The full length debut of the Yancey Boys – Frank Nitt & Illa J – the former of the venerable duo Frank N Dank, the latter J Dilla's rhyme centric younger brother – who come together with the dual purpose of keeping J Dilla's production pedigree alive, and to simply deliver timeless, top notch Detroit hip hop! Production is provided by J Dilla's archive – and a pretty impressive roster of Dilla friends and collaborators take part as guests – include Common, Talib Kweli, Posdnuos of De La Soul, Dank, Rhettmatic, Eric Roberson, Guilty Simpson, J Roc and others. Titles include "Dilltro" with Dank, "Fisherman" feat Vice, J Rocc & Detroit Serious, "Flowers" with Kweli, Niko Grey & Rhettmatic, "Without Wings", "Beautiful" with Posdnuos, "Quicksand" with Slimkid3 & Niko Gray", "The Throwaway", "This Evening" and more. CD version includes a bonus disc with the complete Dilla instrumentals! CD

Tremendous work from the legendary Brian Auger – a huge collection of work, a good deal of which is previously unreleased – and a package that makes a fantastic addition to his legendary catalog of organ and keyboard grooves! There's not much here in the way of notes – we would have loved some dates and details – but we can definitely say that our Auger-loving ears found plenty to enjoy here, as the music is from Brian's archives, put together by the man himself – and mixes some bigger hits with a lot of lesser-known material – a collection of 35 tracks that moves through all the jazzy, funky, and soulful modes that always made Brian Auger such a standout of his generation. Titles include "Isola Natale", "The Lady's In Love", "Ella", "Pavane", "Sundown", "Second Wind", "Planet Earth Calling", "Sea Of Tranquility", "Butterfly", "Whenever You're Ready", "Somebody Help Me", "I've Gotta Go Now", "Dawn Of Another Day", and "Voices Of Other Times". CD

Ron Dante looks a lot like he's in an Archie comic on the cover – and that's because Ron was the lead singer of The Archies, as well as some other great groups of the time – and also did a lot of very groovy work for commercials too! This package features gems from all those different sides of Ron's career – mostly work from the late 60s and early 70s, with lots of upbeat poppy grooves – and the kind of sing-song lyrics that made The Archies records so great! CD1 features rare commercials, plus work by The Archies, Cufflinks, Starbird, and Chan Clan – plus collaborations with Andy Kim and Bruce Johnston – and CD2 features unreleased Archies recordings, plus some other cool commercials too! The whole thing's a wonderful dip way past any Archies hits collection you might ever find – 54 tracks in all – with titles that include "Tracy", "Summer In The City", "Kent Cigarettes", "The Stick Shift", "Sally Ann", "Let Me Bring You Up", "California Nights", "The Grundy", "The Angel", "The Hamburger Hop", "Archies Funhouse Theme", "Ballad Of 51st Street", and lots lots more! CD

A great little collection that definitely gets at the mojo of Dr John – the legendary New Orleans soul singer who really sprang forth in the mainstream at the end of the 60s! Much of this set captures the doctor before that time – early tracks from both New Orleans and LA, all of which echo the vibe of his later productions, but with a style that's maybe more stripped-down and a bit less psychedelic – although there's still a few great trippy touches along the way! CD1 features material recorded both as Dr John, and under his real name of Mac Rebenack – and CD2 features more early rarities, plus some live material too. 31 tracks in all – with titles that include "Feedbag", "Sahara", "Good Times", "The Ear Is On Strike", "Go Ahead On", "Doghouse Blues", "Got Lonesome-itis", "You Said It", "Make Your Own", "Somebody Tryin To Hoodoo Me", "I Pulled The Cover Off You Two Lovers", "Don't Want No Monkey In My Business", and "Bring Your Own Along". CD

