One of the coolest modern soul albums of the late 00s – Solange's soulful and quite creative Sol-Angel & The Hadley St Dream LP – with classic 70s soul spirit inflected numbers that still feel very much of the present day – this is a record that really should have took off in a major way! Titles include "God Given Name", "TONY", "Dancing In The Dark", "Soundcastle Disco", "Ode To Marvin", "This Bird", "Valentine's Day" and more CD

The Black Pumas went from underground status to much bigger fame in just a short span of time – and this smoking second album will definitely continue that nonstop rise to stardom! As before, the group are heavy on older references to funk and soul, but given a lean, contemporary spin in the production – handled by Adrian Quesada, with all the richness he's forged on countless other projects over the years – so that the grooves and instrumentation are right on the money, and augmented by these slight sonic surprises that really keep things interesting! The vocals seem even better than before – raw, raspy, and very powerful – on titles that include "Mrs Postman", "Gemini Sun", "Sauvignon", "Angel", "Hello", "Chronicles Of A Diamond", "Ice Cream", and "More Than A Love Song". (Deep Funk, Neo Soul) CD

The Black Pumas went from underground status to much bigger fame in just a short span of time – and this smoking second album will definitely continue that nonstop rise to stardom! As before, the group are heavy on older references to funk and soul, but given a lean, contemporary spin in the production – handled by Adrian Quesada, with all the richness he's forged on countless other projects over the years – so that the grooves and instrumentation are right on the money, and augmented by these slight sonic surprises that really keep things interesting! The vocals seem even better than before – raw, raspy, and very powerful – on titles that include "Mrs Postman", "Gemini Sun", "Sauvignon", "Angel", "Hello", "Chronicles Of A Diamond", "Ice Cream", and "More Than A Love Song". (Deep Funk, Neo Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

The Black Pumas went from underground status to much bigger fame in just a short span of time – and this smoking second album will definitely continue that nonstop rise to stardom! As before, the group are heavy on older references to funk and soul, but given a lean, contemporary spin in the production – handled by Adrian Quesada, with all the richness he's forged on countless other projects over the years – so that the grooves and instrumentation are right on the money, and augmented by these slight sonic surprises that really keep things interesting! The vocals seem even better than before – raw, raspy, and very powerful – on titles that include "Mrs Postman", "Gemini Sun", "Sauvignon", "Angel", "Hello", "Chronicles Of A Diamond", "Ice Cream", and "More Than A Love Song". (Deep Funk, Neo Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

A key addition to any collection of The Brand New Heavies! The set features remixes of some of the group's best tracks, plus a few older and rarer cuts, and some other favorites. Titles include "Mind Trips (BNH rmx)", "Bang", "Brother Sister (Angel rmx)", "Keep Together (Jan Kincaid version)", "O Fa Fu", "Keep It Coming", "Midnight At The Oasis", "Worlds Keep Spinning", "Close To You", "Country Funkin", "Dream On Dreamer (Angel rmx)", and "Forever (Soulpower rmx)". CD

A pop masterpiece from UK soul singer Lewis Taylor – easily his tightest album to date! The set's got a magical feel that reminds us strongly of our favorites from 70s radio on both sides of the Atlantic – warmly compressed instrumentation that slides in nicely alongside the vocals, sunnily grooving in a sound that's incredibly well-crafted, yet also extremely personal. The production is light years ahead of that on Lewis' other self-released albums – at a level that rivals the best studio work from LA or London in the early 70s, and which firmly pushes Lewis out of the indie Neo Soul ghetto, into a style that's much more in the vein of classic AOR pop. The whole thing's a real departure from Lewis' other work – which may turn off a few folks, but which has us appreciating his talents more than ever! Titles include "Send Me An Angel", "Listen Here", "Lost", "New Morning", "Yeah", "Please Help Me If You Can", "One More Mystery", and "Say I Love You". LP, Vinyl record album

A groundbreaking album by soul singer Lewis Taylor – his first self-released album, issued on his own after parting company from Island Records! The album's incredible – every bit as great as the albums Lewis Taylor 1 & 2 – and in fact even better, as Lewis has a lot more freedom here to explore his own ideas. The sound is a blend of compressed rhythm and keys, filtered with Lewis' excellent vocals – deeply soulful, and instantly captivating, steeped in a tradition that stretches back to Marvin Gaye, and which makes him one of the best underground soul singers alive today. Songs are sweet, slow, slinky, and seductive – coming off amazingly well, with a deeply soulful production style that's handled a heck of a lot better than the cover! In fact, if the silly cover art's making you worry that the album won't be great, even if you're a fan of Lewis' other work – don't worry, because the music is the thing that really matters, and the whole album here is top-shelf! Titles include "Send Me An Angel", "Stoned", "Shame", "Til The Morning Light", "Positively Beautiful", "Lovelight", and "Sheneverdid". LP, Vinyl record album

A real surprise from The Weeknd – and we don't just mean that because the album was dropped on the public with no announcement beforehand! The record's also a great evolution of the sound that's gotten such wide attention in a surprisingly short span of time – a bit of a concept album, in that the set's conceived as some alternate-universe sort of radio listen, complete with spoken bits from Jim Carrey at certain points – all helped out with production work from Max Martin and Oneohtrix Point Never! Tyler The Creator makes one wonderful guest appearance, but the set's definitely guided by The Weeknd's maturing genius throughout – on titles that include "Don't Break My Heart", "How Do I Make You Love Me", "Every Angel Is Terrifying", "Take My Breath", "Gasoline", "I Heard You're Married", "Less Than Zero", and "Best Friends". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most deeply soulful sets we've ever heard from singer Lizz Wright – a record that has an even more acoustic feel than before, which really opens up the sound nicely! Given the depth of Wright's vocals, this shift is a really great move – one that lets her really stand out front of the backings and push things strongly with her well-noted dynamic range. Instrumentation is usually acoustic guitar, percussion, and a bit of piano – and although there's also some keyboards listed in the lineup, these are definitely kept on the back-burner to preserve the acoustic soul of the set. Titles include "Another Angel", "Hey Mann", "I Idolize You", "My Heart", "Coming Home", "Thank You", "Song For Mia", and "Strange". CD

A baker's dozen from Grenique, Jaze, Chico DeBarge featuring Joe, Ol' Skool, Ricky Jones, Fa Sho, Phoenix Johnson, Angel Grant, Monifah, DJ Rogers Jr, Big Bub, Rachid, and Jeff Majors. (Soul, Neo Soul) CD