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Dark work from the quartet Bass Desires – a combo that draws heavily on the rumbling sounds of bassist Marc Johnson, then fills in the spaces with twin guitars from Bill Frisell and John Scofield, and also features a bit of drums from Peter Erskine! Some of the sounds here echo more abstract experiments in the left side of the jazz spectrum during the 80s – but they're taken into a bit stronger, straighter focus here – and recorded with enough ECM touches to make Johnson's music cross over in surprising ways. A few tracks are surprisingly tuneful, and titles include "Small Hands", "Thrill Seekers", "1951", "Prayer Beads", and "Sweet Soul". LP, Vinyl record album

A modern country rock masterpiece. Wilco's second album, an unlikely (for its time) major label double album does an incredible job of showing stylistic breadth and sprawl behind lyrical and emotional consistency, arrangements-wise recalling the best of the band's more adventurously rootsy forbears enough to not unfairly call it "alt-country" at the time, but it's ultimately timeless. Here we are decades later and it doesn't sound like it's aged a day. Includes "Misunderstood", "Far, Far Away", "Red-Eyed And Blue", "Forget the Flowers", "Outta Mind (Outta Sight)", "Kingpin", "Whole Would You Wanna Live", "Dreamer In My Dreams" and more. CD

An incredible run of music from one of the grooviest soul groups of all time – a combo who started out down in the Texas scene with some very upbeat dancing soul singles in the 60s, who then moved to work in the Philly studios in the 70s, where they really opened up their groove! The set features work from both the group's early albums for Atlantic Records and their great second chapter at Philadelphia International – quite a career, given that they recorded for two of the greatest soul labels of the 60s and 70s – in a massive batch of work that's included here, with bonus material too! The Atlantic work starts out nice and raw, and pretty funky too – then gets warmed up in the best way possible as the label has them working with Gamble & Huff, before then leaving to record for the Philly duo's own International label in the 70s. The huge box features the full albums Tighten Up, I Can't Stop Dancing, There's Gonna Be A Showdown, Dance Your Troubles Away, Where Will You Go When The Party's Over, Hard Not To Like It, and Strategy – and CD5 is a full set of bonus tracks, with titles that include "Dog Eat Dog", "Deal With Him", "A World Without Music", "Love At First Sight", "Archie's In Love", "Wrap It Up", "I Wish", "Get It From The Bottom", "Old People", "Let The World Know You Got Soul", and "I Can't Face You Baby". Box features 79 tracks in all – and a big booklet of notes! CD

A dancefloor classic! The album's the second by Gregg Diamond's Bionic Boogie, and head and shoulders above the rest – a sublime blend of soul and club that's hardly been matched again! Diamond manages to make things groove, but never loses sight of the soulful styles that make the record so great – and works here with key contributions from a young Luther Vandross, who gives the album some of the same strong vocal arrangements he brought to his own first two albums on Atlantic! Luther sings lead on the album's legendary track "Hot Butterfly", and works in a group with Cissy Houston on other tracks – sweetly soaring with vocals that go far beyond most disco efforts of the time. Simply sublime, and with classics that include "Hot Butterfly", "Paradise", "Cream (Always Rises To The Top)", "Chains", and "When The Sh*t Hits The Fan (Rocket Pocket)". LP, Vinyl record album

James Brown's great second album recorded live at the Apollo Theater in Harlem – a set we like even better than the first famous volume – because it's much more stretched-out, harder-hitting, and full of fire! You'd be hard pressed to find a better example of Brown's showmanship on record – as James urges the band through these triple-time takes on some of his classics, and turns in some amazing work in the process! The set includes a killer long version of "There Was A Time" – almost the blueprint of the James Brown funk sound to come – and other titles include "Bring It Up", "Let Yourself Go", and a wonderful duet version of "Think" – plus "Prisoner Of Love", "Out Of Sight", "Try Me", "It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World", "Lost Someone","Thanks", "Cold Sweat", "I Feel Alright", and "Please, Please, Please". Features 30 minutes of extra material, with remixed tracks, set in the original running order, and lots of great notes! CD

