A sunny bit of funky club – featuring Leslie Smith of the LA Carnival, and a groove that's very similar to the Carnival's best work! The approach here is definitely funk – complete with heavy bass and hard horns – but the tune's also got a bubbling, grooving feel that's more than enough to cross it over to a more boogie-oriented dancefloor – especially with the great ensemble vocals on the chorus! 12-inch, Vinyl record

A wonderful document of underground soul – not just the original California scene in which most of these keys were cut – but also the work of the Now Again label and their smaller Soul Cal imprint – which originally circulated most of these tracks as limited 12" singles at the start of this current century! Now Again have roots deep in funk – not just with their reissues, but also the original Stones Throw hip hop world that gave them a start – and the choice of cuts here is all very directed by a contemporary ear for the right sort of funk, soul, and clubby grooves that were overlooked upon release, but sound fantastic now. The title track is the great "You Can Be A Star" by Luther Davis – and other cuts include "Ecology" by Anubis, "I'm Gonna Miss You Girl" by Ellis & Cephas, "Sha La La" by Mixed Feelings, "The Stranger (edit)" by Henry Woods, "Get Down" by Freedom Express, "Love Is (full version)" by Leon Mitchison & The Eastex Freeway Band, "Wake Up" by Pure Essence, "Keep Running Away" by Clifford Nyren, and "Don't Get Discouraged" by UPC All Stars. LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing compilation – a decade in the making, and filled with wonderful grooves – most of which have never appeared on CD or LP reissues! And while the music itself is already wonderful, the package also includes an amazing 80 page book, too – a rich research project that digs deep into the American underground of the 70s – and features a wealth of photos, images, and historical details on music that never got it's due back in the day! The set's based around the groundbreaking series of Soul Cal 12" reissues put together by Stones Throw about a decade ago – wonderful records that unearthed rare grooves that fall beautifully in a space between funk and club – almost all originally issued on tiny little labels from all over the US, but working together to create a rich vibe in the set. Given the book, there's a Numero-like heft to the whole thing – although the range of grooves is even greater than one of their collections – and titles include "Ecology" by Anubis, "You Can Be A Star" by Luther Davis, "Don't Get Discouraged" by UPC All Stars, "Things Cannot Stop Forever" by Stanton Davis, "Free Your Mind" by Record Player, "Get Down" by Freedom Express, "Keep Running Away" by Clifford Nyren, "Love Is" by Leon Mitchison & The Eastex Freeway Band, "What It Takes To Live" by Key & Cleary, "I'm Gonna Miss You Girl" by Ellis & Cephas, "It's A Bad Feeling" by Mixed Sugar, and "Put A Smile On Time" by Rhythm Machine. CD