... 12-inch, Vinyl record

MOP's fourth find the Brownsville boys at their bleak, confrontational best. Once again, sprinkled with beats by DJ Premier that threaten to steal the show. Includes Welcome To Brownsville", "everyday", "Ante Up", "Face Off 2K1", "Warriorz", "Old Timerz", "Nig-gotiate", "Cold As Ice" and more. 19 in all. LP, Vinyl record album

Jazzy grooves from Mop Mop – a set that we like even more than their hip first album, and which is filled with great work from a variety of different musicians! The vibe here is a lot more acoustic than the last time around, although the sound moves past the straighter style of club jazz – with lots of repeated elements that circulate throughout the tunes, creating a hypnotic groove that really stands out on the best tracks. Other numbers have a snapping, almost swing-based take on jazz – mixing things up nicely past the more modal moments you might expect – and most numbers feature some sort of vocals, sung by Alan Farrington on some of our favorite numbers, who we loved in his work with the Andrea Pozza trio. Instrumentation includes keyboards, vibes, alto, baritone sax, bass clarinet, and lots of warm acoustic bass – and titles include "Soul Call", "Crunk", "I Wish I Was In Hell", "Living Beat", "Locomotive", "The Lowered Flag", "Jazzdancer", and "Last Trip". CD

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

With Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, and Beanie Sigel. 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

Some of the hippest Max Roach work of the 60s – issued here professionally for the first time in years! The first tracks in the set are from a concert in Paris, with Max's group that included Tommy & Stanley Turrentine, as well as Julian Priester. The tracks are long and open-ended – with an approach that you wouldn't find on the group's Mercury sides from the time – and two Roach originals in particular – "Kardouba" and "Stop Motion" – are especially great, and have the Turrentines stretching out in a soul jazz searching mode that's quite different than their Blue Note work. This approach is continued strongly in the set – which features Clifford Jordan on tenor, Coleridge Parkinson on piano, and Abbey Lincoln on some vocals – all recorded at an unknown location in 1961. Again, the Roach originals – especially "This Night Mountain" and "Ceciliana" – are the tunes to watch – but there's also some great other work, including "Jordu", "Who Will Buy", and "Love For Sale". CD

Three full albums from tenorist Illinois Jacquet – served up in a single set! First up are the two volumes of Illinois Jacquet with Wild Bill Davis – a nice lean set from this legendary tenorist – one that features his raw, raspy tone in the company of early Hammond organ giant Wild Bill Davis! Both players get plenty of room here to open up and shine – in a group with the drums of Al Bartee, on soulful takes on tunes that include "Blue & Sentimental", "Blues For New Orleans", "No Sweat", "Just A Sittin & A Rockin", "It Don't Mean A Thing", "Pamela's Blues", "Misty", "The Man I Love", "What Am I Here For", and "All Of Me". Nice Jazz 1978 is a great set of performances recorded live in France in the late 70s! The tracks are long, open, and relaxed – and really seem to bring out the best in Jacquet's horn – as he's paired with the tenor of Eddie Lockjaw Davis on three tracks, the tenor of Paul Bascomb on another, and the trumpet of Clark Terry on one more – while working with help from either Hank Jones or Roland Hanna on piano. Our three favorite tracks are the ones with Davis – which almost have a reworked version of the groove that Eddie cut with Johnny Griffin on a number of records – but overall, the material is all pretty great, and is a strong showcase for the Jacquet raspy sound. Titles include "Lean Baby", "Blues From NO", "Mop Mop", "Cotton Tail", "Blues From Louisiana", and "Robbin's Nest". CD

Stunning material from Max Roach, recorded during one of the most righteous periods of his career – at a time when he was also working with superb vocal contributions from then-wife Abbey Lincoln! The group is one of Max's most striking, and most under-recorded too – as it features Coleridge Perkinson on piano, and the great Clifford Jordan on tenor – already a very righteous player, and one who's bold energy really sends things soaring next to Abbey's vocals! The group also features Eddie Khan on bass – and the set has a nice mix of righteous material and hip takes on standards – with titles that include "This Night Mountain", "Ceciliana", "Mop Mop", "Jordu", "Love For Sale", and "Who Will You Buy". LP, Vinyl record album

