This one-man orchestra just keeps on getting better and better with each new record – working with the funk you'd expect from the name, but also all these cool and moody touches that mix together David Axelrod-like ambition with some of the sharper snap of hip hop production! This time around, Seth Applebaum has a fair bit of strings and horns in the mix – plus added voices, some strong lead singers – and an array of sonic touches that make for a richness that's much deeper than it is ghostly! Previous records were good, but Seth's really onto something great hear – and mixes together strands of sounds into something that's much richer than its parts – emerging as a surprising maestro for the underground, on titles that include "Stoop Talk", "Mourning", "Drop Me A Line", "Little Bird", "Fuzzy Logic", "Quiet Soul", "Tojours", "Queen Bee", and "Cost Of Living". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary session from the early years of ECM – one of those records that really helped set the tone of the label for years to come! The album's definitely on the more avant side of the spectrum, and is a great reminder of how much ECM contributed to European free jazz at the start – with fantastic interplay from a group led by reedman Jan Garbarek on tenor, bass sax, flutes, clarinet, and percussion – in a quartet with Terje Rypdal on guitar, Jon Christensen on percussion, and Arild Andersen on bass, xylophone, and kalimba! The tracks vary in length, and the players all shift instruments nicely – on titles that include "Myb", "Blow Away Zone", "Afric Pepperbird", "Scarabee", and "Beast Of Kommodo". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the weirdest, wildest pop albums of the 60s – maybe the crowning achievement of both Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood – two artists who'd worked together before, but never with an intensity this great! The record is overflowing with all the great touches you'd expect from Lee – that sense of spacious production, all-adult performance, and deep-tinged vocals that are a perfect counterpoint for the lighter style of Nancy – almost as if he's continuing to urge her to adulthood over the course of the set – which he certainly does through the sensuality of the performance! The album features the insanely wonderful "Some Velvet Morning" – a pop duet unlike anything you've ever heard – plus Hazlewood tunes "Summer Wine", "Sand", "Lady Bird", "I've Been Down So Long", and "Sundown Sundown" – but even the remakes are stunning, and include "Storybook Children", "Jackson", and "You've Lost That Lovin Feeling". LP, Vinyl record album

The Vaqueros created music hundreds of miles from the ocean – working in the Twin Cities in the 60s – but that didn't stop them from creating some mighty nice surf numbers at the time, which were then mixed with more rocking numbers that sported a very cool female singer in the lead! That singer is Linda Anderson, who's almost got a rockabilly inspiration, but a few years too late – a style that makes for a really unique combination with the excellent surf-styled guitar work of the group – who shine equally well on their own when Linda's not in the lead! The tracks here were all unearthed from the Kay Bank archives – and titles include "Growing Pains", "69", "Don't You Dare", "80 Foot Wave", "Space Journey Ranger 7", "Birds & The Bees", "Island In Paradise", and "Soft Summer Rain". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible collection – and one that fills in a crucially under-documented side of the New York dancefloor generation – the wealth of special mixes and edits that were made for that city's important DJs for their own use in clubs! The package sorts through a mountain of never-issued acetates, and goes way past conventional disco or rare club collections – to showcase the special mixing talents these DJs brought to their re-presentation of the material – which was usually done on tape, then pressed onto acetate discs for their own private use! Those rare treasures are brought forth here – in a beautiful package that's also overflowing with fantastic notes that finally give this lost history its due – all handled by Al Kent – who's a hell of a mixer himself, as well as an underground club historian. Vinyl part 1 features five different records, all with lots of space for the tunes to stretch out – and titles include "I Just Wanna Say I Love You (John Luongo rmx)" by Leon Collins, "What About Love (Tony Gioe rmx)" by Marboo, "Ten Percent (Walter Gibbons Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Double Exposure, "Inside America (Rick Gianatos disco queen acetate edit)" by Juggy Murray Jones, "Dancing Free (John Luongo rmx)" by Hot Ice, "Black Water Gold (Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by The Sunshine Band, "Magic Bird Of Fire (Francois Kevorkian Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Salsoul Orchestra, "It's Good For The Soul (Jay Negron Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Salsoul Orchestra, "My Love Is Free (Walter Gibbons disco madness rmx)" by Double Exposure, "Reaching Out For Happiness (Jonathan Fearing rmx)" by Fay Hauser, "Let Me Be Your Fantasy (Tom Savarese rmx)" by Love Symphony Orchestra, "The Beat Goes On & On (Jim Burgess rmx)" by Ripple, "I Wanna Be Near You (John Morales Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Ruby Andrews, "I've Been Looking For Somebody (Walter Gibbons rmx)" by TC James & The Fist O Funk Orchestra, "The Disco Scene (Rick Gianatos rmx)" by Lake Shore Drive, "Bumpsie's Whipping Cream (Tom Savarese rmx)" by TC James & The Fist O Funk Orchestra, and "Janice (Bobby DJ Guttadoro rmx)" by Skip Mahoney. LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing package, and an amazing moment in the career of Charlie Parker – the beginning of his relationship with Verve Records producer Norman Granz – who really helped refine Bird's talents, and also open him up in some new creative directions! The material here originally came out on 10" LPs on the Mercury and Clef labels, but they're also the birth of the Verve Records sound too – top-shelf presentation, and care that Charlie Parker may not have been getting from previous labels like Dial or Savoy! The set features the first two volumes of Charlie Parker With Strings – amazing music that has Bird's sharp-edged alto soaring out over some modern string arrangements – really standard-setting experiments that so many others followed in years to come! Next is Bird & Diz – a sublime pairing with Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet. Charlie Parker Plays South Of The Border is a key cubop session – Bird's alto with Latin rhythms – an equally groundbreaking match as his strings sessions! Last is the self titled Charlie Parker album – a great quartet session, with titles that include the classics "Confirmation" and "Now's The Time". All five albums come with the original David Stone Martin cover art – and come packaged in a slipcover, with a heavy new booklet of notes! LP, Vinyl record album

