... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A fantastic bit of female funk from the 70s – and a set that was recorded in Germany by a very exotic singer! The album is Asha Puthli's first – and includes some unusual interpretations of work by JJ Cale, John Lennon, Bill Withers, and George Harrison – plus a great tune of her own – set to these cool backings that have lots of spacey electric modes blended with smoother funk passages – kind of a precursor to later Munich disco modes, but with a slower, slinkier feel. Asha's voice is very weird – a bit in the "love to love you baby" mode, and with a range of sounds that moves up and down the scale almost as much as Minnie Riperton. The record's got a nice mix of jazzy arrangements, and Asha's unique high-pitched vocals work great on tracks like "Lies", "Right Down Here", "I Dig Love", "Truth", "I Am A Song", "Let Me In Your Life", and "This Is Your Life". CD

A fantastic bit of female funk from the 70s – and a set that was recorded in Germany by a very exotic singer! The album is Asha Puthli's first – and includes some unusual interpretations of work by JJ Cale, John Lennon, Bill Withers, and George Harrison – plus a great tune of her own – set to these cool backings that have lots of spacey electric modes blended with smoother funk passages – kind of a precursor to later Munich disco modes, but with a slower, slinkier feel. Asha's voice is very weird – a bit in the "love to love you baby" mode, and with a range of sounds that moves up and down the scale almost as much as Minnie Riperton. The record's got a nice mix of jazzy arrangements, and Asha's unique high-pitched vocals work great on tracks like "Lies", "Right Down Here", "I Dig Love", "Truth", "I Am A Song", "Let Me In Your Life", and "This Is Your Life". LP, Vinyl record album

A masterpiece of spacey soul by the great Asha Puthli – a really unique 70s singer who has this incredible vocal range, and a great way of using it amidst slinkily soulful tracks – a bit like Minnie Riperton, or maybe like some of the Sylvia Striplin work with Roy Ayers! The sound here is handled by Dieter Zimmermann – a German producer who adds in all these great keyboards that go perfectly with Asha's vocals – often hitting a midtempo pace that's quite different than some of the more disco-based material she'd record later on in the 70s. Titles include the standout break track "Space Walk", which is one of our all time favorite obscure soul tracks – and other tracks include "Wonder Why", "Hello Everyone", "Flying Fish", "The Devil Is Loose", "Good Night", and "Say Yes". LP, Vinyl record album

A masterpiece of spacey soul by the great Asha Puthli – a really unique 70s singer who has this incredible vocal range, and a great way of using it amidst slinkily soulful tracks – a bit like Minnie Riperton, or maybe like some of the Sylvia Striplin work with Roy Ayers! The sound here is handled by Dieter Zimmermann – a German producer who adds in all these great keyboards that go perfectly with Asha's vocals – often hitting a midtempo pace that's quite different than some of the more disco-based material she'd record later on in the 70s. Titles include the standout break track "Space Walk", which is one of our all time favorite obscure soul tracks – and other tracks include "Wonder Why", "Hello Everyone", "Flying Fish", "The Devil Is Loose", "Good Night", and "Say Yes". LP, Vinyl record album

The legendary Asha Puthli cut some killer club cuts in the 70s – spacey numbers that were years ahead of their time, and which did an incredible job of mixing her multi-octave vocals with soaring, cosmic grooves! The approach is one that's finally gotten global appreciation in the 21st Century – and this set brings together new mixes of some of Asha's classic cuts by younger producers who really take inspiration, and let the songs flow with some slight contemporary updates – but always at a level that never gets in the way of the energy of the original tunes! Titles include "I'm Gonna Dance (Jitwam rmx)", "Right Down Here (Psychemagik rmx)", "One Night Affair (Turbotio & Rgz rmx)", "Lies (Kraak & Smaak rmx)", "Space Talk (Maurice Fulton rmx)", and "I Am Song (Yuksek rmx)". LP, Vinyl record album