Featuring MOP on "Torture". 12-inch, Vinyl record

Amazing music from Laurance Vanay – actually a recording name for Jacqueline Thibault, a hell of a great keyboardist but an artist the label thought would be better off billed as a man! The sound here is halfway between the spacey experiments of Brian Eno and Cluster, and some of the more ambitious sound library work of the time – particularly those rare moments when prog artist got to do some studio work! Thibault's keyboards are wonderful – lots of Fender Rhodes mixed with Hammond and early synth – usually spun out at an instrumental level that has the tunes building slowly in these really great layers of sound – almost like a Popol Vuh soundtrack, but a lot more tuneful too. There's a fragile complexity that really makes the music special – and unlike anything we've ever heard from the European scene of the time – and titles include "Alone In The Rain", "Evening Colours", "Forgotten Moments", "Twin Cities", "Eyes Closed On The Way", "Sunshine In My Heart", and "Underwater Light Reflection". CD features a huge amount of bonus tracks – includign "Mamie"," Mop", and "Fausse Fn" – plus alternate takes of songs on the album. CD

It's hard to believe that the German Infracom label has been around for 30 years – maybe because the label was so future-thinking at the start, they helped set the tone for so much music to come! And if you're not hip to Infracom, the collection's a chance to dig the label in all its glory – as the set is filled with cosmic soul and jazzy club tracks that still stand as some of the hippest work to come from overseas in the past few decades – music that we've dug for years at Dusty Groove, served up in a package that really does justice to the label's legacy! Titles include "Freedom" by Gabriele Poso, "Hot Pot" by Mop Mop, "Who's Sorry Now" by Nekta, "Smoke & Regret" by Rime, "The Accessory" by Taxi, "Driver (Joash rmx)" by Matthias Vogt Trio, "Herbie's Delight" by Valique, "Love Is A State Of Mind" by Jhelisa, "Celebration Of Life" by Woodland Conclave, "You Can Dig" by Metropolitan Jazz Affair, "Tears" by Re:Jazz, "Calling" by Aromabar, "La Seule Fleur Dans Le Jardin" by Kosma, and "Something's Missing" by Dublex. LP, Vinyl record album

A previously unreleased live date from late in the career of Ben Webster – recorded at The Renaissance in Hollywood in 1960, but unissued until nearly 25 years later! The group features Jim Hall on guitar, Jimmy Rowles on piano, Red Mitchell on bass, and Frank Butler on drums – and tracks are all longish, and live-feeling – with that sense of fragility that marked some of Webster's later recordings in this mode, and even further deepened the humanity in his tone. And while the recording quality is definitely "live" at times, Ben's tone comes through loud and clear – different than on some of the tighter Verve recordings of a few years before, but in a way that's really great. Titles include "Georgia On My Mind, "Caravan", "Stardust", and "Ole Miss Blues". CD features 4 more bonus tracks – "Gone With The Wind", "What Is This Thing Called Love", "Mop Mop", and "Renaissance Blues". CD

Wonderful work from one of the most important early bop trumpeters – the mighty Howard McGhee, heard here in a set of rare material that includes obscure studio sessions and some surprisingly great live performances too! McGhee was one of the first and the best to turn the trumpet towards bop – a player at a level that matched the young Clifford Brown or Fats Navarro at their best – especially in these formative early years, when Howard had a sense of tone and timing that was completely sublime! Most tracks are short and very tight – and even the ballads have this crispness that really illustrates the fresh contributions that McGhee was making to music at the time. The set features four tracks from a 1945 Philo Records session, four more from a 1946 Melodisc session, and eleven more tracks from radio broadcasts – all surprisingly well recorded. Players include Teddy Edwards on tenor (on most of the tracks here), Sonny Criss on alto, George Crawford or Vernon Biddle on piano, Bob Kesterson on bass, and the great Roy Porter on drums. Titles include "Night In Tunisia", "Howard's Blues", "Killin Jive", "The Man I Love", "Dark Eyes", "Mop Mop", "Lifestream", "Night Mist", "Blues A La King", "Ornithology", and "Intersection". CD

