Pivotal early dub! Depending upon whose history of the Jamaican recording industry you subscribe to, this is can be considered by many to be the first dub LP – and whether that's proveable or not, it's certain among the first! History aside, it's a mighty set with some raw early dub style workouts at the hands of Errol Thompson at the renowned 16 North Parade recording studio run by Randy's, with some deft production by Clive Chin. Needing virtually no introduction, the Impact All Stars drop some incredible rhythms, many which will be immediately recognizable as having been versioned from massive numbers for Augustus Pablo, Junior Byles and the Soul Vendors. Titles include "Java Dub", "Cheating Dub", "ET Special", "Ordinary Version Dub", "Hide Away Dub" and "Black Man's Dub". CD

Way more than just an anthology of work by Instant Funk – and instead a massive 5CD set that features all 7 of the group's albums for Salsoul – plus lots of bonus tracks too! Instant Funk first came to fame as one of the key studio combos behind the sound of Philly International in the mid 70s – but when the Salsoul/Gold Mind imprint got rolling, the group moved over to that label and recorded a great run of hard-grooving albums! And while the "funk" in their name isn't the same sort as you'd imagine from deep funk or funky 45s, Instant Funk definitely have a tightly-crafted sense of musicianship that made them one of the best groups working on the east coast disco scene in the 70s – an ability to focus in on a groove and ride it out over a range of tasty riffs and changes! The massively overstuffed package features the full albums Get Down With The Philly Jump, Instant Funk, Witch Doctor, The Funk Is On, Looks So Fine, Instant Funk V, and Kinky – plus bonus tracks that include "Float Like A Butterfly (parts 1 & 2)", "I Got My Mind Made Up (7" version)", "Slap Slap Lickety Lap (7" version)", "Bodyshine (7" version)", "I Got My Mind Made Up (special 12" disco version)", "Crying (7" version)", "It Ain't Reggae (7" version)", and "Witch Doctor (7" version)". CD

A massive collection of numbers spanning nearly 5 decades from the Isleys! 50 tracks in all, spread over 3 discs, plus a very nice, thick, well-annotated booklet! CD

A massive batch of instrumentals from J Dilla – one that strongly transcends the wordless hip hop genre – and perhaps his rawest, and most adventurous listening experience yet! The loopy soul samples, rich synth/electronic shine, and thumping bass and soul beats that Dilla largely made his name on are laced throughout, but he also takes things a step into stranger territory – with spacey elements that buzz as much as they groove! The cuts never less than soulful and funky, and never steps into Madlib's brand of the weeded out style, either. We love how raw this all feels, too! It's easily identifiable as the work of Jay Dee, but at the same time wholly unpredictable! One of the better Stone's Throw hip hop efforts in a while – instrumental or vocal! 31 pieces in all: "Donuts (Intro & Outro)", "Workinonit", "Waves", "Light My Fire", "People", "Mash", "Airworks", "Lightworks", "Stepson Of The Clapper", "One Eleven", "Don't Cry", "Geek Down", "Thunder", "Gobstopper", "Walkinonit", "U-Love", "Last Donut Of The Night" and more. CD

Janet's massive follow up to Rhythm Nation 1814 and it's a triumph, too – delivering on all the strengths of other peak era efforts and slyly working in some stylistic detours along the way – asserting herself here as strongly as ever! Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis once again show why they're among the most heralded pop soul producers of the era, from beats driven dancefloor jams to sexy club soul to tender ballads, but make no mistakes, this is Janet's show – this one's official title is Janet, period after all – with badass spoken interludes, vocals that soar in range of styles and an all around assertive vibe that's strong to this day. Includes "That's The Way Love Goes", "You Want This", "If", "This Time", "Throb", "What'll I Do", "Funky Big Band", "Where Are You Now", "Any Time, Any Place", "Because Of Love", "Again" and more. 2CD version features lots of bonus material – including "One More Chance", "70s Love Groove", "And On & On", "You Want This", "Where Are You Now", "Because Of Love", and "That's The Way Love Goes (CJ R&B 7" mix)". CD