The first ever career-spanning look at the music of legendary vocalist Asha Puthli – a singer who's maybe best known for her 70s club work on the European scene, but who also has a much wider range of expression – which you'll discover here! There's definitely some of the soul-based work that's made Asha a favorite with the rare groove scene over the years – but the set also includes early work with rock bands, and even a few experimental jazz numbers that predate her recordings for the discos! The double-length set is a delight throughout – a package that's really opened our eyes to sides of Asha's music we never knew – and titles include performances with Ornette Coleman on "What Reason Could I Give" and "All My Life", work with Charlie Mariano on "Mirror", vocals with The Surfers on "Sound Of Silence" and "Sunny", and with The Savages on "Pain" – plus solo tracks that include "Lies", "Right Down Here", "We're Gonna Bury The Rock", "Mister Moonlight", "1001 Nights Of Love (reprise)", "Music Machine", "Peek A Boo Boogie", "Devil Is Loose", "Space Talk", "I'm Gonna Dance", and "One Night Affair". CD

The first ever career-spanning look at the music of legendary vocalist Asha Puthli – a singer who's maybe best known for her 70s club work on the European scene, but who also has a much wider range of expression – which you'll discover here! There's definitely some of the soul-based work that's made Asha a favorite with the rare groove scene over the years – but the set also includes early work with rock bands, and even a few experimental jazz numbers that predate her recordings for the discos! The double-length set is a delight throughout – a package that's really opened our eyes to sides of Asha's music we never knew – and titles include performances with Ornette Coleman on "What Reason Could I Give" and "All My Life", work with Charlie Mariano on "Mirror", vocals with The Surfers on "Sound Of Silence" and "Sunny", and with The Savages on "Pain" – plus solo tracks that include "Lies", "Right Down Here", "We're Gonna Bury The Rock", "Mister Moonlight", "1001 Nights Of Love (reprise)", "Music Machine", "Peek A Boo Boogie", "Devil Is Loose", "Space Talk", "I'm Gonna Dance", and "One Night Affair". LP, Vinyl record album

The only album ever issued in the US by European soul singer Asha Puthli – an artist who was doing some great spacey funk in the mid 70s, then made a strong shift into tighter grooves in the disco years! This album's a great blend of Asha's earlier vocal style and some of the newer clubby sounds from Euro clubs – kind of a mix of porno sleaze and Munich soul – and the arrangements have enough of a funky kick in them to keep things interesting – and a vibe that really warrants the record coming out on TK over here in the US! Titles include "Mr Moonlight", "Music Machine", "There Is A Party Tonight", "Legend Of Thais", and "I'll See You Around". CD

One of the coolest spacey club tracks of the 70s gets a superb remix here in the hands of Dimitri From Paris – all done at a level that still keeps all the great charms of the original! There's a new 2023 mix and extended mix of the cut that follow the soaring groove, building bassline, and incredible breaking rhythm of the original – then the two Dimitri mixes pick up some clubbier elements, but still with an old school vibe that's mighty nice – and which leaves plenty of room for those spacey vocals by Asha Puthli! 12-inch, Vinyl record

Classic cuts from the TK Records stable of Miami disco from the 70s – all of which are served up here on 7" single mixes, a fair bit of which appear here on CD for the first time ever! TK is maybe best known for it's long-spun club cuts that were a perfect fit for the budding 12" format in the mid 70s – but the label also turned out plenty of cuts with a tight, catchy groove that was perfect for a funky 45 – which might have been why TK was one of the few labels to rule both on the radio and on the dancefloors back in the day! Japanese DJ T Groove takes us through 20 TK singles here – with tracks that include "Return Of Vader" by AD, "Macho" by Celi Bee & The Buzzy Bunch, "Higher" by Chi-Lites, "Star Cruiser" by Gregg Diamond, "Moon Ride" by Universal Love, "Let's Dance" by Wild Honey, "Have A Good Day (part 1)" by Gail Eason, "Music (voc)" by Montreal Sound, "I'm Gonna Dance" by Asha Puthli, "Dancin In My Feet" by Laura Taylor, "Holding Back" by Gregg Diamond, "At Midnight" by T Connection, "If There's Love" by Amant, "Spank" by Jimmy Bo Horne, and "The Break (short)" by Kat Mandu. (Funky Compilations, Soul) CD

