels still been going at the time – and instead found a great home on Malaco, a company who also had a great legacy of work in southern blues, and really knew how to bring out the best in a strong-voiced singer! Yet despite that side of the label, the music here is all-soul all the way through – not some of the soul/blues hybrids that Malaco could do well, and instead amazing deep soul, handled with a new sort of sophistication for the 70s! The sound is wonderful throughout – and the set features loads of cuts we'd never heard before – 18 titles that include "Overflowing" by Jewel Bass, "Ain't No Love For Sale" by Tommy Tate, "Sour Love Bitter Sweet" by Joe Wilson, "Lovin On Borrowed Time" by Anita Mitchell, "Got To Find The Nerve" by Hank Sample, "Two Of A Kind" by Dorothy Moore, "Once Upon A Love Affair" by Chuck Brooks, "That's How Much I Love You" by Eddie Houston, and "Talkin About Love" by George Soule. (Soul, Funky Compilations) CD

A huge package of work from a time when the Jewel/Paula label was a strong force in underground soul – an imprint whose home base was down in Louisiana, but who also had a reach that went up to the Windy City as well! The material here is on the deeper side of the spectrum – some New Orleans modes mixed with other southern soul styles – often recorded with nicely earthy production that really makes the singers come across at their best! Titles include "I Can't Stand To See You Go" by Joe Valentine, "Messed Around & Fell In Love" by Ricky Allen, "Nothing Takes The Place Of You" by Toussaint McCall, "What Is Love" by Jimmy Dobbins, "Cover Me" by Ted Taylor, I Want Everyone To Know" by Fontella Bass, "My Baby's Gone" by Wallace Brothers, "You've Got Me Tamed" by Clay Hammond, "Loosen These Pains & Let Me Go" by Albert Washington, "We Got A Good Thing Going" by Roscoe Robinson, and "Sweet Little Woman" by McKindley Sandifer. (Soul, Funky Compilations) CD

An extremely eclectic selection of groovers – with that spiritual jazzy vibe that you'd expect from the London scene, and from the crates of the legendary Russ Dewbury. The compilation has a similar feel to the Freedom Time set – with a batch of tracks that move beyond the usual heavy funk numbers to include some excellent jazz vocal numbers, and some other more complicated tracks that have a sweet fusiony sound. Just about all the tracks on here are super-obscure, and you won't find them easily on original vinyl – nor in such a set as lovingly put together as this one! Titles include "Morning Spring" by Copeland Davis, "Afro Beat" by Jazz Techniques, "Let The Sunshine In" by Sons & Daughters Of Life", "If You Can Live With Yourself" by Dale Dennard, "Gang Progress" by Andre Ceccarelli, "Partido Alto" by Airto & Flora, "Pretty Bird" by Terea, "No Other Love But You" by Clarice Labbe, "Gemstones" by Jack Wilson, "Morning" by Lorez Alexandria, and "Frozen Tundra Lady" by Steamheat. Loads more, and packed with rare tracks! CD

An essential chapter of Miami soul – even if most of the work is appearing here for the first time ever! The set is a magnificent companion to Numero's Deep City collection of pre-TK Miami soul – but it's put together in such a way that it's almost a beautiful introduction to the south Florida sound on its own – served up in a batch of rare, unreleased tracks! The music is every bit as wonderful as you'd expect – Miami soul recorded at a time before cliches had started to hit that scene – and when the best artists down south were strongly resonating ideas from Memphis and Muscle Shoals with other elements borrowed from northern groups both funky and mellow. But even above the 20 great tracks on the CD, the package is amazing too – filled with notes on each group, a special appendix on Miami soul, a rare indie label discography, and a wealth of great images and photos – all layered lovingly into a full-color, 32 page booklet! Numero have really outdone themselves with this one – and the collection is way more than a part 2 to their previous package – more of a brilliant set of soul tunes on its own, complete with a booklet that's as beautiful as the music. Titles include "One Little Piece" by The Rollers, "Don't Be Surprised" by Lynn Williams, "No Way Out" by Clarence Reid, "What's In The Lovin" by Helene Smith, "Mr Lucky" by Betty Wright, "There Goes My Baby" by James Knight & The Butlers, "Do What You're Doin" by The Rising Sun, "Do Your Stuff" by Perk Badger, "Masterpiece" by Deep City Band, "Nasty Dog (part 2)" by The Nasty Dog Catchers, "Thank You Baby" by Betty Wright, "Your Love Won't Let Me Leave You" by Snoopy Dean, "The Pot Can't Talk About The Kettle" by Helene Smith, "Show Me What You Got" by Frank Williams & The Rocketeers, "Don't Be A Fool" by Clarence Reid, and "Knockin At The Wrong Door" by The Rollers. CD

