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A second amazing collection of rare funk tracks from the Mid East – work that didn't exist in the same "scene"-styled world as American funk, but which instead comes from a disparate group of recordings that surprisingly, amazingly, turned out to be pretty darn funky! Musical modes differ throughout the tracks in a really nice way – but most of the tunes are unified through strong use of electric bass and heavy percussion – mixed up from number to number, in a way that opens the door to a stunning world of musical exploration we never would have experienced otherwise! We've really grown to love the Habibi Funk label in recent years – and although other records have been great, this set may well be their crowning achievement. Titles include "Sultan Qaboos Song" by Sal Davis, "Ahlo Jedba" by Fadou, "Music De Carneval" by Magdy El Hussainy, "Badala Zamana" by Zohra, "Casba" by Ahmed Male, "El Fen" by Ait Meslayene, "Haditouni" by Douaa, "Tendme" by Ibrahim Hesnawi, and "Reet" by Hamid El Shaeri. LP, Vinyl record album

Get ready to have your mind completely blown – because this compilation is one of those completely rare ear-opening experiences that will let you know that there's a hell of a lot of music in the world that you've never heard before – even if, like us, you've heard plenty of funky music over the years! The grooves here definitely live up to the title – as they're completely funky throughout, and in ways that are plenty appealing to fans of Anglo funk, but which have all the Mideast touches you'd expect in the instrumentation – a mad mix of east and west, sacred and secular, with the kind of completely unique vibe that will grab you like the first time you heard Ethiopian soul or Turkish rock! We'd honestly never heard most of this music before – and even though we've dug previous releases on the Habibi Funk label, this namesake set is the moment when they really knock it out of the park, and let us know that they're on to something completely brilliant. Comes with a great set of note, which help the uninitiated like us – and titles include "Casablanca Shuffle" by Belbao, "Wang Dang" by Bob Destiny, "Bsslama Hbibti" by Fadoul, "Sah" by Al Massrieen, "Soul Brother" by Dalton, "Al Asafir" by Kamal Keila, "Rouhi Ya Hafida" by Mallek Mohamed, "La Coladera" by Freh Khodja, "Tape 19.11" by Ahmed Malek, "Ayonha" by Hamid El Shaeri, and "Games" by Samir & Abboud. LP, Vinyl record album

One of those really special records from the French scene of the 70s – a time when the local musicians were mixing sounds with new visitors from the post-colonial years – often with inspiration from American artists too! This set features singer/cultural figure Franck Valmont working with the hip Synchro group – a jazzy combo with some fantastic work on saxes from the great Jo Maka – who you'll know from other albums – alongside keyboardist George Nouel, guitarist Gerard Coubillon, drummer Yves Dolphin, and bassist Louis Xavier – all in this blend of French vocals, jazz instrumentation, and some strong currents from the global scene! The whole thing feels like some of the best cross-cultural experiments on the Saravah Records label – and titles include "Le Blanc Bleute", "Malere", "Ou Te Ke Belle", "Roche L'Anglais", "Mimil", "Petit Bonhomme", and "Quand Le Bateau". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful early record from singer Bill Fay – recorded in a baroque brilliance that rivals the late 60s work of Scott Walker! Like Walker, Fay's as much a poet as he is a singer – and he's also got the great fortune here to be working with some excellent arrangements – handled by British jazzman Michael Gibbs, and featuring some excellent guitar work from Ray Russell. That said, Bill Fay has a distinctly artful presence with a style that's all his own! He's slightly folksy at times, with echoes of some of more mysterious aspects of late 60s and early 70s psych folk scenesters – but his overall vision is far more elaborate, and carried off here to perfection in a rare kind of "once in a career" record that still holds up beautifully today! Titles include "Garden Song", "The Sun Is Bored", "Narrow Way", "We Have Laid Here", "Methane River", "Goodnight Stan", "Be Not So Fearful", and "Down To The Bridge". CD also features 2 bonus tracks, the earlier single sides "Some Good Advice" and "Screams In The Ears". CD

