A crossover classic from the new Jack generation – and a record that maybe comes across with even more charm in the 21st Century than it did back in the day! Sure, the three Ts were never going to deliver the deepest soul or the hardest lyrics – but they've got a great way of blending together hip hop influences and damn catchy hooks, all at a level that really helped push soul music forward strongly at the time! The group produced the set themselves, and titles include their great remake of "It Never Rains In Southern California", the Vanessa Williams guest on "Oakland Stroke", and the titles "Sky's The Limit", "Those Were The Days", "The Blues", "let's Have A Good Time", "I Care", "Feels Good", and "All The Way". Bonus tracks include "Feels Good (12" party mix)", and "House Party II (ext club)". CD

A huge run of music from this legendary psychedelic band – all served up here in a single set! First up is their Part 1 album – the initial uttering from the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – a group with a heady sound that definitely lives up to their name! There's less "pop art" going on here than just trippy psych – served up at a level that makes the group one of the best bigger label examples of the style at the time – and definitely a lot more edgey than some of their labelmates on Warner. Jimmy Bowen produced, but really keeps all the edges intact – and titles include the completely insane "Help I'm A Rock" (actually about a rock calling for help!) – plus "Shifting Sands", "1906", "Transparent Day", "Here's Where You Belong", and "If You Want This Love". Next is Volume 2 – the amazing second album from this ultra-cool group – a set that's even weirder and wilder than their debut! The trio are maybe one of the few who really live up to the farthest expectations of the psych generation – as they're really open to let their minds fly in their choice of lyrics, instrumentation, and overall presentation of the record – which hardly seems the sort to yield any sort of singles at all, even though a few of the tunes are downright catchy! Instead, the whole thing's put forth as a dark statement on late 60s society – with a sound that's as heavy as the subject matter, and not afraid to really pus all the freak and fuzz as far as it can go! Quite surprising, even for the Reprise label – and tracks include "Queen Nymphet", "Tracy Had a Hard Day Sunday", "In the Arena", "Smell of Incense", "Suppose They Gave A War & No One Comes", "Overture Wcpaeb (part 2)", and "Carte Blanche" – which supposedly they were given in recording the album! Next is Child's Guide To Good & Evil, the third album in the continuing genius of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – a group who are certainly as experimental as their name would imply, but who can also come across with some warmer Sunshine Pop touches too! And it's that which makes the group so wonderful – the blend of freak and sweet, of fuzz and fun – all given a special shape in the studio through the genius of producer Jimmy Bowen, whose work here with Bob Markley is superb – and very much open to the best freedoms that Warner was offering its creative talents at the time! The song titles are equally superb – and titles include "A Child's Guide To Good & Evil", "Ritual #1", "Anniversary of World War III", "Eighteen Is Over The Hill", "As Kind As Summer", and "Our Drummer Always Plays In the Nude". CD 4 features 18 more bonus tracks – rare takes and alternate mixes of titles that include "Watch Yourself", "Ritual #1", "As Kind As Summer", "Eighteen Is Over The Hill", and "Until The Poorest People Have Money To Spend" – plus other tracks too. And all the other three albums are presented in both mono and stereo mixes – which makes for 84 tracks in the full set! CD

An incredible swan song from Talk Talk – a group that nobody would have guessed would go in this direction from the early years of their catchy crossover new romantic pop! The sound here is something else entirely – a fully-formed extension of the ideas they'd been exploring on Spirit Of Eden – in these beautiful soundscapes guided by Mark Hollis and the rest of the group – and filled in with work from a range of jazz and string players, including the legendary Brit jazz trumpeter Henry Lowther! There's a sense of denseness and texture that really marks the music – and a lot more warmth than similar 80s projects that might have come from 4AD, Factory, or ZTT – instead almost a "new subtlety" that had a huge influence on so many other groups to come. Tracks include "Myrrhman", "Ascension Day", "After The Flood", "Taphead", "New Grass", and "Runeii". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet electro funk from The Gap Band – a group who are still grooving strong here, hitting the best of their Total Experience modes! The trio's mighty tight throughout – and their familiar funk is augmented by some electro touches that definitely keep things fresh – and we mean that in the best mid-80s use of the word! A bit of an old school influence comes into the vocals at points – which are spoken as much as sung on some cuts – and as always, The Gap Band really show their strength with the kind of catchy chorus that works great with a bassy groove. Titles include a great ballad reworking of "Going In Circles" – plus the groovers "Lil Red Funkin Hood", "Automatic Brain", "Desire", "Bumpin Gum People", and "I Know We'll Make It". LP, Vinyl record album