The birth of Miami soul, and a beautifully done document of the rare Deep City label – home to Willie Clarke, Clarence Reid, and Betty Wright in the years before Alston and TK Records! Way before Miami soul started cracking the charts at the start of the 70s, Deep City was already putting the best parts in place – working with a tight roster of artists and an equally tight in-house band that rose from the ranks of Florida A&M's Marching 100 band – razor-sharp instrumentalists who helped forge a groove worthy to rival the sounds of Memphis, Muscle Shoals, and even the best of Detroit at the time – given that some of the work here has a much sweeter soul sound than other 60s southern soul. As usual, the Numero team have done an incredible job with the package – pulling out rare photos, personal stories, and just the right amount of information to breathe new life into the Deep City label and help it live anew. CD features 17 tracks in all – including "Paralyzed" and "Good Lovin" by Betty Wright, "Am I A Good Man" by Them Two, "Someone To Fulfill My Needs" and "I Love You Baby" by The Moovers, "I Am Controlled By Your Love" and "Willing & Able" by Helene Smith, "Good Thing (part 1)" by Frank Williams & The Rocketeers, "It's My Baby" and "The Upset" by Paul Kelly, and "Stay Away From My Johnny" by Freda Gray & The Rocketeers. CD

The birth of Miami soul, and a beautifully done document of the rare Deep City label – home to Willie Clarke, Clarence Reid, and Betty Wright in the years before Alston and TK Records! Way before Miami soul started cracking the charts at the start of the 70s, Deep City was already putting the best parts in place – working with a tight roster of artists and an equally tight in-house band that rose from the ranks of Florida A&M's Marching 100 band – razor-sharp instrumentalists who helped forge a groove worthy to rival the sounds of Memphis, Muscle Shoals, and even the best of Detroit at the time – given that some of the work here has a much sweeter soul sound than other 60s southern soul. As usual, the Numero team have done an incredible job with the package – pulling out rare photos, personal stories, and just the right amount of information to breathe new life into the Deep City label and help it live anew. CD features 17 tracks in all – including "Paralyzed" and "Good Lovin" by Betty Wright, "Am I A Good Man" by Them Two, "Someone To Fulfill My Needs" and "I Love You Baby" by The Moovers, "I Am Controlled By Your Love" and "Willing & Able" by Helene Smith, "Good Thing (part 1)" by Frank Williams & The Rocketeers, "It's My Baby" and "The Upset" by Paul Kelly, and "Stay Away From My Johnny" by Freda Gray & The Rocketeers. CD

