One of the coolest collections of music we've ever heard from the legendary TK Records in Miami – a company that was a powerhouse of 70s hits and disco classics – but which also cut some wonderful underground soul at the time! This sublime set looks at that great lesser-known legacy of TK – the hipper, more sophisticated music they cut in between the chart numbers and boogie singles – often by soul artists who had some involvement with bigger acts, but who really got a chance here to shine on their own! There's a surprising amount of funk in the mix – that deeper current that made Miami a key heir to 60s funky styles from Memphis and New Orleans – and there's some equally great modern soul, but served up with a complexity that goes way past the usual – both in the songwriting and arrangements. If you've only heard TK hit collections, you'll find plenty to love here – and even for deeper diggers like us, there's still plenty of new bits to be discovered! Titles include "Confusion" by Leno Phillips, "You Knock Me Out" by Wildflower, "Hey There Jim" by Jimmy Bo Horne, "Tears Of The World" by Robert Moore, "I Got Bills To Pay" by Johnny K, "I Want To Be Loved" by Stevens & Foster, "Sleep On Dream On" by Raphael Munnings, "Life Is A Beautiful Feeling" by Formula 1, "Bahama Soul Stew" by Funky Nassau, "Lay It On Me" by Willie Johnson, "The Silence That You Keep (version 1)" by Milton Wright, and "There Must Be Something" by Friday Saturday & Sunday. LP, Vinyl record album

Compiled for Louisiana World's Fair in New Orleans in 1984, with selections by Huey Piano Smith, Frankie Ford, Dr John, Jimmy Clanton, Earl King, Bobby Marchan, Joe Tex, and others. LP, Vinyl record album

Compiled for Louisiana World's Fair in New Orleans in 1984, with selections by Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Ford, Bobby Marchan, The Supremes, Dr John, Roland Stone, The Silhouettes, The Emeralds, Lloyd Price, Johnny Adams, and others. LP, Vinyl record album

A massive batch of boogaloo gems – all wrapped up in one mighty package! Tico Records was one of the first great New York indie labels to focus on Latin music in the postwar years – and by the time of the huge late 60s boom in the world of Latin Soul, the label were definitely in a great position to turn out some killer work from a variety of artists! Some of the label's artists were aging, but reinvigorated by the energy of the younger generation – who also got access to the top shelf Tico presentation, as they brought in some of the best soul styles from East Harlem to trim things down from the larger Latin ensembles of the previous generation, and really send things home with a funky sort of groove. This set's a great overview of these key years at Tico – and titles include "Sock It To Me" and "Psychedelic Baby" by Joe Cuba, "Tighten Up" and "The Horse" by Al Escobar, "Fever" by La Lupe, "Be's That Way" and "Bobo Do That Thing" by Willie Bobo, "El Watusi" and "Babalu" by Ray Barretto, "Hit The Bongo" and "Coye Como Va" by Tito Puente, "My People" by Joe Panama, "Come An Get It" and "The African Twist" by Eddie Palmieri, "Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In" by Celia Cruz & Tito Puente, "Madrid" by Candido, "Times They Are A Changin" by Jimmy Sabater, "El Pito" and "Bang Bang" by Joe Cuba, "Fat Mama" and "TP's Shing A Ling" by Tito Puente, and "Yes I Will (part 1)" by Gilberto Sextet. LP, Vinyl record album

From the end of the 70s onward, the Italian Black Saint record label offered up some of the most high quality spiritual and avant jazz of the time – really taking over where American record companies had dropped the ball, and allowing a huge wave of new energy from both older musicians and a younger generation who might never have gotten the right level of exposure, had Black Saint (and related Soul Note imprint) stepped into the scene! This package offers up some of the coolest cuts from Black Saint – and has an especially strong focus on the work that the label did to carry forward older spiritual sounds, especially those first unlocked on Impulse Records – a legacy that really comes through strongly here. Titles include "Love On A Far Away Planet" and "Mayan Temples" by Sun Ra, "Song For Mozambique/Sea Of Faces" by Archie Shepp, "Guitar Vibes" by Karl Berger, "Tap Dancer" by Oliver Lake, "Ode To The Flower Maiden" by John Carter, "Mama Marimba" by Joseph Jarman and Donh Moye, "Sixth Sense" by Don Pullen, "Hattie Wall" by World Saxophone Quartet, "Laja" by Muhal Richard Abrams, and "Metamusician's Stomp" by Andrew Cyrille & Maono. LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by Chase, Ten Years After, Santana, Paul Simon, Miles Davis, Morton Subotnick, New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, Ray Coniff, Barbra Streisand, and others. LP, Vinyl record album

