Fantastic early work from The Fall – some key singles issued by the Rough Trade label as 45s during the first few years of the group – already a great showcase for the mad wit of Mark E Smith! While we love the albums from this time, these singles are maybe the songs we go back to again and again – as they sometimes have surprisingly catchy hooks, even while maintaining an edge – and often resonate with that Smith sense of humor that sometimes takes a few listens to pick up on! Tracks include "Totally Wired", "Putta Block", "How I Wrote Elastic Man", "City Hobgoblins", "The Man Whose Head Expanded", "Ludd Gang", "Kicker Conspiracy", "Wings", "Container Drivers", and "New Puritan". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

The Nigerian scene might be best-remembered as a hotbed of Afro Funk in the 70s – but during the same key stretch, the nation also gave rise to a heady rock underground, too – one that often mix psychedelic inspirations with some of the soul and funk that were coming from the bigger names on their scene at the time! In other words, there's plenty of guitars here – but also plenty of groove – basslines that really get the tunes going, and a mix of funky drums and rootsy percussion that make the music way more than just standard rock of the time – and even a lot groovier than some of the Zamrock or South African sounds that got a bit more exposure. The package is as great as the sound within – a big book that's filled with detailed notes on the music, the scene, and the tumultuous Nigerian politics of the period – plus lots of photos and images as well! The collection features 18 tracks in all – titles that include "Mother" by Waves, "Never Never Let Me Down" by Formulars Dance Band, "Keep On Moving" by The Hygrades, "Everybody Likes Something Good" by Ify Jerry Krusade, "Onye Ije" by The Strangers, "Stone The Flower" by The Hykers, "Never Too Late" by The Apostles, "Tell Me" by PRO, "Float" by Tirogo, "I Can't Be Satisfied" by Founders 15, and "Ballad Of A Sad Young Woman" by Wrinkar Experience. LP, Vinyl record album

West coast harmony soul genius – a full early album of work by The Ballads – a sweet soul group who really live up to their name! The tracks here are all mellow soul with a near-perfect quality – vocals that step and slide together in a gentle, heartfelt sort of way – never too slick, and always with a heartbreaking sound that rivals some of the better-known east coast examples of the genre. Production is by Willie Hutch, Leon Ware, and Clarence Paul – and the album's a super-rare effort from the mostly-singles Venture label – with tracks that include "Good Bless Our Love", "You're The One", "I Love You Yeah", "The Gift Of Love", "Weakspot", "Hey Diddle Diddle", and "Goodnight My Love". CD also features 9 more bonus tracks – including "Right Track (parts 1 & 2)", "I Can't See Your Love", "Do It Now", "I Love You Yeah", and "I Hope I Never Fall In Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Cosmic soul from Danish singer Astrid Engberg – an artist with a voice that's already great on its own, but sound seven better amidst the album's slightly spacey, slightly jazzy instrumentation! The record has a very contemporary vibe – as although Astrid's vocals could work in an old school soul setting, they seem even better here with the moody electric crackle of the backings – sometimes served up by just a trio, but featuring guest work from the great string master Miguel Atwood Ferguson on a number of tracks – and other appearances from Moo Latte, Maria Dybbroe, and Tobias Wiklund as well. Titles include "Spirits Came Told Me", "Chains", "Loving Contemplation", "I Should Care", "Adaptation", "Body Follows Body", and "Blue Rise & The Fall". LP, Vinyl record album

A really heady record from the Venezuelan scene of the 70s – a record that mixes hard rock energy with prog-styled instrumentation, all at a level that creates some really dynamic sounds overall! These guys take off right from the start – and although the record's a concept album, the approach here is maybe a bit more open overall, and liberates the set from some of the traps that an Anglo group like this might fall into – or maybe it's just us and our weak understanding of Spanish, which allows us to take the tunes as they come! Titles include "Kazmor El Prisionero", "Mi Cancion", "Inocetnes Perdidos", "Prisa", "Advenimiento/Trayectoria", and "El Asuente". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic set to feature the Bill Evans Trio with the great Scott Lafaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums! Listening to the set we're reminded of what always brings us back to Evans' playing – a quality that's often described as moody, but which is really is quite spry and lively throughout this set, without ever giving up its lyrical approach. Titles are mostly standards – but really transformed by the touch of the trio – and tunes include "Come Rain Or Come Shine", "Autumn Leaves", "Witchcraft", "When I Fall In Love", "Peri's Scope", "What Is This Thing Called Love", "Spring Is Here", "Some Day My Prince Will Come", and "Blue In Green". LP, Vinyl record album

