Beautiful grooves from the Japanese scene – most of them from a time when its singers and musicians were leaning heavily on influences from American funk and soul, and turning out some wonderful music of their own! Lyrics on most tracks are in Japanese, but there's a really universal vibe to the grooves – great basslines, warm keyboards, and lots of jazzy touches in the instrumentation – a soulful, often funky approach that gives the collection an appeal that goes way beyond the boundaries of language! These aren't the mellow, electronic, or offbeat Japanese tracks of the 80s – and instead, the work here is overflowing with soul - on titles that include "Simple Another Love" by Jadoes, "Kimagure" by Kumi Nakamura, "Natsu No Hikari Ni" by Sumiko Yamagata, "Party Is Over" by Hatsumi Shibata, "Moonlight Flight" by Makoto Iwabuchi, "Paradise's Dream" by Arakawa Band, "I Wander All Alone (part 3)" by New Genration Company, "Sofa Bed Blues" by Haruo Chikada & Vibratones, "Tuxedo Connection" by Hitomi Penny Tohyama, and "Chigasaki Memory" by Mitsuko Horie. LP, Vinyl record album

An incredibly evocative record – one of the strangest of its kind, and an audio treasure that we've loved for years! Eden Ahbez first came into public prominence as the man who wrote "Nature Boy" for Nat King Cole – a dark, moody tune that was as mysterious and earthy as the man who wrote it! This album was recorded nearly a decade after Cole's original hit, and features Ahbez almost in Moondog-like territory – working in an amazing setting of odd instruments and exotic percussion – but also singing in this almost spiritualist kind of way! The record's got plenty of ties to the exotica scene of the late 50s – but also stand out from the pack with a mad vision that's all its own – a strange intersection of lines that one might draw between Moondog, Martin Denny, and Anton La Vey! Tracks include "The Wanderer", "Eden's Island", "Tradewind", "Full Moon", "Mongoose", "Market Place", "The Old Boat", "Island Girl" and "La Mar". Great expanded package – with bonus tracks that include the unreleased "Surf Rider", plus "The Wanderer (alt)", "Tobago (45 rpm mix)", "Jam Session 78", "India (demo)", "Big Square From Nowhere", and "The Planet Song". Also includes related tracks "Sahara" by Bob Romeo, "Song Of The Fool" by The Crew Cuts, "End Of Desire" by Jack Powers, "The Shepherd" by Herb Jeffries, "Hey Jacque" by The Mt Holyoke V8s, "Monterey (alt version)" by John Harris, "Big Rock Steam Roller" by Biggie McFadden, "Green Flamingo" by Robbie Lester, and "Lonely Island" by Gene Chandler. LP, Vinyl record album

An incredibly evocative record – one of the strangest of its kind, and an audio treasure that we've loved for years! Eden Ahbez first came into public prominence as the man who wrote "Nature Boy" for Nat King Cole – a dark, moody tune that was as mysterious and earthy as the man who wrote it! This album was recorded nearly a decade after Cole's original hit, and features Ahbez almost in Moondog-like territory – working in an amazing setting of odd instruments and exotic percussion – but also singing in this almost spiritualist kind of way! The record's got plenty of ties to the exotica scene of the late 50s – but also stand out from the pack with a mad vision that's all its own – a strange intersection of lines that one might draw between Moondog, Martin Denny, and Anton La Vey! Tracks include "The Wanderer", "Eden's Island", "Tradewind", "Full Moon", "Mongoose", "Market Place", "The Old Boat", "Island Girl" and "La Mar". Great expanded package – with bonus tracks that include the unreleased "Surf Rider", plus "The Wanderer (alt)", "Tobago (45 rpm mix)", "Jam Session 78", "India (demo)", "Big Square From Nowhere", and "The Planet Song". Also includes related tracks "Sahara" by Bob Romeo, "Song Of The Fool" by The Crew Cuts, "End Of Desire" by Jack Powers, "The Shepherd" by Herb Jeffries, "Hey Jacque" by The Mt Holyoke V8s, "Monterey (alt version)" by John Harris, "Big Rock Steam Roller" by Biggie McFadden, "Green Flamingo" by Robbie Lester, and "Lonely Island" by Gene Chandler. LP, Vinyl record album

