The Warp debut from the Boards of Canada, and only the second full length LP from the duo, though they had issued numerous CDs up to this point in their career. Warm electronics that transcends the IDM tag, and elevates them above the crowded peerage of bedroom laptop wizards. 17 tracks in all, including "Wildlife Analysis", "An Eagle In Your Mind", "The Color Of The Fire", "Telephasic Workshop", "Triangles & Rhombuses", "Sixtyten", "Kaini Industries", "Bocuma", "Roygbiv", "Rue The Whirl", "Aquarius", "Olson", "Pete Standing Alone", "Smoke Quantity", "Open The Light" and "One Very Important Thought". Includes the bonus track "Happy Cycling". CD

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Tracks from Zero 7, Cymande, Faithless, Jaffa, Boards Of Canada, Herbert, Roger Sanchez, Ian Pooley, Spacek, and more. CD

A really cool collection of tracks, pulled from the glory days of the jingle-oriented television ad – a time when artists like Ginny Redington would pen short little songs that were every bit as catchy as songs on the charts – to sell everything from hamburgers to soft drinks, bank services, and weight control! The tunes here are all from the vaults of Redington – and feature cool little tunes written for Coca Cola, Sprite, Canada Dry, Gino's, Minute Maid, and a number of other big brands in the 70s – some spare with just Ginny on vocals and a bit of keyboards, some with a fuller, richer style that uses more instrumentation and additional singers! The package is totally cool – and titles include "Coke Ads Life", "Open Wide America", "Plop Plop Fast Food", "Now We're Talkin Beer", "Oh Canada", "Women In Business", "The World's Best Fit", and "The Clean In Your Mouth". LP, Vinyl record album

Severely funky jazz from trumpeter Russell Gunn – working here in an electrified mode that reminds us a bit of recent work from Nicholas Payton or Roy Hargrove – but which comes off sounding a lot hipper overall! The set's got a bouncing, bass-heavy groove that's clearly rooted in older funk traditions – but it's performed by Russell with a host of cutting edge up and comers, in a style that's pushing lots of new styles and sounds of its own! Gunn himself plays acoustic and electric trumpet, as well as keyboards – and he's joined by Stefon Harris on vibes, Nick Rolfe on Fender Rhodes, and Kebbi Williams on tenor and electric tenor. The set's got lots of extra space for added instrumentation that includes work on alto, percussion, pro tools, turntables, and voice – and the overall sound somehow manages to come off with a lot harder-hitting edge than other recent projects of this sort! Titles include "East St Louis", "John Wicks", "No Separation", "The Critic's Song", "Yesterdays", and "Stranger Fruit". CD

Saxophonist Mike Makhalemele is in great company here – blowing these long, soulful lines in a combo that has plenty of mellow grooves – keyboards from Jabu Nkosi and bass from Sipho Gumede – both players who really know how to lay back, open up a groove, and let Mike do all the rest with his horn! The approach is a more stripped-down take on American soul fusion styles of the time – never too smooth or commercial, and definitely with some elements of older South African jazz in the mix, although in subtle ways. The main focus is on the tenor, which is great – on titles that include "My Thing", "15th Avenue", "Peace Train", "End Of The Road", and "Going West". LP, Vinyl record album

A Canadian prog masterpiece from this key 70s group – and a record that's got some nicely understated elements that almost feel a bit more like some of the best European electric jazz acts of the time! There's definitely vocals on the record – sung by Pierre Flynn – but his use of piano and keyboards is even more striking, often with a spaciousness that brings a slight current of funk to the record at times, especially when he serves up Fender Rhodes passages that have that chunky quality we love from this period of the work of Marc Moulin. The group work with an added vocal group at points, to increase the majesty of the music – and titles include "Generation", "Voyage En Mer", "Violence", "Ma Chanson", "Les Nouvelles Terres", and "La Passe Du Grand Flambeau". LP, Vinyl record album

A searing second set from Souljazz Orchestra – easily one of the funkiest groups in the contemporary Afro Funk underground! The set's even sharper than their first – really tight on the rhythms, which are filled with skittish guitars that cut a groove strongly – vamping and quick-stepping with a wicked sort of feel that brings back plenty of James Brown influence to a 70s African sound! There's lots of great horns and keyboards too – again played with a sharpness that's wonderful – a meaningful approach to solos that's not as extended as on other records, but often much more powerful. Vocals are often shouted or called – second stage, next to the instrumentation – and titles include "State Terrorism", "Kapital", "Parasite", "Interested Benevolence", "Amen", and "Grasshopper & Toad". CD

The Kay-Gees are getting a little disco here, but they also still manage to lay down some nice funky tracks, in the best Kool & The Gang tradition of their early work. Ronald Bell of Kool & Gang is still working with the group – and he wrote a lot of material and also performs on the LP. The record shows signs of the direction that Kool & The Gang were taking at the time, with a move towards electric keyboards instead of raw funky guitars – but like Kool's work from the period, the use of these keyboards is nicely restrained, and adds some good jazzy elements to the sound. Cuts include "Waiting At The Bus Stop", "Mr. Nothin", "STP", "Be Real", and a number of versions of "Find A Friend". CD

More Afro Funk than the soul jazz you might guess from the group's name – but that's OK with us, because the record's plenty darn great! Souljazz Orchestra are one of the best of the current wave of Afro combos to hail from Canada – and they manage to get an incredible full sound from a surprisingly small range of instruments – usually just 3 saxes, a trumpet, keyboards, and percussion – but played with a sense of power to earn them the "orchestra" in their name! There's a definite Fela influence going on here – grooves that move fast with very skittish rhythms – snaking out with great horn bits and keyboard lines. But the overall approach is a bit tighter too – much more focused at times, on slightly shorter tunes, about half of which are vocal numbers. The Latin-inflected "Little Habana" has the group breaking format a bit – and other tunes include "Mista President", "The Blind Leading The Blind", "Insurrection", and "Mojuba". 8 tracks in all! LP, Vinyl record album