A great look at the changing tone on the American scene at the end of the 60s – that moment when Vietnam, social unrest, and many other problems weighed heavily on the country's consciousness – and made their presence manifest in all sorts of pop music as well! We're not talking about the familiar sounds of the Woodstock generation – but instead more mainstream artists who had never touched on politics or social issues before – but suddenly found themselves singing alongside the underground about the bigger problems of the day. This package is a superb look at that moment – put together by the team who've given us the great English Weather and Paris In The Spring collections for Ace – with the same care for choice of tracks, and a wealth of wonderful notes that really get at the nature of these unusual tunes. Titles include "Clean Up Your Own Back Yard" by Elvis Presley, "Wine In The Wind" by Anita Kerr Singers, "Paint Me Black Angels" by Eartha Kitt, "This Crazy World" by Paul Anka, "Questions" by Bobby Darin, "Do You Believe This Town" by Dean Martin, "Cardboard California" by Buddy Greco, "Cherrystones" by Eugene McDaniels, "Save The Children" by Teresa Brewer, "Welfare Hero" by Johnny Tillotson, "What Do We Do With The World" by Bing Crosby, "4th Of July" by The Beach Boys, "Mr Businessman" by Ray Stevens, "Paint America Love" by Lou Christie, "Hitchhiker" by The Four Preps, "Brand New Day" by Della Reese, "Saturday's Father" by The 4 Seasons, and "Southbound Jericho Parkway" by Roy Orbison. (Rock, Funky Compilations) CD

A much-needed look at this sometimes-missed chapter in Italian music – a moment when the Italo Club sound of the 80s had transformed into a scene that gave us some of the cleanest, leanest house music of the time! Earlier Italian imports had a big impact on the birth of house music in Chicago – and a few years later, those forward-thinking sounds were used to bring a needed revamp to Italian club as well – as you'll hear in these wonderfully-executed cuts that often have the best spare sounds of the US underground, mixed with some classic elements that warm things up in a mighty nice way! All volumes are filled with well-chosen cuts that never got the kind of attention they should have at the time – and titles on this third edition include "Illusion" by Optik, "Universal" by Leo Anibaldi, "Tramp Heart" by Green Baize, "Children Trip" by Deep Choice, "Deep Blue" by Deep Blue, "Walkin On The Moon" by Cosmic Galaxy, "Paranoia" by Golem, "Sweet Pieces (alt mix)" by Lonely Dance, "Ouverture" by Don Carlos, and "Dance To The House (unreleased edit)" by Neurostate. LP, Vinyl record album

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

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 huge amount of 12" singles, stuffed into one mighty nice 4CD set – maybe not the greatest of all time, but still pretty darn wonderful overall! The set does an especially great job of looking at a late 70s moment when some of the hipper soul artists were able to get the extra space of a 12" single to really open up their sound – grooves that move past the shorter space of a 7", and really do plenty in the process – often in ways that are much more interesting than some of the overplayed disco of the time. There's 43 long grooves on the set – all 12" singles – and titles include "Space Age" by Jimmy Castor, "You Are A Star" by Aquarian Dream, "Flashlight" by Parliament, "Good Times" by Chic, "Ten Percent" by Double Exposure, "I Should've Loved Ya" by Narada Michael Walden, "Fantastic Voyage" by Lakeside, "You're My Occupation (ext)" by Chaz Jankel, "Expansions" by Lonnie Liston Smith, "And The Beat Goes On" by the Whispers, "You Got The Floor" by Arthur Adams, "Do It Any Way You Wanna (Tom Moulton mix)" by People's Choice, "Do What You Wanna Do" by T-Connection, "Twilight (inst)" by Maze, "You + Me + Love" by Undisputed Truth, "More Bounce To The Ounce (parts 1 & 2)" by Zapp, "Now That We Found Love (disco mix)" by Third World, "Hi Tension" by Hi Tension, "Dancing In Outer Space" by Atmosfear, "Money's Too Tight To Mention" by Valentine Brothers, "Searching" by Change, and "Running Away" by Roy Ayers. 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