Tracks include"JOSE", "King Of NY" featuring Buju Banton, "My Lifestyle", "Fight Club" featuring MOP & Petey Pablo, "Murder Rap" featuring Armageddon, and a remix of "We Thuggin" that features R Kelly, Busta Rhymes, Noreaga, & Remy! 16 tracks total. LP, Vinyl record album

A new Gang Starr album nearly a decade after the Guru passed away, and a surprisingly strong one - One Of The Best Yet might not come really come close to genre redefining classics like Step In The Arena or Daily Operation, but it when it comes to careful assembled posthumous projects, this one makes a strong case for its title! Premier is doing his oft-imitated, rarely matched thing here, really doing justice for his departed partner's unreleased rhymes. Guests include Q-Tip, MOP, Jeru The Damaja, Big Shug & Freddie Foxxx, and titles include "Bad Name", "Hit Man", "From a Distance", "So Many Rappers", "Family & Loyalty", "Bring It Back Here" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Featuring MOP. 12-inch, Vinyl record

One of the most tuneful sets we've heard on Tru Thoughts in a long time – served up in a mix of funky samples, jazzy instrumentation, and playful vocals! Some of the best tracks here are awash in great hooks – mixing bits of soul with more focused production, at a level that could make this album one of the bigger crossover efforts to emerge from Tru Thoughts. There's still plenty of the sharper Tru Thoughts edges and funky production to keep things interesting for other fans of the label – and titles include "Take Me With You", "Carousel", "Famished", "Down & Round", "Moving On", "Red One", "Roll Mop", and "Last Nite". CD

The original Madlib remixes set, with his versions of "The Look Of Love" by Slum Village, "Misery Needs Company" by Noreaga, "Firewater" by Big Pun, "Slang Editorial" by Cappadona, "Wanna Test" by Lootpack, "My World Premiere" by Charizma, "Don't See Us" by the Roots, "No Holds Barred" by MOP, "Just To Get A Rep" by Gangstarr and "Car Horn" by Common. LP, Vinyl record album

Tracks include "534", "Dear Summer" featuring Jay Z, "Infatuated" feat Boxie, "First, Last, And Only" feat MOP, "Oh Baby" feat Young Gunz, "Alright", "All About Me", "Straight Path" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Rudy Ray Moore flies the friendly skies – and turns out one of his best records of the 70s! The set is easily one of the tightest albums from Rudy's classic years – and uses a fair bit of musical backings beneath his very raunchy comedy – in ways that are sometimes funky, but also have jazzier or more soulful moments – with the kind of vibe that was common for performers like Moore in a club – as they'd usually have a small combo grooving along with their jokes. Rudy's classic "Petey Wheatstraw – The Devil's Son-In-Law" is done here in a nice extended version – and other tracks include "Have You Seen My Mule", "Like A Brother", "The Big Shipwreck", "Mop Bucket", and "Pool Shooting Monkey". And yes, the title is something of a dirty joke – but isn't that what you buy Rudy Ray Moore albums for in the first place! LP, Vinyl record album

The fantastic solo debut of Pharoahe Monch – served up after a few years of guest appearances that were really raising our ears to his mighty talents! The Pharoahe returns the favor here – inviting in guest versions from Common, Talib Kweli, Canibus, Apani B Fly, Busta Rhymes, MOP, and others – all rolled into that crisply perfect production style that made Rawkus albums like this so essential at the time – and so great over the years to come. Titles include "Behind Closed Doors", "Queens", "Simon Says", "Official", "God Send", "The Next Sh*t", "Right Here", and "The Truth" – plus the great remix version of "Simon Says", with work from Method Man, Redman, and Shabaam Sahdeeq. LP, Vinyl record album

