A sweet symphony of groove – featuring one long track on each side of the record – both composed and produced by arranger Ray Martinez, and mixed to perfection by the mighty Jim Burgess! Side one features "If There's Love" – a swirling batch of strings that soar alongside fast-stepping piano lines that really give the song some warmth right at the start – a bouncing disco groove that's mostly got an instrumental propulsion, but which features chorus vocals from Richard Norega and Martha Roque. Side two features the even better "Hazy Shade Of Love" – which has lots of great electronics that give the tune a cool moogy feel at points – kind of a space between P&P and TK records, with maybe some Rinder & Lewis touches! LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderfully groovy set – every bit as great as you might guess from the title and the cover – and the very first installment in the now-legendary Mood Mosaic series! The set's one of the few to bring together tunes from the groovier side of the spectrum at the end of the 60s – work from British, French, American, and German sources – all awash in a great blend of funky, easy, and pop-oriented modes! There's a nicely trippy feel throughout – and titles include "Hascisch Party" by George Garvarenz, "Kiss This" by Claude Denjean, "Acka Raga" by Shocking Blue, "Mas Que Nada" by Luiz Enriquez, "En Melody" by Serge Gainsbourg, "Love For Sale" by Marian McPartland, "Batucada" by Phil Crewe, "Marins Armins Amant Ou Maris" by Michel Legrand, and "Sitar Beat" by Klaus Doldinger. CD

Classic cuts from the TK Records stable of Miami disco from the 70s – all of which are served up here on 7" single mixes, a fair bit of which appear here on CD for the first time ever! TK is maybe best known for it's long-spun club cuts that were a perfect fit for the budding 12" format in the mid 70s – but the label also turned out plenty of cuts with a tight, catchy groove that was perfect for a funky 45 – which might have been why TK was one of the few labels to rule both on the radio and on the dancefloors back in the day! Japanese DJ T Groove takes us through 20 TK singles here – with tracks that include "Return Of Vader" by AD, "Macho" by Celi Bee & The Buzzy Bunch, "Higher" by Chi-Lites, "Star Cruiser" by Gregg Diamond, "Moon Ride" by Universal Love, "Let's Dance" by Wild Honey, "Have A Good Day (part 1)" by Gail Eason, "Music (voc)" by Montreal Sound, "I'm Gonna Dance" by Asha Puthli, "Dancin In My Feet" by Laura Taylor, "Holding Back" by Gregg Diamond, "At Midnight" by T Connection, "If There's Love" by Amant, "Spank" by Jimmy Bo Horne, and "The Break (short)" by Kat Mandu. CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

A trio of later comedy soundtracks – all served up by Italian maestro Detto Mariano! W La Foca has a really playful main theme – one that romps around in a very catchy theme, nicely lilting and served up here in ten different variations – including a very cool moog reading at the end! Cornetti Alla Crema has a wider variety of modes – including some more moogy keyboards, and a few clubbier moments as well – plus occasional sing-song female vocals that have a groovy wordless approach. Last up is the longest soundtrack in the set – La Moglie In Vacanza L'Amante In Citta – music that still has some of the keyboards and the theme-cycles of the other two, but which fleshes things out a bit more, shifting through different instruments that make the whole thing almost feel like a longer suite, based on the same melody. CD features 32 tracks in all! CD

Queen Samantha offer up a nice mix of modes here – taking on the Box Tops' classic oldie "The Letter", before launching into some originals of their own – all in the best longform disco mode of the TK Records family of labels at their height! The group's singers aren't listed on the back cover, which only notes the musicians on the set – a combo of French players who work with arrangements from Harry Chalkitis – with riffing guitars over driving percussion, all in that tight Euro disco style of the time! The rhythms dominate, but the vocals provide some nice glue to the set – on titles that include "The Letter", "1864", "Don't Stop I Feel Good", and "Singing Hallelujah". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

Features musical direction from Isidro Infante, who also handled a lot of the arrangements – and titles include "Como Si Nada", "Amantes Secretos", "No Apagues La Luz", "Conversemos", "Pionero", and "Te Dedico". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