Think you know the sound of Atlantic Records in the 60s? Think again – because this stunning series opens the vault to a huge amount of rare treasures from the legendary label! The package is amazing – and offers up rare tracks that were mostly only issued by Atlantic on singles – including some on the other imprints associated with the company – some by names we never even knew recorded for the label, others by bigger names, but represented here by obscure material that goes way past their hits – and which is ultra cool because of that. There's also a fair bit more deep soul than you might expect from the usual Atlantic mix – tremendous vocals, and often in less hit-heavy modes – which makes the whole thing a great revelation – and just one more reason to bow down and give even more expect to one of the key companies who helped soul music find a home in the 60s. Plus – as if that's not enough – the whole thing comes in a very cool 7" gatefold package – which emphasizes the from-singles nature of the collection. Volume 3 is overflowing with amazing sounds from the heart of the 60s – rare 45rpm tracks by Atlantic stars, Stax artists, and a few lesser-knowns too. Titles include "Hello Stranger" by The Capitols, "Help Me (parts 1 & 2)" by Ray Sharpe, "Long Distance Love" by Ted Taylor, "Lonely Soldier" by Mike Williams, "How Can You Babysit A Man" by Ned Towns, "Keep Looking" by Solomon Bourke, "I'm Sorry" by Fred Lowrey, "Please Uncle Sam" by The Charmels, "Share What You Got" by William Bell, "Reputation" by The Four Shells, "Me & My Baby" by Mary Wells, "Got No One" by The Delcardos, "Weak Spot" by Ruby Johnson, "Good Love Bad Love" by Eddie Floyd, "Bingo" by Ned Towns, "I Had A Dream" by Johnny Taylor, "I Can't Take It" by Ray Sharpe, "You Can't Love Them All" by The Drifters, "Believe It Or Not" by Rex Garvin & The Mighty Cravers, "Patch My Heart" by The Mad Lads, "She's The One I Love" by The Delcardos, "Find Me Somebody" by Bobby Womack, "Hello Stranger" by The Capitols, "So Much Love" by Ben E King, "Help The Bear" by Ted Taylor, and "I Feel A Sin Coming On" by Solomon Burke. (Soul, Funky Compilations) CD

A stunning array of rare soul from the Atlanta scene of the 70s – almost all of which appears here for the first time ever! The tracks were recorded for the great but short-lived family of labels that included GRC, Aware, and Hotlanta – but were never issued in the label back in the day, in part because of its need to close down quickly – no reflection at all on the quality of music, as the cuts here are superb throughout! Many of the numbers have that unique blend of Chicago talents and Atlanta roots that made the labels' recordings so unique – especially on this set, which is very heavy on mellower deep soul numbers that really transform the southern modes of years before, and push them into territory that's much more like laidback mellow soul from the east coast scene! The package has very detailed notes on all the cuts, and speculations on the cuts and their recording and release histories too – in a smoking set list that features 24 titles that include "Paper Man" by Alpaca Phase III, "Con Me" by Miss Louistine, "Love Making" by Jean Battle, "Keep On Walking" by The Steppers, "Is There Someone Else" by Deep Velvet, "When Will I Stop Loving You" by Lorraine Johnson, "Fight Fire With Fire" by King Hannibal, "I Need Me Some More Of You" by Dee Ervin, "My Peaceful Forest" by Dee Clark, "There'll Always Be Forever" by Lomita Johnson, "Loneliness Hurts Just A Little Bit" by Joe Graham, "Talk's Cheap" by The Surprise Sisters, and "Sure Could Do With Some You" by Shirlean Fant. (Soul, Funky Compilations) CD

Not much of a cover photo, but one of the most amazing collections so far from the Numero Group – a richly archival project that finally brings to light the lost efforts of the short lived Tap Records label! Tap was the brainchild of Jeremiah Yisrael – an ambitious producer, and legendary perfectionist – so much so that he often put more effort into these indie productions than you'd find at bigger label projects of the time! Most material here dates from the years 1981 and 1982, and the music is a mix of club, modern soul, boogie, and a bit of hip hop – nearly all of which hardly got any exposure at the time. The booklet not only tells the tale of the label and Yisrael's career, but also Numero's efforts in resurrecting these lost tapes from a very moldy near-death experience – a narrative that's almost as exciting as the music in the package. And the package is pretty great too – not only because of the 24 page, full color booklet – but also because of the supplemental book that reproduces lost sheet music and studio notes from the Tap sessions. Amazing stuff throughout – well worthy of another deep bow for the Numero team – with a total of 14 tracks that include "Breakout" and "We've Had Enough" by Arnie Love & The Lovettes, "Invisible Wind" and "Guilty" by Jackie Stoudemire, "Missy Missy Dee" by Missy Dee & The Melody Crew, "So Nice" by Annette Denvil, "Rub A Dub Dub" by The Fabulous 3 MCs, "Don't Stop Dancin" and "Run Away Hide From Love" by Jackie Stoudemire, and "Breakout" by Magnetism. Also features two tracks from 1971 – "Does He Really Mean It" and "Love Which Way" by Bonnie Freeman. CD

