One of Al Hirt's grooviest records – and a set that definitely lives up to the "soul" in the title! The album's always in demand for the excellent sample cut "Harlem Hendoo", but it certainly isn't a one tracker – thanks to composer Paul Griffin and arranger Teacho Wiltshire, as Hirt gets un-characteristically funky on tunes like "Honey Pot", "Mess Around", "Girl", and "Love Ya' Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

Brilliant funky instrumentals from the UK Cavendish Sound Library – a company who could sometimes recorded more staid music, although that certainly wasn't the case with the gems on this collection! The music is by a handful of British studio talents of the time – most of whom come from the jazz scene in earlier years – and provide a great update of their earlier talents with some very sweet electric touches! Many of these tunes have some really great keyboards – Fender Rhodes or even moogier elements – and many also have wicked basslines next to the funky drums, which really make things kick throughout. These tunes are vastly undiscovered – at least in comparison to better-known sound library funk from companies like KPM or DeWolfe – but we'd put these grooves right up there with the best of that bunch too. Titles include"Milky Way" and "Star Voyage" by John Scott, "Two Bars" and "The Scape Goat" by Pete Moore, "The Big Score" by John Cacavas, "One Way Trip" by Sam Fonteyn, "Smile Of A Stranger" by Dominic Sands, "Riff Raff" by Geoff Bastow, "Come Cuban" by Edward White, "Kaleidoscope" by Tony Kinsey, "Funk" and "Rock" by Chris Barron, "Equation" and "Mad Mendoza" by Trevor Duncan, "Leagueliner" by Ray Davies, "Diraffe" by Bob Adams, and "Self Deception" by Tany Turens – and lots of titles by Dennis Farnon that include "Night Shade", "The Rally", "Southbound", "Snowmobile", "Night Driver", "The Trackers", "Lady Killers", "Soul Type Blues", "Shanghai Caper", "Cocoanut Cocktail", "Bass Bits", "Chameleon", "Crazy Legs", "Blues For Boo", "Baltic Caper", "Test Drive", and "Nuremberg Ring". CD

Very cool cuts from the UK Cavendish Sound Library – all very much in the best funky Brit tradition of work from the KPM and DeWolfe sound libraries that we first fell in love with many years ago! Much of the work here is done by the great Dennis Farnon – a jazz arranger from earlier years, but one who developed a great ear for mixing in just the right balance of electricity in the rhythms with warmer, jazzier horns – a style that's followed by the other talents on the set too – all to form a really great bridge between more sophisticated jazz and soundtrack modes of the time, and some of the tighter elements of blacksploitation funk. Titles include "Pardon", "South Bound", "Border Incident", "Tournament", "Snowmobile", and "The Trackers" by Dennis Farnon – plus "You Were Right I Was" and "Wheeler Dealer" by Trevor Duncan, "Secret Mission" and "Monomania" by Ray Davies, and "Two Bars" by Pete Moore. LP, Vinyl record album

Lots of rare gems from the headiest days of the Texas scene – tracks by The Bards, The Briks, The Trackers, The Moving Sidewalks, Tommy Jett, The Exotics, Bobby Mabe & The Outcast, The Cynics, The Fantastics, The Lavender Hour, The Fanatics, Electric Love, Buccaneers, The Wanderers, Kit & The Outlaws, The 5 Canadians, and Larry & The Blue Notes. LP, Vinyl record album