A really cool collection – one that's maybe best summed up by the word "ecstatic" in the title – as the package presents a blend of work from artists who easily skirt both the spiritual and secular side of soulful music, united together with a very joyous, uplifting vibe in their sound! This isn't classic gospel from the years when you might hear a guitar or organ behind a small group of harmonizing vocals – and instead, much of this work was created at a time when soul music had already been going strong for years – and while gospel might have initially helped in the formation of soul, it's clear that things are also moving the other direction in these tracks – as many of these artists borrow from the power of righteous soul styles, and use it to inflect their joyous message with a great new energy! Titles include "Everything Is Gonna Be Alright" by Keith Barrow, "Is There Anybody Here" by The Alvin Darling Ensemble, "Trouble's Brewin" by The Meditation Singers, "Satisfied" by Andre Crouch & The Disciples, "Let Your Feet Down Easy" by Dorothy Norwood, "If You Believe Your God Is Dead" by Swan Silvertones, "The Upper Way" by The Violinaires, "Elijah" by Roscoe Robinson, "Till I've Got This Feelin Of Love" by Dyson's Faces, and "Nothing Can Stop Me Now" by Destiny. CD

A monster set of work by one of the funkiest guitar players ever! Ivan Boogaloo Joe Jones recorded a number of sides for Prestige Records during the early 70s – but this rare gem came out after all those, in 1975, on the tiny Joka label, and never really got into proper circulation at the time – making it one of THE indie jazz funk classics of the 70s! The album's actually one of Boogaloo's best – and has a rougher edge than his Prestige albums – heard to great effect on the two standout funky cuts, "Sweetback" and "Confusion" – both of which are stunners that feature Jones really ripping away on the guitar! The whole set's nice, though – and other tracks include "You've Got It Bad Girl", "Trouble In Mind", and "Jamaica Farewell". CD

A really great bit of blue-eyed soul from Laneous – a singer who doesn't try to ape classic modes like some of his contemporaries, but who instead brings together a groove that's certainly got an influence from hip hop as much as it does classic soul – yet which is delivered on some mighty nice live instrumentation throughout! There's a fair bit of vibes on the set – often coming down hard with the rhythms, and ringing out in a mighty nice way – and tunes move between slow funk and breezier, jazzier numbers – both of which Laneous delivers in a really great style! Titles include "I Wanna Be Your Girl", "Not Quite Right", "Nightingales", "Hold My Hand", "Trouble In Paradise", and "Modern Romance". CD

It's easy to wake up with grooves this great – a searing back of 70s Afro Rock gems that are also surprisingly funky, too! The tunes here do a wonderful job of mixing psych currents and headier rhythms – a great blend of the burning Afro Funk trends that were happening in Nigeria at the time, but with much richer, trippier work on the guitar and vocals – and some of the freaky, fuzzy basslines too! If some Afro Funk acts drew strong influence from the sharp soul of James Brown, these groups all seem to drink deep from the same musical well as Funkadelic at their freaked-out early best – which means that they've got no trouble throwing in a psych guitar riff alongside soulful vocals and funky rhythms – all with a sound that's completely sublime. As with the great first volume in this series, this edition comes with a special heavy book on the music – filled with detailed notes and lots of photos – alongside a great set of tracks that include "Wake Up You" by Waves, "Love" by Question Mark, "Baby Rock" by Jay U Experience, "Life In Cannan" by Ceejebs, "Who Made The World" by The Identicals, "Awa Lani Arawa" by Kukumbas, "Life Will Move" by The Believers, "The Feelings" by Tony Grey & The Black 7, "I Want A Break Thru" by The Hykkers, and "In The Jungle (voc)" by The Hygrades. CD

Wonderful work from Pockets – a group who started out more in a jazzy mode, but who here have emerged as a fully-formed, soaringly soulful group that's a perfect fit for the Kalmiba Productions style of the late 70s! As you probably know, Kalimba's the production arm of the Earth Wind & Fire empire – and Pockets fit here right in tight with their groove – a nice little sidebar, definitely with their own spirit – but filled with that sense of perfection that wraps together funk, soul, and jazz with equal emphasis on all three styles! There's some great harmony vocals in the mix too – crafted with the care of contemporaneous groups like Side Effect or Creative Source – and titles include "Your Heart's In Trouble", "Bye Bye", "Catch Me", "So Delicious", "How Do You Think It Feels?", "Charisma", and "Baby Are You Coming Home With Me". CD

A great take on sweet soul sounds from the past – served up here by a mighty hip group who mix slow funky modes with some mighty nice vocals! The record's got a mix of deep funk production and some of the warmer qualities of east coast group soul from the New Jersey scene at the start of the 70s – almost an All-Platinum/Stang sort of record from the hands of George Kerr and Sylvia Robinson, but with some fuller, more forward-moving cuts that also echo the Record Kicks label too! There's light strings that really help the record soar – and the lead vocals of Mark Sexton are mighty nice throughout, especially when he gets support from a few backup singers too. Titles include "Better Late Than Never", "The Other Side", "Trouble On My Mind", "Love Can't Be Borrowed", "Beck & Call", "This Could Last Forever", and "Daydreaming". CD

