Amazing soul from one of the greats of the 60s! This album was one of the first that Jerry cut for Mercury – where he'd begun working with the young team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff to completely rework the earlier sound he'd forged at Vee Jay Records. The album's still got Jerry singing in his wonderfully rich deep voice – hence the "iceman" in the title – but the songs have a bit more of a groove to them, with a soaring soul style that really lifts Jerry up, and pushes him onto a whole new generation of soul fans. The best proof of this are the hits "Hey Western Union Man" and "Never Give You Up" – but the whole album's great, and like most of Jerry's LPs, it's got many wonderful tunes hiding underneath the hits. Titles include "How Can I Get In Touch With You", "Can't Forget About You Baby", "Are You Happy", and "Go Away Find Yourself" – as well as other hits like "Lost" and "Only The Strong Survive". LP, Vinyl record album

A tremendous second step for Chicago soul legend Walter Jackson – packaged here with a huge amount of bonus tracks as well! The core album is a sublime mix of new tunes and re-imagined standards – and a set that takes Walter Jackson into even more sophisticated soul territory than before! The record is proof that the up and coming soul artists of the 60s had a key place alongside the more established mainstream acts on the other side of the fence – as Walter's working here with arranger Riley Hampton to re-cast a number of familiar tunes in his cool Iceman soul mode – changing the themes, rhythms, and inflections of the tracks for a more contemporary soul market – and also interspersing them with a few great new songs of his own! The approach is amazing – far better than even Jerry Butler or Chuck Jackson's work in a similar idiom – and the album features the sublime hit "Welcome Home", plus the Van McCoy tunes "Suddenly I'm All Alone", "Still At The Mercy Of Your Love", and "The Magic's Gone" – alongside versions of "Moon River", "Let It Be Me", "Imagination", and "My Funny Valentine". Added to the original album are 7 more rare tracks pulled from singles – some of the true gems in Jackson's 60s career for Okeh – with titles that include "Deep In The Heart Of Harlem", "Cold Cold Winter", "That's When I Come To You", "Special Love", "One Heart Lonely", "I Think It's Going To Rain Today", and "The Folks Who Live On The Hill". CD

Early King Records material by Memphis slim – with tracks that include "Mistake In Life", "Pacemaker Boogie", "Grinder Man Blues", "Slim's Boogie", "Don't Ration My Love", and "Harlem Bound". LP, Vinyl record album

Quite an obscure little live set from Sun Ra – and that's saying a heck of a lot, given the amount of live material he's got out there! The performance was found on a reel simply titled "Spacemaster Concert", and recorded at an undetermined date in the early 70s – and it's easily one of the starkest, most challenging recordings so far in the Lost Reel series! There's a fair bit of electric keyboards on the set – often played with some noisier tones, and offset with vocals by June Tyson, and instrumentation by John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, and Kwami Hadi. Many numbers are less orchestral than sparer small combo performances – and titles include "Outer Space/Untitled Improvisation", "Exotic Forest", "Shadow World", "Strange Worlds/Untitled Improvisation", "Stardust From Tomorrow", and "Friendly Galaxy/Watusi". CD

Featuring: Frankie The Pacemaker "Live And Die Rock Part 2", Skeeta Ranx – Armand's Back In The Woods Remix "I Like", The Flipn Squad Presents Bobby J "Tick Tock", DJ Fashion "Brooklyn Stylz", Queens Tag Team "C'mon Yeah", Brooklyn Slumlords Presents Crtooklyn Clan "Funky Relaxation 12-inch, Vinyl record

A really fantastic set from this Swedish nine piece ensemble – a record that's overflowing with brash performance and unbridled energy – adventurous, but never totally free – and always given the right sort of focus to make things come across with a tremendous amount of power! The feel is almost like a Moserobie Records take on a Charles Mingus style – and the lineup features Martin Kuchen on alto and tenor – who also composed the album's five long tracks – plus Magnus Broo on trumpet, Matthias Stahl on vibes, Goran Kajfes on cornet, Mats Aleklint on trombone, Eirik Hegdal on baritone, Alexander Zethson on piano, Johan Berthling on bass, and Andreas Werliin on drums. If you know any of those players at all, you can imagine the greatness of the group – on titles that include "Adror", "Equality & Death", "Pacemaker", "Disappeared Behind The Sun", and "Love Flee Thy House". CD