The second album by The Sylvers – and like the first, a record that really has the group going way past any expectations you might have of them as a kid soul group! The Sylvers started out in the same era as the Jackson 5 and Five Stairsteps – but right from the start, they already sounded a lot more adult – and also had a way of setting up a tune that was uniquely sophisticated, and maybe which took years to appreciate! Part of this strength has to do with the excellent studio help used for the album – as the set was put together by Jerry Peters, with additional rhythm arrangements by Harvey Mason – and the pair of them give the set a very groovy feel, taking full advantage of the group's strong ability to turn a catchy lyric, but also adding some razor sharpness to the grooves. Titles include "Stay Away From Me", "Let It Be Me", "I Remember", "Cry Of A Dreamer", "Through The Love In My Heart", "Handle It", and "I Don't Need To Prove Myself". CD

Sweet sounds from a real golden age in Japanese music – a time when the scene had picked up plenty of influences from the US scene, but was carefully crafting some great styles of their own! The music here has touches of jazz, fusion, soul, and AOR – but there's a special balance that's a bit different than American chartbound material of the time – tight, but never too slick – and with a great ear for allowing the more interesting sides of the music to come forth in all the best ways – so that although catchy, the tunes aren't just going slavishly for a hook or a hit! There's a lot of resonance in the instrumentation with some of the scene that had Japanese jazz musicians working with American fusion players – but the overall approach is maybe more soul-based overall. An even deeper set than the first volume – with titles that include "Kanpoo" by Yumi Murata, "Hidari Mune No Seiza" by Tetsuji Hayashi, "Yubikiri" by Eiichi Ohtaki, "Vibration" by Kimiko Kasai, "Pink Shadow" by Bread & Butter, "The Tokyo Taste" by The Sadistics, "Blind Curve" by Momoko Kikuchi, "Skyfire" by Eri Ohno, and "Rainy Saturday & Coffee Break" by Junko Ohashi & Minoya Central Station. LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible 3CD set from Atomic – the increasingly amazing group of Scandinavian scene firebrands Fredrik Ljungkvist on reeds, Mangus Broo on trumpet, Havard Wiik on piano, Ingegbrigt Haker Flaten on bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums & percussion – who separately, and as a unit, must be acknowledged as some of the best modern free jazz players on the planet! If you thought that the title Retrograde might indicate a 3CD retrospective, think again. The set features 2 CDs of material captured over 2 days in July of 2007 – and a bonus third disc with the group doing their inimitable thing live at Tula's Jazz Club in Seattle! The studio work is as masterful as ever, always finding a killer groove and impeccable rhythmic dynamics – ratcheting up the intensity without the blunt force trauma that others in the free jazz underground bring on, balanced by spare moments and strains of the 60s heroes of avant garde jazz lurking in the shadows. Really wonderful stuff from players we love and respect more with each successive project! Titles include "Db Gestalt", "Retrograde", "Invisible Cities", "Correspondence", "Sweet Ebony", "King Kolax", "Invisible Cities II", "Papa", "Don Don", "Swedish Oklahoma" and more. The live disc has us kicking ourselves for not catching one of the group's Chicago shows, and the titles include "Crux", "Db Gestalt", "Painbody", "ABC 101b" and more. CD

Nothing chilled out here – as this Chill comes from the time before heavy hip hop usage of the word, and instead has a nicely upbeat sort of groove! There's a definite 80s sort of vibe going on here – thanks to keyboards and drum programs from Chuckii Booker, who's certainly left his mark on the record – working tightly with guitarist Ronnie Vann, who also co-produced the set with Booker. Vocals are slid in nicely next to the beats and keyboards – more catchy than deep – and titles include "Sexy So Nasty", "Think About It", "Misty", "Lady Seduction", "Hanging On", "Do It With Control", and "Never Walk Another Day Without You". CD

Killer early soul by Leroy Hutson – and a record that really shows him opening up as a vocalist and songwriter! Leroy's got a sound here that's pivotal in terms of Chicago soul – still some of the down-to-earth vibes of the city's indie scene in the 60s, but with that growing sense of maturity that he, Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, Maurice White, and Charles Stepney were all bringing to the scene! The tunes are mostly short and focused – still not in the complexity of the Hutson and Hutson II albums, but handled with every bit of care and class by the man himself. Titles include the wonderful soul classic "So In Love With You", a sweet mellow ballad that's extremely catchy, plus the moog-based funky instrumental "Gettin It On", a totally great number that often gets overlooked – and the cuts "Love Oh Love", "As Long As There's Love Around", and "Time Brings On A Change". LP, Vinyl record album

