Dj Qbico usually gives us grooves from other parts of the planet – but here, he focuses on rare vintage singles from the US – but all tracks that borrow nicely from other styles around the globe! In other words, the set features American artists working with touches of Eastern, Mid-Eastern, African, or South American elements in their music – often in a cool hybrid that involves plenty of jazz or soul as well, and which, given that most of these are 45s, stand as precursors to longer-form musical experiments to come at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s. Titles on this part 2 include "Mambo Arribique" by Otis Freeman, "Champs Jerk" by M Ali, "Man Want Water" by Elmer Crumbley, "Funk Key" by Jacobs Kelly, "There Will Be Light" by Free Form Experiment, "Your Autumn Of Tomorrow" by The Crow, "Bo Did It" by The Hidden Cast, and "Honkey Tonk Junk" by Pervis Herden. LP, Vinyl record album

A tasty little 4 track sampler overflowing with great little grooves! The set kicks off with Port Authority's cover of Deodato's "Super Strut" – a great version of the funky classic that puts in a bit more horns than usual, but still keeps the driving groove of the tune intact! Leon Mitchison follows with the spacey club track "Love Is" – a killer number from the pre-disco years, and one that mixes together sweeter soul with a driving bassy groove! The Black Exotics cop the style of another great funk combo and jam hard and horny on "Theme Of Blackbyrds" – followed by the excellent "Butter Nut" by Black Truth Band, which jams and snaps along with heavy heavy drums on the bottom, and almost a marching groove on the top! 12-inch, Vinyl record

Sitar madness galore – and another fantastic entry in the Sitar Beat series – low on packaging, but heavy on exotic grooves! This volume may be one of the coolest in the run so far – as it's got 5 tracks that really go past the obvious – and offer up some great unusual variations on the grooviest sound of Bollywood in the old days! There's a bit of electronics on some of these tunes, making for an especially great sound – and titles include "Disco Cammata (edit)" by Kalyanji Anandji, "Pyar Karnewale (edit)" by RD Burman, "YOGA (edit)" by Kalyanji Anandji, "The Burning Train Theme (edit)" by RD Burman, and "Disco 82" by an unknown artist! LP, Vinyl record album

The first volume in the Motown Remixed project – and a vinyl EP that features 4 strong hip hop tracks! The sound here is a lot more soul-based than you'd expect – and really mostly just takes the older tunes and pumps them up with some more contemporary beats and bass, while still keeping the regular vocals in place – a good move in our book! Titles include "I Want You Back (Z-Trip rmx)" by Jackson 5, "I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Randy Watson Experience mix)" by Gladys Knight & The Pips, "ABC (Salaam Remi extended krunk-a-delic party mix)" by Jackson 5, and "Smiling Faces Sometimes (Futureshock main ingredient mix)" by Undisputed Truth. Also contains Z-Trip bonus beats! LP, Vinyl record album

A wealth of rare European grooves – most recorded in the late 60s and early 70s, all making their debut on CD! The package brings together previous vinyl-only reissues from the Sonorama label – 7" singles that feature material dug from German sound library recordings of many years back – all in a great blend of jazz, funk, soul, and bossa! Given the strength of the material, the collection may be the best release so far on Sonorama – and that's saying a heck of a lot, given the already-great titles the label has brought to the market. CD features two tracks appearing here for the first time ever – "Woe's All Over Me" by Jazz Orchestra Rob Pronk and "By The Help Of You & Me" by Ray Christoph's New Sound – plus "Happy Samba", "Summertime", "The Lady Is A Tramp", and "Windmills Of Your Mind" by Mark Murphy & Louis Van Dyke; "Baby I Love You", "Fever", "Cold Sweat", "I Got A Feeling" by Kadri Six; "Love Cage", "Hard Work", "Neptune's Walk", and "Scotch & Soda" by Orchestre Pete Jacques; and "Wordless Blues", "Soul Organ", and "The Very First Day" by Ray Christoph's New Sound. 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