An overdue look at the great range of sounds that came from Inner City Records at the end of the 70s – a hip American indie with a strong specialty in soulful fusion, hip vocalists, and a range of other great styles too – all brought together here by London DJ Kev Beadle! Inner City's often a bit overlooked – as the label flourished most strongly in the years after some of the better-known soulful imprints of the 70s – and the label always had a great ear for new sounds, fresh ideas, and the kind of compelling global elements that often led them to license key tracks from overseas, and bring them to the US market. This collection's heavy on singers – the kind of cool, underground jazz vocalists that Inner City captured so well – and it's also got a nice mix of funky fusion, modal numbers, and spiritual currents – on titles that include "The Other World" by Judy Roberts, "Hunt Up Wind" by Hiroshi Fukumura, "Vera Cruz" by Helen Merrill, "Lucky Southern" by Tom Lellis, "Quickie Nirvana" by Kellis Ethridge, "Samba De La Cruz" by Terumasa Hino, "So High" by Janet Lawson, "The Samba" by Jeff Lorber, "Return Of The Prodigal Son" by Joe Lee Wilson, "Shenkansen" by Urszula Dudziak, "To An Elfin Princess" by Charlie Mariano, "Pandora" by Carlos Franzetti, and "Jennine" by Eddie Jefferson. LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Invocation To Papa Legba" by Debbie Harry, "Sister Ray" by New Order, "Just Say No To Drug Hysteria (excerpt) Dead Souls" by William S Burroughs, "Song For The Trees (or) I Know Sometimes The World Is Wrong" by David Byrne, "Tri-Power" by Live Skull, "Living On The Outside (F^c%ed Up World)" by PMS, "Party Animal" by Karen Finley, "It's A Mistake To Think You're Special" by John Giorno Band, and "Hard" by Henry Rollins Band. LP, Vinyl record album

A much-needed look at the funky Miami scene of the late 60s and early 70s – the new powerhouse of southern soul, after the slowdown in the scenes in Memphis and Muscle Shoals! The Miami sound was harder, tighter, rawer, and faster than that of other southern outlets – based around a really strong ability to pick up a little riff, cook it up nicely, and create the perfect backdrop for sock-soul vocals. By the mid 70s, Miami was topping the charts with disco tunes that sprung out of this energy – but the tracks on this set are all heavy-hitters from the pre-disco years – kickass funky tunes that burn like a box full of rare funky 45s! The set's overflowing with gems – and titles include "You Got To Be A Man" by Helene Smith, "Cramp Your Style" by All The People, "Funky Cat" by James Knight & The Butler, "90% Of Me Is You" by Gwen McCrae, "Funky Me" by Timmy Thomas, "Funkadelic Sound" by Little Beaver, "Spanish Flyer" by Frank Williams & The Rocketeers, "Do It To Me One More Time" by Joey Gilmore, "A Woman Will Do Wrong" by Helene Smith, "You Got To Be A Man" by Frank Williams & The Rocketeers, "Fantasy World" by James Knight & The Butlers, "Cadillac Annie" by Clarence Reid, "Somebody Done Took My Baby & Gone" by Frank Williams & The Rocketeers, "I Get Lifted" by George McCrae, and "Don't Make The Good Girls Go Bad" by Della Humphrey. LP, Vinyl record album