The G-Unit heavy soundtrack to 50's semi-autobiographical film debut. Tracks include "Hustler's Ambition", "Window Shopper", "Talk About Me", "When It Rains It Pours" and "Best Friend" by 50 Cent, "Things Change" by Spider Loc feat 50 Cent & Lloyd Banks, "You Already Know" by Lloyd Banks feat 50 Cent & Young Buck, "When Death Becomes You" by MOP feat 50 Cent, Don't Need No Help" by Young Buck, "You A Shooter" by Mobb Deep feat 50 Cent, "Fake Love" by Tony Yayo and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The cut here is Common's "The Bitch In Yoo" (original, unedited version, complete with the soundtrack intro), his famous dis of Ice Cube and the Westcoast Connection, produced by Pete Rock, released only on promo 12" single and this promo-only sampler. By the time the LP came out, Common had supposedly settled his beef with Ice Cube, so the track doesn't appear on any Common LP. Beyond that, it's actually a pretty dope comp, with a few tracks that were harder to get at the time, including MOP "World Famous", Fat Joe "Firewater", DJ Honda "Out For The Cash" (w/ Al Tariq, Beatnuts, Fat Joe, Problems), No ID "Real Weight", PMD "Rugged-N-Raw", Beatnuts "Find That". LP, Vinyl record album

The Boot Camp MC's return to the Black Moon name and make a triumphant return with the dopeness of their early days with production from the Beatminerz and PG Sole. With some nice guest vocals from Q-Tip, Heather B, MOP, and Busta Rhymes. Tracks include "Two Turntables and a Mic", "Showdown", "Freestyle", "Come Get Some", "Evil Dee Is On The Mix" and "Throw Your Hands In The Air". LP, Vinyl record album

With Fat Joe, Capone-N-Noreaga, Juelz Santana, Cam'ron and Hell Rell, Jim Jones, Remy Ma, Big Scoob, and MOP. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Fantastic pop from The Matchmakers – a group who only went by that name on some of their records – as they were more of a studio project from UK producers Mark Wirtz and Kris Ife, and also issued work as The Guards, Fickle Finger, Krimson Kake, Happy Confusion, Cellophane Mop, Father's Brown, and Astronaut Alan & The Planets! Yet despite all those many names – which all appear here in the credits for the songs – the group had a unified sound in their unabashed love of a good hook, and the genius production they received on their tunes – often in that groundbreaking style you'll know from other Wirtz work of the 60s, with a compressed quality that's a strong precursor to the direction UK rock production would take in the 70s – peppered with just a touch of the American bubble gum pop sound of the time. Titles include "Fantastic Fair", "Turn Me On"," Two Timing Man", "Wooly Wooly Watsgong", "Tell Me A Secret", "Goody Goody Goody", "Cellophane Mary Jane", and "This Time It Must Be Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Benny Carter on alto saxophone, Ray Brown on bass, Bobby White, Buddy Rich, and J.C. Heard on drums, Oscar Peterson on piano, Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis on guitar, and Bill Harris on trombone. CD

Really amazing music from this very unique group – a Malian ensemble who mix together elements of Dogon roots with 70s electric touches! At the core, the sound here is very rootsy – lots of percussion and quick stringed instruments – played in cyclical rhythms that are extremely hypnotic. Yet there's also some weird production on the guitar and organ that space things out nicely – never too trippy, but with a slightly cosmic undercurrent that lifts the music up into space – giving things a slightly ethereal quality, even when grooving! Titles include "Kanaga", "Gambari", "Sory Bamba", "Sare Mabo", "N'Do N'Do", and "Kulukutu". LP, Vinyl record album

