An album that definitely lives up to its title – as congolero Francisco Aguabella comes on hard, hitting strong throughout – and serving up a wicked blend of Latin, funk, and soul! The mid 70s set is a standout recording from Aguabella – done after he left the group Malo, and one of the best west coast takes on the modes that scene was changing up from New York at the time – really transforming the sound of contemporary Latin with a trans-genre vibe that was easily some of the most revolutionary music of the period. Rhythms are acoustic, but there's a nice dose of electric energy too, thanks to some sweet keyboards. Some cuts have English vocals, others are instrumental – and titles include "Hitting Hard", "I Wanna Know", "Cisco", "Image of a Star" and a nice version of Edu Lobo's "Casa Forte". LP, Vinyl record album

The Houseplant series really takes off with this killer triple-LP set – a massive batch of funk and soul, both old and new – presented here in a really great assortment of modes! There's some great deep tracks from the 70s here, alongside some well-chosen contemporary cuts from the international funk underground – plus a few other assorted surprises along the way – keeping the label's strong reputation for serving up a record that's way different than the standard funk compilation! Titles include "Short Stopping" by Veda Brown, "What's Good For You" by Harvey Scales, "Little Saddy" by Andre Ethier, "The Devastator" by Stormy, "I'm Not Ready For Love" by Promise, "Slide" by Adesse Versions, "Gettin Funky Round Here" by Black Nasty, "Love Theme From Spartacus" by Yusef Lateef, "Town Called Nowhere" by Skip Mahoney & The Casuals, "Blind Alley" by The Emotions, "Blah Blah Blah" by Saun & Starr, "Gotta Let Me Know" by Breakestra, "Jamaica Ska" by Byron Lee & The Dragonaires, "Legend In My Own Mind" by The Stepkids, "Lament 1" by Dustin Laurenzi, "Trouble" by Frederick Knight, "The Echo" by Epsilons, "A Little Bit More Won't Hurt" by Bettye Crutcher, "The Who Who Song" by Jackie Wilson, and "Don't Stop" by The Bar Kays. LP, Vinyl record album

We know what you're thinking, how rare is the "rarest soul label" in the title, and more than that, how good are the tracks? Fortunately, in this case, the answer is really rare, and really great! 14 tracks from the rare Washington DC Shrine label, produced by Eddie Singleton and compiled in the early 90s for the Horace's reissue imprint. This set's a nifty batch of 60s soul stormers, with more of a Detroit sound than you might guess, and titles include "Don't Let Him Hurt You" by Les Chansonettes, "Guess Who Loves You" by Eddie Daye & The Four Bars, "No Other Way" by the Cautions, "Mad At The World" by the Epsilons, "No More Like Me" by Ray Pollard, "Stop Overlooking Me" by the Cairos, "I Believe I'll Love On" by Jimmy Armstrong, "You're My Only Love" by the Counts, "She Went Away" by Linda & The Vistas and "Huh Baby" by the Prophets. Nice stuff, and as you've guessed, you'll never find the originals! LP, Vinyl record album