The heady second album from Bill Fay – much more introspective and moodier than his first outing for Deram, and a session done in tight collaboration with British guitar legend Ray Russell! Russell's got Fay working here with a much smaller group than on the first album – a collection of jazz-influenced players that includes Nick Evans on trombone, Tony Roberts on reeds, and Alan Rushton on drums – all working with Russell's guitar in an intimate, slightly folksy setting. Fay's songwriting and vocals are darker than before – as can easily be told from the titles of tunes like "Don't Let My Marigolds Die", "Dust Filled Room", "Pictures Of Adolf Again", and "Til The Christ Come Back". But somehow, Fay manages to pull the whole thing off beautifully – with none of the cliches or heavy-handed styles you might expect, really working in a transcendent mode that reminds us of the best of early Leonard Cohen. CD

A nice funky electric groover from Stanley Clarke's mid 80s R&B years! Time Exposure has a lot of period electro funk in the mix, particularly Clarke's impeccable bass lines, which are heavy throughout! A brilliant mix of 80s fusiony future funk with jazz precision – definitely a funky highlight from this period in Clarke's career – and those bass lines are just unreal! A pretty eclectic roster of guest musicians play on this one, including tenor sax player Ernie Watts, fellow bassist Louis Johnson of Brothers Johnson, singer Howard Hewitt and rock guitar guru Jeff Beck. Titles include "Play The Bass 10", "Are You Ready (For The Future)", "Heaven Sent You", "Time Exposure", "Speedball", "Future Shock", "Spacerunner", "I Know Just How You Feel" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet, hip hop-leaning side project of the mighty Q-Continuum crew – adding a propulsive party rap groove to their eclectic stew of funk and modern soul groove! Features mysterious vocalists rocking it under the names Father Metro and MC Paleface, plus Axl Smith, Puppa J, and others – with a nice backdrop of turntables, live horns, bubbling bass and percussion! Tracks include "Nothing But A Q-Thing" feat Organ Kane and others, ", "Travelling Phrase" feat Axl Smith, "Girls (Ladies)" feat Father Metro, "Fire It Up (Bossa)" feat Father Metro & MC Paleface, "Cheeky Monkey" feat Smulton, "The Mogul" feat Tuomo, "Destination Unclear" feat Father Metro, "They Dream To Be Free" feat Axl Smith and more. CD

A batch of eclectic postmodern soul that's as original and instantly gratifying as anything we've heard on Stones Throw! Aloe Blacc more than lives up to the expectations we had for him after hearing his first couple of Stones Throw singles. His previous work in the adventurous hip hop outfit Emanon really only hints at his solo work – and it's even more bold in its idiosyncratic approach to an appealing groove! The almost entirely self-produced Shine Through (Oh No and Madlib produce one track each) is rife with an electronic sheen, touching on a bubbling psychedelic soul vibe we've never really heard before. A couple of tracks have guitar, bass, and keys that bring a more organic, but still kind of otherworldly groove – even touching on a cosmic Latin vibe on a couple of tunes! Tracks include "Whole World", a totally re-imagined take on Sam Cooke's "Long Time Coming" (produced by Oh No), "Are You Ready", "Busking", "Bailar", "Nascimento", "Dance For Life", "Patria Mia", "Shine Through", "Caged Birdsong", "Arrive", "Want Me", "One Inna" (produced by Madlib) and "I'm Beautiful". CD

Soul Vibrations and eclectic hip hop groove from J Boogie's Dubtronic Science – featuring a stellar crew of guest MCs – J-Boogie's full length debut and another high quality album from Om Records! Soul Vibrations features a diverse roster of guests – including Lyrics Born, Zumbi of Zion I, The Rebirth, Crown City Rockers, Jrod Indigo, Jennifer Johns and more – on tunes that range from hazy Cali toasted hip hop soul, Latin, soul & jazz inflected numbers, dubbier funk, and elements of Afrobeat. Nice stuff with laidback beats, keys, often with horns in the mix – and the vocal guests bring their a-games. Titles include "Sweet Music" feat Tony Moses, "Revolution" feat Lyrics Born & The Mamaz, "Que Pasa?" feat Deuce Eclipse, "For Your Love" feat Zumbi of Zion I & Rothma, "Leave It Behind" feat The Rebirth & Aima The Dreamer, "Alive" feat Crown City Rockers & Jrod Indigo, "14U" feat Ohmega Watts & Regen Fykes, "Out To The Bay" feat Capital A & Aima The Dreamer, and more. CD