Jackson 5, move over – because the folks at Numero Records have uncovered a whole host of rare kid soul acts from the 70s – most of them a fair bit funkier than their Motown contemporaries! The tracks here all clearly follow the lead started by Michael and his brothers at the end of the 60s – but the music is way more than just a simple copycat of Jackson modes – as each of these artists have a really individual approach, and a heck of a lot of personality in their music – despite their youthful years. In true Numero fashion, most of the cuts here are from tiny little labels – issued only as singles back in the day, but produced with a great deal of enthusiasm for the music – and a confident, competent sound that's quite striking, given the age of the performers. The package comes with complete notes on the music – opening up a whole world of lesser-known kid soul acts – and titles include the amazing "Trust Your Child" by Patrizia & Jimmy, plus "I'm Not Ready For Love" by Promise, "One Is Enough For One" by Jack & the Mods, "Now That School Is Through" by Cindy & The Playmates, "Jersey Slide (part 1)" by 3 Stars, "You Are My Dream" by 3 Simmons, "Can't Let You Break My Heart" by Quantrells, "If You're Looking For Love" by Triads, "Yellow Ribbons" by Atons, "Sweet Pea" by Altyrone Deno Brown, "Time After Time" by Step By Step, "Time" by Otis The 3rd, and "Little Girl" by Michael Washington. CD

A set that steps out with a Curtis Mayfield reference in the title, but which goes into much heavier territory all – black rock, often mixed with a bit of funk, in the best tradition of some of the Hendrix-inspired groups who rose up at the start of the 70s! If you know the trippy psychedelic style of Merda, you'll get part of the vibe here – but as usual with Numero, the span is much wider-ranging overall – and the label's done a great job of uncovering a range of obscure African-American acts from the 70s who were firmly committed to the headier, heavier, fuzzier, freakier side of the spectrum! Titles include "I Can't Believe" by Flying Wedge, "Sweet Poison" by Iron Force, "Message To Planet Earth" by Solid Gold, "Ringing Bells (part 2)" by The Young Senators, "Rolling Love (part 2)" by Three Days Ahead, "It's A Dream" by Little Ed & The Soundmasters Band, "Funky Music" by The Basement, and "Chrystal Illusion" by Creative Unlimited. LP, Vinyl record album

A really wonderful entry in this excellent series – one that initially helped identify a really special strand in postwar music – then continue to provide rare and unique examples with new volumes like this! The music isn't really mambo or Latin at all – but the rhythms here are more sophisticated and modern than more blues-oriented work of the time – and pulled from a fantastic moment when things were really mixing up in the new indie recording scene of the postwar years! Bits of jazz, early soul, and other touches make these tunes really shine – all lively numbers that include both group material and solo singers too – in a killer set list that includes "Wanda" by The Heartbreakers, "You're So Good Looking" by Otis Smith, "Heartaches & Troubles" by Mr Bo, "Song Of Sadar" by Lawrence Peel & The Filatones, "Buddha's Boogie" by Dukes Of Rhythm, "Calvalry" by Marie Knight & Sister Rosetta Tharpe, "Evil One" by The Dundees, "Love For Sale" by Helene Polite, "Oscalypso" by Oscar Pettiford, "Mambo Blues" by Effie Smith, "Big Mary's" by Titus Turner, "Caldonia" by Monchito, "Ali Baba's Boogie" by Preston Love, "Canveral Rock" by The Blasts, "I Want You To Be My Baby Mambo" by The Royals, "Girl Of My Dream" by Frank Butler, and "My Beat Is 125th Street" by Eunice Davis. LP, Vinyl record album

