A live recording that reworks Mondo Grosso's Next Wave album – and adds in a lot of extra bits! The set's got the feel of a spacious amphitheater concert, but is filled with new mixes of Mondo Grosso's soulful club work – interspersed with a few additional tunes, all mixed together live in this unusual setting! Titles include "Motormouth", "Tornado", "Next Wave (live breaks)", "Anger (Norman Cook club)", "Star Suite (Shelter voc)", and "Everything Needs Love" – as well as "Porcelain" by Moby, "Down & Dirty (main voc)" by Richard F, and "Thrill Me Such A Thrill (Junior Jack club)" by Junior Jack. CD

A live recording that reworks Mondo Grosso's Next Wave album – and adds in a lot of extra bits! The set's got the feel of a spacious amphitheater concert, but is filled with new mixes of Mondo Grosso's soulful club work – interspersed with a few additional tunes, all mixed together live in this unusual setting! This part 2 features the tracks "Blaze It Up", "Shake Ya Body", "Discarga", "Shinin (Mondo Grosso rmx)", and "Blazilian Rhyme (Fearless mix)" – as well as a bonus disc with the tracks "Fire & Ice (Switch voc mix)", "Motormouth (2020 Soundsystem remx)", "Dancefloor Combat", and more live material! CD

A soaring set from Leon Bridges – a full length second album that's every bit as classic as his debut, but in a completely different way! Where Coming Home was maybe Leon's answer to the generation of Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke, Good Thing is more of a nod to the era of Maxwell and D'Angelo – but, as before, coming across with a vibe that's completely Bridges' own – this ebullient, bubblingly soulful quality that's completely sublime – and which has Leon's voice fitting perfectly with the mellow grooving beats, keyboards, and guitar. The singer's voice is maybe even better than before – sure to win over an even new wave of ears – and titles include "If It Feels Good Then It Must Be", "Bet Ain't Worth The Hand", "Bad Bad News", "Shy", "Beyond", "Forgive You", "Lions", "You Don't Know", and "Georgia To Texas". CD

A soaring set from Leon Bridges – a full length second album that's every bit as classic as his debut, but in a completely different way! Where Coming Home was maybe Leon's answer to the generation of Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke, Good Thing is more of a nod to the era of Maxwell and D'Angelo – but, as before, coming across with a vibe that's completely Bridges' own – this ebullient, bubblingly soulful quality that's completely sublime – and which has Leon's voice fitting perfectly with the mellow grooving beats, keyboards, and guitar. The singer's voice is maybe even better than before – sure to win over an even new wave of ears – and titles include "If It Feels Good Then It Must Be", "Bet Ain't Worth The Hand", "Bad Bad News", "Shy", "Beyond", "Forgive You", "Lions", "You Don't Know", and "Georgia To Texas". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the most hard-edged work we've ever heard from Alicia Keys – a great record to follow her new stripped-down, no-nonsense attitude – and maybe one that we could include with a bold wave of energy from the mainstream, in a new wave of pride and politics – which would include recent sets by Beyonce and D'Angelo too. The set features guest appearances by A$ap Rocky and Nas – and titles include "Blended Family", "The Gospel", "Pawn It All", "Kill Your Mama", "Illusion Of Bliss", "Girl Can't Be Herself", "Holy War", "Where Do We Begin Now", and "Work On It". CD

Sampha's a singer who's always hard to peg, but one who grabs you right away – with a voice that's one of the most unique, distinct, and powerful in contemporary soul music – and which deserves to be heard in all its brilliance on a record like this! We're not sure how to describe what we like so much – there's a raspiness at times that make his lyrics almost feel conversational and up-close, and a touch of a London accent that makes familiar words a bit more meaningful, and maybe a slight sense of warmth amidst it all – an indication that Sampha's never too full of himself, even though you might guess that from his image on the cover! Production and instrumentation is nicely understated – really letting the voice flow over the keys and other elements – on titles that include "Spirit 2.0", "Wave Therapy", "Only", "Rose Tint", "Inclination Compass", "Stereo Colour Cloud", "Jonathan L Seagull", "Satellite Business", "Time Piece", "Only", and "Can't Go Back". CD

Sampha's a singer who's always hard to peg, but one who grabs you right away – with a voice that's one of the most unique, distinct, and powerful in contemporary soul music – and which deserves to be heard in all its brilliance on a record like this! We're not sure how to describe what we like so much – there's a raspiness at times that make his lyrics almost feel conversational and up-close, and a touch of a London accent that makes familiar words a bit more meaningful, and maybe a slight sense of warmth amidst it all – an indication that Sampha's never too full of himself, even though you might guess that from his image on the cover! Production and instrumentation is nicely understated – really letting the voice flow over the keys and other elements – on titles that include "Spirit 2.0", "Wave Therapy", "Only", "Rose Tint", "Inclination Compass", "Stereo Colour Cloud", "Jonathan L Seagull", "Satellite Business", "Time Piece", "Only", and "Can't Go Back". LP, Vinyl record album

Sampha's a singer who's always hard to peg, but one who grabs you right away – with a voice that's one of the most unique, distinct, and powerful in contemporary soul music – and which deserves to be heard in all its brilliance on a record like this! We're not sure how to describe what we like so much – there's a raspiness at times that make his lyrics almost feel conversational and up-close, and a touch of a London accent that makes familiar words a bit more meaningful, and maybe a slight sense of warmth amidst it all – an indication that Sampha's never too full of himself, even though you might guess that from his image on the cover! Production and instrumentation is nicely understated – really letting the voice flow over the keys and other elements – on titles that include "Spirit 2.0", "Wave Therapy", "Only", "Rose Tint", "Inclination Compass", "Stereo Colour Cloud", "Jonathan L Seagull", "Satellite Business", "Time Piece", "Only", and "Can't Go Back". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic little set that looks at the huge wave of top-shelf AOR material recorded in recent years – part of a huge global re-awakening to the charms of the genre – often with results that are even groovier than the classic records of the 70s! One of the compelling things here is that the music isn't being made by big names on major labels – and instead is an almost-underground thing – but handled at a level that's completely faithful to the best Cali styles of the 70s – from sweet jazzy instrumentation right down to the perfect production styles to get the whole thing right. You'll recognize a few names here – and will hopefully discover a lot more too – as titles include "Tell Me" by William Sikstrom, "Quiet Storm" by Workshy, "Liberation Groove" by Incognito, "You Make My Life A Better Place" by Mamas Gun, "What You Deserve" by Chris Cauley, "See Me Slumber" by Young Gun Silver Fox, "Melt The Night" by Lucas Arruda, "All Smiles" by Jeremy Passion, "Walkin On Air" by Tomi Malm, "Good To Live" by Monkey House, "Thoughts" by Michael Carreon, "Dangerous" by Umii, "Hello Monday" by Briamarie, "The Greatest" by King, "Perish The Thought" by Ned Doheny, "Sweet Life" by Mike Champion, and "Don't Disturb This Groove" by Meshell Ndegeocello. (Funky Compilations, Neo Soul) CD