The Faithful Brothers are an Israeli duo, but one who come to their debut after years of collecting Northern Soul 45s – decades of listening, learning, and absorbing – all of which really shows through in this well-done debut! The pair work with a very full lineup of musicians – horns, Hammond, and even a bit of vibes – used like you might hear on some late 60s Detroit indie soul single, with soaring sounds over the romping grooves – all of which really do a great job of elevating the vocals! Yet since the Faithful Brothers themselves just handle instruments, they're also not slavish to the singer – and the album's equally strong on the instrumental tip as it is on the vocal one. Titles include "So Low", "Downtown Uptown", "Night Man", "The Town I Live In", "Joy", "They Don't Know", "Let's Break The Curfew", and "Tell Me One More Time". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet smooth funk from David Fostex – a set that's heavy both on 80s boogie modes, and some of the "yacht soul" elements referenced by the title – but which also has a very unique spin of its own! The lineup here is large, although given the names of some of the musicians, that might also be an in-joke – as we're not sure that Herbie Handjob actually played Rhodes on the set – yet despite any question about the origins of the sound, the result is nice and tight – a great contemporary take on classic modes, with a few wisecracks mixed in alongside the soulful vocals. Titles include "Lost My Keys", "Butt Dial", "Glasses For The Masses", "Should Have Washed My Hands", "Livin The Stream", and "What's That Smell Barry Manilow". LP, Vinyl record album

The first-ever full length album from vibist Max Beesley – and a much-needed expression of some of the deeper ideas that he's always had in his music! Max was an artist who first started making waves during the earliest years of acid jazz on the UK scene – but like the best of his contemporaries, he's really grown a heck of a lot since then – to a point where he's able to deliver a cinematic funky jazz masterpiece like this – a record that's got plenty of his own great work on vibes, amidst heavy drums, funky basslines, and sweet keyboards – all set up in larger arrangements that have a sense of majesty we never would have expected in Beesley's music! Titles include "Saturn's Dust", "We'll Always Have Yesterday", "Fire", "Sergio's Bag", "Ice", "Snake Oil", and "Zeus". LP, Vinyl record album

Not just a live album from the great soul singer Myles Sanko, but one that showcases his talents with a full orchestral setting – as you might guess from the image on the cover! The setting unlocks this new sort of majesty in Myles' music – this soaring sensibility that's a real reward to all of us who've been following his music for years – and which is an equal treasure to those just discovering Sanko for the first time! The orchestrations never overwhelm his vocals – and instead they have this way of pushing out the sound even more – a richness in sound that Myles can't help but respond to – on titles that include "Come On Home", "This Ain't Living", "Forget Me Not", "My Inspiration", "Just Being Me", "Forever Dreaming", "High On You", and "Light In My Hand". LP, Vinyl record album

The cover's got a very 80s-styled look, and the music has grooves to match – lots of sweet instrumental boogie cuts that are heavy on basslines and keyboards – delivered in a lean style that's maybe even more on point than mainstream tracks from back in the day! The quartet also serve up some blue-eyed soul vocals, but in a way that always lets the instrumentation take the lead – vocals that add a nice sweetening to the tunes in all the right ways, and bring this great crossover vibe throughout. Titles include "Hard Drivin", "Moment In Time", "Side By Side", "Back To Me", "Song For Matt", "Brazil", "Maquina", and "All They Wanted". LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool set, and one that mixes Afro Funk and Krautrock inspirations into a mad little groove of its own – thanks to plenty of cool keyboard work from David Nesselhauf! Most tracks just feature another drummer joining the leader – who also plays bass and guitar, while working through a host of different keyboard sources – and the tunes have some of the lean energy of percussion-driven cuts by Can, but more of the warmth that comes from some of the West African influences of the 70s. There's vocals on the record from Nessselhauf, but always processed and vocoded – usually acting just as one more electronic element – on cuts that include "The Void Phenomenon", "The Calling", "Fade To Grey", "Constellation Forming", "Now I Know", "Kosmich Blues", "Three Brothers", "Event Horizon", and "Raumschiff Love". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet little group with a real 70s Cali vibe – very much in the spirit of the cover, with kind of a blue-eyed soul approach to jazzy AOR! The instrumentation is great – plenty of Fender Rhodes and other keyboards – providing this warm glow for the lead vocals of the group's two different singers – both of whom have a nice sort of rasp in their approach, which brings a sense of humanity to the record amidst the well-crafted rhythms and guitar lines. The whole thing almost feels like a lost set from the era of the Doobies – and titles include "Take The Shine", "Keep On Believin", "Nostalgia", "One More Try", "All I'm Trying To Say", "Before It Started", "Donnie", and "Back Against The Wall". LP, Vinyl record album

Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer gave us an excellent previous record on the International Anthem label – one that mixed field recordings with sounds of their own – an approach that's continued here as the pair are joined by Ariel Kalma, whose instrumentation really adds a wonderful new layer to the process! There's a mix of live instrumentation, sounds from sources, and processing going on here that takes us back to some of the best fourth world experiments from the EG/Eno years – almost like Jon Hassell, but with a lighter, airier vibe – and maybe more understated brilliance – an ego-less recording that has the musicians swirling together in beautifully sensitive territory. The set's never too quiet to be ambient, but has some of the appeal of that mode too – and titles include "Ten Hour Wave", "Dizzy Ditty", "Une Ombre Legere", "New Air", "Ecoute Au Loin", and "Stack Attack". LP, Vinyl record album

Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer gave us an excellent previous record on the International Anthem label – one that mixed field recordings with sounds of their own – an approach that's continued here as the pair are joined by Ariel Kalma, whose instrumentation really adds a wonderful new layer to the process! There's a mix of live instrumentation, sounds from sources, and processing going on here that takes us back to some of the best fourth world experiments from the EG/Eno years – almost like Jon Hassell, but with a lighter, airier vibe – and maybe more understated brilliance – an ego-less recording that has the musicians swirling together in beautifully sensitive territory. The set's never too quiet to be ambient, but has some of the appeal of that mode too – and titles include "Ten Hour Wave", "Dizzy Ditty", "Une Ombre Legere", "New Air", "Ecoute Au Loin", and "Stack Attack". LP, Vinyl record album

Mindblowing work from Swiss jazz and funk legend Bruno Spoerri – all of it never issued before, and a set that maybe comes across as some of the coolest music we've ever heard from Bruno! Spoerri has a long legacy of recordings – including straight jazz in the 60s, and sound library funk in the 70s – and here, he's mixing funky jazz with some great work on keyboards too – sometimes at a level that's more electronic than usual, especially on two of the album's long improvised tracks! There's also a funky big band at points too – really providing a great groove, and a rich sort of variety that makes the whole thing a treasure trove of music from an artist who never lets us down. Titles include "Hot Roots", "Improvisation Electronique 1", "Prince Karl", "For FD", "Summerau Dance", and "Improvisation Electronique 2". LP, Vinyl record album

Brilliant work from the always- great Alain Goraguer – a musician who started out in jazz, then did classic arrangements for Serge Gainsbourg, and went on to some killer soundtrack material too! That's what you'll hear, in a package that brings together lost and un-reissued work from Goraguer – starting with his beautiful sounds for the film L'Affaire Dominici – music that often has a balance of acoustic and electric instrumentation that reminds us of Francois De Roubaix, especially in the way that Goraguer can space out the melodies and rhythms, but also get funky too. The set features two great tracks from Au Dela De La Peur – with a sinister funk quality that reminds us of his best work for Serge Gainsbourg – followed by three final tracks from Musiques Legeres, which have this gentle, watery quality that's really beautiful! LP, Vinyl record album