A trio of mid-to-late 60s Italian spy soundtracks – Italo Greco and Gianni Boncompagni's work for Riuscira' Il Nostro Eroe A Ritrovare Il Piu' Grande Diamante Del Mondo, Boncompagni's score for Colo Di Sole, and Bruno Canfora's work for Spia Spione – on one great CD from Beat Records! We'll admit to knowing very little about the films, but we must say, this material is very nicely curated, which shouldn't come as surprise given Beat's always warmly presented film score sets. It covers the genre terrain beautiful, from big scale, action-y orchestras, to stripped down, loungey cocktail jazz and beyond. The material from each of the three soundtracks is comprised of sequences on the title themes. 31 tracks in all! CD

The super-tight second set from French disco act Queen Samantha – a few female singers working with some excellent rhythm players – all on the kind of long-spun grooves that represent the late 70s Euro club scene at its best! All tracks really take time to build – and there's lots of conga work down in there next to the drums and basslines – peppered with plenty of riffing guitar, and served up in a way so that the vocals are more the icing on the cake than the core energy of the album! Titles include "Take A Chance", "Sweet San Francisco", "So Far Away", "What's In Your Mind", "Thank You For Your Love", and "The Look Of Love". CD features the bonus tracks "Sweet San Francisco (French album version)" and "Take A Chance (French album version)". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

The great Luis Bacalov is one of the longtime masters of Italian cinema scoring – an artist who's done everything from 60s westerns to more contemporary sentimental films – and who turns out some really nice sounds for this obscure thriller from the 70s! The main theme of the film has this really cool mix of electronic waves and clubby grooves – almost like Andromeda Strain meeting Studio 54 – and those moments are balanced by others that have a more laidback, spacious, piano-led quality – almost at the level of Stelvio Cipriani, but maybe a bit more sinister at times! There's a few nice woodwind moments too – and Bacalov does a great job of moving between dense moments and more open-ended sounds – in a selection of 22 tracks from the film, including two versions of the single "Shock Me" – which is a funky disco surprise! CD

Repackaging of Brel's 1967 LP – featuring some of his lesser known work from the late 60s, set to arrangements by longtime accompanist Francois Rauber. The tracks are still quite strong, and if anything, Brel's writing has only gotten sharper by this point. Titles include "Le Gaz", "A Jeun", "Fils De", "Les Bonbons 67", "Mon Pere Disait", "La La La", and "Les Coeurs Tendres". LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... CD

Queen Samantha offer up a nice mix of modes here – taking on the Box Tops' classic oldie "The Letter", before launching into some originals of their own – all in the best longform disco mode of the TK Records family of labels at their height! The group's singers aren't listed on the back cover, which only notes the musicians on the set – a combo of French players who work with arrangements from Harry Chalkitis – with riffing guitars over driving percussion, all in that tight Euro disco style of the time! The rhythms dominate, but the vocals provide some nice glue to the set – on titles that include "The Letter", "1864", "Don't Stop I Feel Good", and "Singing Hallelujah". CD features the bonus track "The Letter (French album version)". CD

Cool Italian work from Carlo Fontana – a singer with a soulful style that's right at home in some of the Italo Disco tracks on the set, but which also works well with other modes too! Carlo knows how to space out his words – never getting as over-emotive as more mainstream Italian pop singers, and instead echoing the groove in the way he puts over a tune – which makes for some mighty nice music with a very universal appeal! The legendary Tullio De Piscopo handled arrangements on a number of cuts – and titles include "La Musica Del Sud", "Amica Luna", "Malatia", "Tu Chi Sij", "Bella Signora", "E Voglie A Te", and "Amanti". LP, Vinyl record album