A really killer 70s album from Fela Kuti – one that serves up a hell of a message, and some great slinky grooves too! "Yellow Fever" is a brutal attack on miscegenation, backed by a funky groove that makes the whole thing fall into place with an amazing riffing sound – bold, powerful, and Afrika 70 at their best! "Na Poi 75" begins with a cool spoken bit – then moves into this pulsating keyboard part which is almost eerily spare, until the rest of Afrika 70 come into the mix and really funk things up! Drums are wonderfully skittish – kind of double-snapping, while the bassline dips nicely below – and the tune ebbs and flows in this really great way. LP, Vinyl record album

The lovely Kim Sang Hee takes on the music of both Tom Jones and Burt Bacharach – in a setting that has her working with nicely different backings for each of the different sources! The Burt Bacharach material is maybe our favorite – as Kim's sweet voice works wonderfully with the small combo backing of pianist Masahiko Sato, who really seems to get the right sense of space and timing for the Bacharach tunes that include "April Fools", "I'll Never Fall In Love Again", "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head", and "This Girl's In Love With You". The Tom Jones material includes a range of different songs associated with Jones, not necessarily written by him – with groovy larger backings from the New Herd of Toshiyuki Miyama, with arrangements by Norio Maeda – on cuts that include "It's Not Unusual", "Little Green Apples", "Delilah", and "Green Green Grass Of Home". LP, Vinyl record album

Kiefer's one of those artists that we sometimes forget about, then fall in love all over again when we drop the needle on a record – which is definitely the case this time around, as Kiefer seems to be more on top of his game and focused than ever! As before, there's a mix of piano/keyboards and percussion that dominates the sound – sometimes live drums, sometimes programmed – delivered with a warmth that really makes the spare elements resonate with a lot more soulful power than you might expect – almost as if Kiefer listened to some of the more soulful, subtle keyboardists in the 70s fusion generation, but found a way to transform their energy to a 21st Century setting – transforming the world of beats and keys in the process. Titles include "I Wish I Wasn't Me", "My Disorder", "Panic", "High", "Dreamer", "Head Trip", "I Could Cry", "August Again", "Forgetting U", and "I Was Foolish I Guess". LP, Vinyl record album

Grooves unlike anything else you've ever heard before – the rightly legendary musical legacy of William Onyeabor, one of the most enigmatic talents to come from the African scene of the 70s! The work here is all plenty darn funky, but it's also very different from familiar Afro Funk too – as the instrumentation is heavy on keyboards, handled by William with incredible dexterity – and spun out in these soaring lines that bristle with righteous touches that really support the message of his tunes! The vibe mixes in some electro elements with long-drawn rhythms – and the vocals often step aside for lots of keyboard and rhythm interplay, then come in to send things home at just the right moment. Onyeabor's been a pretty elusive cat over the years, and it's taken Luaka Bop quite some time to put this collection together – amazing work that may well make the album one of the most important to ever come from the label – and the first introduction to the non-African world of Onyeabor's incredible sounds. Titles include "Body & Soul", "Atomic Bomb", "Something You'll Never Forget", "Why Go To War", "Love Is Blind", "Fantastic Man", and "Let's Fall In Love". 3LP set features four bonus tracks not on the CD! LP, Vinyl record album

A Nigerian group, but one who work in the best roots reggae modes of previous years in Kingston – recording here with a laidback vibe that really creates a sense of intimacy that's very different than much work of this time coming out in the 90s! Vocals are traded back and forth between Blackwell Jones and Delleo Freeman – and there's a gently stepping groove to the record that never pushes too hard, nor tries for any sort of too-commercial modes. The set's features six tracks in all – "Babylon Fall", "Black People", "Psalm 23", "African Children", "Dreadful Look", and "Wet My Whistle". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible album from the Japanese scene at the start of the 70s – served up by a group with a name that might be clunky, but which also belies one of that nation's heaviest combos of the time! The approach here is a bit like some of the tripped-out blues-influenced rock of the Led Zep generation in the UK – but as with some of this band's contemporaries in Japan, there's also a wilder, wiggier vibe going on too – more freewheeling, especially on the fuzz – and driven by tremendous drums that make for some great changes in some of the more hard-rocking numbers. Titles include "Mr Walking Drugstore Man", "Stoned Out Of My Mind", "Big Headed Woman", and "Ode To The Bad People" – plus the experimental "M Glue", and the acoustic "Sometime We'll All Fall Down". LP, Vinyl record album

