A wonderful look at the Compass Point Studios in Nassau – a force that was as important to the sound of grooves in the early 80s as Stax and Fame were to soul in the 60s! Compass Point was the brainchild of Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, but it offered up way more than just a reggae-styled approach to the music – and although the house band at Compass featured both Sly and Robbie, the overall sound was a groundbreaking mix of funk, punk, and post-disco elements! Compass Point was a key recording site for a number of leftfield acts in its early years – and this package does a great job of showing the way the studio left an undeniable imprint on the sound of its time. The booklet features very detailed notes on the studio, its scene, and its key players – and the CD features 13 great 80s grooves that include "Genius Of Love" by Tom Tom Club, "Dance Sucker (Francois K rmx)" by Set The Tone, "Obsession (Nassau mix)" by Guy Cuevas, "Padlock (Larry Levan mix)" by Gwen Guthrie, "River Niger" by Sly Dunbar, "Don't Stop The Music" by Bits & Pieces, "Spasticus Autisticus (version)" by Ian Dury, "You Rented A Space" by Cristina, "Adventures In Success (dub copy)" by Will Powers, "Whisper" by Chaz Jankel, "Born Under Punches" by Talking Heads, and "My Jamaican Guy (12" version)" by Grace Jones. CD

Numero does it again – unleashing an amazing batch of work for the first time ever – all packaged in a very limited Record Store Day set! The collection features material that was pressed up at the tiny Boddie pressing plant in Cleveland – a wonderful range of local artists from the late 60s through the mid 80s – all served up with the usual Numero flair! The set's a rich discovery of sounds we'd never have heard otherwise – and although it's slanted heavily towards rare funk and soul, there's also some compelling indie rock sides too – especially some homegrown, dark-toned sounds from the 80s – clearly influenced by the styles in the UK underground. The set features 17 tracks in all – including "Don't Stop Smiling" by Jus Us, "Just A Dream" by Imperial Wonders, "Love Is On The Way" by Bill Spoon, "Let Me Go" by The Harmonics, "I'm Gonna Treat You Good" by The Donations, "Good For The Gander" by Hot Chocolate, "Woman You're Gonna Pay For This" by Wicked Lester, "The Voyage Of The Nautilus" by Russell Potter, and "Snakepit" by Berlin West. LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent 3CD compilation of slept on Ninja Tune cuts – a diverse batch of tracks that go back about a decade to collect rarities, should-be classics and some unreleased material from the Ninja Tune canon – nearly 50 tracks in all! Funky club, stuttering left field glitch hop, folky electronic grooves, and riotous remixes galore! Includes tracks by Diplo, Blockhead, Spank Rock, Coldcut, The Heavy, Sixtoo, Amon Tobin, Roots Manuva and many more. Includes "Blazin" by Ghislain Poirier feat Face-T (Modeselektor rmx), "Fair Weather Friends" by Daedelus, "Donkey Ride" by Mr Scruff & Quantic, "Epistemology Suite 1 – Don't Fall" by Diplo, "Bloodstone" by Amon Tobin, "Chin High (Manuvadelics version)" by Roots Manuva, "Inside The Globe" by Airborn Audio, "Just For The Kick" by Coldcut, "Around The World" by Death Set, "Again With The Subtitles" by Yppah, "Atomic Moog" by Coldcut (Qemists rmx), "The Chart" by Super Numeri, "Melted Crayons" by Fog, "Sunday Seance" by Blockhead, "Say Goodbye" by Bigg Jus and tons more! CD

A 70s soul treasure chest! This excellent CD sorts through some incredible lost sides on the Atlantic catalog of the 70s – and it features an amazing selection of work by artists who only ever cut singles or one-off LPs for the label and its subsidiaries. The overall groove is sweet, mellow, and very soulful – and titles include "Just My Way Of Loving You" by Garland Green, "Let Me Show You" by Larry Wu, "I'm So Happy" by Prince Phillip Mitchell, "Come On, Let Me Love You" by Moses Smith, "Save Your Love For Me" by Vivian Reed, "Kiss My Love Goodbye" by Bettye Swann, "The Rising Cost Of Love" by Darrow Fletcher, "Baby Don't Hold Your Love Back" by Bridge, "You're Too Hot To Hold" by Barbara Lynn, "You Got The Best Of Me" by Ronn Matlock, "Love Bandit" by Patti & The Lovelites, and "Got To Get You Back" by Sons Of Robin Stone. 24 cuts in all – with loads of rare stuff! (Soul, Funky Compilations) CD