A really lovely soundtrack from Forever Pavot – contemporary, but with some of the best touches of our favorite French film scores of the late 60s – a blend of sentiment and subtle instrumentation, light melody and occasional groove – all handled with excellent keyboards, flutes, and other sweet touches throughout! Pavot often has the sense of space and tune of Francis Lai – which makes the record a great hit in our book – and the organ, piano, and harpsichord moments are especially great – on titles that include "Au Chalet 2", "La Ballade De Poulenc", "Dans L'Aquarium", "Generique Debut", "En Voiture", "Les Amants", and "Marche Dans La Niege". LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite soundtracks ever – a jazzy swinging ode to love found and love lost – all penned by the legendary Michel Legrand! The work was composed in collaboration with director Jacques Demy for his 1966 film of the same name – and, like the previous Demy/Legrand collaboration, Umbrellas Of Cherbourg, the movie's a story in song – one that has much of the dialogue presented as sung lyrics to the tunes. The mode takes off from a Hollywood musical style, and pushes the genre into territory that's much hipper, very French, and with a soaring approach that's filled with plenty of mod 60s jazz grooves. Legrand's genius has never sparkled so brightly – and his ability to interweave different themes, stories, and grooves is simply amazing! Titles include "Chanson Des Jumelles", "Chanson De Delphine", "Nous Voyageons De Ville En Ville", "Chanson D'Andy", "La Femme Coupee En Morceaux", and "Marins Amis Amants Ou Maris" – plus lots of instrumental bonus tracks! CD

One of our favorite soundtracks ever – a jazzy swinging ode to love found and love lost – all penned by the legendary Michel Legrand! The work was composed in collaboration with director Jacques Demy for his 1966 film of the same name – and, like the previous Demy/Legrand collaboration, Umbrellas Of Cherbourg, the movie's a story in song – one that has much of the dialogue presented as sung lyrics to the tunes. The mode takes off from a Hollywood musical style, and pushes the genre into territory that's much hipper, very French, and with a soaring approach that's filled with plenty of mod 60s jazz grooves. Legrand's genius has never sparkled so brightly – and his ability to interweave different themes, stories, and grooves is simply amazing! This US package is even better than the original French one – with a nice colored book inside the gatefold cover that has some great photos and lyrics (translated) for the songs. Titles include "Nous Voyagons De Ville En Ville", "Depart De Camionners", "Arivee Des Camionneurs", "Chanson De Maxence", "Marins, Amins, Amants Ou Maris", and "Chanson De Jumelles". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful compilation of classic bossa tunes – packaged in a lovely way, and selected by Ruy Castro, who (literally) wrote the book on bossa nova! Castro's the author of a great book on bossa nova – the first of its type in English (and incidentally, often for sale at Dusty Groove!) – and here, he's selected 2CDs worth of tracks to fit the mood and spirit of the book, a perfect soundtrack for a sunny summery afternoon on the beach in Rio! Titles include "Que Besteira" by Joao Donato, "Pois E" by Nara Leao, "Captain Bacardi" by Antonio Carlos Jobim, "Tem Do" by Rio 65 Trio, "Two Kites" by Mario Adnet, "Jangal" by Dom Um, "Domingo Azul" by Billy Balanco, "E Nada Mais" by Os Gatos, "Surfboard" by Roberto Menescal, "Coisa No 8" by Moacir Santos, "Samba De Verao (live)" by Marcos Valle & Patricia Marx, "Ledusha Com Diamantes" by Celso Fonseca, "Tim Dom Dom" by Jorge Ben, and "Voce" by Dick Farney & Norma Benguell. CD

Cosmic grooves and spacey post disco compiled by Dompteur Mooner – a great third volume of the Elaste series from Compost Records! The soul if disco splintered in the cosmos in the early 80s, soaring strings giving way to funky synths, proto-techno programming and all around galactic feel in the clubs of Europe and pretty much all around the world – and this set pulls together the widest range yet! Definitely not disco in a conventional set, but spacey synth funk and influential club grooves from the early 80s underground that sounds great today! Includes "Take A Chance (Dompteur Mooner Edit)" by Queen Samantha, "Urth" by Mobius, "Beats of Love" by Nacht Und Nebel, "Allein (Original Version)" by Tabu, "Beuys Boys" by Pollyester, "Jamacia Running" by The Pool, "Powerslide" by Mythos, "Africa (Dub Mix)" by Key Of Dreams and more. Includes "Take A Chance (Dopmteur Mooner Edit)" by Queen Samantha, "Urth" by Mobius, "Beats of Love" by Nacht Und Nebel, "Allein (Original Version)" by Tabu, "Beuys Boys" by Pollyester, "Jamacia Running" by The Pool and more. 10 tracks on 2LP for the vinyl version. LP, Vinyl record album