... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A lovely album that mixes the harmony vocals of the male MPB4 quartet and the sweet female combo Quarteto Em Cy. The eight singers work together on most tracks – and the album's got a spare spacey sound that makes it one of their best of the 70s, with little other production to get in the way of the excellent singing. Titles include "Noites Cariocas", "5/6/65", "Nada Sera Como Antes", "Fuga", "Amor Amor", and "Oriente". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer cop/crime soundtrack from the Italian scene – recorded a bit late in comparison to some of the more famous entries, but done in a style that's very much like some of the best from the 70s! Things are nice and spare, with a bassline on many tracks that feels like a heartbeat moving a bit too fast – touched with wicked work on keyboards and guitars that carve out all these wonderful flashy bits around the edges – that way of using 70s instrumental styles that seemed to instantly evoke the bad guys – and the other guys who were always in hot pursuit! Charlie Cannon sings English language vocals on the groovy title cut, "The Day Of The Cobra" – and other titles include "Clash", "Flight", "Fear", "Suspicion", "Upstairs", "Astonishment", "Spy", and "Revenge". LP, Vinyl record album

Features Robin Sylvester on guitar and bass, Timn Gorman on synthesizers, and Brad Bilhorn on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Singer Dee Daniels has some great backing here – the trio of pianist Monty Alexander, who really bring a strongly soulful swing to the set! Dee's one of those 80s vocalists who can draw on older jazz traditions and borrow some of the inflections from soul music of the 60s and 70s – then spin things out with a lean, mean quality that's a great change from some of the too-familiar torch and jazz standard styles on the scene! The approach is maybe in the territory of Ernestine Alexander during her great run of albums on Concord – and as with those, there was less mainstream play with the music of Daniels – which is what makes it such a great discovery. Monty's on piano with John Clayton on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums – and titles include "He Loves Me", "This Must Be Love", "Dr Feelgood", "Come Try My Love", "Adonnadee", and "I Got This Bridge I Want You To Buy". CD

Features Kenny Garrett on alto and soparano sax – plus guest work from George Duke, Joe Sample, and Paulinho Da Costa. Titles include "Cobra", "Big Time", "Hannibal", "Jo Jo", "Amandla", "Jilli", and "Mr Pastorious". CD

Incredible work from keyboardist George Duke – a killer collection of his earliest recordings for the MPS label – all of them great! Although Duke's probably best known for his smoother, more soul-based sides for Columbia, he got his biggest start on the MPS label in the early 70s – working out a groove that was part jazz, part fusion, part funk, and part cosmic soul – wrapped up in keyboards, and often served up with a righteously tripped-out edge! The collection is a completely essential look at this period – the first bold flowering of genius, at a level that would hardly be matched again. George plays plenty of Fender Rhodes, mini moog, and Arp on these sides – and most numbers feature small combo instrumentation, which really helps keep a nice sort of edge. Titles include "Feel", "Capricorn", "Au Right", "Funny Funk", "The Opening", "That's What She Said", "Uncle Remus", "North Beach", "Foosh", "Love", "Cobra Jobege", "Someday", "Feels So Good", and "Love Reborn". LP, Vinyl record album

Peter Ivers's entire output for Warner Brothers in the mid 70s – including the original LPs Terminal Love & Peter Ivers, plus the Nirvana Peter compilation, which didn't appear until the mid 80s and STILL sounded ahead of its time – in a complete 2CD set! Peter has a distinctive voice and offbeat lyrical sensibility that feels a lot more akin to the arty fringe of the major labels in the early 80s than it does to 1974 or 1976, he's really a pioneer. It's no surprise at all that he'd end up being the host of LA television's legendary music program New Wave Theatre in the early 80s, but it's surprising he doesn't get more credit these days for influencing the kind thing that'd come to be called "new wave" years after his contributing work! Disc 1 includes the Terminal Love and Peter Ivers LPs, with "Alpha Centauri", "OO Girl", "Modern Times", "Holding The Cobra", "Even Stephen Foster", 'Audience Of One", "I'm Sorry Alice", "Eighteen And Dreaming", "Peter", "Rock And Roll Embarrassment", "Child In A Chair" and more. Disc 2 (the Nirvana Peter comp) features a few tracks from his 2 proper LPs and rarities. The 2CDs have 33 tracks in all. CD