Really cool cuts from the second generation of Bollywood funk – that 80s moment when things were still ever bit as groovy as during the heyday of 70s soundtracks, but served up with some slightly different instrumentation in the mix! There's maybe a bit more keyboards here at times – but not the cold kind that were dominating European films, especially horror – as they're mixed with plenty of percussion, basslines, and other elements – then topped with vocals by some of the greats who made the music so wonderful back in the previous decade! As you'll guess from the title, all the cuts here are from the vaults of CBS – beautifully remastered, and with great notes and design – in a set of tracks that include "Prem Ashram" by Asha Bhosle, "Aage Bhi Dushman" by Suresh Wadkar & Sadhana Sargam, "Baahon Me Leke Mujhe" by Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle, "Mere Jaisi Mehbooba" by Sharon Prabhakar & Bappi Lahiri, "Hero" by Amit Kumar, "Meri Akhon Mein Zara Jhanto To" by Asha Bhosle, and "Becho Becho" by Amit Kumar & Mahendra Kapoor – plus some cool instrumental tracks too! LP, Vinyl record album

The mighty Moppa Elliott steps away from his better-known group for a triple-length solo project – leaving behind the spirit of Mostly Other People Do The Killing, and heading into a trio of different modes on his own! The first third is from a "jazz band" – with a mix of well-played, soulfully lyrical tunes featuring Sam Kulik on trombone, Danny Fox on piano, Charles Evans on baritone, Christian Coleman on drums, and Moppa himself on bass – a set that features some very strong interplay between Kulik and Evans, both players we don't know at all. Next is "rock band" music – sounds that are more jazz funk, but do have guitar and organ in the mix, often taking more of a tuneful lead – but also paired up with tenor too, used in ways that are as inspired by soul instrumental styles of the 60s than any rock music at all. The last set features a "dance band" – but one that's really more of a funk band overall – with strong rhythms at the bottom, driven by Moppa's bass – topped with trumpet from Nate Wooley, trombone from Dave Taylor, baritone from Kyle Saulnier, and a mix of saxes from Matt Nelson and Bryan Murray – all moving nicely over some chunky rhythms. The 2CD set is evenly divided up into three albums – and titles include "Oreland", "St Mary's Proctor", "Slab", "Can't Tell Shipp From Shohola", "Punxatawney", "Minersville", "Stone Hill", "Quarryville", "Waddle", "Geiger", "Sparks", "Energy", and "Bangor". CD

With Don Byron, Anthony Coleman, Arto Lindsay, and Curtis Fowlkes. CD

... CD

... CD

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

Konrad Bauer and Johannes Bauer on trombone, Uwe Kropinski on acoustic guitar, and Joe Sachse on electric guitar. CD

The album gives away its sound with the title, but that's only the tip of the iceberg – as these psychedelic sounds have a vibe that's very much their own – one that's partly from the Japanese language lyrics of some tracks, and accented phrasing of some others – but also from the way the group really pushes things over the top, at a level that seems to herald the coming Japanese decades of experimental guitar from a host of other artists! At times, the songs are familiar echoes of Anglo modes, but at others they have a really unique vibe – and even the catchy tunes have a way of finding their own currents of darkness. Titles include "Asamade Matenai", "San Francisco Nights", "I Am Just A Mops", "The Letter", "Blind Bird", "Somebody To Love", "White Rabbit", "Light My Fire", and "Kienai Omoi". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty nice little set from Don Cherry – recorded live in the mid 80s, with a group that includes Carlos Ward on alto and flute, Ed Blackwell on drums, and Nana Vasconcelos on percussion and berimbau. The style here is a good mix of Cherry's harmelodic roots and his later world music experiments – with none of the processed or stiffer elements that crept into his studio work during the 80s. The crowd's very enthusiastic on the set – for good reason – and titles include "Mopti", "Limbo", "Untitled", "Traffic", "O Berimbau", "Lito", and "Foolish Heart". LP, Vinyl record album