These guys definitely live up to the "jam" in the name of their band – but not in the same way as 21st Century groups using the jam band name! Instead, the sound here is bass-heavy funk – a mode that's probably a bit inspired by P-Funk, but often faster and more frenetic – kind of a rougher-edged version of some of the Ohio funk acts that really rose to prominence at the end of the 70s. Charles Davis is the maestro on bass – and he never pushes things too far, nor pops the strings too much – and instead just uses his strings to really vamp the whole group from the bottom on up, setting the scene for lots of tasty interplay on horns, guitar, and keyboards – amidst a flurry of vocals by members of the group. Titles include "Chazz Jazz", "Midnight Stroker", "Instrument Soul", "Bolo", "Living In Style", "The Funky Get Down", "Can't Hide The Funk", and "Who Want To Fall In Love". CD features 2 bonus tracks – "Can't You Ride The Western Funk" and "Whip That Mini Skirt". LP, Vinyl record album

Mad Mats is not only digging beyond the crates here, he's also digging beyond any conventional expectations you might have – as the set's got a unique vibe that may well make it one of the most compelling BBE compilations in years! The music is from the late 60s through the present – but it all comes together in a very future-sounding way – with rhythms that are often offbeat, electric elements that seem to crackle with independent energy, and vocals that can fall down in the mix one minute and burst forth the next! This isn't a dance music compilation, and it's also not a set of rare funk tracks either – and instead, Mats creates his own very personal journey in sound – heedless of time periods, genres, and often national boundaries. Titles include "Take A Stand" by Psalms, "Big Big Boss" by Johnny Moore, "Badly" by Cuthead, "Sherriff (Murlo rmx)" by Gappy Ranks, "Keep The Music Alive" by Yvonne Gray, "Evil Woman" by Bobby Hebb, "Jazz In Outer Space" by BSTC, "The Traveller" by Deft, "Space Based" by Mode M, "Don't Hold Back The Feeling (key trip dub)" by U N I, "Animations" by Intimate Disco, and "Jah I See You" by Ensemble Entendu. LP, Vinyl record album

Mr Bongo really goes back to its roots here – and returns to the kind of rare global gems that first made us fall in love with the label in the first place! Over 20 years ago, Mr Bongo were one of the key global forces in opening up people's ears to the sounds of funk and soul from around the globe – digging up rare nuggets from out of the way places that might have echoed American styles, but turned them on their ear – or the kinds of cuts that were completely unique, but which could stand next to the kind of funky 45s that were being sampled for hip hop! This collection brings together some of the best cuts that continue that legacy – some rare singles, some obscure European tracks, and lots of others you never would have discovered otherwise – with titles that include "Deixa A Tristeza", "Piranha" by Alipio Martins, "Seara De Oxala" by Barbosa, "Mathar" by Dave Pike Set, "Freak" by Tappa Zukie, "Mama Hot Daddy Cool" by Big Youth, "Fish & Funjee" by Lantei Lamptey, "Karam Bani" by Buari, "Handsome Boy (parts 1 & 2)" by The Rwenzoris, "He's Forever" by King James Version, "Chanson D'Un Jour D'Hiver" by Cortez, and "Can't Live Without You" by Connie Laverne. LP, Vinyl record album

The kind of record that makes us mighty proud to live in the Windy City – and a long-overdue look at the wealth of rare club, disco, and soul cuts bubbling in the Chicago underground at the end of the 70s! During the early part of the decade, the city was widely known for some super-huge soul acts – and in the 80s, house would raise Chicago to international fame – but in the space between, the city kept on putting out some really wonderful music – wicked little cuts issued on small indie labels, most of which never got any circulation outside the midwest! The Mr Peabody crate-digging team's collected together the best of the best from these overlooked years – and also threw in a few of their own edits too – furthering the dancefloor potential of some of the best rare nuggets. 2LP version features 8 cuts – including "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" by Carmen Amez – plus seven Mr Peabody edits – versions of "Too Far Gone" by LaJohn & Sheela, "The Challenge" by Billy Hinton, "The Composer" by Fantasie, "Running To A Disco" by Lonnie Givens, "Bass Come Back" by The Moore Brothers, "Disco Ball" by Brighter Side Of Darkness, and "Your Love Is In The Pocket" by Premonition. LP, Vinyl record album