Laidback psychedelia from this hip British trio – a group that was something of a placeholder in between Peter Dunton's work in The Flies and Please – but which are plenty darn great on their own! Most of the tunes here have a style that's spare and melodic amidst the fuzz – a quality that almost reminds us of Spacemen 3 at times, especially given that the group's a trio. There's some vocals on the record, but they always seem to take second seat next to the guitar bits and keyboards – possibly because no singing could ever match the subtle sonic genius of these more electric elements. Titles include "What You See", "Dream Scream", "Out Of Sight", "Just Another Day", "Forever", "Going With The Flow", "Urban Ways", "Going Back", and "Dream". CD

From the dancefloor, to the jazz combo, and back again – the Re:Jazz project takes a surprising twist with this remix follow-up to their brilliant first album! On that outing, Re:Jazz re-made recent dancefloor tunes in new jazz-based versions – going for the warmest, most soulful elements of the tunes – and placing them in a tradition of acoustic jazz dance classics. Here, those re-made versions are given a re-mix treatment – but in a very careful way, one that really preserves the jazzy magic of the originals! It's confusing, we know – but once you catch the warm grooves of the set, you won't care about where they're coming from – as the sum of the total is far greater than any of its tremendous parts! And speaking of parts, the set features remix work by Nicola Conte, RAS, Swell Session, Les Gammas, Dublix Inc, Jazztronik, Bugge Wesseltoft, Yukihiro Fukutomi, and others – on tunes from the original album that include "Style", "Second Sight", "Arena", "People Come Running", "Quiet Nights", "My Love Is Higher", "Torch Of Freedom", and "Release Your Mind". CD

The second album from the immortal Tribe Called Quest – one of the absolute essential hip hop LPs, and a record that should be an anyone's shortlist of the best albums in several subsections of hip hop – just a straight up masterpiece anyway you cut it. The album is so high up on the ladder, we're a loss to add any fresh insight o the critical consensus, so just get it. Classics one after another, steeped in bass note snapping, head nodding funk jazz beatcraft of the first order! "Buggin Out", "Excursions", "Rap Promoter", "Verses From The Abstract", "Check The Rhyme", "Everything Is Fair", "Jazz (We've Got)", "What?", "Scenario" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The second album White Stripes and the first where they really start to show a ton of range, not that they were really as pigeonholed as garage rock and punk blues earlier on as some thought, but really doing a ton more here in both mood and instrumentation, without ever obscuring the rawer roots. If the hype got a little unbearable back in the day as the mainstream latched out with such a fury, in hindsight, they really were pretty incredible and worth getting excited about! Includes "You're Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl)", "Little Bird", "Apple Blossom", "I'm Bound To Pack It In", "Truth Doesn't Make A Noise", "Sister Do You Know My Name?", "Let's Build A Home", "Jumble Jumble", "Why Can't You Be Nicer To Me", "Your Southern Can Is Mine" and more. CD

Black Sabbath live recordings from the height of their early glory years! The heart of it is heavy classics recorded at gigs in Manchester and London in 1973 – originally released as Live At Last, without the band's and their label's oversight, and with poor sound – remixed and remastered gloriously here to showcase the band at their menacing best! The second CD features recordings never released before 2002, equally powerful recordings from Paris in 1970 and Asbury Park, NJ in '75. Many of the most beloved Sabbath stormers are featured, faster and more ferocious than the studio versions in some cases. Includes "Tomorrow's Dream", "Iron Man", "Snow Blind", "Sweet Leaf", "NIB", "War Pigs", "Hand Of Doom", "Black Sabbath", "Fairies Wear Boots" and more. CD

Black Sabbath live recordings from the height of their early glory years! The heart of it is heavy classics recorded at gigs in Manchester and London in 1973 – originally released as Live At Last, without the band's and their label's oversight, and with poor sound – remixed and remastered gloriously here to showcase the band at their menacing best! The second CD features recordings never released before 2002, equally powerful recordings from Paris in 1970 and Asbury Park, NJ in '75. Many of the most beloved Sabbath stormers are featured, faster and more ferocious than the studio versions in some cases. Includes "Tomorrow's Dream", "Iron Man", "Snow Blind", "Sweet Leaf", "NIB", "War Pigs", "Hand Of Doom", "Black Sabbath", "Fairies Wear Boots" and more. DVD includes a live performance from 1978. CD