Not just soul music lovers – as the set's got plenty to offer for fans of funk and jazz too – a wonderful assortment of cuts from the golden years of the music, all put together here with a really great ear for a groove! The cuts are sourced from a number of different labels – including Groove Merchant, De-Lite, Sussex, and Brunswick – and because of that, they come together with a great sense of variety – not a confused approach to a compilation, but one that really knows how to play different cuts off one another – introducing you to rare gems, and making you love familiar cuts all over again in a different way! There's a total of 23 tracks and almost 80 minutes of music – and titles include "Mr Hot Stuff" by Clarence Reid, "Ashley's Roachclip" by The Soul Searchers, "Loving Explosion" by The Eliminators, "The Fly" by The Kinfolks, "Funky Belly" by Warren Lee, "Come Back To Me" by Cheyenne Fowler, "I Won't Be Around" by Jeanette Holloway, "Chick A Boom" by The Pazant Brothers, "In The Moog" by Harold McKinney, "Gold Smoke" by Everyday People, "There Was A Time" by Dee Felice Trio, "April" by Bobby Knight, and "No Trouble On The Mountain" by Richard Groove Holmes. CD

Rare funk from the Indy scene of the early 70s – the long-overdue release of material recorded by a really hard-jamming, horn-heavy combo! Amnesty have a sound that's awash in the best large group influences of the time – a bit of Earth Wind & Fire, a bit of Parliament/Funkadelic, but also a grittier, more guitar-based groove at times too – one that rumbles heavily at the bottom of the rhythms, with a sound that's like Norman Whitfield-era Motown, taken to much greater extremes! There's actually a lot more Detroit going on in the work than Indy – but the horns also have a jazzier, more open-ended quality too – not just parts penned for simple funky rhythms, but ones that show some influence from the more righteous side of the jazz spectrum. The material was all recorded on two dates in 1973 – but only issued here for the first time – and together, the tracks are a great example of a hip group from the underground, really letting loose with a great sense of freedom. There's some vocals on the record, but almost more of a focus on the instrumentation overall – and titles include "Can I Help You", "Love Fades", "Trouble Will Remain", "We've Come A Long Way", "Liberty", "Mister President", "Free Your Mind", "We Have Love", and "Lord Help Me". CD

A fantastic set from a singer who really should have gotten bigger fame at the time – an artist who played keyboards with Doug Sahm, and definitely absorbed some of that Texas brew of sounds – but who also has a soulful style that's very much his own when he steps out in the lead! Part of the album's strength is its soul-drenched arrangements from Harold Batiste – served up in a way that might well make the set Wayne Talbert's most soulful at the time – although as with the others, there's some original material here that's especially nice, and quite unusual – and which really works well with his raspy vocals! Titles include "I Put A Spell On You", "She Put The Hurt On Me", "Trouble", "Take Another Look", "Mr Barley Corn", "I Found A Little Girl", "Don't You Know Little Girl", "Getting Married Soon", "Life's Windows", and "Crankiola Narcissis Buds". CD

Heavy grooves from the Far Out label – a set of cuts from the company that don't just fall into their usual Brazilian bag – and which stretch out in a sweet array of styles that include funky fusion and African-inspired rhythms! Most of the artists here normally work in a Brazilian vein, but the collection offers up some fresh takes on their sound – and also manages to pull together some more obscure Far Out tracks, including a few unreleased cuts too! Titles include "Poweride" by Marcos Valle, "Pembe (unreleased version)" by Future Warriors, "Somewhere Beyond (unreleased version)" by 4Hero Presents Natures Plan, "Eighties Times" by Jose Roberto Bertrami, "Magnetic Feel (unreleased version)" by Roc Hunter, "Chameleon (Offworld rework)" by Azymuth, "Strike Hard" by Troubleman, "Jazz Carnival" by Azymuth, and "New Morning" by Sabrina Malheiros. CD