Heady work from the German scene of the late 60s – one of the key albums by the first incarnation of Amon Duul, who grew out of the underground commune of the same name! The set's got a loose, almost improvised feel – with some long tracks that definitely make you feel like you're dropping in on the band as they jam together in the studio, mixed with shorter numbers that still somehow manage to convey the same sort of energy, but in a smaller space! Production is nice and open – with some of that murky current of darkness that would come to reign in the Krautrock scene a few years later – and titles include "Mama Duul Und Ihre Sauerkrautband Spielt Auf", "Bitterlings Verwandlung", "Der Garten Sandosa Im Morgentau", and "Ein Wunderhubsches Madchen Traumt Von Sandosa". LP, Vinyl record album

Breezy genius from 70s Brazil – a set that has some fantastic harmonies over really groovy instrumentation – but all at a level that's very different than other Brazilian groups of this nature! Aquarius often use both male and female voices, layered in ways that are more complex than the 60s work of Tamba Trio or Quarteto Em Cy – and warmed up with just the right touches of keyboards, guitar, and percussion – all given some sweet production elements that maybe make the whole thing feel as if one of those acts from the earlier Brazilian generation wandered into the 70s studios at MPS! Titles include "Tamanco No Samba", "Falsa Baiana", "Carolina", "Pink Bar", "Tibidabo", "Europenema", and "So Tem Lugar Pra Voce". LP, Vinyl record album

An album from the 80s, but one with a very timeless vibe – as the set is heavy on mbiri work from Dumisani Maraire – recorded in a way that mostly just features vocals alongside the sparkling tones of the thumb piano! The mbiri is likely amplified here – as it's got a resonance and presence that you'd not find in a more standard recording – but the overall session is free of too-commercial polish or any sort of other instrumentation – as Dumiani and his family deliver these really beautiful lyrics by trading back and forth in a really classic way. Titles include "Tichazomouna", "Zanu Inokuperekedza", "Hande Kubasa", "Ndofa Ndichibayiwa", and "Mwandikanganwa". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary meeting of two classic jazz talents late in their careers – in a setting that's ideal to bring out all the complexity of their well-honed genius! The approach of the album is mostly an Ellington one – as the group features some of Duke's stalwarts, like Ray Nance on trumpet, Johnny Hodges on alto, and Lawrence Brown on trombone – but Coleman Hawkins gets plenty of space as the main soloist on each number on tenor, alongside Duke, who also solos strongly on piano – both of them with those subtle modern elements that showed up wonderfully in their later work. As with most later records by the players, the writing is great – with a lot more dark moments than you'd expect – and titles include "The Rictic", "You Dirty Dog", "Limbo Jazz", "Wanderlust", and "Self Portrait Of The Bean". LP, Vinyl record album

The sweet second album from this legendary Hawaiian soul group – maybe the island state's biggest musical export at the time, and for good reason too! Kalapana work here with the same tropical soul mode as their debut, but tighten things up in all the right ways – by stepping into a Cali studio that really helps them refine their sound, and set their warm vocal harmonies to some arrangements and production that really knock the whole thing out of the park! One track's a great fusion instrumental titled "Black Sand" – and the rest of the album is vocal, with titles that include "I'd Chase A Rainbow", "Way That I Want It To Be", "Nathan's Lament", "Moon & Stars", "Lost Again", "Wandering Stranger", "Freedom", and "Play It Sing It". LP, Vinyl record album

Pure genius from Oscar Peterson – one of his finest moments ever! The record is very different than most of Oscar's over-recorded trio format ones – and features Claus Ogerman crafting some impeccable backings of lofty strings and compressed horns, creating a pillow of air that takes Oscar's piano to the sky and beyond, floating into realms never dreamed of on other LPs! The set sparkles with a strident MPS easy groove – completely sublime, with a perfectness that we'd ascribe to a rare few albums, such as the similar-grooving Jobim album Wave, also helped out tremendously by Ogerman. Titles include "Dreamsville", "Sally's Tomato", "Sunny", "Wave", "Wandering", and "Ode To Billy Joe". LP, Vinyl record album