The Perfect Toy label has an amazing way of coming up with grooves we've never heard before – really rare tracks that make us dig each new release from the label – just as they keep on digging for more rare records to make their releases great! We've been Hammond fans for decades – and always have searched ourselves for all sorts of rare organ jazz and soul gems – yet even with that experience, we'd never come across most of these cuts – which are from rare singles and obscure albums, and show that there's a heck of a lot to discover in the world of jazz organ, once you get past Blue Note and Prestige Records! Most numbers here are small combo funk – and titles include "Beware Of The Dog" by The Group Solo, "Miss Delores Funk" by Soul Brothers, "A Soulful Feeling" by The Tears, "Corporation" by Timmy Sims & His Organ Combo, "Nervous Conclusion" by The Cherry Fogg, "A Ritual Melody" by Black River Circus, "Harbor Melon" by The Young Ones, and "Theme For Billy" by Kurt Watkins & Soul Sister 7. LP, Vinyl record album

Mad sounds from the late 60s world of Japanese pop – a mindblowing, ear-opening batch of singles we never would have gotten our hands on otherwise! The music here feels like sounds coming out of some backroom jukebox in a Nikkatsu "new action" film – or maybe the kind of offbeat pop that Quentin Tarantino might throw into a soundtrack – but there's also a much deeper range of sounds going on than you might expect, with wonderfully clever instrumentation, and lots of surprisingly heartfelt passages in the vocals! And sure, the language might be a barrier – but there's a really universal sense of appeal to this music – a variant of 60s soul and pop, focused through a different sort of lense – and the instrumentation alone is great – with wicked guitars, Hammond, and other garagey touches! As usual with Ace, the whole thing's supported with nicely detailed notes that tell the whole story behind these wonderful lost gems (we like this one even better than the fab first volume) – and titles include "Namida No Go Go" by Emy Jackson & Blue Comets, "Koi Gurui" by Chiyo Okumura, "Tokyo No Hito" by The Peanuts, "Warui Kuse" by Kazumi Yasui, "Boy & Girl" by Akiko Wada, "Namida No Mori No Monogatari" by Akiko Nakamura, "Saike Na Machi" by Reiko Mari, "Bazazz No 1" by Kayoko Ishuu, and "Furi Furi 5" by Linda Yamamoto. LP, Vinyl record album

A really wicked compilation, of the sort that BBE first started doing back in the day – a mix of records that spans both scenes and generations, yet which come together with a beautifully integrated vibe! There's a warmth here that's undeniable – currents of jazz, Brazilian, acoustic soul, and more – all wrapped up with a sunny vibe that really makes the whole thing soar wonderfully, as strange musical bedfellows really find a great space to play together that's full of imagination, spirit, and plenty of soul! Titles include "Factory Rhythms" by Jr Quintet, "Life" by Bugs Beddow, "I Had A Friend" by Peter Gallway, "Palavras" by Caixa Cubo, "Mystery Of You" by Jeff Scott, "Place In Space" by Joe Thomas, "Heaven" by Crosswind, "Como Aprendi A Soportar Tus Inseguridades, "Easter Suite (edit)" by John Standefer & Friends, "California (Shawn Lee mix)" by Kirk Reed, "Make The Call (ext version)" by MF Robots, "Smile Upon Your Brother" by Ambassador College Band & New World Singers, and "I Know (demo version)" by Astronauts Etc. LP, Vinyl record album

If you never went to Skippy White's record store in Boston, you really missed a hell of a shop – a surprisingly great outlet for rare and underground soul, located way up in New England – and a place that was giving the world wonderful music over the course of many decades! Back in the early days of the store, Skippy really had his ear to the scene – and managed to capture all sorts of great artists who were working very underground on the Boston scene – mostly soul acts, but a bit of blues and gospel too – all featured here in the first-ever collection to look at White's work at this level. The package was put together by Eli Paperboy Reed, and has notes from Boston contemporaries Peter Guaralnick and Peter Wolf – yet it's far hipper than any of those references might imply – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Do The Thing" by Earl Lett, "I Love What I Found In You" by The Precisions, "I've Been Lifted Out Of Sin" by Sons Of David, "Evil Woman Blues" by Guitar Nubbit, "Treason" by The Precisions, "Holy Ghost & Fire" by The Lord's Messengers, "Skippy White (parts 1 & 2)" by Junior Washington, "I Was Standing" by Lynn Harmonizers, and "Now Is The Time" by Earl Lett. LP, Vinyl record album