An incredible peek into a near-lost chapter of Chicago soul – the tiny Bandit label, home to The Majestic Arrows, one of the greatest indie harmony groups of the midwest in the 70s – plus a few other excellent soul artists! As with the other Eccentric Soul volume from Numero, this one offers far more than just an assortment of rare singles – and instead really digs deep to tell the true story of this tiny indie soul label. The music alone is totally great – as the set features a wealth of harmony soul tracks by The Majestic Arrows, plus other funk and soul tracks by Johnny Davis, Altyrone Deno Brown, and Linda Balintine – but the package is equally noteworthy – filled with the storied details of the unusual and exotic practices and lifestyles of the Bandit Records posse. The set features 17 full tracks – including "One More Time Around", "Another Day", "Doing It For Us", "Love Is All I Need", "Going To Make A Time Machine", "We Love Together", "The Magic Of Your Love", and "I'll Never Cry For Another Boy" by The Majestic Arrows; "We Have Love" and "Bring Back The One I Love" by The Arrows; "If You Love Me" and "Sweet Pea" by Altyrone Deno Brown; "You're A Habit Hard To Break" and "Glad About That" by Linda Balintine; and "You've Got To Crawl To Me" and "Boogedy Boogedy" by Johnny Davis. Plus, the set also features 3 rehearsal takes of tunes by the Majestic Arrows! CD

Killer soul from the Forte label of Kansas City – a tiny imprint, but a really great one too – and a company with an especially strong ear for the funkier side of the spectrum! This Numero set really gets back to the greatness that first made us fall in love with their collections in the first place – and brings together a really wonderful batch of rare singles that work perfectly as a whole album – no filler, no trans-genre stepping, and just a rock-solid batch of soul cuts that you'd have to dig deep in the American underground to find this strongly! The package is wonderful – plenty of notes, photos, and the usual Numero sense of history – but even without all that, the music is more than enough – a smoking pile of singles that includes "Whtever You Do" by Gene Williams, "I'm Gonna Get Your Thing" by Lee Harris, "Baby Your Love Is Amazing" by The Four Darlings, "I'll Never Be Satisfied" by Tony Ashley & The Delicates, "Baby Be Good" by The Rayons, "With Fun In My Life" by James Whitney, "Reaching For Our Star" by Sharon Revoal, "Daddy Don't Know About Sugar Bear" by Marva Whitney, and "Cry Night & Day" by The Fantasticks. CD

Great work from a label that was way out in the Cleveland scene of the 60s – but which bristles with some of the best energy of Detroit and Chicago at the time! The tiny imprint never cracked the big time, but not for lack of quality – as the cuts here have a sharp blend of deep soul vocals and tight arrangements – of the sort that we've always loved in the best smaller Chicago indies of the late 60s – particularly the kind of labels that were operating in the shadows of Chess and Brunswick. A core group of artists recorded most of this music – and make for a very unified feel throughout – especially given that even some of the numbers with solo singers still really maintain a group soul sort of vibe. And the overall quality of the package takes us back to the earliest days of projects like this from the Numero Group – right down to the very detailed story of the label's unique place in 60s soul music. Titles include "There's No You" by The Occasions, "Demanding Man" and "Two Can Make It" by The Sensations, "She Didn't Know" by Sammy Jones, "Ain't That A Heartache" and "Baby Don't Go" by Norman Scott, "You're Not Loving A Beginner" by Jesse Fisher, "How long Will It Last" by The Soul Notes, "Why" by The Springers, and "Party At Lester's" by Lou Ragland & His Bandmasters. 2CD set – with 40 tracks and a great booklet! CD

