Advance promo from the second LP, without Amel Larrieux. The productions still on point, with a nice soulful groove alongside hip hop influenced beats. 12-inch, Vinyl record

The only album ever from Groove Theory – but the set that introduced the world to Amel Larrieux – whose vocal talents alone are worth the price of admission! The feel here is a bit more mainstream soul than some of Amel's later work – but given the mid 90s date of release, the sound is still plenty underground – and filled with the warmer tones and deeper soul styles that wouldn't be that common until years later when the Neo Soul scene rose to prominence. The overall package is the work of former Mantronix member Bryce Wilson – who plays some keys, and ensures that the rhythms are never too bombastic to overwhelm Amel's vocals. Titles include the massive stepper's cut "Tell Me" that hit huge here in Chicago – plus "Baby Luv", "Didja Know", "Come Home", "Hello It's Me", "Hey U", "Good 2 Me", "You're Not The 1", and "Boy At The Window". (Neo Soul, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Massive work from Bootsy Collins – one of his best-ever solo albums, and a perfect summation of the P-Funk groove – focused strongly through Bootsy's own sense of stardom! George Clinton worked with Collins on production, and the album's as tight as the best Parliament or Funkadelic work of the time – particularly the latter on their killer 70s sides for Warner, which was also the home for Bootsy. The Horny Horns are helping out on this one, which gives the album a strong instrumental drive – but the real star is Bootsy, whose sexy vocals and good sense of soul keep things firmly on track throughout. Features the cuts "What's A Telephone Bill?", "Munchies For Your Love", "We Want Bootsy", "The Pinocchio Theory", and "Rubber Duckie". LP, Vinyl record album

By this time, the Mothership had just about completely crashed out – at least on record, as George shows us here. (Live, Clinton had no trouble keeping up the groove – as he could always start a party funk fire going in concert, no matter how he was sounding on record.) The record was cut for Prince's Paisley Park label, and definitely has some Prince funk in the grooves – if not the titles of the album's songs, which include "Serious Slammin", "Why Should I Dog U Out?", "Tweakin", "Airbound", "Goin On", and "French Kiss". CD

The first-ever release of this lost soul treasure – a rare session from a late 70s group from Tulsa, recording in LA at the studio of Sly Stone! The set's got a groove that's way more than you'd expect from any Oklahoma combo – a mature, modern soul sparkle that's totally great – almost the sort of vibe you'd find from some of the best groups of the time on labels like Elektra or Capitol, but handled here with a bit more indie charm overall! The tracks are all originals, and they balance out mellow steppers and tighter groovers nicely – which makes for an album that's amazingly deep in conception, and way more than just a slap-dash batch of tracks from the studio. We're sure that Sly would have been proud of the work here – and our hat's off to the folks at Lotus Land for finally getting this one released! Titles include "Funky Sounds", "Accept The Truth", "Keep On Smiling", "If You Dance Tonight", "I Love Everything About You", "On A Lovely Night Like This", "I Hope You'll Be", and an untitled track. LP, Vinyl record album

A massive collection of work from Lakeside – one of the leading lights of the Solar Records label in the early 80s, and one of the label's key groups in helping to redefine funk in the decade! Lakeside take the large ensemble funk format of the late 70s, and give it a leaner, cleaner groove – really winnowing things down so that everything's right on the money, and the grooves come out great – while still also holding on to enough soul music energy in the vocals, songwriting, and presentation to set themselves apart from some of the more facile groove groups of the time. This 3CD set features 42 killers from Lakeside's glory days, pulled from their full range of recordings for Solar – titles that include "Rough Rider", "One Minute After Midnight", "Fantastic Voyage", "From 9:00 Until", "I Need You", "Strung Out", "Your Wish Is My Command", "The Urban Man", "Back Together Again", "We Want You", "Raid", "Turn The Music Up", "Real Love", "Untouchable", "Show You The Way", "Tinse Town Theory", "Money", "Party Patrol", "Still Feeling Good", "Bullseye", "U Got It Goin On", "All For You", "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "If You Like Our Music", "I Can't Get You Out Of My Head", "Shot Of Love", and "Your Love Is On The One". CD

A seminal set in helping shape the sound of Neo Soul for the 21st Century – the solo debut of Amel Larreiux, recorded after an initial rise to fame in Groove Theory! The set's got a simple, yet seductive groove – a mix of spare beats and keyboards that really gives Amel's sweet vocals plenty of space to open up and flow – a wonderful change from other contemporary R&B at the time – and a record that still sounds plenty darn fresh many years later! "Get Up" was a huge radio cut here, but there's so many smooth groovers on here, you'll never have to skip around, including "I N I", "Sweet Misery", "Even If", "Weather", "Shine", "Searching For My Soul", and "Make Me Whole". (Neo Soul, Soul) CD

An overlooked later gem from Parliament – a set that's very tight and funky, and which really picks up the groove first laid down on "Flashlight"! There's a tightly snapping approach here that rivals the best late 70s work by Funkadelic – the later P-Funk mode that's even more focused on rhythms than before, and which gets away from the sloppy stuff to really hit home with the groove! Tunes are steeped in horny horns, wah wah guitar, and lots of electric keyboards – and titles include "The Big Bang Theory", which is virtually a blueprint for the LA G-funk sound of the 80s – plus the tracks "The Freeze", "May We Bang You?", "Party People", and "(GloryHallaStoopid) Pin The Tail On The Funky". CD

An overlooked later gem from Parliament – a set that's very tight and funky, and which really picks up the groove first laid down on "Flashlight"! There's a tightly snapping approach here that rivals the best late 70s work by Funkadelic – the later P-Funk mode that's even more focused on rhythms than before, and which gets away from the sloppy stuff to really hit home with the groove! Tunes are steeped in horny horns, wah wah guitar, and lots of electric keyboards – and titles include "The Big Bang Theory", which is virtually a blueprint for the LA G-funk sound of the 80s – plus the tracks "The Freeze", "May We Bang You?", "Party People", and "(GloryHallaStoopid) Pin The Tail On The Funky". LP, Vinyl record album