The biggest collection of work we've ever seen from early southern soul star Wilbert Harrison – a set that goes way past the early hits that usually make up his tiny greatest hits features on the market – to include a whopping 70 titles that takes the Harrison journey all the way through the 60s, up to his rare mid 70s album for the Chelsea Records label! Throughout the set, Harrison's a hell of a singer – a talent who helped first forge the sound of southern soul with his R&B work of the late 50s, then moved into a strong later collaboration with New Orleans production legends Marshall Sehorn and Allen Toussaint – who really helped Wilbert hone his groove! We've honestly not seen much of this material on CD over the years – and the set's overflowing with rare cuts that include "Girls On Parade", "Drafted", "Say It Again", "Broke", "Off To Work Again", "After Graduation", "Get It While You Can", "Sugar Lump", "The Horse", "A Woman Is Trouble", "Your Three Letters", "It's Been A Long Time", "From The Bottom Of My Heart", "My Dream", "Coming Down With Love", "Loving Operator", "I Will Never Trust Another Woman", "Going To The River", "Honest I Do", and lots lots more! CD

If you only know Gladys Knight from her Motown classics, or her big hits of the early 70s, you'll find a huge amount to discover here – because right from the start, the lady and her group were really something special! The idea of a male/female vocal group was a bit unique in the early 60s – not completely uncommon, but never handled with the perfection of Gladys Knight & The Pips – as the mixture of Knight's richly soulful lead and the harmonies of the trio of male singers was incredible – captured very strongly by Harlem producer Bobby Robinson, with singles that appeared on his own Fire/Fury label, and Vee Jay as well! There have been other sets that bring together work from this time, but this might be the most complete we've ever seen – 40 tracks in all, with a few alternates, and a few solo tracks by The Pips as well – titles that include "Operator", "Come See About Me", "Go Away Stay Away", "Who Knows", "Walking In Circles", "Jungle Love", "Linda", "Darling", "One More Lonely Night", "Every Beat Of My Heart", "Room In Your Heart", "It Hurts So Bad", "Letter Full Of Tears", "The Devil In Me", "Daybreak", "Lovers Always Forgive", and "How Do You Say Goodbye". CD

Mighty nice work from the great Professor Longhair – live material recorded in the late 70s, presented here without much in the way of notes – but with a musical quality that more than makes up for that lack of information! The Professor was a key figure in the New Orleans music scene from the postwar years onward – a pianist and singer whose sound really helped pave the way for a new generation of Crescent City soul – and even here, in the late 70s, there's a very timeless, formative sound to his style – a raw groove that really gets to the essence of the sound of Nola, with tight work on piano, and plenty of the Professor's raspy, often witty vocals! Titles include "Bald Head", "Boyd's Bounce", "Big Chief", "Mardi Gras In New Orleans", "Tell Me Pretty Baby", "Mess Around", "I'm Movin On", "Junko Partner", "Her Mind Is Gone", "Rum & Coca Cola", "She Walked Right In", and "Stompin With Fess". CD

A huge batch of rare material from one of the freakiest, fuzziest groups of the 60s – all pulled from the archives of Roy Ames, and recorded in Houston and San Francisco in 1966 and 1967 – and mixed here with some equally wild Roky Erikson solo material from 1976! There's not much in the way of detailed notes, but if you love the Elevators as much as we do, you'll love the overall sound – as the whole thing's got a rawness that really shows off that special edge of the group and some of their key Texas psych contemporaries – served up here on tunes that include "You're Gonna Miss Me", "Before You Accuse Me", "Levitation", "Monkey Island", "Reverberation", "Tried To Hide", "The Word", "You Really Got Me", "I'm Gonna Love You Too", "Fire Engine", "She Lives In A Time Of Her Own", and "Kingdom Of Heaven" – plus some radio material too! The Roky Erikson tracks are even more raw, and even include some Dylan and Donovan covers – with titles that include "Catch The Wind", "Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll", "I'll Sing For You", "Don't Sing For Me Lucifer", "Lay Down Your Weary Tune", and "Baby Let Me Follow You Down". CD