Upbeat soul from Millie Jackson – a massive batch of tunes that work perfectly for the dancefloor, but which still retain all the grittier edges of her best early years! Although Millie's probably best known for her weepy ballads of the 70s, she also pioneered a more upbeat style of southern soul too – a nicely grooving approach to the music that was almost the southern equivalent of grooves from Philly and New York at the time. The style's a great one for Jackson's bold, proud lyrical style – and this wonderful set really shows the best bad-stepping side of Millie's talents in the 70s. Most cuts are pulled from her years on the Spring label during the decade, and the set features a few rare versions and edits that make the package essential, even if you've got all the individual LPs! 22 tracks in all – including "If That Don't Turn You On", "All I Want Is A Fighting Chance", "House For Sale", "Somethin Bout Cha", "You Can't Stand The Thought Of Another Man Loving Me", "Love Doctor", "Put Something Down On It", "A Little Taste Of Outside Love", "Ask Me What You Want", "I Miss You Baby", "Letter Full Of Tears", "Fancy This", "Rising Cost Of Love", and "You Can't Turn Me Off In The Middle Of Turning Me On". CD

Ronald Shannon Jackson on drums – with Zane Massey on saxophones, David Gordon and Henry Scott on trumpet, Vernon Reid on guitar, banjo, and synth, and Melvin Gibbs on electric bass. CD

A massive 3CD look at the key early years of Elmore James – a package that's overflowing with great work by one of the greatest blues guitarists of the 50s! The set starts way back at James' roots in Mississippi, with some sweetly rough-edged recordings that still sparkle with incredible lines on electric guitar – then it moves deeper into Elmore's years in Chicago, recording with slightly greater clarity, and a sound that had an undeniable influence on the scene in that city at the time. The set's completed by recordings from Culver City, New Orleans, and Chicago again – presented in both master takes and alternates that offer up some equally compelling guitar solos. The set features 71 tracks in all, plus 40 full pages of notes – and titles that include "Dust My Broom", "Hand In Hand", "One More Drink", "I Believe", "Make My Dreams Come True", "Dark & Dreary", "Strange Kinda Feeling", "Early In The Morning", "Happy Home", "So Mean To Me", "Long Tall Woman", "Elmo's Shuffle", "Sho Nuff I Do", "Please Come Back To Me", "Wehre Can My Baby Be", "I May Be Wrong", "Kicking The Blues Around", and "Sinful Woman". CD

One of the all-time great Rick James albums – a return to funkier sounds for Rick that worked both artistically and commercially – and actually got over far better than his more blatant attempts at crossover material on other records! The mix here is perfect – a true summation of all that made Motown great at the time, and the special sort of energy that made Rick one of the freshest mainstream talents at the end of the 70s! The record put a lot of money in Barry Gordy's pockets, and for good reason too – given that the set includes the classic hit "Super Freak" – plus "Give It To Me Baby", "Ghetto Life", "Make Love To Me", "Below The Funk (Pass The J)", and "Fire & Desire" – all done in that compressed pop-funky style that James kind of took from Bootsy Collins and manage to successfully soup up for the masses! LP, Vinyl record album

Essential funk in a single set – three killer albums from James Brown's legendary backing group! First up is Food For Thought – the classic first album by The JBs – James Brown's Fred Wesley-led backing band, and the force behind most of his greatest records of the early 70s! The band are incredible at this point – sharper, harder, and funkier than just about any other combo around – and that includes all the thousands of groups in the funky 45 underground who were always trying to copy their sound, but never got things this right! Not only are the rhythms the stuff of legend – but the use of the instruments is far far above the norm – as can be heard on the mindblowing "The Grunt", which was sampled heavily by Public Enemy to great fame – and which features a saxophone solo that sounds more like a whistling tea kettle! The set collects some of the group's best early singles, and includes all of the short little funky cuts that made them a legend right out of the box – "Pass the Peas", "The Grunt", "These Are The JBs", "Hot Pants Road", "Wine Spot", "To My Brother", "Blessed Blackness", "Theme From King Heroin", "Escapism (parts 1 & 2), and "Gimme Some More" – all together here in one tight little album of massive funky hard beats and breaks! Doing It To Death is an incredible album – a landmark piece of funk that nobody should be without, funk fan or not! The album is the second to feature James Brown's famous backing combo of the early 70s – and unlike their first one, which was really more of a collection of singles, this album has the group playing hard, long, and loud, in the free funk improvisational mode that was James' real contribution to the music at the time. The tracks are all incredibly long, with James at the forefront, egging the band on with shouts and comments – but also letting them open up large instrumentally, playing in a mode that's as much jazz as it is funky soul. The whole thing's peppered with some nice shorter segues between tracks – but the long cuts are the winners, and are some of the best funk ever recorded! Titles include "Mo Peas", "Doing It To Death", "La Di Da La Di Day", "You Can Have Watergate, Just Gimme Some Bucks & I'll Be Straight", and "Sucker". Last up is Damn Right I Am Somebody – quite possibly our favorite record by the JBs, ever! The set starts with a wonderful conversational bit – rapping and musing on the idea of "Damn Right, I Am Somebody" – showing the group in a political and righteous mode for the first time ever. The grooves then kick in – with the same heavy funk as on earlier records, but also a nice nod towards experimental production – from strange fade ups and fade downs, to stark time and rhythm changes, and even bits of electronics used to create some very cool moments in the grooves! The whole thing's as dead funky as can be, and is stuffed with insane classics like "Blow Your Head", "Same Beat", "Damn Right I am Somebody", "I'm Payin' Taxes, What am I Buyin'", and a great cover of Marvin Gaye's "You Sure Love to Ball"! CD