17 tracks including "Foolish", "Happy", "Leaving" featuring Ja Rule, "Scared" featuring Irv Gotti, "Baby", "Voo Doo", and "Rescue". LP, Vinyl record album

Featuring Paul Wall & Method Man on "Still On It" and Caddilac Tah on "Still Down". 12-inch, Vinyl record

An incredible record from Bobby Blue Bland – and quite possibly the greatest one he ever made! The set's got an amazing something special that's unlike most other material of the time – a bit blues, but a lot of soul too – still with some echoes of R&B in the jazzier charts used for the backdrop, but presented with a rock-solid style that definitely points the way towards many sounds and styles to come in the 60s. And although Bland recorded many of these tracks as separate singles, there's a way they're put together here that makes the whole thing sound completely marvelous together – a really well-conceived track list that shows that Bobby's an even greater artist in the space of a full record. The arrangements are perfect, and Bobby's rough soulful voice is blended in this amazing way with killer horn arrangements that are far more sophisticated than most stuff that ever came after this, and which never get in the way, but only back up his deep emotion. The album's a motherlode of classics by the man, with gems that include "Two Steps From The Blues", "Cry Cry Cry", "I Don't Want No Woman", "I'm Not Ashamed", "Don't Cry No More", "Lead Me On", and "I Pity The Fool". And hell, even his version of "St James Infirmary" is pretty wonderful – something we never thought we'd say about that song. (Blues, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible record from Bobby Blue Bland – and quite possibly the greatest one he ever made! The set's got an amazing something special that's unlike most other material of the time – a bit blues, but a lot of soul too – still with some echoes of R&B in the jazzier charts used for the backdrop, but presented with a rock-solid style that definitely points the way towards many sounds and styles to come in the 60s. And although Bland recorded many of these tracks as separate singles, there's a way they're put together here that makes the whole thing sound completely marvelous together – a really well-conceived track list that shows that Bobby's an even greater artist in the space of a full record. The arrangements are perfect, and Bobby's rough soulful voice is blended in this amazing way with killer horn arrangements that are far more sophisticated than most stuff that ever came after this, and which never get in the way, but only back up his deep emotion. The album's a motherlode of classics by the man, with gems that include "Two Steps From The Blues", "Cry Cry Cry", "I Don't Want No Woman", "I'm Not Ashamed", "Don't Cry No More", "Lead Me On", and "I Pity The Fool". And hell, even his version of "St James Infirmary" is pretty wonderful – something we never thought we'd say about that song. (Blues, Soul) CD

Stunning harmony soul from the Jamaican scene – served up here by The Chosen Few, a group we'd rank right up there with some of the best American harmony soul acts from the Philly and New Jersey scenes at the start of the 70s! The rhythms, as you might guess, have a bit more reggae influence in the mix – but the vocal leads and harmonies resonate strongly with classic material by The Stylistics, Delfonics, and other key groups of the generation – plus Miracles material from the generation before! The package brings together some of the rare 7" single releases by the group, all with much better sound than original Jamaican pressings – and titles include "Make Way For The Young Folks", "Queen Majesty", "Hide & Seek", "My Thing", "Everybody Plays The Fool", "Tears Of A Clown", "Second That Emotion", "I Love The Way You Love (part 1)", "Children Of The Night", and "Reggae Stuff". (Reggae, Soul) CD