One of Nilsson's best ever albums – with a more streamlined overall sound than some of his wildly eclectic earlier LPs – really putting a tight focus on both his vocal and songwriting genius! There's an easygoing charm to the album that's pretty much unrivaled in his catalog (and highlighted by the early morning cover photo) – backed by guitars, keys, and in some spots horns – with loads delicate moments and oddball humor. Pure greatness! Titles include "Gotta Get Up", "Driving Along", "Early In The Morning", "The Moonbeam Song", "Down", "Without You", "Coconut", "Let The Good Times Roll", "Jump Into The Fire" and "I'll Never Leave You". CD

The mid 90s instant classic! Outkast's debut set them up as one of the most distinctive hip hop duos ever, right out of the gate, but it also helped to established the freewheeling, funky dirty south sound, thanks to genius Organized Noize production! The Outkast sound would get bigger and more wildly eclectic on the records to follow Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, but the consistent, funky southern swagger on this one holds up incredibly well. It sounds fresh to this day! Includes breakout hit "Player's Ball", "Crumblin Erb", "Git Up, Git Out", "Claimin' True", "Funky Ride", "Soouthernplayalisticadillacmuzik", "Ain't No Thang", "CallOf Da Wild", "Hootie Hoo" and a couple of interludes. CD

The mid 90s instant classic! Outkast's debut set hem up as one of the most distinctive hip hop duos ever, right out of the gate, but it also helped to established the freewheeling, funky dirty south sound, thanks to genius Organized Noize production! The Outkast sound would get bigger and more wildly eclectic on the records to follow Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, but the consistent, funky southern swagger on this one holds up incredibly well. It sounds fresh to this day! Includes breakout hit "Player's Ball", "Crumblin Erb", "Git Up, Git Out", "Claimin' True", "Funky Ride", "Soouthernplayalisticadillacmuzik", "Ain't No Thang", "CallOf Da Wild", "Hootie Hoo" and a couple of interludes. LP, Vinyl record album

Brooklyn funky soul combo Pimps Of Joytime – whose eclectic grooves roll in and out of Latin stoked grooves, laidback and feverish funk, and hip hop – a few new original numbers plus some remixes by DJ Vadim, Chico Mann, Nickodemus, Chico Mann and SUMO! Titles include "Bonita" rmixed by DJ Vadim, "My Gold" remixed by Chico Mann, "San Francisco Bound" remixed by DJ OBaH, "Funky Brooklyn", "Joytime Radio", "My Gold" remix by Sumo and "H2O" remixed by DJ Smash and featuring Cyril Neville. CD

Rare late 60s psychedelia from blue collar Rockford, Il – a totally great lost album of pop psych tunefulness from Pisces – who had an incredible knack for experimental sounds that weave in and out of the hallucinatory pop structure! The group centered around core players Jim Krein and Paul DiVenti, and a number of the tunes have fragile, beautiful lead vocals by Linda Bruner, bringing in a bit of Velvets style stark, haunting loveliness – and most of the tracks languished unreleased all this time! This is essentially the first real release of almost all of the tunes, and the best shot at finding an adventurous audience any of it has ever had! We think this stuff would have been hugely influential had it found an audience in its time, hell, it sounds to us like it actually did influence countless groups, even though that's hardly even possible! There's a tunefulness at the center that bears the fruits of the experimental pop sounds that came from benchmark scenes of the era, from Haight Ashbury to Abbey Road – but the found sound ephemera, tape manipulations, and tripped out atmospherics really bring in some far out vibes! An essential discovery from Numero that's as exciting, insistently groovy and eclectic as any of the rock oriented stuff they've dug up to date! Titles include "Dear One", "Children Kiss Your Mother Goodnight", "Motley Mary Ann", "Say Goodbye To John", "The Music Box", "Like A Hole In The Wall Where The Rat Lives", "Elephant Eyes", "Circle Of Time" and more – plus the "extended play" bonus tracks "A Flower For All Seasons" and "In The Summer A Grape Grows". CD