Incredible work from keyboardist George Duke – a killer collection of his earliest recordings for the MPS label – all of them great! Although Duke's probably best known for his smoother, more soul-based sides for Columbia, he got his biggest start on the MPS label in the early 70s – working out a groove that was part jazz, part fusion, part funk, and part cosmic soul – wrapped up in keyboards, and often served up with a righteously tripped-out edge! The collection is a completely essential look at this period – the first bold flowering of genius, at a level that would hardly be matched again. George plays plenty of Fender Rhodes, mini moog, and Arp on these sides – and most numbers feature small combo instrumentation, which really helps keep a nice sort of edge. Titles include "Feel", "Capricorn", "Au Right", "Funny Funk", "The Opening", "That's What She Said", "Uncle Remus", "North Beach", "Foosh", "Love", "Cobra Jobege", "Someday", "Feels So Good", and "Love Reborn". CD

A beautiful collection of work from one of the coolest vocal groups of the post-bossa era – an amazing ensemble whose albums have rarely been reissued! MBB4 first began in the same bossa harmony mode as Tamba Trio or Os Cariocas, but soon expanded their groove into a much wider range of sounds as the 70s approached – picking up influences and inspirations from the changing music in Brazil, and crafting incredible recordings that defied description and simple genre categorization. Many of the tunes on the set showcase a complicated approach to arrangements that really pushes the harmonies of the quartet – getting past their earlier sweetness and warmth into some darker, deeper modes that recall the transformation taken by Luiz Eca in later years. 2CD package is overflowing with great material we haven't seen reissued before – 40 tracks in all, divided up into 20 hits and 20 rarities that include "Eu Cheguei La", "Cicatrizes", "Pesadelo", "Partido Alto", "Olhar De Cobra", "A Lua", "Labirinto", "Onde", "Mariana", "Iaia Do Cais Dourado", "Boi Voador Nao Pode", "Mal De Raiz", and "Almanaque". CD

Classic Herbie Hancock from the early years – and a great mix of soul jazz and modernist inspiration! The record include a nice groovy "hit" – Herbie's "Blind Man Blind Man" – an obvious follow-up to "Watermelon Man", but still a standout track with a lot of imagination, and a fierce soul jazz hook that just won't quit! The rest of the record, while also groovy, starts to show many more signs of Herbie's far-reaching conception – especially shared with players like Tony Williams on drums, Grachan Moncur on trombone, and Chuck Israels on bass – who all work with Herbie in a larger than usual group that also includes Grant Green on guitar, Donald Byrd on trumpet, and Hank Mobley on tenor. The lineup is as great as it sounds on paper – and the larger setting really helps expand Herbie's new ideas – on tunes that include "Blind Man Blind Man", "And What If I Don't", "A Tribute To Someone", "King Cobra", and "The Pleasure Is Mine". CD also includes a bonus alternate take of "Blind Man, Blind Man"! CD

The masterpiece by one of the most obscure artists in the Italian sound library scene of the early 70s – music that easily moves from funky sounds to cosmic styles to jazzy moments and beyond – sometimes within the space of a single tune! Gerardo Iacoucci's music is a huge change from the kind more facile sound library material coming out of the UK – the sorts of short, catchy songs designed for easy use in commercials or TV – and instead, the work here is richly conceived and presented, with a new sort of surprise at each track on the record – and just the right sort of balance to appeal to fans of both groovy and more wild sound library material. Titles include "Violenza", "Il Cobra", "Produzione Industriale", "La Caverna", "Citta Del Capo", "Zombie", "From Tokyo To Las Vegas", and "Assenza Di Gravita". LP, Vinyl record album

Brazilian funk, Brooklyn style – and one of the hippest collections of Brazilian grooves we've ever heard! The collection was put together by New York DJs Sean Marquand and Greg Caz – and it's got a wickedly funky vibe that comes from plenty of 70s samba soul! The style here is really different than other Brazilian Beats titles from Mr Bongo – as the work here is all classic, and chosen from a really fresh perspective – the new wave of interest in this music that's been bubbling up from the American underground, with a completely different perspective on the grooves from older scenes in Rio, Tokyo, or London! Most tracks here should be new to your ears – and although some of the tracks here have been reissued before, but they really come alive in different ways, thanks to the depth and careful pacing of the set. 22 tracks in all – with titles that include "Cafua" by Nonato, "Taieiras" by Ely Camargo, "Jeep" by Erasmo Carlos, "Cobra Criada" by Joao Bosco, "E Necessario" by Tim Maia, "Marcas" by Quarteto Uai, "Skim Dum Dum Dum" by Ana Rosely, "Black Soul Brothers" by Miguel De Deus, "Mais Kriola" by Helio Matheus, "A Festa" by Silvio Cesar, "Tava Mas Nao Tava" by Edson Frederico, "Uma Rosa Pra Dita" by Os Increveis, "Aleluia" by Robson Jorge & Licoln Olivetti, and "Beija-Flor Suite" by Chalo Eduardo. LP, Vinyl record album