The last album to some from the brilliant team of Peter Howell and John Ferdinando – the partners behind the Ithaca and Agincourt albums – coming across here with one of their greatest sets ever! The music here is a bit more focused and polished than before – taking the best folk and psychedelic elements, and folding them together in a sweet sound that's almost Sunshine Pop – but which is obviously a few years later than the rest of the genre! The vocals often have a slight harmony approach, and there's a strong rhythmic undercurrent to many numbers – not really funky, but a lot more grooving than you might expect – again, a quality that we really appreciate in Sunshine Pop! Titles include "Memories", "Lonely Road", "You Need Friends", "Tale Of Your Life", "In The Morning", "Come Inside", "Take A Walk", and "Once In A Winter Town". CD

The classic sound of Funkadelic, reworked by a key selection of contemporary talents from the Detroit scene – but never in a way that wrecks the originals at all! Unlike other remix projects, which might break up the music to a point that you can hardly recognize the original grooves – this set does a wonderful job of maintaining all the integrity of the famous funky recordings by the group, while also letting some artists from the group's hometown also include a few of their own contributions too – all in ways that really expand the original vision of the music, while keeping things in a funky soul vein all the way through! Given all the greateness of Detroit grooves in recent years – from that city's very fertile underground of producers and musicians – the sound here is still even more amazing than we expected, and the album's a very fitting one to be issued on the Westbound label. The set's double-length, and for good reason too – and titles include "Music 4 My Mother (Underground Resistance mix)", "Sexy Ways (Recloose disco flip)", "Get Your Ass Off & Jam (Marcellus Pittman rmx)", "You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure (Alton Miller mix)", "Super Stupid (Dirtbombs version)", "Music For My Mother (Andres Wo Ahh Ay voc mix)", "Cosmic Slop (Moodymann mix)", "Be My Beach (Mophono & Tom Thump)", "Let's Make It Last (Kenny Dixon Jr edit)", "Let's Take It To The Stage (Amp Fiddler @Ya mix)", "Undisco Kidd (Gay Marvine edit)", "Looking Back At You (Ectomorph stripped & dubbed)", and "Standing On The Verge (Anthony Shake Shakir & T Dancer rmx)". CD

The classic sound of Funkadelic, reworked by a key selection of contemporary talents from the Detroit scene – but never in a way that wrecks the originals at all! Unlike other remix projects, which might break up the music to a point that you can hardly recognize the original grooves – this set does a wonderful job of maintaining all the integrity of the famous funky recordings by the group, while also letting some artists from the group's hometown also include a few of their own contributions too – all in ways that really expand the original vision of the music, while keeping things in a funky soul vein all the way through! Given all the greateness of Detroit grooves in recent years – from that city's very fertile underground of producers and musicians – the sound here is still even more amazing than we expected, and the album's a very fitting one to be issued on the Westbound label. The set's double-length, and for good reason too – and titles include "Music 4 My Mother (Underground Resistance mix)", "Sexy Ways (Recloose disco flip)", "Get Your Ass Off & Jam (Marcellus Pittman rmx)", "You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure (Alton Miller mix)", "Super Stupid (Dirtbombs version)", "Music For My Mother (Andres Wo Ahh Ay voc mix)", "Cosmic Slop (Moodymann mix)", "Be My Beach (Mophono & Tom Thump)", "Let's Make It Last (Kenny Dixon Jr edit)", "Let's Take It To The Stage (Amp Fiddler @Ya mix)", "Undisco Kidd (Gay Marvine edit)", "Looking Back At You (Ectomorph stripped & dubbed)", and "Standing On The Verge (Anthony Shake Shakir & T Dancer rmx)". LP, Vinyl record album

A live trio side recorded at the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, in July 1989, with Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell. 8 numbers in all: "The Sphinx", "Art Deco", "Happy House", "Lonely Woman", "Mopti", "The Blessing", "When Will The Blues Leave" and "Law Years". CD