A heavenly set of funky tracks from the indie scene of the 70s – titles that were all recorded as singles for the gospel market, but which have a fair bit of funk in the rhythms! These tunes all have massive appeal well beyond their spiritual message – heavy drums, amazing basslines, and nicely gritty instrumentation that sets these cuts up right next to funky 45 treasures from the mid 70s – but which also gives them a slightly different feel, too – thanks to some uplifting messages in the lyrics, which also means that the vocal styles are nicely changed up from more standard funk-based lyrics! The blend is wonderful, and completely captivating – and we'd not heard most of these cuts before digging into the collection – which goes every bit as deep as the Good God gospel/funk collections on Numero. Titles include "If You See Me Doing Wrong" by Wearyland Singers, "I Don't Want To Be Alone" by Allen Gauff Jr, "Troubles Of The World" by The Christian Harmonizers, "Save A Seat For Me" by Vocal Aires, "Blackman Keep On Doing Your Thing" by The Original Christian Harmonizers, "Days Are Just Like People" by Zella Jackson, "I've Got Power In My Mind" by Preacherman Isidore Womack, and "Who's Your Boss" by Pearl Farano & The High Lites Of Joy. CD

Hey, don't hold Wayne Cochran's hair against him – because he's one massively soulful dude, despite a high white pompadour – and really knew how to rock the clubs back in the 60s! Cochran's a really unique figure – working with a look that was whiter-than-white, but coming across with a groove that was right up there in the best funky soul mode of the time! Wayne played for the same sort of crowds that went to see Baby Huey & The Babysitters – blending together soul and R&B influences with a really party-oriented groove laid down by his legendary CC Riders backup group – and crossing countless borders along the way, all in pursuit of a socking soul sound! This wonderful set is the best we've ever seen on his music – and features tracks pulled from his sessions for King, Chess, and Mercury – plus a full never-issued live album for King, titled The Wayne Cochran Show. There's more than a few covers here of other 60s soul tunes, but Wayne somehow manages to make most of them sound even better than the originals – bringing in funky arrangements that weren't even used on the hits, and making us wish we'd had a chance to catch his cooking show back in the day. 38 tracks in all – with titles that include "Dance To The Music", "Hold On I'm Coming", "Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song)", "I Can't Turn You Loose", "Hard To Handle", "Chopper 70", "Everybody", "Let Me Come With You", "My Machine", "Get Ready", "Which One Should I Choose", "I'm In Trouble", "The Peak Of Love", "Somebody Please", "I'm Leaving It Up To You", and "Big City Woman". CD

An incredible run of music from one of the grooviest soul groups of all time – a combo who started out down in the Texas scene with some very upbeat dancing soul singles in the 60s, who then moved to work in the Philly studios in the 70s, where they really opened up their groove! The set features work from both the group's early albums for Atlantic Records and their great second chapter at Philadelphia International – quite a career, given that they recorded for two of the greatest soul labels of the 60s and 70s – in a massive batch of work that's included here, with bonus material too! The Atlantic work starts out nice and raw, and pretty funky too – then gets warmed up in the best way possible as the label has them working with Gamble & Huff, before then leaving to record for the Philly duo's own International label in the 70s. The huge box features the full albums Tighten Up, I Can't Stop Dancing, There's Gonna Be A Showdown, Dance Your Troubles Away, Where Will You Go When The Party's Over, Hard Not To Like It, and Strategy – and CD5 is a full set of bonus tracks, with titles that include "Dog Eat Dog", "Deal With Him", "A World Without Music", "Love At First Sight", "Archie's In Love", "Wrap It Up", "I Wish", "Get It From The Bottom", "Old People", "Let The World Know You Got Soul", and "I Can't Face You Baby". Box features 79 tracks in all – and a big booklet of notes! CD

Nobody handled a fuzz guitar better than Dennis Coffey back in the early 70s – and this album's one of his masterpieces of funky instrumental work for the Sussex label – cuts that show just how much command Coffey had of the electric strings after a number of years working in both the studios and the clubs of the Detroit scene! Coffey's work here is between the genres in a really great way – heavier than soul instrumental material of a few years before, tighter than electric guitar jazz funk of the time, and with some of the understanding of new phrasing that the psych years brought in – all served up perfectly on a set of wicked cuts co-arranged with longtime musical partner Mike Theodore. Titles include the classics "Ride Sally Ride" and "Taurus" – the latter of which was his similar sounding follow-up to "Scorpio" and other titles include "Can You Feel it", "Midnight Blue", "Toast & Jam", "Man & Boy", "It's Too Late" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water". CD

Nobody handled a fuzz guitar better than Dennis Coffey back in the early 70s – and this album's one of his masterpieces of funky instrumental work for the Sussex label – cuts that show just how much command Coffey had of the electric strings after a number of years working in both the studios and the clubs of the Detroit scene! Coffey's work here is between the genres in a really great way – heavier than soul instrumental material of a few years before, tighter than electric guitar jazz funk of the time, and with some of the understanding of new phrasing that the psych years brought in – all served up perfectly on a set of wicked cuts co-arranged with longtime musical partner Mike Theodore. Titles include the classics "Ride Sally Ride" and "Taurus" – the latter of which was his similar sounding follow-up to "Scorpio" and other titles include "Can You Feel it", "Midnight Blue", "Toast & Jam", "Man & Boy", "It's Too Late" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water". CD