A sweetly soulful soundtrack from Cagnet – music for the extremely popular Long Vacation series in the 90s, done in that Japanese style from the time that was very heavy on influences from American soul! There's English language lyrics on most tracks – sung by Natalie and Anna, with a bit of work from male singer David too – and the music has that groove from this key moment in Japanese club, when it seemed as if productions like this could easily cross the boundaries of cultures, as ears in both the US and UK scenes were really opening up to the groove. Titles include "Here We Are Again", "Long Vacation", "Into You", "Under The Moonlight", "What Will I Do", "Deeper & Deeper", and "Our Romance". (Japanese, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

The original soundtrack to Trouble Man is nothing short of a masterpiece – a full-on moment of studio genius from Marvin Gaye, right in the middle of his classic 70s run – a record that's given a fantastic new treatment here by Lo Res, who delivers exactly what's promised in the title! The record's not a straight rehash of the original – as Lo Res clearly knows and loves, and has completely absorbed the original – so that he can take the whole thing and open it up with new arrangements, interesting instrumentation, and a mix of strings, jazz, and funky elements that are completely sublime. If anything, the set seems to more fully expand on the orchestrations of the original, while losing none of the sense of the soul – and apart from a vocal appearance by Blackwolf, most of the focus is instrumental – on titles that include "Cleo's Apartment", "T Plays It Cool", "Don't Mess With Mr T", "T Stands For Trouble", "Theme From Trouble Man", "Poor Abbey Walsh", "The Break In", and "Deep In It". (Deep Funk, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

Disco 9000 is Johnnie Taylor's 3rd release for Columbia – a great batch of smooth soul tracks with a lot less of the "disco" that you'd expect from the title! Johnnie produced the session himself – and the album was recorded as a soundtrack (to a film that was later retitled Fass Black), but works well on its own as a straight soul release. Most tracks are relatively long, in that smooth midtempo groove that Johnnie was using at the time – and the combination of his bluesy vocals and modern soul production really makes the set sparkle! Titles include "I Love You Woman", "Right Now", and "I Don't Know What I'd Do Without You". (Soul, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

A record that's not only a landmark in Jamaican music – but also a set that was to reggae what Curtis Mayfield's Superfly was to 70s soul! In other words, the set not only raised the bar for all the competition, it also ended up in a lot more record collections than most of them too – maybe in part because it was a soundtrack, as was Superfly – but also because it has this global power that makes it a defining album of the genre! Jimmy Cliff is obviously the mainman here, but there's help from other key players in the growing reggae scene – and titles include Jimmy's classic "You Can Get It If You Really Want", in two versions – plus two takes on "The Harder They Come", "Many Rivers To Cross", and "Sitting In Limbo" – plus "Sweet & Dandy" and "Pressure Drop" by The Maytals, "007" by Desmond Dekker, "Johnny Too Bad" by The Slicers, "Draw Your Brakes" by Scotty, and "Rivers Of Babylon" by The Melodians. (Reggae, Soundtracks) LP, Vinyl record album

A record that's not only a landmark in Jamaican music – but also a set that was to reggae what Curtis Mayfield's Superfly was to 70s soul! In other words, the set not only raised the bar for all the competition, it also ended up in a lot more record collections than most of them too – maybe in part because it was a soundtrack, as was Superfly – but also because it has this global power that makes it a defining album of the genre! Jimmy Cliff is obviously the mainman here, but there's help from other key players in the growing reggae scene – and titles include Jimmy's classic "You Can Get It If You Really Want", in two versions – plus two takes on "The Harder They Come", "Many Rivers To Cross", and "Sitting In Limbo" – plus "Sweet & Dandy" and "Pressure Drop" by The Maytals, "007" by Desmond Dekker, "Johnny Too Bad" by The Slicers, "Draw Your Brakes" by Scotty, and "Rivers Of Babylon" by The Melodians. (Reggae, Soundtracks) CD