A modern soul classic – and the first album recorded by 70s mellow soul maestro Al Johnson, a great artist whose lent his talents to countless others over the years! The sound is incredibly tight and plenty darn soulful – very much in the spirit of mid 70s classics by Leroy Hutson, Ronnie McNeir, and Leon Ware – with a massively personal approach that hits hard on both the groovers and the mellower cuts. There's a style here that's nicely rougher than that on Al's better-known album for Columbia – but one that shows that he can still cook up impeccable tunes without a major label budget for production! Titles include the great groover "I've Got My Second Wind", plus "Let's Go Home Together", "Peaceful", "Come Check Out This Love", and "Let Me Love You". CD

A massive batch of work from Johnny Johnson & The Bandwagon – their full 1968 album for Epic, plus a wealth of rare singles as well! Johnny & The Bandwagon were one of those US groups that was arguably a lot more popular overseas – especially on the British scene, where their uptempo, hard-grooving style was perfect for the Northern Soul dancefloors! Their sound is wonderful – a bit different than the usual US hit group of the time, with drums that really romp on the bottom of most numbers – spurring further dynamic vocals from Johnny and the group – a soaring, upbeat approach to soul music that's almost more motivational now than ever before. As always with Ace Records, you can expect a hell of a lot here – full notes on the Bandwagon phenomenon overseas, and a whopping batch of 24 tracks that also includes rare material recorded for Bell. Titles include "Breakin Down The Walls Of Heartache", "On The Day We Fall In Love", "I Ain't Lyin", "You", "Girl From Harlem", "Don't Let It In", "People Got To Be Free", "When Love Has Gone Away", "Let's Hang On", "Sweet Inspiration", "Music To My Heart", "High & Dry", "In The Bad Bad Old Days", and "Sally Put Your Red Shoes On". CD

A great bit of 70s electric work from Quincy – and probably his funkiest album ever! Quincy's really stepping out here from the straighter and spacier styles of earlier records – going for more of the dirty grooves he was cutting up for soundtrack albums, and hitting notes that were a lot more fitting for the blacksploitation era. The record includes the massive funky track cut "Hikky-Burr", which was the theme to the first Bill Cosby Show, and which has a sinister groove, and some wild shouted lyrics! Also features two more great themes – "Ironside" and "The Anderson Tapes" – both of which have a cool electric sound to them, and the nice title cut, which actually features Quincy on vocals! Other tracks include "Cast Your Fate To The Wind", "What's Going On", "Brown Ballad" and more. CD

A massive exploration of the music of Kashmere Stage Band – the legendary Texas funk combo whose work barely got any circulation at the time – but who've become minor stars, thanks to the efforts of Stones Throw and Wax Poetics! The set goes even deeper than any of the previous vinyl reissues of work by the group – and features some previously unreleased tracks, and alternate takes on their funkiest numbers! The Kashmere groove is incredible – blasting horns, scratchy guitars, and funky drums – all wrapped super-tight around a range of original material and some more familiar numbers – all recast here in super-heavy funk mode! Titles include "All Praises", "Thank You", "Scorpio (extended)", "Headwiggle", "Do You Dig It Man", "Getting It Out Of My System", "Zero Point (parts 1 & 2)", "Boss City", "Burning Spear", "Take Five", and "Keep Doing It". LP, Vinyl record album

