Cory Smythe on piano and electronics – accompanied by a variety of vocalists with additional sampling and percussion. CD

A supremely fantastic album, and one that's always woefully overlooked in discussions of James Brown's incredible People label! Sweet Charles, Charles Sherell, was a great lost soul vocalist who had a voice that was warm and mellow, with a sweetness that was often missing from James' singing – but which sounded great with his arrangements and production. Fred Wesley and Dave Matthews arranged this one and only album, and the record's a great blend of sweet soul tracks, funky numbers, and other stellar grooves. There's a killer version of "Soul Man", that begins with a very tasty break; the monster "Yes, It's You", which has a sweetly sliding intro that's ripe for sampling; the righteous political "Why Can't I Be Treated Like A Man" – and lots of other nice ones too! CD

A great little collection of the soul jazz sides that Marlena cut for Blue Note during the early 70s. The work's all got a great feel – with less of the supper-club soul than she had in her Cadet years, and none of the slicker modern soul that she did for Columbia in later years. These tracks are a good mix of righteous themes and sophisticated female vocalizing – and although the set did leave off a few choice bits (including "Woman Of The Ghetto, drat!), it's still a very nice sampling from a number of hard to find albums. Titles include "Save The Children", "Wipe Away The Evil", "No Hiding Place", "Street Walkin Woman", "Sing To Me", "But For Now", "You", "Be For Real", and "Feel Like Making Love". 13 cuts in all. CD

Two funky space albums – back to back on a single CD! An Astromusical Odyssey is a fantastic album of spacey funky tracks! The great John Keating put this whole thing together in the years before he cut his more famous space soul albums for EMI – and the record's a wonderful mix of spacey orchestrations, spare electronics, and haunting voices – a wicked journey to the stars with a hip Brit Easy feel! There's a lot more funk here than you'd expect from other Phase 4 albums of this generation – and plenty of the cuts have weird instrumental bits that are just waiting for sampling. The whole thing's wonderful, and titles include "Round Trip Mars", "Aquarius", "Nocturne", "Across The Universe", "Up, Up, & Away", and "Spinning Wheel". Nova Sounds Of The Stars is a second slice of Sounds Galactic work from the Phase 4 catalog – this time headed by Roland Shaw, but in the same moogy modes used by John Keating on the previous album! There's possibly even more cool electronics here than before – lots of cool analogue bits that bubble and squeak nicely – amidst more familiar instrumental modes from the Phase 4 universe, including some nice jazzy touches, bits of strings, and other styles – all blended nicely with plenty of odd production and sound effects! Titles include a great cover of "Pillow Talk", a version of "Live & Let Die", and the Carpenters' "Yesterday Once More" – plus the great "Mon Etoile (My Star)", "Summer", "Get Down", and "Love Is All". CD

Perhaps the ultimate album for The Gap Band – and sure, it was a hit, but the record still sounds great today, and the constant sampling of some of the record has kept it fresh in the crates for years and years! The band have lost the heavier funk sound of earlier years, and working in a slick 80s groove mode that they both helped to define and put on the charts with the tracks "Outstanding" and "Early In The Morning", both two killer grooves with a complicated instrumental feel, and some wicked harmony vocals over the top. Lonnie Simmons is still producing the band – and other tracks include "Lonely Like Me", "Stay With Me", "Talkin Back", and "You Dropped A Bomb On Me". LP, Vinyl record album

Great obscure track from Chicago! The intro's got a super deep hard bass bit, arranged by Richard Evans, and is very deep and just right for sampling. Then, it leaps into some beautiful soulful vocals from Joyce, and grooves the whole way through! 7-inch, Vinyl record

An early treasure from a great tradition in soul music – one of the first few compilations from Ace/Kent Records – issued way back in the early 80s, and still a treasure trove of great 60s soul after all these years! As you'd guess from the title, the tracks here are all upbeat and uptempo – numbers brought together for the Northern Soul audience in the UK, but which also represent a great sampling of underground soul from the US in the 60s! Many of these numbers mix rough-edged vocals with more tightly-crafted instrumentation – and the collection features a total of 16 tracks that include "Lay This Burden Down" by Mary Love, "You Just Cheat & Lie" by ZZ Hill, "Good Taste Of Love" by Danny Monday, "Wanting You" by Jimmy Bee, "Can It Be Me" by Mel Williams, "Hole In The Wall" by The Other Brothers, "Talkin Woman" by Lowell Fulsom, "What Kind Of Man Are You" by Jackie Day, "Country Girl" by The Johnny Otis Show, "Everybody Needs Love" by Willie Gauff & The Love Brothers, and "My Baby Needs Me" by Yvonne Baker. LP, Vinyl record album