The third album in Margie Joseph's early 70s run for Atlantic Records – and like the rest, a batch of super-tight tunes arranged and produced by Arif Mardin – done with the same sense of sophisticated soul he was bringing to the work of Aretha Franklin at the time! Margie's nicely a bit more laidback than Aretha, though – not nearly as cliched at times, and capable of hanging onto her southern roots, even in a fuller setting. Many numbers feature backing vocals – by singers who include Donny Hathaway, Cissy Houston, and Tasha Thomas – but Joseph is right out front on all numbers, singing strongly in the lead, yet without any too-diva sort of tendencies! Titles include a nice version of Bill Withers' "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh", plus "Stay Still", "Just As Soon As The Feeling's Over", "Sign Of the Times", and "Promise Me Your Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Great work from one of the undisputed UK maestros of lovers rock during the 80s – producer Neville King, who serves up this totally sweet batch of overlooked gems from the time! The groove is nice and mellow – that fantastic blend of contemporary soul and reggae rhythms that really took hold in London and other UK spots from the late 70s onward – perfect for slow-stepping in the more laidback hours of a party, or chilling out back home on your own! Singers on all these tracks are great – nicely understated, but plenty soulful – and titles include "What About Me" by Blood Sisters, "Lady Lady" by One Blood, "At The Dance" by Leroy Simmonds, "It's Love That Makes A Woman" by Karen Dixon, "They Don't Stay Long" by Unique, "Open Up The Door" by Charisma, "The Day Will Come" by The Sadonians, "Love Sweet Love" by Love & Emotion, and "Not My Baby" by The Sensations. CD features bonus tracks – "Hold Me Tight" by Natural Touch, and "Loving Kind" by Simplicity. (Reggae, Soul) CD

A Def Jam classic from Tashan – and a record that really helped bridge the gap between male soul and hip hop in the 80s! The style's still as warm and soulful as most of Tashan's contemporaries, but the record definitely shows a bit of street soul in the rhythms too – often just a bit gentle, but prefacing the changes that would come more strongly in the next decade – an aspect that really made this one stand out from the rest! Tashan's vocals are in a classic romantic mode, but often set to beats that provide a nice contrast and a good sort of punch – a definite Def Jam mode that's famously heard on the title track. Titles include "Ooh We Baby", "So Much In Love", "I Don't Ever", "Love Is", "Read My Mind", "If Words Can Express", "Chasin A Dream", and "Strung Out On You". CD

A great moment in the career of the mighty Leon Ware – a set recorded after his famous 70s work for Motown, and before his return to fame at Elektra – but still with a super-tight quality that shows that Leon was always great, no matter what the setting! Leon's warm, mellow, and totally right on the money here – serving up some wicked midtempo grooves that sparkle way more than most of his contemporaries – and which even rise above most of the other work on TK records at the time! Ware wrote and produced the whole set himself – with that masterful studio approach that first rose to prominence on Marvin Gaye's album I Want You – and like that classic set, the whole thing here is great – never a clunker or a bit of filler at all. Titles include the great "What's Your Name" – an extremely catchy two-step number, with a hook that will ring in your head long after the track is over – and other cuts include "Inside Is Love", "Try It Out", "Club Sashay", "Inside Your Love", and "Love Is A Simple Thing". CD

An imagined take on the Mid-East scene – not authentic tracks, but a mix of postwar recordings in a variety of styles – most of which mix rocking rhythms with the kind of exotic touches that fed fantasies back in the day when the area was known as Asia Minor! As with other "destination" series collections, the mix of work here is wonderful – all sorts of cool and unusual tunes, of the sort you might have found in The Cramps' record collections – music that moves between rock and soul, instrumental and vocal, jazz and exotica – as they chart a path for a desert caravan to follow! 32 tracks in all – and titles include "Pasha" by The Ramrocks, "Rockin In Bagdad" by Jerry Reid, "Turkish Doghouse Rock" by Kent Westberry, "Ali Baba" by Dave & The Customs, "Ali Baba's Boogie" by Preston Love", "Camel Walk (part 1)" by The Saxons, "Ali Ben Ghazi" by Jack Hammer, and "Habibi Twist" by The Latins. (Rock, Soul) CD