A really cool collection of cuts that were originally issued as 7" singles in recent years, but which work perfectly together here as a full length set that introduces the world to the deeply funky talents of Kevin Finigier! Kevin hails from Argentina, but has a deep love of American soul and funk, particularly the 60s variant that was big in the UK mod scene – and here, he serves up some wicked grooves that may well be some of the best contemporary work in this mode we've heard for years! The production is nice and gritty – really back at the level of the indie funky 45 scene from back in the day – and the set mixes instrumental numbers that have a wicked sharp explosion of sounds with some heavy vocal tracks that are equally nice. The Kevin Fingier Collective deliver the cuts "Addis Ababa", "Sunglasses After Dark", "El Basement", "Latin Dynamite", and "Cocktail De Medianoche" – and other tracks include "I Love Without A Love" by Jo Ann Hamilton, "Why Don't You Go Home" by Diane Ward, "Um Brilho Novo" by Josi Dias, "Kairo Bancou Moulu" by Abdoulaye Badiane, and "Don't Wanna Cry No More" by Gerri Granger. (Deep Funk, Funky Compilations) CD

There's an island on the cover, but the music is all-soul, all the way through – a great collection of classic mellow moments from years back, plus a few excellent choices from more recent years as well! Still, the island's a great image for the sound of the set – as the music has this kicked-back vibe that provides a nice sort of escape from the everyday world – heavenly soul sounds that come both from rare classics, and some of the best of the current underground – brought together with the kind of care and class we've come to expect from the folks at Expansion Records. A wonderful mix of tunes – with titles that include "Remember To Remember" by Rick Holmes, "Under The Moon & Over The Sky" by Angela Bofil, "Living So Fast" by Novocento with Danni Gottlieb & Dave Liebman, "I Choose You" by Paris, "You Are My Starship" by Norman Connors, "It Should Be you" by Ashanti Munir & Neil Letendre, "He Mandu (mother mix)" by Mouth Music, "Far Beyond" by Joey Negro & The Sunburst Band, "It's Like Air" by Sunny Hawkins, "Blending Colors" by Debra Debs, "Unconditional Love" by Greg Dean with Chantae Cann & Jarrod Lawson, "Mississippi Delta Blues" by Lamar Thomas with Carrie K Thomas, and "Peace In The Middle East" by Miri Ben-Ari & Kerri Chandler. CD

A totally wonderful collection of work from Malaco Records – an imprint that's best known for its southern soul, blues, and gospel recordings – but one that's also got a fair bit of modern soul in its catalog as well! In fact, Malaco was really instrumental in helping move forward the torch of southern soul at a time when other bigger labels like Stax, TK, and Atlantic were really losing steam – and the cuts here are the cream of the crop from a time when Malaco was turning out some amazing sounds that rival the best modern soul from scenes in Chicago, New York, or Philly! If you only know the deep soul side of Malaco, you'll really be stunned here – and the set does a great job of pulling out some lesser-known recordings from the label, in the best Free Soul tradition. Over 80 minutes of music – with tracks that include "I Can't Do Enough For You Baby" by Tommy Tate, "Groovin" by Power, "I Need Your Love" by Patterson Twins, "Girl Overboard" by Dorothy Moore, "Get Up & Dance" by Freedom, "You Used To Be Mine" by Mosley & Johnson, "Make It With You" by Ruby Wilson, "I'm For Real" by King Floyd, "Give Me Your Love" by GC Cameron, "When Can We Do This Again" by ZZ Hill, "Let Your Love Rain Down On Me" by Jewel Bass, and "Pillow Talk" by Fern Kinney. CD

The deepest of the deep from the American scene at the start of the 70s – groups so hip they weren't quite soul, weren't quite rock – and instead kind of a funky hybrid of both! After opening our ears to countless underground sounds from around the globe, the Now Again label turn back to some of the territory of its roots – the hinterland of groups who labored mostly in obscurity, but left behind a few funky 45s that have become the stuff of legend – and which show us that there was a much bigger psychedelic funk underground out there besides groups like Funkadelic or the early Ohio Players! As always with the label, the history is really given its due, thanks to very detailed notes – alongside titles that include "Down By The River" by Purple Snow, "There's A Wrinkle In Our Time" by 1984, "Function Underground" by We The People, "Corruption Is The Thing" by Creations Unlimited, "Jimi's Guitar Raps With The Bass" by Jimi Macon, "I'm A Man" by Cisneros & Garza Group, "Just Got To Be Free" by Black Conspirators, "BL Movement" by Blaclites, and "The Siesta Is Over" by The Revolution. CD

