Athur Baker was a producer with a slightly bumpy path in the 80s, but there's no denying his impact on music at the time – particularly the way he had of funneling sounds from the streets to the dancefloors in the mainstream! Baker was one of the first to really have an ear for both hip hop and other styles of grooves – super-sharp on the right electro elements, yet with a richer understanding of soul, R&B, and club – all of which he brings to work here, on versions of tracks that have all the excitement of a special take on the tune from the clubs back in the day! This 2LP package features 14 classic mixes by Baker, with titles that include "Big Love (ext rmx)" by Fleetwood Mac, "Sun City (last rmx)" by Artists United Against Apartheid, "Running Away (Arthur Baker rmx)' by The Colourfield, "C'Est La Vie (ext rmx)" by Robbie Nevil, "Out Of Touch (club version)" by Daryl Hall & John Oates, "Living In A Box (dance mix)" by Living In A Box, "IOU (mega mix)" by Freeez, "Walking On Sunshine (12" version)" by Rockers Revenge, "Soweto (rmx)" by Jeffrey Osborne, "A Love Supreme (jazz in the house rmx)" by Will Downing, "Message Is Love (cupid mix)" by Arthur Baker & The Backbeat Disciples with Al Green, "Ever Fallen In Love (club senseless)" by Fine Young Cannibals, "Buffalo Stance (1/2 way 2 house mix)" by Neneh Cherry, and "Planet Rock (12" voc version)" by Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force. LP, Vinyl record album

Athur Baker was a producer with a slightly bumpy path in the 80s, but there's no denying his impact on music at the time – particularly the way he had of funneling sounds from the streets to the dancefloors in the mainstream! Baker was one of the first to really have an ear for both hip hop and other styles of grooves – super-sharp on the right electro elements, yet with a richer understanding of soul, R&B, and club – all of which he brings to work here, on versions of tracks that have all the excitement of a special take on the tune from the clubs back in the day! This 4CD set comes in a huge book-style package, with plenty of notes – and features 43 classic mixes by Baker, with titles that include "Big Love (ext rmx)" by Fleetwood Mac, "Sun City (last rmx)" by Artists United Against Apartheid, "Running Away (Arthur Baker rmx)' by The Colourfield, "C'Est La Vie (ext rmx)" by Robbie Nevil, "Out Of Touch (club version)" by Daryl Hall & John Oates, "Living In A Box (dance mix)" by Living In A Box, "IOU (mega mix)" by Freeez, "Walking On Sunshine (12" version)" by Rockers Revenge, "Soweto (rmx)" by Jeffrey Osborne, "A Love Supreme (jazz in the house rmx)" by Will Downing, "Message Is Love (cupid mix)" by Arthur Baker & The Backbeat Disciples with Al Green, "Ever Fallen In Love (club senseless)" by Fine Young Cannibals, "Buffalo Stance (1/2 way 2 house mix)" by Neneh Cherry, and "Planet Rock (12" voc version)" by Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force. CD

Nice one – a nice batch of funky sountrack material, culled from classic Indian "brownsploitation" action films from the 1970s – and the music's every bit as wild and funky as you'd imagine. The bottom groove is classic 70's funk, as you might hear in an American action film from the time, but then there's also some fantastic elements of Indian music thrown in – like funky sitar, extra percussion, and cool synthesizers. Plus, some of the tracks have additional production work by The Automator, and extra beats by DJ Shadow, to extend the funkiness of the originals. The whole thing's very lavishly packaged, with great graphics, and a nice book that has lots of images from the films. Some of the titles (which were added recently, since this is incidental music) are a bit weak – like "Punjabis, Pimps, & Players", "Fear Of A Brown Planet", "Fists Of Curry", and "The Good, The Bad, & The Chutney" – but believe us, the music is stone cold funky, and very very nice! Some good breaks, and lots of groovy funky sounds that you'd never hear on this side of the Pacific. (Global Grooves, Funky Compilations) CD