A wonderful set of unreleased Arthur Russell songs – great tunes that he cut in more of an eclectic singer-songwriter approach than some of his other work – emotionally upfront, understated material that is simply beautiful! The songs range from very stripped down and folksy on the earlier recordings – kind of like an East Village Townes Van Zandt (we s**t you not) with Arthur singing and playing acoustic guitar and occasionally his cello – with an intuitive, true understanding of folk and Americana at its most honest and direct, while still working in some avant flourishes. As the set and the years of recording progress, the accompaniment gets busier and more pop, soul and experimental sounds are filtered in – but the song-based approach carries all the way through. For a noted perfectionist and experimentalist, it's a really unfussy batch of material, and very rewarding. Highly recommended! Tracks include "Close My Eyes", "Goodbye Old Paint", "Maybe She", "Oh Fernanda Why", "Eli", "Habit Of You", "Janine", "Big Moon", "The Letter", "Your Motion Says", "Love Is Overtaking Me", "Planted A Thought", "Love Comes Back" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful album from the eternally underrated Hoyt Axton – whose rich, folksy lead vocals are given some fairly soaring arrangements on tunes that range from topical but not quite protest folk material to some trippier, chemically enhanced narratives! Hoyt's got the kind of easygoing, laconic drawl to keep a rustic vibe in the overall sound, but on these tunes he really stretches out into some some lyrically ambitious numbers that bring Tim Buckley to mind, and he also employs mean growl to some seedier numbers that surprised us even more. He dabbles in these eclectic sounds without ever betraying his Hoyt-ness (look at that, we made up a new word). Titles include "Way Before The Time Of Towns", "Beelzebub's Laughter", "Sunshine Fields Of Love", "Sunrise", "Kingswood Manor" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A graceful collaboration between the ever-eclectic Elvis Costello and New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint – with Elvis's current backing group The Imposters providing a tight rhythmic backdrop that's punctuated by the Crescent City Horns! Toussaint's work as a producer/arranger/ace songwriter needs no introduction, and he and Costello & co. run through many great tracks from Toussaint's songbook in a sometimes mellow soul feel, and sometimes with some light Crescent City funk. Toussaint & Costello co-penned a number of new tracks for the set – mostly with an uplifting gospel soul inflection that's very nice! Tracks include "On Your Way Down", "Nearer To You", "Tears, Tears And More Tears", "The Sharpest Thorn", "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?", "The River In Reverse", "Freedom For The Stallion", "Ascension Day", "All These Things", "Wonder Woman" and more. CD

Bettye Lavette's best record yet for Anti- – a modern classic from a bonafide legendary deep soul singer – and she sounds as wonderful as she has in years! If her voice has picked up some grit over the years, it's no less beautiful – and the experience only enhances the material. The song choices are terrific – kicking off with the somewhat overlooked Dylan treasure "Everything Is Broken" – and several others eclectic, classic-level songs that span a number of genres – adapted masterfully into a timeless sound that's distinctly southern, but it eschews he retro revival style, for a unique vibe of it's own. Producer Craig Street and the tight group of musicians assembled for the record deserve a lot of credit, but none more than the inspiring Bettye Lavette! Includes "I'm Not The One", "Dirty Old Town" (plus a great closing slow version), "Yesterday Is Here", "Thankful N' Thoughtful", "Time Will Do The Talking", "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" and more. CD