A heady serving of instrumental soul tunes from the center of the 60s – work that really takes off from jazz and R&B modes from a few years before, and serves up music that reminds us that great soul sounds don't always need some lyrics in the lead! There's a nicely gritty vibe on most of these numbers – these cuts are from a time when the funky 45 was really coming into its own – and the double-length collection features a massive 60 cuts in all, from a wide variety of labels – titles that include "Never Make Your Baby Cry" by Johnny Talbot, "Slapstick" by Dino & The Dell Tones, "Good Grease" by Mark III Trio, "Ain't That Hateful" by Monk Higgins, "The Mustang" by Rudy Robinson, "Soul Roach" by Merle Saunders, "Soul Sister" by Four Gents, "Call Me" by Eddie Bishop, "Big Limas" by Cobra Kings, "Marr's Groove" by Hank Marr, "Right On" by Joe S Maxey, "Boss Bag" by Sammie John, "Haulin" by Shy Guy Douglas – and lots lots more! CD

11 cuts: Shabba Ranks "Ting A Ling", Dirtsman "Hot This Year", Super Cat "Ghetto Red Hot (hip hop rmx)", Jesse Jender "Rude Boy Remember", Cutty Ranks "A Who Seh Me Dun", Ninjaman "Murder Dem", Mad Cobra "Flex", Buju Banton "Big It Up", Terror Fabulous "Body & Shape", Johnny P "Look Good (hip hop rmx)", and Tiger "Ram Dance Hall". CD

Part of the ongoing Warner Arquivos series, with Brazilian songstress interpreting the work of Herminio Bello De Carvalho. 13 tracks in all: "Valha-Me Deus", "Igual Ao Que Nao Foi", "Anjo Maldito", "Doce De Coco", "Judiarias", "O Sabia E O Vento", "Mas Quem Disse Que Eu Te Esqueco?", "Cobras E Lagartos", "Retros E Linhas", "Cantoria", "Mudando De Conversa", "Estrada Do Sertao" and "Cadarcos". CD

Music from The Stooges, The Dirtbombs, The Electric Eels, Boss Hog, The Embarrassment, The Modern Lovers, The Detroit Cobras, The Pixies, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The Fall, The Cramps, The MC5, Mudhoney, The Saints, Suicide, Mission Of Burma, Pere Ubu, and more! 44 tracks in all. CD

A soaring selection of Brazilian groove – selected by the great Gilles Peterson – one of the best collections ever assembled by the world famous DJ! Gilles goes way past the obvious for the sets, which are divided into two discs – one for classic tracks (many of which are actually woefully under-appreciated, in the grand scheme) and a second disc of recent tracks and remixes. The mood is really soaring and soulful throughout – groovy sambas mingle with Brazilian jazz and soul tunes, and cheeky psychedelia-steeped 60s sunshine on the first disc. The mood on disc two is wholly reverent of the samba roots, but it's also awash in modern club grooves – with sputtering post drum & bass, a hip hop beat track sensibility on others, and a straight driving club groove on still others! Disc one (Classicos) includes "Nem Vem Que Nao Tem" by Wilson Simonal, "Berimbau" by Golden Boys, "No Caminho Do Bem" by Tim Maia, "Serrado" by Djavan, "Nana" by Os Cobras, "Zanzibar" by Sergio Mendos & Brasil '77, "Sob O Mar by Jaime E Nair, "Tudo Que Voce Podia Ser" by Quarteto Em Cy and more. Disc two (Da Hora) includes "Bob" by Otto (Edu K mix feat Bebel Gilberto), "Menino" by Patricia Marx & 4 Hero, "Parabens" by Marcos Valle, "Green Gold" by Spiritual South, "Malandragem" by Drumagick, "Beyond The Rains" (Drumagick city mix) by Mitchell & Dewbury featuring Billie Godfrey, "Moments Of Lust" by DJ Marky & XRS featuring Vikter Duplaix and more. CD