Plenty to party with here – snapping Miami grooves from KC and the band – still very much in a classic 70s mode! There's a bit more strings here than before, and almost more emphasis on lyrics – even though those are still pretty repetitive, the sort of chants that KC always got going out in the clubs. And although there's no massive hits here, the album does feature the wicked title cut "Do You Wanna Go Party" – a track that has a funkier edge than the rest, a cool moogy bit, and a stretched out groove that even features a kalimba solo! Other titles include "Hooked On Your Love", "Ooh I Like It", "Please Don't Go", and "I've Got The Feeling". LP, Vinyl record album

KC & The Sunshine Band may have been a chart-topping act during the disco generation, but the Florida funky group have a heck of a lot more to offer than just their hits – as you'll hear in this massive and well-done collection that features 55 tracks in all! The group were formed in the heady early 70s years of Miami funk – and brought together some of the best tropical and soul elements that were brewing in that city at the time – all with a lean vibe that mixed live percussion with riffing guitars, sharp horns, and a completely infectious groove – often topped with catchy lyrics that really went right to the point. This big 3CD set features the group's best work for TK Records, plus other material done for Epic and Jay Boy too – with titles that include "Sound Your Funky Horn", "Why Don't We Get Together", "I Get Lifted", "So Glad", "Come To My Island", "I Betcha Didn't Know That", "Stand Up", "Love Me", "Summer Nights", "I'm A Pushover", "That's The Way I Like It", "Do You Wanna Party", "I Will Love You Tomorrow", "Sho Nuff", "I'm Your Boogie Man", and lots lots more – including some rare mixes too! CD

A wicked bit of funk from Ghana – a record that's as amazing and wonderful as it is rare! The set's one of the best African 70s rarities we've ever heard – filled with massive grooves that offer up a take on funk that's far different than American grooves – but which also comes across with instrumentation that's not as familiarly Ghanian either! There's lots of nicely fuzzy organ in the mix, tight rhythms, and a trippy production style that no doubt comes from the quality of the original studio – but which serves to give some of the best cuts a really sinister edge – a bit like Cymande at their best. Titles include "Dracular Dance", "No Man Is Born To Suffer", "Moving World", "Groovy Love", "Wale Fobite", "Kelenkye Beat", and "Jungle Music". CD

A wicked bit of funk from Ghana – a record that's as amazing and wonderful as it is rare! The set's one of the best African 70s rarities we've ever heard – filled with massive grooves that offer up a take on funk that's far different than American grooves – but which also comes across with instrumentation that's not as familiarly Ghanian either! There's lots of nicely fuzzy organ in the mix, tight rhythms, and a trippy production style that no doubt comes from the quality of the original studio – but which serves to give some of the best cuts a really sinister edge – a bit like Cymande at their best. Titles include "Dracular Dance", "No Man Is Born To Suffer", "Moving World", "Groovy Love", "Wale Fobite", "Kelenkye Beat", and "Jungle Music". LP, Vinyl record album

A massive live album from this funky trio – a double-length set, and one that they get all to themselves after splitting a long run of live records with other artists during most of 2023! While we liked those records, we're very happy to have Khruangbin on their own – stretching out in that bold blend of guitar, bass, and drums they combine with almost a proggish approach to funk! Titles include "Time", "The Number 3", "Lady & Man", "White Gloves", "Two Fish & An Elephant", "Evan Finds The Third Room", "Maria Tambien", "First Class", "Friday Morning", and "A Calf Born In Winter". LP, Vinyl record album

A set that's partly an album by massive funk trio Khruangbin, and partly a tribute to some of the musicians they worked with on a recent tour – as side one has the other performers in the lead, while Khruangbin gets plenty of instrumental space on the flipside! The group themselves turn in a great James Brown tribute in the mix of "Blind Man Can See It/It's The Monaurail" – and also serve up "Bin Bin", "Friday Moring", "People Everywhere", and "Number 4". Other titles include "Nobody Smokes Anymore" by Robert Ellis, "Woman Trouble" by Kelly Doyle, "At The Trailride" by Ruben Moreno, and "Don't Bother Me" by The Suffers. LP, Vinyl record album