A really cool collection of cuts that we might never have encountered otherwise – all brought together in celebration of 20 years of work from the If Music shop, who clearly just keep on refining their ears over the years! There's so many cuts here that fall in a special space between familiar genres – jazzy instrumentation mixed with folksy vocals, electronic rhythms mixed with warmer instrumentation, ethnic instrumentation fused with jazzy expression, and blends that really keep things interesting throughout – especially as most of these cuts are nice and long, and really explore the ideas at their core! Titles include "We Are Not Invisible" by Ola Szmidt, "Big Kalimba" by Greetje Bijma Kwintet, "Fidji" by Christine Schaller, "Sunday Sea Improvisation" by Tamar Osborn, "Fall In To Me (alt version)" by Emanative & Liz Elensky, "Turkish Showbiz" by Atilla Engin Group, "Dennison Point" by Tenderlonious, and "At The Speed Of Light" by Sarathy Korwar. LP, Vinyl record album

If we had a shop like this in our neighborhood – we'd be broke! Fatback are (of course) the legendary 70s funk group whose records we've loved for decades – but what's not as well known is that they also ran a little storefront office known as the House Of Fatback, located in Queens, and home to some really funky music! The office not only served as headquarters for the group, but was also a place where they caught new talent, and kept one ear to the street for other artists to work with. In the years before Fatback themselves broke big, the group ran a label – also called Fatback – and recorded some excellent local talent on the New York scene – a mix of soul and early funk acts, handled with a level of quality that ranks right up there with the best indie soul of the late 60s. This great set features 16 tracks from the Fatback label, along with great notes that really get at their story – and contains a wonderful range of tunes that are all winners all the way through! Titles include "The Cat Walk" and "Little Bit Of Soul" by Gerry & Paul & The Soul Emmisaries, "You're My Everything" and "Who Will It Be" by Mary Davis, "Right Or Wrong" and "I Need You" by The Puzzles, "Why Don't You Let My Love Go" and "Got To Find A Way" by Jimmy Williams, "Put It In" and "Keep On Brother Keep On" by Johnny King & Fatback Band, and "Quiet Waters" by GP & The Soul Emissaries. CD

A killer little set that's as heavy as it sounds from the title – a wealth of rare material pulled from the studio of Detroit producer Dave Hamilton – a good deal of it previously unreleased! Hearing this set is like finding a pile of rare 45s stuffed in the back corner of a long-lost record shop – because although much of the work was never issued, it crackles with the intensity of the best funky 45s – lots of funky drums, offbeat guitar, and raspy soul vocals – produced with a real edge to all the work, so that all of the hardest elements of the tunes really come through in the mix! The work that was issued here came out on the TCB, Tayster, and New Day labels – and although the artists are often not well known, the work's got a really unified feel – thanks to the funky vision of Dave Hamilton. CD features 20 tracks in all – including "Brand New Girl (part 1)", "You're Wasting My Time (parts 1 & 2)", and "I Got Some (parts 1 & 2)" by Billy Garner; "The Grown Folks Thing" by OC Tolbert, "Party Time" by James Carpenter, "Going To The Moon" by Dave Hamilton, "Funky Trip" by Johnny Walker, "The Devil Is Gonna Get You" by The Future Kind, "Just A Mistake" by The Barrino Brothers, "Hunchin" by Gip Roberts, "Bump With Me" by The Webb People, "Sweet Thing (part 1)" by Bobby Dee, and "Can You Dig It" by Chico & Buddy. CD

A killer little set that's as heavy as it sounds from the title – a wealth of rare material pulled from the studio of Detroit producer Dave Hamilton – a good deal of it previously unreleased! Hearing this set is like finding a pile of rare 45s stuffed in the back corner of a long-lost record shop – because although much of the work was never issued, it crackles with the intensity of the best funky 45s – lots of funky drums, offbeat guitar, and raspy soul vocals – produced with a real edge to all the work, so that all of the hardest elements of the tunes really come through in the mix! The work that was issued here came out on the TCB, Tayster, and New Day labels – and although the artists are often not well known, the work's got a really unified feel – thanks to the funky vision of Dave Hamilton. CD features 20 tracks in all – including "Brand New Girl (part 1)", "You're Wasting My Time (parts 1 & 2)", and "I Got Some (parts 1 & 2)" by Billy Garner; "The Grown Folks Thing" by OC Tolbert, "Party Time" by James Carpenter, "Going To The Moon" by Dave Hamilton, "Funky Trip" by Johnny Walker, "The Devil Is Gonna Get You" by The Future Kind, "Just A Mistake" by The Barrino Brothers, "Hunchin" by Gip Roberts, "Bump With Me" by The Webb People, "Sweet Thing (part 1)" by Bobby Dee, and "Can You Dig It" by Chico & Buddy. CD

A killer little set that's as heavy as it sounds from the title – a wealth of rare material pulled from the studio of Detroit producer Dave Hamilton – a good deal of it never issued at the time! Hearing this set is like finding a pile of rare 45s stuffed in the back corner of a long-lost record shop – because although much of the work was never issued, it crackles with the intensity of the best funky 45s – lots of funky drums, offbeat guitar, and raspy soul vocals – produced with a real edge to all the work, so that all of the hardest elements of the tunes really come through in the mix! The album features one track appearing here for the first time ever – "Remember" by Chico – plus other rare tracks that include "Marriage Is A State Of Mind" by James Carpenter, "Soul Suite" by Dave Hamilton, "You Fool You Fool" by Prophet & His Disciples, "The Deacons" by Dave Hamilton, "Funky Trip" by Johnny Walker, "A Drop In The Bucket" by The Deacons, "Brand New Girl" by Billy Garner, "The Devil Is Gonna Get You" by The Future Kind, "Party Time" by James Carpenter, and "Grown Folks Thing" by OC Tolbert. LP, Vinyl record album

A much-needed look at the really magical world of music in France – a scene that's always seemed to exist in its own sort of space, especially during the late 70s/early 80s years when most of these tracks were recorded! The French scene had some famous free jazz at the start of the 70s, but there was also another strain of unique sounds that were beyond categorization or comparison – music that took some of the creative inspiration of jazz and turned it towards global sources, acoustic instruments, analogue electronics, and even French vocal styles – creating work that was not only years ahead of its time, but which also was often missed on the global market, because it was so hard to label and categorize! This set brings together some of the best of those moments – music that's maybe a great second step if you've already dug sounds on labels like Saravah or Futura/Marge – and the whole package is wonderful throughout – filled with titles that even we might have missed otherwise. Tracks include "Gaal" by Noco Music, "Les Crocodiles" by Catherine Derain, "Reve De Voyage" by Remy Couvez, "Sokoto" by Structures Sonores Lasry Baschet, "Loreley" by Pan Ra, "Mahabaratha Kali" by Adjenar Sidhar Khan, "Bujumbura Lyon" by Workshop De Lyon, "Arabia" by Dynamo, "Love Always" by Jef Gilson, and "Moving Waves" by Andre Fertier & Clivage. CD