A gem of a record from the funk-heavy period of Muddy Waters – a moment that once made the traditional blues fans mad, but which has gone onto become the stuff of legend – thanks to a real criss-crossing of Chicago talents in the studio! The set was co-produced by Chess Records talents Charles Stepney, Gene Barge, and Marshall Chess – and features expanded instrumentation that includes Phil Upchurch on added guitar, Louis Satterfield on bass, Charles Stepney on organ, and Morris Jennings on drums – plus even more guitar from Pete Cosey, who you might know from later work on some Miles Davis electric albums! Muddy is still very firmly the lead talent at the core, though – coming across with a badass kind of vibe that mixes his raw roots with the hipper soul of the new generation – a great Chess/Cadet hybird that was years ahead of its time. Titles include "I Am The Blues", "Hurtin Soul", "Bottom Of The Sea", "Honey Bee", "Rollin' And Tumblin'", "Screamin & Cryin", and "Blues & Trouble". LP, Vinyl record album

Terri Walker's every bit as great here as when we first fell in love with her music many years back – so much so that it's hard to believe there's been any passage of years, as the album's got all the freshness and sense of promise of the neo soul generation from back in the day! As before, Terri knows that keeping it lean is her best approach – and the record really benefits from the center placement of her vocals, as she delivers lyrics that are both personal and honest, warm and open. Titles include "I Surrender", "You're Not Coming Home", "Fearless", "I Remember", "Finally Over You", "Rhythm Of Change", and "I'm Not The One". LP, Vinyl record album

Mindblowing work from tenorist Sonny Rollins – a set of recordings that we'd rank right up there with his groundbreaking Village Vanguard sessions for Blue Note! As with those recordings, the setting here is live, and a trio – Sonny blowing with incredible imagination in the very open space of the tunes, many of which are very long – with accompaniment from the wonderful bassist Henry Grimes on all numbers, and a shifting lineup of very hip drummers – Pete LaRoca on most tracks, sometimes replaced by Joe Harris or Kenny Clarke. The huge package features a wealth of live tracks, including some material that has been bootlegged before – concerts from 1959 in Stockholm, Zurich, Aix-En-Provence, Frankfurt, and Laren – all presented here with superb sound, voluminous notes, and through cooperation with Sonny Rollins himself. Titles include "Lady Bird", "But Not For Me", "Cocktails For Two", "I Want To Be Happy", "Oleo", "Paul's Pal", "Love Letters", and "I've Told Every Little Star" – but as always with live Sonny Rollins at this point in his career, it's not the melodies, but what he does with them – which is amazing! LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the most jazz-based work we've ever heard from keyboardist Mark De Clive-Lowe – continuing a progression that's been taking place over the past decade or so – to a point where the musician is turning out a record to rival the classics of some of the 70s giants who influenced his sound in the first place! Mark plays Fender Rhodes, piano, and other keyboards in the company of bassist Andrea Lombardini and drummer Tommaso Cappellato – on live tracks that are full of energy and life, driven with strong rhythms, and have lots of strong solos over the top. Titles include "Birds Of Prey", "Strolling Down Degnan", "Volta Ao Mundo", "Dreamweavers", "Kodama Shade", and "In Answer To Your Question". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible album from guitarist Fred Frith – his solo debut, and a record that really set the tone for so many other musicians for years to come! Frith wasn't the first person to improvise on the guitar – but he might have been the first to use an electric in ways that tied together new ideas in jazz, prog, and other experimental musics – all at a level that made his playing a hero to many different scenes at once, and really helped open ears to all the different changes that were taking places in the 70s! The whole thing is a monstrous musical message from the pre-punk years – one that has really strong resonance all these many years later – thanks to titles that include "Hollow Music", "No Birds", "Out Of Their Heads", "Glass c/w Steel", "Hello Music", and "Not Forgotton". This great "Fifty" version features a full bonus album of new recordings in the spirit of the original – titles that include "Quicksilver", "Phalaropes", "Jack's Neap Tide", "Move Indigo", "To Do", and "The Map Of Dreams". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that really takes on the "phasing" in the title seriously – as it uses all sorts of cool effects to create a special magic with simple sounds – all while managing to serve up some great funky nuggets too! The record's a masterpiece in both sound library instrumentation and inventive studio percussion – as the great Michel Gonet serves up themes that might have been used originally on 70s TV, but which maybe come across in styles that are a lot more trippy and groovy too – more like funk cuts that you'd hear on Doctor Who than anything that might crop up on the daily news! Titles on this first volume include a few variations on most themes – including "Light In The Rains", "Mondial Scoop", "Soul Cathedral", "Mephisto Jet", "Mecanic Bird Song", and "Moon To Light". LP, Vinyl record album