Detroit finally gets its funky due – stepping out from the shadows cast by endless Motown and Northern Soul compilations, and fixing its funky wagon to a great batch of rare indie groovers! The package brings together some real gems from labels that have barely, if ever, been reissued in the past – Sport, Big Hit, and Northern – and features tunes that run in vintage from the late 60s through the mid 70s. There's a really fierce funky 45 sort of feel going on here – with lots of deep deep bass on the best cuts, plenty of snapping drums, and vocals that have lots of raw and rough southern-styled touches! The set's got 17 tracks in all – with titles that include "Party On 4th Street" and "Mama Didn't Lie" by Black Nasty, "Going To Get It" by Calvin Williams, "Don't Leave Me To Be Lonely" by The Dramatics, "Funky Soul" by Dynamic Walton Brothers, "You Better Get Yourself Together" by Timmy Shaw & Chuck Holiday, "Keep On Stepping" by Black Nasty, "Bit Off More" by Lynn Day, and "Uncle Tom" by Herbie Thompson. CD

Northern Soul from a surprising source – and a killer batch of rare material from the mighty Memphis powerhouse of soul! Goldwax is probably best known for its deep soul work – most famously with James Carr – but in the mid 60s, the label cut some killer groovers that really match the vibe that was coming out of Detroit or Philly at the time – upbeat, uptempo singles that bristle with energy, yet also have some of the deeper tones you might expect from the label! Some tunes have a bit of a Memphis sound – depending on the singer – but the rhythms and production mostly recall modes from up north, and offer up a really surprising new chapter of this label that already won our deep respect many years ago. The folks at Kent have put together the package with some really wonderful notes – and the CD features two dozen numbers that will really open up your ears – tracks that include "Let's Talk It Over" by Spencer Wiggins, "Call On Me" by Percy Milem, "They Say" by The Ovations, "So Hard To Get Along" by The Lyrics, "What'Cha Gonna Do" by Phillip & The Faithfuls, "You Gotta Have Soul" by George Jackson, "A Man Is A Mean Thing" by Barbara Perry, "The Well's Gone Dry" by Dorothy Williams, "That's What I Want To Know" by James Carr, "I Slipped A Little" by Percy Milem, "Now Girl" by The Lyrics, "It's My Life" by Timmy Thomas, "Qualifications" by The Ovations, "To Me It's Storming" by George & Greer, "I Ain't Gonna Cheat On You No More" by Wee Willie Walker, and "If You Love Her" by Phillip & The Faithfuls. (Soul, Funky Compilations) CD

Here's a set that takes the "More" in its title very seriously – as the package is overflowing with way more rare work than we might have expected – six tracks from the Motown vaults that appear here for the first time ever, and many other that were unreleased at the time – showing just how much the Detroit soul powerhouse was able to capture some of the best female singers coming through its studios! If you're worried about these tracks being clunkers, put aside those fears – as even the lesser cuts at Motown are usually better than some of the hits at other labels – given the production strengths and studio talents, who do a great job here of making both the big names and the lesser-knowns sound wonderful. As always with Ace, there's a huge amount of detailed notes that really make the package great – alongside 25 tracks that include "Good Good Feeling" by Brenda Holloway, "Hold Me Oh My Darling" by Ann Bogan, "I Don't Want Your Promises" by LaBrenda Ben, "Don't Be Too Long" by Anita Knorl, "A Love So Deep Inside" by the Velvelettes, "Can't Figure It Out" by The Lewis Sisters, "I'm So Helpless" by Debbie Dean, "Nothing But A Fool" by Gladys Knight & The Pips, "My Daddy Knows Best" by Little Lisa, "Suck Up" by Oma Heard, "This Love I've Got" by Martha & The Vandellas, "Never Trust A Man" by Chris Clark, "When I Was In School" by Hattie Littles, and "All I Could Do Was Cry" by Yvonne Fair. (Soul, Funky Compilations) CD

