One of the more new wave-oriented moments from Ava Cherry – a singer we know best from her solo work in soul, but who also has a pretty strong pedigree on the rock side of the spectrum as well! The instrumentation is heavy on keyboards – played by Mark Isham, in a way that sometimes echoes his best soundtrack work of the decade, but more focused too – at a level that brings a deeper sound to the music than you might expect! Tunes are upbeat and catchy, yet trying for a bit of an edge at times – and Ava serves up the lyrics with a subtle sense of drama in her voice. Titles include "Fast Lover", "Love To Be Touched", "Techno Love", "Having Been Far", "I Guess It's Love", "Awkward Situation", and "Streetcar Named Desire". CD features two bonus tracks – 12" remixes of "Awkward Situation" and "Streetcar Named Desire". CD

Some of the most striking work we've heard from Neneh Cherry in years – and a great follow-up to her previous project with The Thing! This set has Neneh working with producer Kieran Hebden – who returns Cherry to the offbeat, arty sound of her early years on the British scene – particularly her excellent work with Rip Rig & Panic! As with that period, the rhythms here are key – but are also rhythms that really veer from the usual – odd basslines and beats that provide a jagged bottom underneath Cherry's soulfully flowing vocals – a sense of counterpoint that really gives the album a lot of power. Titles include "Naked", "Spit Three Times", "Blank Project", "Cynical", "422", "Out Of The Black", "Dossier", and "Everything". CD

Four classic albums from UK singer Tina Charles – an artist who mixes older vocal touches with the swirling sounds of the legendary Biddu – in a groove that's got a heck of a lot to offer! Tina never was one of the most underground singers of her generation – but it's her confidence in that fact that makes this music so great – an unabashed love of the poppier sounds of the dancefloor, in a way that beautifully mixes together 70s AM sensibilities with the growing sounds of the disco movement. Biddu's a great choice for the project – as the use of light strings and disco grooves resonates with his own solo work, but also maybe has more of a crossover focus, thanks to Tina's poppy vocals in the lead! The 2CD set features the full albums I Love To Love, Dance Little Lady, Heart N Soul, and Just One Smile – with a total of 40 tracks in all. CD

There's never been a better bit of throwback dancefloor fodder ever! Sure, these guys were blaring out of every cheap radio at the time, and it was just about impossible to walk into a shopping mall without hearing "Groove Is In The Heart" for about 5 years after the album came out – but to us, that was a great thing, and the record represents one of the high points in pop music of the past few decades. Thanks to some skillful sampling by Towa Tei, the group were grounded in a rich history of funk, house, disco, soul, and Brazilian influences – all of which they managed to blend with a postmodern perfection that other groups could only ever dream of! The big hits are certainly very familiar, but the whole album's a delight – and tracks include "Who Was That?", "Smile On", "Try Me On . . . I'm Very You", "World Clique", "ESP", and "Good Beat". This great expanded 2CD edition includes a full CD of remixes, too – 26 tracks in 2CDs! Given that the weird mixes and extrapolations of tunes by the group were such a big part of their larger sound, the extra material really helps get a full picture of the album's greatness! CD

Seminal work from the lovely Basia – and an album that's a wonderful hybrid of jazz, soul, and pop – all put together at a level that really goes beyond most of her contemporaries! There's a vibe here that's almost like Swing Out Sister at their best – catchy, but never cloying – and done in an 80s style that refers strongly back to 60s and 70s styles, yet still keeps things quite contemporary overall. And although most of the tunes are pretty poppy, they're also pretty great, and really hold up over the years – thanks to slight undercurrents of jazzy instrumentation, of the sort you'd get from Brit artists like Working Week or Sade. Titles include "Promises", "From Now On", "Freeze Thaw", "How Dare You", "Astrud", and "Miles Away". 2CD version is amazing – and features 5 bonus instrumental tracks, plus 8 more remix tracks, and 5 more single versions, and the non-album track "Give Me That". 30 titles in all! CD

The second great chapter in the career of this UK club act – a set that features three full albums and an insane amount of bonus tracks – many of which have never been on CD, or even released at all! Rah Band were a great group at putting forward an electric sound for the clubs – and in this stretch of records from the late 80s, they changed their sound to nicely fit the time – more 80s soul, but still with all the sweet electric elements that made them so great in the first place. Given that Rah Band were almost precursors to 80s electro soul, their work here is right at front of the pack for the time – as you'll hear on the full albums Mystery, Something About The Music, and World Keeps on turning – each presented here with rare tracks and remixes as bonus tracks – alongside 2 more CDs that add in additional material, including some 80s work – a whopping 30 more rare cuts as well! CD

