A funky soul double-header – one that features live material both by Osaka Monaurail and the legendary Marva Whitney! The set starts out with a few tracks by OM – playing in that razor-sharp, James Brown-inspired groove that we love so much – easily the greatest contemporary JB-driven funk we can think of! Singer Ryo Nakata throws in a bit of vocals over the group's instrumental grooves – but then steps aside so that Marva Whitney can take center stage for the remaining three-fourths of the album – singing with the same raw fury as on her recent studio set with Osaka Monaurail! The sound here is incredible – easily some of the best funk-revival work we can think of, and the sort of record that should make Marva plenty proud after all these years. Titles include "New New Type Thing", "Evil", "I Made A Mistake", "It's My Thing", "Your Love Was Good For Me", "Things Got To Get Better", "What Do I Have To Do", and "Daddy Don't Know About Sugar Bear". CD

A really great package of contemporary funky cuts – put together in collaboration between the folks at Wax Poetics Japan and P-Vine Records – and filled with an international assortment of artists that all lean very heavily on the best spirit of 70s funk and soul! We love the albums by almost all of the artists in the set – but somehow, these individual cuts sound even better in the company of each other – running through a long set list of 17 tracks in all, with a very funky spirit throughout! Titles include "Chase The Dream" by Funkshone, "Don't Take It Too Hard" by Tuomo, "I Believe In Miracles" by Eddie Roberts & The Fire Eaters, "Where I'm At" by Push with Candi Staton, "Self Reliance" by The Liberators, "The Bouncer" by New Cool Collective, "Yellow Soul Force" by Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro, "Pick Up The Pieces (parts 1 & 2)" by Osaka Monaurail, "Above The Law" by Federation Of The Disco Pimps, and "This Time" by Baby Charles. CD

A heavy funk party from the Japanese jazz scene of the 70s – and a set that hits a lot harder than some of the smoother fusion of the time! There's a grit here that hearkens back to some of the best American jazz funk at the start of the decade – a nice edge that you often don't find in Japanese recordings of this vintage – which is clearly inspired by the American soul scene of the time – as evidence in the weird-looking cover, and in the album's choice of tracks! The notes are in Japanese, which makes it a bit hard to tell what's going on – but the whole thing feels like a live performance, with supposedly different Japanese groups taking the lead – and some calls on the tunes that almost give the whole thing an Osaka Monaurail feel! Titles include "Put It Where You Want It" by Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media, "I Who Have Nothing" by Tan Tan, "Walking All Day" by Eddie Ban & Orient Express, "Sex Machine" by Ozawa Tetsu, and "Scratch" by Akira Ishikawa & Count Buffalo. LP, Vinyl record album