A heavenly set of funky tracks from the indie scene of the 70s – titles that were all recorded as singles for the gospel market, but which have a fair bit of funk in the rhythms! These tunes all have massive appeal well beyond their spiritual message – heavy drums, amazing basslines, and nicely gritty instrumentation that sets these cuts up right next to funky 45 treasures from the mid 70s – but which also gives them a slightly different feel, too – thanks to some uplifting messages in the lyrics, which also means that the vocal styles are nicely changed up from more standard funk-based lyrics! The blend is wonderful, and completely captivating – and we'd not heard most of these cuts before digging into the collection – which goes every bit as deep as the Good God gospel/funk collections on Numero. Titles include "If You See Me Doing Wrong" by Wearyland Singers, "I Don't Want To Be Alone" by Allen Gauff Jr, "Troubles Of The World" by The Christian Harmonizers, "Save A Seat For Me" by Vocal Aires, "Blackman Keep On Doing Your Thing" by The Original Christian Harmonizers, "Days Are Just Like People" by Zella Jackson, "I've Got Power In My Mind" by Preacherman Isidore Womack, and "Who's Your Boss" by Pearl Farano & The High Lites Of Joy. CD

The later years of the Sound Of Memphis studio – cuts from a time when the legendary deep soul powerhouse was trying on some of the newer modes from the end of the 70s! The work here is a real lost slice of Memphis soul – music from a time when the heyday of Stax and Hi Records had long passed, but smaller indies like SOM were going strong – and able to capture the shifting sound in the great soul city – as singers worked in the sorts of funky club and boogie modes you'd more regularly associate with New York or Chicago! The quality level is surprisingly great – especially since there's a nicely indie vibe to these cuts – not polished disco rehash, but the sort of underground club material that we've always loved from reissues on labels like Numero or Soul Cal – coming here from the surprising source of Memphis. Even more importantly, almost all this material never saw the light of day at the time – since the SOM connections to bigger labels had faded – so the whole thing's like a time capsule, taking you back to some real under-exposed days on the Memphis scene! Titles include "Dream Girl" and "Groove With A Feeling" by Freedom Express, "You Can Bet I Can Get You Yet" and "What You Do For Love" by Lee Moore, "Ridin" and "Attraction" by Erma Shaw, "Cold Blooded Sally" by Fran Farley, "New Lang Syne" by Kannon, "I'll Be Around" by The Jacksonians, "Gone" by Vision, "We Need Love" by Donald O'Connor, "Tighter Tighter" by Demetrius & Takelia, and "Don't Fight It" by Louis Williams. CD

Not really the house of ages – given that most of these cuts are so rare, they're only making their first appearance here – but a great little collection that reminds us that there's still so much to discover in the funky underground of the last few years of the 20th Century! Jeremy Newell really knocks it out of the park with this one – and comes up with a deep, soulful collection of house tracks from the farthest reaches of the scene – either work that only appeared on very obscure singles, or didn't even make it past tape back in the day – leaping forth here with a wickedly groovy sound that's more than worth the wait. Titles include "Take Me Higher" by Jimi Polo, "I Promise (more beats for passion mix)" by Mark Rogers, "Keep On Pressing (KOT orig mix)" by Sean Grant, "More I Get" by Teleport feat Russell Patterson, "Yo Razor" by Arts & Craft with Razor Cain, "Don't Run Away" by Soul Dhamma, "When I See You (tight voc)" by Frank Youngwerth with Ernie, "Freak It (Tony Humprhies inst mix)" by Johanna, "Mainline (Roger S Ego trip mix)" by Tribal House, "We Can Make It (unreleased dub)" by UBQ Project, and "Deeper (Benji Candelario's deeper than deep unreleased mix)" by Susan Clark. CD