A huge amount of music from Liquid Gold – a UK studio group formed during the late 70s disco years, but one that was maybe a bit better than most of their commercial contemporaries! These guys have the slick clubby sound you might guess from their image on the cover, but often work with instrumentation that's nice and sharp – not totally underground, but sometimes with the better funky touches at the core that you might find from better club acts on labels like Prelude or TK – a legacy that we mostly know from their one big album of the time, but which is presented here on a 3CD set that's overflowing with rare mixes from singles, the different US and UK track lists from the album, and even bonus instrumental cuts and solo material from group member Ellie Hope. There's a massive 46 tracks in all – and titles include "Substitute", "Secret Love", "My Baby's Baby", "Mr Groovy", "Dance Yourself Dizzy", "Don't Panic", "Anyway You Do It", "Hit The Roof", "The Night The Wine & The Roses", "What's She Got (John Luongo club mix)", "Lucky (12" version)", "Shake", "Dance Yourself Dizzy (Yomanda synth & strings mix)", and "One Of Us Fell In Love". CD

A huge moment in British soul – the debut album from Mica Paris, and a set that broke almost as big on our side of the Atlantic as it did in the UK! Mica's got a wonderful vocal style here – a bit cooler and classier than some of her contemporaries – maybe even in the territory of Sade at times, at least in the way she can deliver a lyric with understated grace and plenty of warmth! The approach is fantastic – completely charming from the get-go, and a really nice change a time when some of the more mainstream soul was sounding a bit tinnier and overproduced. There's a richness to the record that still holds up strongly over the years – thanks in part to the work of songwriters Mick Leeson and Peter Vale – on titles that include "Like Dreamers Do", "Great Impersonation", "Where Is The Love", "So Good", "Don't Give Me Up", "Nothing Hits Your Heart Like Soul Music", and "My One Temptation". This deluxe edition from Cherry Pop includes a second disc of bonus tracks – including "Into The City", "Rock Together", "Same Feeling", "Where Is The Love?", "Wickedn", "My One Temptation (Club Mix)" and more. 23 tracks on 2CDs! CD

A fantastic collection of work from The Rah Band – a late 70s group who were never that big on the US scene, but who were a key part in helping the UK move from earlier electronic experiments into some of the more catchy grooves of the decade to come! At the start, Rah Band had maybe more of an electronic approach that was tied to the generation of moog instrumentals and other crossover instrumental records – thanks in part to the skills of mainman Richard Hewson – but as these records progress, the group also pick up plenty of warmer instrumentation too, especially on guitar and saxes – so that there's a fusion current at times, but mixed with elements that would show up more strongly in 80s electro soul too – all of which make the group a very important precursor to so many trends to come! The three albums in this set – Crunch & Beyond, Rah Band, and Going Up – are all filled with plenty of sweet keyboards, and an increasing sense of groove – and the package also adds in rare bonus tracks to each full album, then includes two full CDs of remix tracks and rarities – all of which makes for a massive package of 71 titles in all – the most we've ever seen from the group on CD! CD

Wonderful work from Harry "Little" Caesar – a singer who made some great R&B singles for the west coast scene in the 50s, but hardly ever got his due on the other side of the US! Harry's got a nicely rough edge in his vocals – a style that reminds us a lot of the best male singers at King, like Roy Brown or Wynonie Harris – and although Caesar's perhaps not as raw and raunchy as the latter, he often covers similar down-to-earth topics in his tunes – material that makes these sides a real joy to rediscover! As the title implies, the work here was recorded for a handful of different labels – Modern, Dolphin, and Downey – and together, the tunes paint a vivid picture of this under-discovered talent from LA – a picture that's expanded on nicely by Billy Vera's notes as well. CD features 26 tracks in all – including "Cadillac Baby", "Don't Mention The Blues", "Lying Woman", "Atomic Love", "Going Down To The River", "Move Me", "Personal Question", "Tried To Reason With You Baby", and "What Are They Laughing About" – plus numbers sung with The Turbans, including "The Nest Is Warm", "No No Cherry", and "Tick Tock A Woo". CD