A wealth of rare work from Jamaican studio genius Bunny Striker Lee – unusual cuts and unreleased material – all of it a further testament to his legendary ear for a mindblowing sound! These aren't half-baked cuts, or material that deserved to fall to the cutting room floor – because the style is years ahead of its time, and put together with techniques and styles that are still pretty darn revolutionary after all these many years! Some tracks have a strong vocal presence, others are more instrumental – and in addition to Lee's famous flying cymbals technique, there's lots more going on here too – including some totally cool space age sounds. Unreleased tracks include "Bell Road Rock" by The Aggrovators, "Joe Frazier" by Tommy McCook, "Go Jah Jah Pickney" by Linval Thompson, "No Man Is An Island" by Johnny Clarke & Horace Andy, "Bunny Lee & King Tubby's Dubplate Special" by Cornell Campbell, "Life Of My Own" by The Raver, "Look How Long Nyabinghi Calling You" by Linval Thompson, "King Tubby's Vs Arrows Dubplate" by Cornell Campbell, "Jamaican Fruit Of African Roots" by Lennox Brown & Sheila Richards, "No Babylon Shall Escape In This Time" by Johnny Clarke, and "Every Knee Shall Bow" by Ronnie Davis. LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool collection of cuts that we might never have encountered otherwise – all brought together in celebration of 20 years of work from the If Music shop, who clearly just keep on refining their ears over the years! There's so many cuts here that fall in a special space between familiar genres – jazzy instrumentation mixed with folksy vocals, electronic rhythms mixed with warmer instrumentation, ethnic instrumentation fused with jazzy expression, and blends that really keep things interesting throughout – especially as most of these cuts are nice and long, and really explore the ideas at their core! Titles include "We Are Not Invisible" by Ola Szmidt, "Big Kalimba" by Greetje Bijma Kwintet, "Fidji" by Christine Schaller, "Sunday Sea Improvisation" by Tamar Osborn, "Fall In To Me (alt version)" by Emanative & Liz Elensky, "Turkish Showbiz" by Atilla Engin Group, "Dennison Point" by Tenderlonious, and "At The Speed Of Light" by Sarathy Korwar. LP, Vinyl record album

The keyboards of Greg Foat have a really great setting here in a collaboration with Gigi Masin – served up in a style that's maybe more laidback and spacious than before, yet in a way that makes us fall in love with Greg's electric piano lines all over again! Masin's got roots in more ambient sounds, but the record definitely has a jazz approach at the core – plenty of the increasingly sensitive styles that Foat has developed as the years moved on – shifting from an initial role as a guy who could handle vintage keys, to a point where he's really emerged as a more fully-fledged jazz player overall! The blend of keyboards and a larger sonic palette still has plenty of live instrumentation in the mix – different than a project of this sort by an artist like Bugge Wesseltoft – and titles include "London Nights", "Viento Calido", "Your Move", "Sabena", "Leo Theo", "Love Theme", and "Dolphin". LP, Vinyl record album

Kiefer's one of those artists that we sometimes forget about, then fall in love all over again when we drop the needle on a record – which is definitely the case this time around, as Kiefer seems to be more on top of his game and focused than ever! As before, there's a mix of piano/keyboards and percussion that dominates the sound – sometimes live drums, sometimes programmed – delivered with a warmth that really makes the spare elements resonate with a lot more soulful power than you might expect – almost as if Kiefer listened to some of the more soulful, subtle keyboardists in the 70s fusion generation, but found a way to transform their energy to a 21st Century setting – transforming the world of beats and keys in the process. Titles include "I Wish I Wasn't Me", "My Disorder", "Panic", "High", "Dreamer", "Head Trip", "I Could Cry", "August Again", "Forgetting U", and "I Was Foolish I Guess". LP, Vinyl record album

An instant classic from Slum Village – one of those records that kind of snuck out into the world, then became legendary as the years went on! Of course, with work from Jay Dee, there's no surprise that the album's got plenty of staying power – as he does a killer job here, throughout, really elevating the work of T3 and Baatin with a mix of influences from soul, deep funk, and mellowed-out jazzy touches! In addition to the core Slum crew the record features D'Angelo, Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, and Jazzy Jeff – on titles that include "Conant Gardens, "I Don't Know", "Jealously", "Fall In Love", "Get Dis Money", "Once Upon A Time", "Go Ladies", "Hold Tight", "What's It All About", and "Fourth & Back". Also includes the bonus tracks "Thelonious" and "Fall In Love (Remix)". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that no home should be without – and a stunning set that still carries all the raw power it did way back in 1969! The album's an apocalyptic vision of the future – a future it helped to shape, give its influence over the years – and from start to finish, the whole thing is brilliant – from the raw energy of the band, to the sneering lyrics of Iggy Pop, to the perfect production by John Cale – who's opening up a whole new side of his genius with his studio work here. The set begins with the boldly declarative "1969" – maybe one of our favorite Stooges songs ever – then moves into the landmark "I Wanna Be Your Dog", over to the ten minute freakout of "We Will Fall", to the classic "No Fun", through the cuts "Real Cool Time", "Ann", "Not Right", and "Little Doll". Imitated by many, but never done this well again – and a record that will most likely still be blowing the minds of our grandkids! LP, Vinyl record album