Seminal session that was virtually one of the only west coast attempts to replicate the famous "cubop" mix of bebop and Latin that had been evolving over the years in the New York scene. Machito percussionists like Jose Mangual and Ubaldo Nieto join a west coast group that includes alto player Frank Morgan, trumpeter Conte Candoli, pianist Carl Perkins, and other LA boppers. The back of the record proclaims that with the death of Charlie Parker, someone must step in as the new bop genius – and Morgan does a capable job on tracks like "Wippet", "Chooch", "The Champ", and "Bernie's Tune" – and on the record's non-Latin numbers, included here to expand the release to a 12" format. LP, Vinyl record album

The rare Nirvana 6 track EP released in Australia and Japan during the band's 1992 tour. Includes 4 covers: Devo's "Turnaround", "Molly's Lips" and "Son Of A Gun" originally by The Vaselines and "D-7" originally by The Wipers. Also includes "Aneurysm" and "Even In His Youth", originally b-sides for the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" single. CD

Essential 90s material from Smif N Wessun – one of those key records that was not only great in and of itself, but also as part of a larger tapestry of top shelf talents finally getting to shine in the spotlight! Previously, Smif N Wessun had shown up on Black Moon's first album – and here, they take center stage, but also give key exposure to Boot Camp Clik – in a standard-setting album that features great production from Beatminerz, who really keep things at the right level for the harder-edged lyrics of the set! The album cover is a bit of a Roy Ayers reference – and the set makes a key early use of the Ayers classic "We Live In Brooklyn" on the track "Home Sweet Home" – amidst other cuts that include "Wrekonize", "Timz N Hood Check", "Wrektime", "Wontime", "Sound Bwoy Bureill", "Shinin Next Sh*t", "Wipe Ya Mouf", "PNC", "Bucktown", and "Let's Git It On". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic meeting of two generations of soulful music – Sheila E, the daughter of Cali Latin soul genius Coke Escovedo, meets up with the snappingly funky world of Prince – and results in one of the strongest records of Sheila's career! The singer/percussionist had already been around for about a decade on record – turning out some great Latin work with her brother Pete in the Bay Area – but this set has Sheila going of the top with a great Paisley Park groove, really working with lots of influences from Prince, but still also getting plenty of Latin elements of her own into the mix – on long tracks that are filled with wonderful rhythms and plenty of great percussion too! Titles include the sublime title cut "The Glamorous Life" – plus "The Belle Of St Mark", "Oliver's House", "Strawberry Shortcake", "Noon Rendezvous", and "Next Time Wipe The Lipstick Off Your Collar". CD

David Johansen wipes off the lipstick and kicks off his heels for this first solo set –sans drag, we're left with a normal looking dude – and one hell of a great, still glammy sounding record that's right up there in excellence with his New York Dolls canon! Wow, is this ever underrated. David would go on the tweak his style and persona in a bunch of different ways, to varying creative and commercial success. Here he's just out to make a kickass rock and roll record as he'd done with the dolls, sans the wardrobe and junkie hijinks, but with all the blistering rock guitar and gritty R&B influences. This one really blazes! Includes "Funky But Chic", "Girls", "Not That Much", "Donna", "I'm A Lover" and "Frenchette". LP, Vinyl record album

Nubiyan Twist really open up their sound here – in part by opening the door to a rich array of guest singers and instrumentalists – a lineup that includes Cherise, Pat Thomas, Soweto Kinch, Ria Moran, and Nick Richards – all artists who help bring a different personal flavor to each track, helping to expand the mix of contemporary soul and global elements that we loved on the last record by the group! The vibe is very much in the best contemporary London mode – right down to the rhythms, which are continuously shifting and fresh – on titles that include "Keeper", "Buckle Up", "Morning Light", "Tittle Tattle", "24/7", "Wipe Away Tears", "if I Know", and "Ma Wonka". LP, Vinyl record album

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

Post-Suicide work from Alan Vega, and a set that's got a surprisingly tuneful quality at times – while still making the best of that completely unique voice that Vega brought to his famous collaborations with Martin Rev! Instead of Rev, the set actually features Ric Ocasek on keyboards, and also production – and we're stunned at how much Ocasek is willing to get into Vega's groove, instead of push him into more pop-oriented territory – so that the record is way colder, cooler, and groovier than anything The Cars would ever give the world at the time! Vega's still got a great punky edge in his vocals, which come through wonderfully – and titles include "Kid Congo", "Video Babe", "Saturn Drive", "Goodbye Darling", "Je T'Adore", "Angel", and "Wipeout Beat". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare early chapter in the long legacy of Human League and Heaven 17 – a group of musicians who'd partly go on to form the latter, recently departed from the former – yet still working strongly in the dark, electronic style of the earliest releases from the Sheffield scene! There's plenty of moody analogue sounds going on here – and as a cassette only release back in the day, the whole thing is a key slice of that cold wave underground of the early 80s, even though its members reached later fame – definitely working in territory that's more avant and electronic at times, but with more rhythmic instrumentals as well! Titles include "Music To Kill Your Parents By", "Decline Of The West", "Honeymoon In New York", "A Baby Called Billy", "Wipe The Board Clean", "Uptown Apocalypse", and "The Optimum Chant". LP, Vinyl record album

Jazzy and classy – and one of the first of Ramsey's albums to feature him working with larger arrangements instead of the usual trio. In this case, the whole thing was arranged and conducted by Richard Evans – with a spacey hip sound that's not too far from some of Ramsey's later work for Cadet with Charles Stepney. Evans' arrangements are in that strident stepping Soulful Strings mode – and Ramsey's working the keys hard and soulfully over the top, bouncing around the piano in a hard mode that wipes away any schmaltz that you might have caught on the records otherwise. The whole thing grooves quite nicely in a mix of spacey jazz and easy soul – and titles include "The Pawnbroker", "Saturday Night After The Movies", "Girl Talk", "Matchmaker", "Return To Paradise", "Goin Hollywood", "From Russia With Love", and "The Gentle Rain". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most righteous Horace Silver albums for Blue Note – and a far-reaching, politically-bent batch of tracks that feature vocals by Andy Bey, in a similar style to the work he did on the Gary Bartz records from the time – very hip, and quite different than other jazz vocal work from other singers! Silver plays electric piano on most of the record – and other musicians include Houston Person on tenor and Idris Muhammad on drums – both of whom figure on cuts that feature singer Jackie Verdell replacing Andy Bey. The groove is pretty great throughout – lots of those offbeat lines that you might hear on other Bey albums, warmed up with some of Silver's more familiar soul jazz – and the album is volume 1 (or "Phase 1") of Horace's trippy United States Of Mind series, a series of records on the state of the then-trashed union (proving once again that what goes around, comes around!) Tracks include "The Happy Medium", "Permit Me To Introduce Myself", "Wipe Away the Evil", and "Love Vibrations". LP, Vinyl record album