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

Amazing music from the golden years of Ethiopian Music – a set of tracks that will take you beyond the music of Mulatu, into a wealth of other talents from the scene at the same time! The sound here is incredible – a mix of heavy funk, spacey jazz, and other exotic touches all coming together – a unique sort of sound that's beyond referent, and which is easily some of the freshest music on the planet back in the 70s! The vinyl-only collection pulls tracks from different volumes of the Ethiopiques CD titles – and offers up a strong focus on the funkiest and grooviest numbers from that legendary series. Tracks include "Muziqawi Silt" by Wallias Band, "Hasabe" by Ayalew Mesfin, "Antchin Yagegnulet" by Tamrat Ferendji, "Amlak Abet Abet" by Asselfetch Ashine & Getenesh Kebret, "Temeles" by Alemayehu Eshete & Hirut Bequele, and "Aynotchesh Yerefu" by Samuel Belay. (Global Grooves, Funky Compilations) LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic trip through the archive with Volcov – even if most of the cuts here are a bit more recent than those that usually get archival status! And yet in a way, many of these cuts almost went to the archives directly – especially in this digital age for modern soul and club, where so many great singles and albums don't make it onto vinyl – and fade fast in the fast rush of new music hitting the internet. That's why we love collections like this so much – as Volcov's done a great job of grabbing the best bits from the past decade or so, and weaving them together as a strong reminder of how much wonderful soul music is being created on this planet – most of it still waiting to be discovered. There's a few older bits here, but most tracks are contemporary – and titles include "Caterpillar" by Rebirth, "All That Glitters" by Carleen Anderson, "Let The Music Play" by Collective Peace, "Spiraling Prism" by Ian O'Brien, "Ori Space" by Ron Trent, "Turn It Around (Eric Lau rmx)" by Ruth Koleva, "Planet Birth (Xantone Blacq rmx/Volcov edit)" by Intuit with Andy Bey, "Lawra (Volcov edit)" by Tony Williams, "Blue Room (Kaidi Tatham's shokazulu rmx)" by Quentin Kane & Simon Sheldon with TK Blue, "Finding The Peace" by Skymark, "I Put A Spell On You" by Honey Sweet with Cindy Mizelle, and "After Life (part 2)" by Harry Whitaker. CD

From the end of the 70s onward, the Italian Black Saint record label offered up some of the most high quality spiritual and avant jazz of the time – really taking over where American record companies had dropped the ball, and allowing a huge wave of new energy from both older musicians and a younger generation who might never have gotten the right level of exposure, had Black Saint (and related Soul Note imprint) stepped into the scene! This package offers up some of the coolest cuts from Black Saint – and has an especially strong focus on the work that the label did to carry forward older spiritual sounds, especially those first unlocked on Impulse Records – a legacy that really comes through strongly here. Titles include "Love On A Far Away Planet" and "Mayan Temples" by Sun Ra, "Song For Mozambique/Sea Of Faces" by Archie Shepp, "Guitar Vibes" by Karl Berger, "Tap Dancer" by Oliver Lake, "Ode To The Flower Maiden" by John Carter, "Mama Marimba" by Joseph Jarman and Donh Moye, "Sixth Sense" by Don Pullen, "Hattie Wall" by World Saxophone Quartet, "Laja" by Muhal Richard Abrams, and "Metamusician's Stomp" by Andrew Cyrille & Maono. LP, Vinyl record album

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 mighty nice collision of sounds – and one that really gets at the special spirit of music on the left side of the scene at the start of the 80s! Sure, punk broke things open in the late 70s – but a few years later, that initial shock gave way to a much more fluid, experimental sort of scene – one in which different sounds and styles could resonate with each other in a really great way – some barriers between rock and soul forever taken down, and the door from the artier side of the spectrum open to bring some fresh ideas into the mainstream! Writer Jon Savage was a very important part of the scene at the time – and here, he recalls the musical moment not just with a great array of tracks that leap between genres, but also with well-penned notes that get at the thought behind the tunes included on the 35 track set. Titles include "Hydraulic Pump (part 2)" by P Funk All Stars, "We're So Cool" by Au Pairs, "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force, "Don't Make Me Wait" by NYC Peech Boys, "Poor Old Soul (part 2)" by Orange Juice, "Sound Of The Crowd" by Human League, "Underground" by The Bizarros, "Twist & Crawl" by The Beat, "These Days" by Joy Division, "The Apartment" by Giorgio Moroder, "She's Lost Control" by Grace Jones, "More Bounce To The Ounce" by Zapp, "Flight" by A Certain Ratio, "Euthenics" by Modern Eon, "Too Many Creeps" by Bush Tetras, "How We Gonna Make The Black Nation Rise" by Brother D with Collective Effort, "Mack The Knife" by Psychedelic Furs, "Pictures" by Josef K, "Adventures On The Wheels Of Steel" by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, "Art On 45" by Royal Family & The Poor, and "Our Love" by Donna Summer. (Rock, Funky Compilations) CD