One of Nilsson's best ever albums – with a more streamlined overall sound than some of his wildly eclectic earlier LPs – really putting a tight focus on both his vocal and songwriting genius! There's an easygoing charm to the album that's pretty much unrivaled in his catalog (and highlighted by the early morning cover photo) – backed by guitars, keys, and in some spots horns – with loads delicate moments and oddball humor. Pure greatness! Titles include "Gotta Get Up", "Driving Along", "Early In The Morning", "The Moonbeam Song", "Down", "Without You", "Coconut", "Let The Good Times Roll", "Jump Into The Fire" and "I'll Never Leave You". LP, Vinyl record album

An eclectic set from UFO, with their mad blend of styles including spy theme thrillers, angular (but still groovy!) jazziness and even some nice soundtracky very French mod bits! The album features 12 numbers in all, including "His Name Is. . .", "Nica's Dream", "Spy's Spice (Mon Espionne)", "Dice For A Chance", "Planet Plan (edit)", "Waltz (Le Serpent Rouge)", "Picaresque Eye", "Friends – We'll Be" and "The Moving Shadows". LP, Vinyl record album

Wax Poetics is pulling out a big talent roster this time around – covers with Raury and Gary Clark Jr – and inside articles on Leon Bridges, Boz Scaggs, Marilyn McLeod, Kamasi Washington, Onra, John Simon, and others! As usual, the coverage is as eclectic as the artists included – great features on talents both classic and contemporary, but who are often sometimes a bit far from the spotlight – and brought to light with the crate-digging commitment that's always made WP so great! Photos are great, text is rich, and there's hardly any ads in the magazine either! Magazine

Jack White following his farthest reaching eclectic tendencies wherever they'll lead him – as has been his modus operandi for years – but this time farther away from the raging, if still pretty idiosyncratic guitar rock of Lazzaretto and much of his past catalog to a more wildly diverse, intentionally all over the place sound! Starting with a rock & soul anthem complete with a gospel style chorus that leads to a leaner synth rock ballad, Boarding House Reach reaches from there to call-and-response funk rock, to folk soul hybrids, to straighter hard grooving rock and beyond. 13 tracks in all: "Connected By Love", "Why Walk A Dog?", "Corporation", "Abulia And Akrasia", "Hypermisophoniac", "Ice Station Zebra", "Over And Over And Over", "Respect Commando", "What's Done Is Done", "Humoresque" and more. CD

The first ever compilation of the best music made for MoWest – the eclectic, but still soulful cuts made when Berry Gordy Jr. relocated from Motown to the west coast in the early 70s – releasing cool and sometimes strange music with a soul background, yet toasted by LA sunshine! The MoWest subsidiary lasted just a few years, and gets overlooked in the canonization of Motown at it's most classic and revolutionary – but the legacy is pretty incredible. Funk, sunshine rock and soul fused adventurously by a stunningly diverse roster – late period Frankie Vallie & The Four Seasons (who's comp-opening track is a slept on sunshine pop-soul classic), breezy-jazzy-soul from Odyssey, the sister funk of Sisters Love, a stunning solo left turn from Spinners singer GC Cameron and more great stuff from Syreeta, The Commodores, Suzee Ikeda, Thelma Houston and others. We've been dying for a well selected MoWest comp like this for years, and Light In The Attic stepped to the plate and knock it right out of the park. The songs choices are great, the notes are great. . .everything about it is a win. Essential! Includes "You're A Song (That I Can't Sing)" and "The Night" by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, "Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love" and "Broken Road" by Odyssey, "Don't You Be Worried" by The Commodores, "A Heart Is A House" Nu Page, "I Ain't Going Nowhere" by Thelma Houston, "I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You" by Suzee Ikeda, "You've Got To Make The Choice" and "Give Me Your Love" by The Sisters Love and more. CD