A deep deep dig into the vaults of King/Federal Records – initial home to James Brown and a host of other R&B acts in the 50s – lots of whom are featured here! The collection includes many tracks never reissued before – all hand-picked by vintage 45 expert Mr Fine Wine, and laid out at a level that's both fresher than most King Records collections – and most of the 50s R&B sets we know as well! Fine Wine comes at the project almost with a "roots of funk" approach – which means that there's loads of unusual rhythms, weird cultural hybrids, and raw pre-soul vocals over the top – a killer range of cuts that include "Space Guitar" by Young John Watson, "Bossa Nova & Grits" by Little Joe Washington, "The Way You Do" by Jimmy Nolen, "Good Mambo Tonight" by Wynonie Harris, "Somewhere Down The Line" by Little Jimmy Scott, "You Can't Hide" by Lula Reed & Freddie King, "Back On The Block" by Sam Anderson & The Telstars, "Same Old Thing" by Amos Milburn, "You're Lower Than A Mole" by Camille Howard, "Be Bop Wino" by The Lamplighters, "Cherry Wine" by Little Esther, and "Stop Knockin" by Juanita Nixon. (Funky Compilations, Soul) CD

One of the deepest soul sets from Esther Phillips' 70s years on Kudu Records – a set with some nicely gritty grooves and a surprisingly earthy feel at times – especially when compared to some of her other albums of the time! Backings are by James Brown's old reedman, Pee Wee Ellis – and although there's some of the usual Kudu electric funk in the mix, there's also some deeper soul elements too – a vibe that's often a bit laidback and open, almost more Atlantic Records at points – which is a mighty good fit for Esther's wonderful voice! As usual for Kudu, the players are an all-star lineup – one that includes Richard Tee on keyboards, George Benson on guitar, Maceo Parker on tenor, and Bernard Purdie and Billy Cobham on drums – and Don Sebesky's also on deck a bit, to sweeten a few tracks up with light strings. The album's got a great version of Bill Withers' "Use Me" that features a tasty break in the intro – and other titles include a great version of "Alone Again (Naturally)", plus the cuts "Let's Move & Groove", "Cherry Red", "Let Me In Your Life", and "You & Me Together". CD

Athur Baker was a producer with a slightly bumpy path in the 80s, but there's no denying his impact on music at the time – particularly the way he had of funneling sounds from the streets to the dancefloors in the mainstream! Baker was one of the first to really have an ear for both hip hop and other styles of grooves – super-sharp on the right electro elements, yet with a richer understanding of soul, R&B, and club – all of which he brings to work here, on versions of tracks that have all the excitement of a special take on the tune from the clubs back in the day! This 4CD set comes in a huge book-style package, with plenty of notes – and features 43 classic mixes by Baker, with titles that include "Big Love (ext rmx)" by Fleetwood Mac, "Sun City (last rmx)" by Artists United Against Apartheid, "Running Away (Arthur Baker rmx)' by The Colourfield, "C'Est La Vie (ext rmx)" by Robbie Nevil, "Out Of Touch (club version)" by Daryl Hall & John Oates, "Living In A Box (dance mix)" by Living In A Box, "IOU (mega mix)" by Freeez, "Walking On Sunshine (12" version)" by Rockers Revenge, "Soweto (rmx)" by Jeffrey Osborne, "A Love Supreme (jazz in the house rmx)" by Will Downing, "Message Is Love (cupid mix)" by Arthur Baker & The Backbeat Disciples with Al Green, "Ever Fallen In Love (club senseless)" by Fine Young Cannibals, "Buffalo Stance (1/2 way 2 house mix)" by Neneh Cherry, and "Planet Rock (12" voc version)" by Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force. (Funky Compilations, Soul) CD

A very hip collection of work from the great Joe Turner – material that hasn't been easily issued elsewhere, and which fills in a key chapter of Joe's career! CD1 features vintage material, and is heavy on work from the postwar years, but before Turner rose to a second wave of fame on Atlantic Records – raw tracks recorded for labels that include Freedom and Stag, often with a style that's heavy on the jazzy arrangements that other jump blues artists were using at the time. CD2 features a variety of live recordings – from 1955, 1969, 1971, and 1985 – showing how strongly Turner held onto both his vocal powers over the years, and his ability to command a concert audience. Vintage cuts include "Still In The Dark", "Adam Bit The Apple", "Just A Travelin Man", "Jumpin At The Jubilee", "Around The Clock (part 1)", "Wine O Baby Boogie", "Christmas Date Boogie", and "Baby Won't You Marry Me". Live tracks include "Call The Plumber", "Chicken & The Hawk", "Honey Hush", "Mad Blues", "Chains Of Love", "Cherry Red", "Low Down Dog", and "Flip Flop & Fly". (Blues, Soul) CD