A fantastic tribute to the legendary Disco Spectrum series of compilations – a run of records that first burst forth at the end of the 90s, and showed the world that there was a huge amount of underground music to discover from the mainstream disco years! Disco Spectrum cuts aren't the ones you'll know from Saturday Night Fever – or from K-Tel compilations of the time – and instead, they represent the much deeper current of groove that was still burning bright away from the limelight, even while the more commercial disco crumbled into dust – music that was sometimes cut by artists who disappeared quickly, sometimes by older masters, and sometimes by talents who never fully got the respect they deserved. Both Joey Negro and Sean P have given us some great sets before, but this one is right at the top of their talents – filled with gems that include "Let Me Down Easy" by Rare Pleasure, "Spread Love" by Al Hudson & The Soul Partners, "Can't Shake Your Love (Larry Levan 12" mix)" by Syreeta, "Trinidad (special disco mix)" by John Gibbs & US Steel Orchestra, "Isabelle & The Rain" by Jo Boyer, "Don't Let My Rainbow Pass Me By (club 12" mix)" by Cloud One with Margo Williams, "Could Heaven Ever Be Like This" by Idris Muhammad, "I Don't Want You Back" by Ramona Brooks, "Hot To Trot" by Alfredo De La Fe, "Out Of My Hands" by Omni, "Under The Skin" by The Brothers, "Let Me Love You" by Bunny Mack, "Can You Get Down" by Universe City, and "I Want You For Myself" by George Duke with Lynn Davis. CD

London's always been one of the hippest cities in the world – but back during the postwar years, there was an especially wonderful outpouring of music on the scene – a rich array of new sounds and styles pulled from around the globe – as so many residents from crumbling British empire came to live in the UK! Musicians and listeners arrived in London with plenty of cultural baggage on hand – influences from the Caribbean, West Africa, and India too – plus other smaller scenes that once fell under the British banner, all now the fuel for the cultural fire that was happening in England! The title here tells plenty about the music being made in this newly-formed scene – bits of African highlife, Jamaican calypso, American jazz, Cuban Latin, and more – all filtered into the modernism of the 50s, and given a new twist that was decidedly urban as well. The package may well be the most impressive so far in this legendary series – and is certainly the one that moves the farthest past any sort of easy expectations or cultural conventions. Titles include "Women Police In England" by Mighty Terror, "My Sorrow" by West African Swing Stars, "Cricket Umpires" by Lord Kitchener, "Jordhu" by Caribbean Swing Band, "Trumpet Highlife" by Shake Keane, "Calypso Mambo" by George Browne, "Cuban Nightingale" by Buddy Pipp's Highlifers, "Kitch" by The Quavers, "Tabu" by Mona Baptiste, and "King Jimmy Foo Foo" by Tejan Sie with The West African Rhythm Brothers. (Global Grooves, Funky Compilations) LP, Vinyl record album