A 1970 compilation of rare tracks from the Old Town label – one of the smaller New York imprints of the early 60s, home to some fantastic minor soul hits, and killer doo wop material! Tracks include "So Fine" by The Fiestas, "Crazy Love" by The Royal Tones, "Chicken Hop" by Billy Bland, "Tonight Kathleen" by The Valentines, "Darling Listen To The Words Of This Song" by Ruth McFadden, "We Belong Together" by Robert & Johnny, "Wonder Of The World" by The Keytones, and "The Wedding" by The Solitaires. LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool record, and one that digs deep into the earliest days of the disco scene – that time in New York where there weren't any records being made as strictly "disco" cuts – and DJs had to make their pick of soul and funk records from a time when the music was really changing things up! The album's heavy on New York and Philly-based tracks, and some of the artists here are ones who'd had an earlier life in soul music, but were picking up the rhythms, adding in some larger arrangements, and creating grooves that really knocked the whole thing out of the park! The presentation here is based on a famous 1975 article that looked at the underground scene out in Brooklyn for New York magazine – later made famous as Saturday Night Fever – and as such, the tracks here are full of surprises, and very different than the usual disco-inspired compilation. Titles include "Just As Long As We're Together (single version)" by Gloria Scott, "After You've Had Your Fling" by The Intrepids, "Welcome To The Club" by Blue Magic, "Mellow Me" by Faith Hope & Charity, "Got To Get You Back" by Sons Of Robin Stone, "Date With The Rain (LP version)" by Eddie Kendricks, "Georgia's After Hours" by Richard Popcorn Wylie, "If That's The Way You Feel" by White Heat, "It's The Same Old Story" by Act 1, "Tell Me What You Want" by Jimmy Ruffin, "Night Of The Wolf" by Ivano Fossati, "The Whole Damn World Is Going Crazy" by John Gary Williams, "You Can't Hide Love" by Creative Source, "Wendy Is Gone" by Ronnie McNeir, "Free & Easy" by Satyr, and "Keep It Up" by Betty Everett. LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful sounds from a very unique label – one started in Paris by a Malian merchant in the 80s, in order to both present sounds from his homeland, and all of the wonderful new variations that were taking place on the cross-cultural scene in France! The body of work is partly a compelling document of culture in diaspora, but more importantly presents a nice range of grooves with a vibe that's very different than mainstream music from the time – especially some of the too-commercialized records that were shifting big numbers on the world music scene. Most of these tracks have a very down to earth presentation – professional, but never overdone – mixing older styles with electric instrumentation and just a touch of studio sweetening, but hardly much at all. Titles include "Duna" by Halima Kissima Toure, "Ayebo" by Hadja Soumano, "Bolinaame" by Diaby Doua, "Tenedo" by Ami Traore, "Alla Da Fo Na" by Halima Kissima Toure, "Soso" by Mah Kouyate, "Nogome" by Lassana Hawa Cissokho, and "Kori" by Mamadou Tangoudia. Most tracks originally issued on cassette or digital – and appear here on vinyl for the first time ever! LP, Vinyl record album

Japanese club music from the disco years onward – but a set that's got a very universal appeal in the rhythms! The vocals are mostly in Japanese, but the arrangements, production, and instrumentation here resonate strongly with the best that New York or Philly had to offer during the disco generation – a well-done blend of funky grooves with some slightly larger instrumentation, all of which sends home the soulful vocals in a way that hardly makes you notice they're not singing in English! All of the tracks here are from rare albums – similar to the Wamono Jazz compilations – and titles include "Birth Of The Odyssey" by Godiego, "This Is Hot" by Ikue Sakakibsara, "I Will Give You Samba" by Soul Media, "Woman In A Man's World" by Hatsumi Shibata, "Disco Great Tokyo" by Pink Parachute, "Krishna" by Yumi Murata, "Ame Wa Knife No Ya Sa" by Yoshito Machida & Godiego, and "Purple Shadow" by Hatsumi Shibata. LP, Vinyl record album