Funky soul from Witchita, Kansas – an unlikely locale, but home to some really great music – courtesy of the Smart brothers, and their ultra-hip club! This wonderful entry in the Eccentric Soul series from Numero really brings that lost scene to life – telling the tale of the brothers, their club, and some of the wickedly funky artists that graced their stage – a host of obscure groups, singers, and instrumentalists who really made Kansas cook, back in the day! The groove here is plenty darn hard – as raw as some of the best funky 45s you might find from points north, warmed up with occasional southern soul elements – and always produced with rough-and-ready vibe that gets to the heart of the grit right away. The set comes with a beautiful 28 page booklet – filled with vintage photos, in support of the Smart story, told by Dante Carfagna and Rob Sevier – but even without this added feature, the CD itself would be wonderful – essential listening for fans of all things funky! Titles include "Herbie's Bag" by John Smart's Band, "Mercy Baby" by Tim Jacob, "Dedicated To You" by Hard Road, "Let Me Be Your Christmas Toy" by Chocolate Snow, "Smart" by Smart Brothers, "I Was Made To Love Her" by Theron & Darrell, "I'm Not Ashamed" by Baby Neal & The Smart Brothers, "Everybody Needs Somebody" by LT & The Soulful Dynamics, "Don't Hate Let's Communicate" by Kenneth Carr with John Smart's Band, "It's Your Love" by Theron & Darrell, and "Let It Be" by Chocolate Snow. (Funky Compilations, Soul) CD

There's an island on the cover, but the music is all-soul, all the way through – a great collection of classic mellow moments from years back, plus a few excellent choices from more recent years as well! Still, the island's a great image for the sound of the set – as the music has this kicked-back vibe that provides a nice sort of escape from the everyday world – heavenly soul sounds that come both from rare classics, and some of the best of the current underground – brought together with the kind of care and class we've come to expect from the folks at Expansion Records. A wonderful mix of tunes – with titles that include "Remember To Remember" by Rick Holmes, "Under The Moon & Over The Sky" by Angela Bofil, "Living So Fast" by Novocento with Danni Gottlieb & Dave Liebman, "I Choose You" by Paris, "You Are My Starship" by Norman Connors, "It Should Be you" by Ashanti Munir & Neil Letendre, "He Mandu (mother mix)" by Mouth Music, "Far Beyond" by Joey Negro & The Sunburst Band, "It's Like Air" by Sunny Hawkins, "Blending Colors" by Debra Debs, "Unconditional Love" by Greg Dean with Chantae Cann & Jarrod Lawson, "Mississippi Delta Blues" by Lamar Thomas with Carrie K Thomas, and "Peace In The Middle East" by Miri Ben-Ari & Kerri Chandler. (Funky Compilations, Soul) CD

A great entry in this series that not only always delivers the goods, but does so at a price that's a hell of a great bargain for all the excellent music involved! Expansion Records brings together a handful of titles from their own releases in recent years, plus other neo soul gems from the global underground – both American and British artists, some better-known names, some great up-and-comers waiting to be discovered – all of which makes for a package that packs plenty of punch! Most tracks appear here on CD for the first time ever – and the 3CD set features 35 titles that include "I'd Rather Be In Love With You (the sax way)" by Sheree Brown, "Intoxicated Love" by Castella, "If You Wanna Know What's Missing" by Julian Jonah with Dutch Robinson, "Think About" by Sugar & Heath, "Soul N'Samba" by Tyrone Lee, "Baby Let's Go (soul mix)" by Narada Michael Walden, "Step With Me" by Victor Haynes, "I Love Me Too" by Carol Riddick, "Do You Remember" by Steven Thad, "I Found Love" by Rose Spearman & Soul City Connection, "Harvest For The World" by Patrice Isley, "Keep On Giving (rmx)" by Shaila Prospere, "Smooth" by Con Funk Shun, "Elementary" by Robert Imtume Owens, "Sometimes" by Brian Power with Cornell CC Carter, "Right The Wrong" by Natasha Watts, and "Could It Really Be" by Mike Lindup with Tony Momrelle. (Neo Soul, Soul) CD