Numero does it again – unleashing an amazing batch of work for the first time ever – all packaged in a very limited Record Store Day set! The collection features material that was pressed up at the tiny Boddie pressing plant in Cleveland – a wonderful range of local artists from the late 60s through the mid 80s – all served up with the usual Numero flair! The set's a rich discovery of sounds we'd never have heard otherwise – and although it's slanted heavily towards rare funk and soul, there's also some compelling indie rock sides too – especially some homegrown, dark-toned sounds from the 80s – clearly influenced by the styles in the UK underground. The set features 17 tracks in all – including "Don't Stop Smiling" by Jus Us, "Just A Dream" by Imperial Wonders, "Love Is On The Way" by Bill Spoon, "Let Me Go" by The Harmonics, "I'm Gonna Treat You Good" by The Donations, "Good For The Gander" by Hot Chocolate, "Woman You're Gonna Pay For This" by Wicked Lester, "The Voyage Of The Nautilus" by Russell Potter, and "Snakepit" by Berlin West. LP, Vinyl record album

Ultra-hip soul from the 70s – a brilliant collection of underground tunes that represents some of the best of the decade's indie scene! The title says "modern", but the groove here is also pretty darn deep – as many of the tracks on the set have nice touches of southern soul, despite the smoother 70s production overall. Vocals are extremely heartfelt, and most tracks are in a mellow or midtempo pace – making for a really wonderful batch of tunes that moves away from the more uptempo and clubby sounds you might hear on other modern soul compilations. This special LP pressing brings together tracks from the CD series – a number of which were never issued on vinyl, even back in the day – and two unreleased tracks appear here for the first time ever! Titles include "Gotta Be Loved (part 2)" by Herman Davis, "Never Felt This Way Before" by The New Experience, "Go Away" by The Hestitations, "Momma Had A Baby" by Street People, "Do You Really Love Me" by Darondo, "I Don't Play Games" by Nightchill, "Just A Little Ugly" by Gail Anderson, "It's The Same Old Story" by Act 1, "Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right" by The Mayberry Movement, "Shake Off That Dream" by Eddie Billups & The CCCs, and "If There Were No You" by The Natural Resources. (Soul, Funky Compilations) LP, Vinyl record album

Quite possibly one of the greatest funk compilations ever – and we're not just saying that because we're from the Midwest! The genius compilers at Jazzman spent years scouring the smaller cities of the American hinterlands – tracking down obscure musicians, long-lost labels, and nearly-gone master tapes – all to bring together 23 bits of rare funk that bristle with the same energy and excitement as the day they were first recorded! The package is incredible – not only filled with incredible tunes that somehow manage to push the boundaries and redefine our understanding of classic funk from the time, but also doing so in a package that's filled with liner notes that offer more information on the artists than probably their own mothers know! Plus, the set's also got some previously unissued numbers as well – making it a must-have for any funk fan, even if you've somehow managed to track down original copies of some of these choice bits! Titles include "Whip It" by The New Establishment In Soul, "Let's Do It Today (full version)" by The Us, "Pushin To The Top" by Markus Kelly & The Impassions, "Sissy Walk" by Billy Ball & The Upsetters, "Tell Her" by Fred Williams & The Jewels Band, "The Hatch" by The TMGs, "Boots Groove" by The Soul Tornados, "Po Boy's Dream" by Illinois Connection, "It's Not You For Me (live)" by Billy Joe Holloman, "Funky In Here" by Dayton Sidewinders, "Master Groove" by Henry Peters & The Imperials, and "A Day In The Life" by Chocolate Snow. CD