Very dark stuff from Sun Ra – one of his records that received wider circulation than most of the Saturn releases of the 70s, and a set that maintains a pretty sharp edge overall! Ra plays some killer keyboards – moog, spacemaster, and acoustic piano – often with these really eerie tones – and other players include Kwame Hadi on trumpet, Akh Tal Ebah on space dimension mellophone, Ali Hassan on trombone, Marshal Allen and Danny Davis on alto and flute, John Gilmore on tenor, and Pat Patrick on baritone – and the whole group vocalizes at points, joined by other singers who include June Tyson and Art Jenkins. Recorded at the Sun studios in New York in 1970, the album features a number of shorter tracks like "Spectrum", "The Satellites Are Spinning", "Seen III, Took 4", "Adventures Of Bugs Hunter", and the longer tracks "Legend" and "The Realm Of Lightning". LP, Vinyl record album

The cinecocktail here is a heady one – a rougher, rawer brew of tunes than the previous two volumes – all pulled from some of the best Italian cop films of the 70s! The sounds are a sophisticated mix of jazzy instrumentation and larger orchestrations – often touched with a bit of electricity, but also featuring key acoustic moments on sax, flute, and strings. There's about as much keyboards and wah-wah guitars as you might expect from American cop themes of the time – but the grooves also have some more sensitive moments too – a lingering legacy of the maestro Italian years of late 60s/early 70s cinema. The package features loads of great tracks – some of the best funky bits buried in larger full film scores – and it also comes with a bonus DVD, Documentario Di Genere, with English subtitles! CD features 22 tracks that include "Just A Bite" by Carlo Rustichelli, "Il Consigliori" by Riz Ortolani, "The Life Of A Policeman" by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis, "The Blue Boat" by Francesco De Masi, "A Man Before Your Time" by Franco Micalizzi, "Louise" by Armando Trovajoli, "Napoli Spara" by Francesco De Masi, "Sono Stato Un Agente CIA Seq 17" by Stelvio Cipriani, "La Ballata Del Prefetto" by Ennio Morricone, and "Italia Ultimo Atto Seq 12" by Lallo Gori. CD

A big leap into the musical mind of David Brent – aka the character created by Ricky Gervais for the original UK version of The Office – now off to follow his dream as a singer/songwriter! The music here follows from those last few musical moments that Gervais gave us on the final installment of The Office UK – with maybe a bit less of the sexy soul vibe, and more of an earnest songwriter vibe – with some hilarious attempts at "correct" politics! Make no mistake, this is definitely an album of music – not comedic bits – and the songs are performed and produced at a level that's totally straight – so much so, they almost feel like lost AOR numbers from the late 70s, until you plug into the wit of the lyrics and their delivery by Gervais. Titles include "Spaceman", "Please Don't Make Fun Of The Disableds", "Lady Gypsy", "Native American", "Life On The Road", "Freelove Freeway", "Ain't No Trouble", "Electricity", and "Don't Cry It's Christmas". CD

An early standout set from soul singer Freddie Scott – put together with sublime arrangements from pop maestro Gary Sherman! The record's got a quality that's quite unique – a bit Iceman soul, ala Jerry Butler or Chuck Jackson – a bit of the polish of crossover acts like Ray Charles or Gene McDaniels – yet always done at a level that has Scott's deep, rich voice right upfront in the mix – full of power but never overdone! The tunes are from a variety of sources, but really get remade by Freddie – and titles include his hit versions of "Hey Girl" and "I Got A Woman", plus "What Do I See In The Girl", "Where Is The Girl", and "Where Does Love Go". LP, Vinyl record album

An extremely hip batch of southern soul from the start of the 70s – tracks that show the real growth in the genre as the decade approached – a move into deeper, more sophisticated forms that really helped break past the hit cliches of the 60s! All of the work here is from the Excello family of labels – including Mankind and A-Bet Records – all imprints dedicated to unearthing and exposing some of the deeper talents on the southern soul scene at the time – with fresh production styles that really gave the singers a chance to open up on the tunes. Most numbers are in a mellow or midtempo mode – presented with a nice degree of polish in the instrumentation, but never in a smooth or slick way. The package features great notes on these musical treasures – and the CD features a total of 22 tracks that include "I'm Going To Win Her Love" by Bobby Powell, "Bad Water" by Doris Duke, "Daddy's Home" by 5 Degrees Fahrenheit, "Tears (I Shed For You)" by Big T & The Pacemakers, "The Next Man" by Jean Stanback, "Got To Travel On" by Brooks O'Dell, "For The Good Times" by The Seventh Wonder, "Ten Carat Fool" by Jimmy Jules, "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" by Rose Davis, "Sun Comes Up" by Freddie North, "I'm Going To Try You One More Time" by Bobby Powell, "This Is My Chance" by Art Gentry, and "Lovin' On Back Streets" by Freddie North. CD