A mighty nice collision of sounds – and one that really gets at the special spirit of music on the left side of the scene at the start of the 80s! Sure, punk broke things open in the late 70s – but a few years later, that initial shock gave way to a much more fluid, experimental sort of scene – one in which different sounds and styles could resonate with each other in a really great way – some barriers between rock and soul forever taken down, and the door from the artier side of the spectrum open to bring some fresh ideas into the mainstream! Writer Jon Savage was a very important part of the scene at the time – and here, he recalls the musical moment not just with a great array of tracks that leap between genres, but also with well-penned notes that get at the thought behind the tunes included on the 35 track set. Titles include "Hydraulic Pump (part 2)" by P Funk All Stars, "We're So Cool" by Au Pairs, "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force, "Don't Make Me Wait" by NYC Peech Boys, "Poor Old Soul (part 2)" by Orange Juice, "Sound Of The Crowd" by Human League, "Underground" by The Bizarros, "Twist & Crawl" by The Beat, "These Days" by Joy Division, "The Apartment" by Giorgio Moroder, "She's Lost Control" by Grace Jones, "More Bounce To The Ounce" by Zapp, "Flight" by A Certain Ratio, "Euthenics" by Modern Eon, "Too Many Creeps" by Bush Tetras, "How We Gonna Make The Black Nation Rise" by Brother D with Collective Effort, "Mack The Knife" by Psychedelic Furs, "Pictures" by Josef K, "Adventures On The Wheels Of Steel" by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, "Art On 45" by Royal Family & The Poor, and "Our Love" by Donna Summer. (Rock, Funky Compilations) CD

A tremendous entry in this wonderful series – a set that proudly proclaims its contents with the "NOW" on the cover! Back when the Spiritual Jazz series first started on the Jazzman label, the music was mostly relegated to material of the John Coltrane generation and the generation that followed – but in the past decade or so, there's been a huge explosion in new artists that explore the deeper, more righteous currents of jazz – music that's pulled in from the farther reaches of free improvisation, to righteous, message-oriented styles that often mix modal rhythms with more exploratory solo passages. Yet this new generation is hardly slavish to the sounds of Impulse Records – as they've really moved beyond, and have used a globe's worth of influences and new 21st Century concepts to bring fresh spirit to the music – opening things up in ways that have made this new movement one of our greatest sources of inspiration in recent years. This double-length entry is a fantastic overview of the sounds that are currently reshaping the planet – and titles on volume 2 include "Flute Song" by Wildflower, "Slow Sweet Burn" by Abeeku, "Palms To Heaven" by The Cosmic Range, "Nova" by Menagerie, "Avo's Tune" by Teemu Akerblom Quartet, "Paris" by Jonas Kullhammar, "Vessels" by The Jamie Saft Quartet, "What Do I Tell My Children Who Are Black "by Angel Bat Dawid, "Trane's Groove" by Carla Marciano, "For Coltrane" by Steve Reid Foundation, "Empty Streets" by Vibration Black Finger, and "Memory Ritual" by The Pyramids. LP, Vinyl record album

Includes themes from Popeye The Sailor, Mighty Mouse, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, The Bullwinkle Show, The Jetsons, Magilla Gorilla, Johnny Quest, Atom The Ant, Space Ghost, Speed Racer, Pebble & Bamm-Bamm, Captain Planet, and more! (Soundtracks, Funky Compilations) CD