The night time's always the right time – at least when we've got music this great to see us into the small hours of the evening! The set's overflowing in warm 80s groove – some upbeat, some a bit more midtempo – all balanced on beats, basslines, and keyboards – but with a sense of soul on the vocals that really makes the whole thing come together! Some of these tracks were big back in the day, others are album tracks that fit perfectly in this blend of songs – a set of 13 titles that includes "Don't Give Up On Your Dream" by Lew Kirton, "You Are My Life" by Webster Lewis, "Sweet Lady" by Manhattan Rhythm, "I Get Romantic" by Booker Newbury III, "Can You Picture This" by The Keepers, "Just Can't Fight The Feeling" by YBS, "What's On Your Mind" by Janet Rene, "April Lady" by Wax, "Try A Piece Of My Love" by Clarence Carter, "Lost In Your Love" by Ritchie Family, "If You Were Mine" by Cheryl Lynn, and "Private Love Affair" by E'Lan. CD

The deepest sound of the legendary TK Records label in the 70s – music that shows the way the company was really helping to transform the sound of southern soul in the decade, and also open the door to a whole new range of styles too! The tracks here definitely have a mellow groove, but they're never sleepy – just set apart from the more disco-oriented hits on TK, thanks to a sophisticated approach to instrumentation and arrangements – at a level that still makes most of these cuts stand head and shoulder above mainstream soul of the time! You'll know a few artists from earlier, straighter material – and will discover a number of other rarer, much more obscure TK talents – in a great set list that includes "Confusion" by Leno Phillips, "Keep Her Happy" by Phillip Wright, "I Got Bills To Pay" by Johnny K, "Thousand Years" by Brand New, "If You Want My Love" by Jimmy Bo Horne, "You Can Be A Lady" by JP Robinson, "Girls Can't Do What The Guys Do" by Betty Wright, "Sleep On Dream On" by Raphael Munnings, "Tears Of The World" by Robert Moore, "The Silence That You Keep" by Milton Wright, "You Knock Me Out" by Wildflower, and "Love Insurance" by Gwen McCrae. CD

A deep dive into the work of a wonderful record label – the Strata imprint from Detroit at the start of the 70s – a company who served up some very spiritual sounds in the short time they were issuing records! Don't confuse Strata with Strata East – although the labels do have some similarity – as Strata also brought in a bit more electricity on some of its cuts, and some slight touches of funk as well – a very special brew in which the Detroit jazz underground of the time were mixing things up in so many different ways – really given a lot of freedom to explore styles that are still ahead of their time all these many years later! Key albums on Strata have been reissued in recent years, but the set also features some overlooked gems by more obscure artists too – titles that include "Maiden Voyage" by Ursula Walker, "Salsa (part 1)" by Fito Foster, "Time Is Wasting" by TJ, "Joy Road" by Lyman Woodard Organization, "All But Blind" by Mixed Bag, "Island Song" by Kenny Cox, "Face At My Window" by Sam Sanders, "People We Got To Do Better" by The Soulmates, "You're The One" by TJ, "Noh Word" by Contemporary Jazz Quintet, "Tune For LN" by Larry Nozero, "Where Is The Place" by Maulawi, "Saturday Night Special" by Lyman Woodard, and "Beyond The Dream" by Kenny Cox. LP, Vinyl record album

Really rare grooves from an incredibly obscure scene – and that's saying a lot, given how many global sounds have been circulating in recent years! The cuts here represent a unique outpouring of funky club styles from the nation of Surinam – tracks recorded by a handful of groups in the wake of their mid-70s independence – and as filled with as much joy and positive energy as you might imagine from such a political moment! The grooves are surprisingly great – upbeat funk, with lots of jazzy inflections – in a space that's somewhere between the sound of Fantasy Records in the mid 70s, and Capitol soul at the start of the 80s – tight, but never too slick – and as cool as it is classy. Lyrics are in English, and titles include "Sweet Dream" by Alwin Reingoud, "Groovy Weekend" and "Disco Party" by Erwin Bouterse & The Group Roetoe, "Try Try Try" and "You Are Gonna Miss Me" by Solat, "Funkin In Your Mind" and "Going Insane" by Sumy, "Here's To You" by Thunderstorm, and "Waiting For Your Love" by Usje Sukatma. (Global Grooves, Funky Compilations) CD