A killer collection of reggae remakes of famous soul and funk tunes – all served up from a later generation of the scene, which makes a nice change from some of the more ska and rocksteady collections of this nature! It's no secret that Jamaican music was initially given a strong inspiration from American soul – and even in this generation, when the Kingston scene had really found its own groove, other influences would still come into the music in a really great way – as you'll hear on these really cool reworkings of themes from Ohio Players, McFadden & Whitehead, Barry White, and others! The production of most of these cuts is great – different than some of the more disco-oriented material that would copy American work – more laidback, with some currents of lovers rock as well – and funky, but in a laidback way. Titles include "Midnight" by Willie Lindo, "Skin Tight" by Lloyd Charmers, "Strange Compulsion" by Sheila Hylton, "Moving On" by Leslie Butler, "Funky Rasta" by Ronnie Butler, "Crowded City" by The Messengers, "Chemistry Of Love" by Susan Cadogan, "Can't Stop Rasta Now" by Ras Midas, and "Deeper & Deeper" by Lloyd Charmers. (Reggae, Funky Compilations) LP, Vinyl record album

Music with a message – and a wonderfully spiritual groove, too – served up here in a killer collection that goes way past the obvious, and unearths an amazing collection of work from the 70s onwards! The set's not your usual batch of post-Coltrane or Impulse Records cuts – and instead, the music comes from a very deep array of American underground records from the 70s, as well as some rare European releases from that decade and later years, plus lost tracks from the vaults – all coming together in a set of tracks that's as mind-expanding as it is righteously progressive! We'd only ever heard a few of these numbers before – which makes the whole thing a huge discovery to our ears – and titles on this second volume include "Abeba" by Mabon Dawud Quintet, "Ain't Gonna Wait That Long" by Thomas Meloncon, "Song Of Deliverance" by Roy Hytower & The Crowd Pleasers, "Leigh Ann's Dance" by Sheila Landis, "Easy Tune For Dancing" by Now, "Mystic Sky" by Deep Jazz, and "Sandance" by All Williams Quintet Plus One. LP, Vinyl record album

A deep dip into the sound of the late 70s – served up by writer Jon Savage, an author who's first claim to fame was his work on UK punk – which makes him a perfect guide for the sounds of this generation! Yet the music here is way more than just punk, too – as Savage really gets at the spirit of the time by mixing together revolutionary late 70s classics with more down to earth cuts – show just how much was going on at the time, and how the late 70s was still a moment of great experimentation and new ideas, even past the world of mohawks and safety pins! As with the other great entries in this "year" series from Savage, the overall presentation is wonderful – richly detailed notes that show his keen sense of musical observation and understanding – and a blend of 46 fantastic cuts on 2CDs, with titles that include "No Bones For The Dogs" by Joe Gibbs, "Magic Fly" by Space, "Prophecy Revel" by Bo Jangles, "Soda Passing" by The Boys, "Neat Neat Neat" by The Damned, "Utopia Me Giorgio" by Giorgio, "Day By Day" by Generation X, "The Modern Dance" by Pere Ubu, "Warm Leatherette" by The Normal, "Heavy Manners" by Prince Far I, "Kings Lead Hat" by Brian Eno, "Being Boiled" by The Human League, "28/8/78" by Scritti Politti, "Tired Of Walking Tired" by The Diodes, "I Remember" by Suicide, "Never" by Penetration, "White Night" by The Lines, "Come Back Jonee" by Devo, "The Set Up" by Cabaret Voltaire, "Human Fly" by The Cramps, "Situation" by The Middle Class, "Hippie" by Suzannes, "Warrior In Woolworths" by X Ray Spex, "Hindu God Of Love" by Lipstick Killers, "All Night Party" by A Certain Ratio, "Spacer" by Sheila B & Devotion, and "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by The Slits. (Rock, Funky Compilations) CD

A deep dip into the sound of the late 70s – served up by writer Jon Savage, an author who's first claim to fame was his work on UK punk – which makes him a perfect guide for the sounds of this generation! Yet the music here is way more than just punk, too – as Savage really gets at the spirit of the time by mixing together revolutionary late 70s classics with more down to earth cuts – show just how much was going on at the time, and how the late 70s was still a moment of great experimentation and new ideas, even past the world of mohawks and safety pins! As with the other great entries in this "year" series from Savage, the overall presentation is wonderful – richly detailed notes that show his keen sense of musical observation and understanding – and a blend of 46 fantastic cuts on 2CDs, with titles that include "No Bones For The Dogs" by Joe Gibbs, "Magic Fly" by Space, "Prophecy Revel" by Bo Jangles, "Soda Passing" by The Boys, "Neat Neat Neat" by The Damned, "Utopia Me Giorgio" by Giorgio, "Day By Day" by Generation X, "The Modern Dance" by Pere Ubu, "Warm Leatherette" by The Normal, "Heavy Manners" by Prince Far I, "Kings Lead Hat" by Brian Eno, "Being Boiled" by The Human League, "28/8/78" by Scritti Politti, "Tired Of Walking Tired" by The Diodes, "I Remember" by Suicide, "Never" by Penetration, "White Night" by The Lines, "Come Back Jonee" by Devo, "The Set Up" by Cabaret Voltaire, "Human Fly" by The Cramps, "Situation" by The Middle Class, "Hippie" by Suzannes, "Warrior In Woolworths" by X Ray Spex, "Hindu God Of Love" by Lipstick Killers, "All Night Party" by A Certain Ratio, "Spacer" by Sheila B & Devotion, and "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by The Slits. (Rock, Funky Compilations) CD

6th volume in the great Mood Mosaic series, with a theme that focuses on swingin' female jazz singers – mostly of the light breezy Euro variety. There's loads of rare cuts on here by Sheila Jordan, France Gall, Alice Babs, Monika Linges, Flora Purim, Annete Peacock, and April Aloisio – plus tracks by other artists that have jazzy vocals, like stuff by Cal Tjader, Barney Wilen, and Sinatra. As usual, this Mood Mosaic comp's slightly different than the last one, but (also as usual) it's compiled with a lot of care, and features loads of hard to find tracks with a groovy clubby sound! CD

A killer collection of reggae remakes of famous soul and funk tunes – all served up from a later generation of the scene, which makes a nice change from some of the more ska and rocksteady collections of this nature! It's no secret that Jamaican music was initially given a strong inspiration from American soul – and even in this generation, when the Kingston scene had really found its own groove, other influences would still come into the music in a really great way – as you'll hear on these really cool reworkings of themes from Ohio Players, McFadden & Whitehead, Barry White, and others! The production of most of these cuts is great – different than some of the more disco-oriented material that would copy American work – more laidback, with some currents of lovers rock as well – and funky, but in a laidback way. Titles include "Midnight" by Willie Lindo, "Skin Tight" by Lloyd Charmers, "Strange Compulsion" by Sheila Hylton, "Moving On" by Leslie Butler, "Funky Rasta" by Ronnie Butler, "Crowded City" by The Messengers, "Chemistry Of Love" by Susan Cadogan, "Can't Stop Rasta Now" by Ras Midas, and "Deeper & Deeper" by Lloyd Charmers. (Reggae, Funky Compilations) CD