A full length collabo from Nas & Damien "Jr Gong" Marley – who've worked together in the past on a track two – and overall it's a win that goes well beyond simple hip hop/dancehall fusion! The duo samples Mulatu, collaborate with K'Naan , Dennis Brown, Stephen Marley and others, and bring global dramatic sweep and and timeless funk to Distant Relatives that ends up working better as an eclectic whole than you may have suspected! Titles include "As We Enter", "Tribes At War" feat K'Naan, "Strong Will Continue", "Leaders" feat Stephen Marley, "Count Your Blessings", "Nah Mean", "Patience", "Africa Must Wake Up" feat K'Naan and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Underground club from the New York scene of the 80s – a mix of late disco, early hip hop, and some prime boogie groovers! The tracks are relatively long – mostly pulled from 12" singles – and there's a nicely eclectic mix of tunes here, really showing the scope of styles that played on the 80s dancefloors in the Big Apple – the kind of creative cuts that never charted big, but had plenty of impact back in the day. Titles include "Somebody's Loving You" by Klassique, "Let's Do It" by Convertion, "Rapper's Revenge" by Mike Gee, "On The One" by Lukk, "Hold On" by Kremecicle, "Just How Sweet Is Your Love" by Rhyze, "This Beat Is Mine" by Vicky D, "Main Thing" by Shot, "Please Don't Break My Heart" by The Affair, and "Share The Night" by World Premier. CD

A nice early set from jazz guitar greats Herb Ellis and Charlie Byrd – who would work together much more frequently in the years to come – but sharing a rare early 60s joint set on 1964's Guitar/Guitar! This is one of the earliest, if not the earliest pairings on record for these guys as a joint effort – and it's a really warm, engaging blend of Byrd's finger style acoustic playing and Ellis's clean electric eclecticism. The run through some nice jazzy blues and west coast breezy modes, a little bit of bossa, a touch of Chet Atkins style twang, and more – all of it pretty laidback and charming! Titles include "Se Todos Fossem Iquais A Voce", "Chung King", "Carolina In The Morning", "Three Quarter Blues", "Take Care Of Yourself", "Jazz 'N' Samba", "Oh, Lady Be Good", "Things Ain't What They Used To Be", "A Hundred Years From Today", "and "Bluesette". LP, Vinyl record album

The first full length collaboration between blues, soul and rock slide guitar eclecticist Ben Harper and harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite – and it's win for both – with a vibe that's rooted in many traditions, but feels right at home in both Harper's and Musselwhite's wheelhouses. We expected a blues & soul covers set when we first heard that this project was in the works – and while the prospect of these 2 fellows working together on the classic Americana songbook sounds like a pretty good idea to us – we're actually all the more impressed with this all originals take on classic styled craft. A bit of blues and blues rock, a bit of gospel, and a bit of southern styled folk soul – and a bunch of great songs! It's a full band set up for the most part, too, as opposed to a spare duos set – and the titles include "Don't Look Twice", "I'm In I'm Out And I'm Gone", "We Can't End This Way", "You Found Another Lover (I Lost Another Friend), "I Ride At Dawn", "Get Up!", "She Got Kick", "Blood Side Out" and "All That Matters Now". CD

Rare early solo material from Dutch jazz rock guitar eclecticist/genius Jan Akkerman – a late 60s album released in the Netherlands on Imperial after Akkerman's time in The Hunters and before his work with Brainbox and Focus! It's an early indication of his far reaching tastes and talent – playing in trio format for the most part, with couple bluesy psych jazz gems composed by Jan plus takes on diverse bag of covers including "Bag's Groove", "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", "Ode To Billy Joe" and "Green Onions". Original numbers include "Revival Of The Cat" and "Moonbeam". LP, Vinyl record album

The great late 60s Brit psych folk set by Michael Chapman – well played by an ace group that included guitarist Mick Ronson and was produced by Gus Dudgeon, who also worked in Bowie's Space Oddity – a record up there with that one in unclassifiable cosmic folk and rock craftsmanship and eclecticism! There's a mix of acoustic and electric numbers, each with cooly slurred vocals and unique songcraft of Chapman. Includes "Aviator", "Naked Ladies And Electric Ragtime", "Stranger In The Room", "Postcards From Scarborough", "March Rain", "Trinkets And Rings", "Fishbeard Sunset", "Kodak Ghosts" and more. CD