The title's got it right – because the Man is definitely back, although in a completely different way than before! Barry White works here in a setting that's nice and lean – those soul changes that came about during them more electric 80s years, but also given that start-of-90s spin that had a deeper sense of soul returning to the music – thanks to innovations by Soul II Soul, Terry Riley, and other groundbreaking talents! There's a vibe that definitely resonates with the younger R&B generation of the time – funky, but in a completely different way than 70s Barry White – and the singer's vocals fit tremendously well amidst the very catchy grooves. Tracks include "Super Lover", "Don't Let Go", "Love's Interlude/Good Night My Love", "I Wanna Do It Good To Ya", "It's Getting Harder All The Time", and "Responsible". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet sounds from a real golden age in Japanese music – a time when the scene had picked up plenty of influences from the US scene, but was carefully crafting some great styles of their own! The music here has touches of jazz, fusion, soul, and AOR – but there's a special balance that's a bit different than American chartbound material of the time – tight, but never too slick – and with a great ear for allowing the more interesting sides of the music to come forth in all the best ways – so that although catchy, the tunes aren't just going slavishly for a hook or a hit! There's a lot of resonance in the instrumentation with some of the scene that had Japanese jazz musicians working with American fusion players – but the overall approach is maybe more soul-based overall. An even deeper set than the first volume – with titles that include "Kanpoo" by Yumi Murata, "Hidari Mune No Seiza" by Tetsuji Hayashi, "Yubikiri" by Eiichi Ohtaki, "Vibration" by Kimiko Kasai, "Pink Shadow" by Bread & Butter, "The Tokyo Taste" by The Sadistics, "Blind Curve" by Momoko Kikuchi, "Skyfire" by Eri Ohno, and "Rainy Saturday & Coffee Break" by Junko Ohashi & Minoya Central Station. CD

Sweet sounds from a real golden age in Japanese music – a time when the scene had picked up plenty of influences from the US scene, but was carefully crafting some great styles of their own! The music here has touches of jazz, fusion, soul, and AOR – but there's a special balance that's a bit different than American chartbound material of the time – tight, but never too slick – and with a great ear for allowing the more interesting sides of the music to come forth in all the best ways – so that although catchy, the tunes aren't just going slavishly for a hook or a hit! There's a lot of resonance in the instrumentation with some of the scene that had Japanese jazz musicians working with American fusion players – but the overall approach is maybe more soul-based overall. An even deeper set than the first volume – with titles that include "Kanpoo" by Yumi Murata, "Hidari Mune No Seiza" by Tetsuji Hayashi, "Yubikiri" by Eiichi Ohtaki, "Vibration" by Kimiko Kasai, "Pink Shadow" by Bread & Butter, "The Tokyo Taste" by The Sadistics, "Blind Curve" by Momoko Kikuchi, "Skyfire" by Eri Ohno, and "Rainy Saturday & Coffee Break" by Junko Ohashi & Minoya Central Station. LP, Vinyl record album

The title's a bit misleading, as Giorgio Moroder didn't actually spend time on the Finnish scene – but the German superproducer had a huge influence on that nation's grooves during the 70s and early 80s – as you'll hear on this wonderfully weird and well-collected set! These are all cuts we never would have discovered otherwise, and they come together beautifully – starting out with a mix of compressed mid 70s pop with lots of sweet electric touches – then moving into some clubbier material that shows just how strong the Moroder influence was on the dancefloor scene! Given the change of language, and the catchiness of the tunes, there's also maybe a bit of an Abba vibe going on at points – and we mean that only in the best, most complimentary way possible. Most numbers are remakes of Moroder penned or produced hits, with vocals in Finnish – and titles include "Mika Fillis" by Mona Carita, "Lady Lady Lady" by Markku Aro, "Pista Valot Pois" by Eini, "Muuttukoon Maailma Taa" by Danny, "On Siita Aikaa" by Koivistolaiset, "Ohari" by Virve Rosti", "Luotan Rakkauteen" by Seija Simola, "Kay Mun Vierellain" by Tauski Peltonen & Meiju Suvas, and "Soita Mulle" by Mona Carita. CD