Deep, deep disco selected by Johnny "D" DeMairo – one of the more pivotal underground club music figures of the past couple decades, via his role in setting up the Henry Street imprint – here putting together an incredible set of the rare disco greatness! This the the expansive, floor-shaking, genre-straddling stuff that inspired the house and clubby soul scenes to come – and it's one of the best compilations of harder-to-find disco that's we've gotten our hands in years. The setlist features a divers mix of famous and lesser-remembered names – with styles ranging from straight forward disco stormers to strains of earlyish electro and 80s grooves – benchmark singles and inventive productions that bridge the eras! Tracks by Cerrone, Kasso, Skyy, The System, The O'Jays and more! Disc One of the 2CD edition feature 19 tracks mixed masterfully: "Ride On The Rhythm" by Mahogany feat Bernice Watkins, "Time For Live" by The Brooklyn, Bronx & Queens Band, "It's Passion" by The System, "Spank" by Jimmy Bo Horne, "Call Me" by Skyy, "Dance For Every" by Gaucho, "We're On The Right Track" by Ultra High Frequency and more. CD Two features 13 unmixed disco jams: "This Time Baby" by The O'Jays, "How To Win Your Love" by Spencer Jones, "Dub Till We Drop" by La Fluer, "I've Got To Find A Way" by Zena Djonay, "Think Fast" by Pamela Joy and more. CD

The funky third volume of the Living In The Streets series – and easily the best in this great series – a really hard and heavy batch of rare funk tunes that pushes past the cliches of the title to come up with an all-solid batch of tracks that's sure to please any fan of deep funk. Loads of great little groovers from a range of different labels – organ jazz meets heavy soul vocals meets dancing bassline funk, hard drums, heavy riffing, and beyond – all wrapped up together with a sound that never lets up. Tracks include "Mary Jane" by Bobby Rush, "Bustin Outta The Ghetto" by Carlos Malcolm, "I'm A Good Woman" by The Generation, "Dance Girl" by The Mighty Tom Cats, "Peace Love Not War" by Johnny King with The Fatback Band, "The Truth Shall Make You Free" by King Hannibal, "I'm Wishin" by Lorez Alexandria, "I've Known Rivers" by Gary Bartz, "Viva" by Jade, "Seeds Of Life" by East LA Car Pool, "Starvin" by Winfield Parker, and "He Called Me Baby" by Spanky Wilson. CD

Deep southern soul from the Sounds Of Memphis label – with some incredible stuff that for the most part never has seen official light of day before now – compiled by Dean Rudland for Kent UK! Kent has mined the vaults of Sounds Of Memphis for a series of solid compilations, and it's surprising how much more continues to be discovered considering the continual high quality! A solid majority of the tracks are prime 60s & 70s southern soul – with some early 80s records later on on the set that with a contemporary sound, though still committed to a true soul style! Includes "Pity A Fool" by Carl Sims, "I Don't Want No One Way Love" by Dan Greer, "Stop Boy" by Fran Farley, "So Cruel" by Barbara And The Browns, "Teardrops" by William Bollinger, "Play The Game (Pt 2)" by Version, "Make It Easy On Yourself" by Demetrius, "When I Look Inside" by Takelia Kelly, "It's Hard To Say No" by George Jackson & Linda Lucchesi, "Save My Love" by Billy Cee & The Freedom Express and more. (Soul, Funky Compilations) CD

A reverent snapshot of the spiritual & soul jazz emanating from the Mainstream label in the early 70s – a well curated set featuring great numbers by Frank Foster, Blue Mitchell, Hadley Caliman, Roy Haynes and other giants of the scene! The material comes from a time in Mainstream label history when it was essentially relaunched as a jazz label, following some the psyche era rock albums of the previous few years. Soulful jazz sounds from a spiritual realm as well as some in a jazz funk mode, and excellent material all the way! 12 great tracks in all: The sprawling opener "The Loud Minority" by Frank Foster, "Mi Hermano" by Blue Mitchell, "Up And Down" by Harold Land, "Watercress" by Hadley Caliman, "Kamili" by Buddy Terry, "Senyah" by Roy Haynes, "EW Beautiful People" by Frank Foster, "Little One" by Hadley Caliman and "Petits Machins" by Johnny Coles/ CD