Overlooked mid-period work from this legendary Korean trio – music the group recorded after their first three albums – all records that have been reissued a bit over the years, which these tracks have not! There's a deeply moody vibe to the music – still all the fuzz, freak, and messed-up elements of the past – but sometimes a bit more focused and tuneful – not in a way that has you thinking that these guys are going for hits at all, but just with this quality that shows them maybe finding a way to bring subtle power to their psychedelic leanings, and slip them into the mainstream! Given the timing of the tracks here – from the late 70s/early 80s generation – the music is almost a bridge between older psych modes and that huge explosion of new psychedelic energy that would show up on the UK scene in the latter half of the 80s – music that certainly resonates well with some of these cuts. 2LP set features 23 tracks in all – with titles that include "Dreaming Doll", "Red Balloon", "A Teacup", "Let's Go To The Vineyard", "Portrait Of A Lady Shaman", An Hourglass In Midday", "Chameleon", "Tomorrow & Tomorrow Again", "Fly Away Bird", "A Strange Day Like This", and "Naughty Boy". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible collection of Stevie Wonder cover versions – different versions of familiar tunes, but ones that really manage to sparkle with all the righteous soul of the Stevie himself! It's been over a decade since DJ Spinna brought us the last version of his Wonder Of Stevie series – and during that time, he's managed to come up with a huge amount of great tracks that make the whole thing go way way deeper than before – not just cuts that copy the Wonder mode, but which seem to draw strong inspiration from its genius, and really soar to the skies! Much of the music here resonates with a charm that's located around the years of albums like Music Of My Mind and Innervisions, with all the jazzy currents that might imply – and some cuts are 70s vintage, others are more contemporary. Titles include "Bird Of Beauty" by US Atlantic First Navy Show Band, "It's My Pleasure" by Billy Preston, "Love's In Need Of Love Today" by John Minnis Big Bone Band, "As" by Tony Sherman, "Buttercup" by Jackson 5, "Have A Talk With God" by East St Louis Gospelettes, "Betcha Wouldn't Hurt Me" by Quincy Jones, "Golden Lady" by Reel People with Tony Momrelle, "If You Don't Love Me" by GC Cameron, "If She Breaks Your Heart Again" by Foreign Exchange, "Don't You Worry Bout A Thing" by Black Sugar, "Go Home" by Jrod Indigo, and "Make My Water Boil" by David Ruffin. LP, Vinyl record album

Trumpeter Jaimie Branch has been giving us great music for a number of years – but honestly, she really knocks it out of the park on this live set – a record that's even more amazing than her previous two efforts with a similar title! The set's a double-length performance – and Branch's trumpet is really just a small part of the sound – as the quartet work together in these really amazing ways – with a well-blended sound that moves into all this sonic territory way more than familiar jazz – thanks to brilliant contributions from Chad Taylor on drums and mbira, Lester St Louis on cello and cymbal, and Jason Ajemian on bass – all players who really move around a lot, shift the sound of their instruments, and step into the brilliantly creative territory opened up by the leader! Titles include "Prayer For Amerikka (parts 1 & 2)", "Twenty Three N Me (Jupiter redux)", "Reflections On A Broken Sea", "Birds Of Paradise", "Leaves Of Glass", "The Storm", "Walzer", "Sun Tines", and "Theme 001". LP, Vinyl record album

A heady batch of work from the Miami scene of the 70s – all of it from the legendary TK Records family of labels, headed up by superproducer Henry Stone! Over the years, some folks have taken Henry to task for his operational strategies – but there's no denying that he's a key figure in helping the sound of the south move from the 60s into the 70s – picking up plenty of funk and sophistication along the way! The set's overflowing with classics from Stone's empire at the time – including many cuts that have been sampled or reworked heavily in recent decades – titles that include "I'm Too Tough For Mr Big Stuff" by Vicki Anderson, "Miami Funk" by The Funky Bunch, "Cramp Your Style" by All The People, "Keep It Up" by Milton Wright, "Sleep On Dream On" by Raphael Munnings, "Smokin & Drinkin" by James Brown, "Miss Hot Stuff" by Clarence Reid, "The Rub" by George & Gwen McCrae, "Funkadelic Sound" by Little Beaver, "Future Place" by Jimmy Castor, "I Like My Birdie" by Leon Phillips, "Throwdown" by The King Tutt Band, "Back From The Dead" by Bobby Byrd, "Shake N Bump (part 1)" by Snoopy Dean, and "You're The Song I've Always Wanted To Sing" by Timmy Thomas. LP, Vinyl record album