A fantastic collection of work from a real golden age in hip hop – a period that you'll probably guess from the image of the Native Tongues posse on the front – served up here in a compilation that brings together classics from De La Soul, The Jungle Brothers, Monie Love, and many others! The set list is superb – and while most of the tracks are well-remembered gems, and not the kind of rare cuts we usually hear from Ace Records – taken together, they're a tremendous reminder of a time when hip hop really came alive – bursting with wit, wisdom, and a whole new sense of musical imagination! As usual with Ace, the liner notes and other details are great – making this way more than just a slap-dash mix of hits – and titles include "You're Not Coming Home (Mase's funkay recall mix)" by Groove Garden, "Age Ain't Nothin But A #" by Chi Ali, "Bonita Applebum" by Tribe Called Quest, "Sunshine Men" by Freestyle Fellowship, "Peachfuzz" by KMD, "K Sera Sera" by Justin Warfield, "It's A Shame" by Monie Love, "Doin Our Own Dang" by Jungle Brothers, "OPP" by Naughty By Nature, "Doowutchyalike" by Digital Underground, "A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays" by De La Soul, "The Choice Is Yours" by Black Sheep, "All For One" by Brand Nubian, "My Definition Of A Boombastic Jazz Style" by Dream Warriors, "Mama Gave Birth To The Soul Children" by Queen Latifah with De La Soul, "Where I'm From" by Digable Planets, and "We Run Things (It's Like Dat)" by Da Bush Babees. (Hip Hop, Funky Compilations) CD

An ear-opening set of Japanese jazz from a time when that nation's scene was really taking off – a period in the 70s when all sorts of new artists and new ideas were really flying around – and leaving behind a huge recorded legacy that's been mostly out of reach for us in the west! Japan always had a few big names in jazz that got exported overseas, but the work here is from some of the smaller names who were still turning out incredible music – much of it only issued on vinyl, and not reissued later – brought together here with copious notes that really tell you a heck of a lot about the music! There's definitely a post-Coltrane vibe going on – lots of spiritual elements, mixed with both moments that are funkier and more soulful, and others that are a bit more freewheeling – often stretched out on extended tracks that really let the artists take off and find their space. Titles include "Black Nile" by Hideyasu Terakawa, "Kirisame" by Ryusei Quartet, "Honey Sanba" by Katsuyuki Itakura, "Cumulonimbus" by Shigeharu Mukai, "Song Of Island" by Yasuhiro Kohno Trio + One, "Phoebus" by Hiroshi Murakami & Dancing Sphinx, "Morning Tiede" by Kohsuke Mine, "Kemo Sabe" by Masao Nakajima, "Song For Hope" by Aki Takase, "Planets" by Masaru Imada Trio + 1, "1/4 Samba" by Tatsuya Nakamura, "Acoustic Chicken" by Koichi Matsukaze, and "Cumorah" by Eiji Nakayama. CD features bonus tracks – "Wolf's Theme" by Seiichi Nakamura, "Burning Cloud" by Ryojiro Kurusawa, and "Groovy Samba" by Hideo Shiraki. CD

A set that goes back to the old school – but the old school of the late 80s/early 90s, not the early days of the South Bronx – in a very cool collection of cuts that bring together hip hop, club, and a bit of mainstream soul – all from a time when musical styles were really percolating together! The track list speaks for itself, and features classics that include "Back To Life" by Soul II Soul, "Too Blind To See It" by Kym Sims, "Big Fun" by Inner City, "My Definition Of A Boombastic Jazz Style" by Dream Warriors, "People Everyday (metamorphosis mix)" by Arrested Development, "They Reminisce Over You" by Pete Rock & CL Smooth, "Where I'm From" by Digable Planets, "Hey Ya" by Outkast, "What U Waitin 4" by Jungle Brothers, "Soul Flower" by Brand New Heavies with Pharcyde, "Push It" by Salt N Pepa, "Can I Kick It" by Tribe Called Quest, "Apparently Nothin (soul river mix)" by Young Disciples, "Always There (David Morales mix)" by Incognito, "Groove Is In The Heart" by Deee-Lite, and "Feel So Good" by Mase. LP, Vinyl record album