Kai Warner hits the 70s – and the groovy German arranger takes on a whole new sound, thanks to the disco generation! The work here is surprisingly sweet – kind of a Germanic take on the sound of American club of the mid 70s – not the colder feel of the Munich scene, but the warm strings and full arrangements you'd hear for the mainstream crowds at Studio 54! There's a definite German twist on some numbers – particularly when the backings feature chorus vocals singing along – cheesy, but in a nice way. Titles include "Another Star", "Tangerine", "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love Babe", "Funk Harem", "Cherokee", "Margie's Hustle", "Theme From A Summer Place", "TSOP", and "Slavonic March". CD

Plenty of progressive percussion here – most of it pretty darn funky too! The set's an obscure sound library album, and it's definitely one of that rare breed that's all great, all the way through – filled with groovy little numbers that certainly offer a lot of the drums promised in the title, but which are also filled with fuzzy guitars, electronic bits, and lots of other cool touches that keep things groovy throughout! The titles themselves do a great job of illustrating the sound – and tunes include "Getting High", "Brutus Drums", "Woodpecker Waltz", "Drug", "Latin Pop", "Xylo Spleen", and "Cold Shower". CD

Three great albums from Alice Coltrane – all late 70s albums for Warner Brothers that really show her taking off as both a solo performer and a spiritual force! First up is Eternity – seminal 70s work from one of the most righteous jazz musicians ever! On this set, Alice Coltrane moves past the rawer spiritual sound of her Impulse albums – working with a more focused vision and an approach to jazz that takes her way past the identity of just being "Mrs Coltrane", into territory that's a more perfect expression of her spiritual vision. The approach calls for more ambitious orchestrations, yet never in a way that overwhelms the jazz basis of the music – and Alice herself is on Fender Rhodes, organ, and harp – working with players who include Fred Jackson and Hubert Laws on reeds, Oscar Brashear on trumpet, George Bohannon on trombone, Charlie Haden on bass, Ben Riley on drums, and Armando Peraza on congas. Titles include "Spiritual Eternal", "Om Supreme", "Morning Workshop", "Wisdom Eye", and "Los Caballos". Radha Krsna Nama Saknirtana is pure spiritual loveliness from Alice, and a record that features a lot of additional playing by Indian musicians! Clearly, the Hari Krishnas have gotten to the lady here – as you can tell by the orange robe she's wearing on the cover, and the blank stare in her eyes – but that doesn't stop the album from being a nice one, filled with the soaring spiritualism of her best 70s work, and infused with a cross-cultural approach to jazz that makes for a wonderfully expansive sound. Tracks include "Om Namah Sivaya", "Hare Krishna", and "Govinda Jai Jai". Transcendence is a beautiful record from Alice Coltrane – a swirling mix of spiritual jazz and themes from Indian music! Alice plays organ, Fender Rhodes, and harp – building the sound as the album progresses, from simple airy strings to an earthier groove that features vocal refrains in unison with the keyboards, chanting away, over and over, stretching to the heavens in a cosmic groove! The record features a lot of variations on traditional Indian themes – including "Sivaya", "Ghana Nila", and "Bhaja Govindam" – plus the original tracks "Transcendence" and "Vrindavana Sanchara". CD

Great work from Earl Hagen – one of TV's better composers, as you'll hear from this tight set of tracks! The core mode of the music is crime jazz, but Hagen also adds in a lot of dramatic flourishes and contemplative passages – and the show's exotic locales (Mexico, Japan, Burma, Hong Kong) makes for some added musical touches that bring a groovy global aspect to the work. And given that Bill Cosby was a key member of the show, you can bet that things sound pretty darn hip! Titles include "Angel", "Hi Yo Scotty", "I Spy", "Ah So", "Away We Go To Mexico", "Made In Hong Kong", and "Fiesta Del Sol". LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of early 70s albums from the mighty Alexis Korner – back to back in a single set! First up is Bootleg Him – a record with a strange mix of elements on the outside – a confusing title, a proggy-cover image – but one that's got a sound that's a perfect maturation of the fantastic sound of Alexis Korner in the 60s! Korner's one of the overlooked heroes in British music – a strong devotee of American blues, and maybe so much so that sounds more like his inspirations than most – but never in a slavish way, as Alexis is always able to full absorb the sound, and make you feel like it's coming from his own deep soul – and over the years, he really shifted things in these slight, but powerful ways – making his music a huge influence on a big generation of UK rock acts to come. Here, the double-length set is almost a "thanks back" affair – as Korner records with a huge all-star array that includes folks like Robert Plant, Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Ginger Baker, Graham Bond, Lol Coxhill, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Ray Warleigh, Harry Beckett, and many more – a fantastic crossroads of all that's hip in British rock, blues, and jazz at the start of the 70s. Titles include "I Got A Woman", "Rockin", "She Foold Me", "I Wonder Who", "Dee", "Love Is Gonna Go", "Clay House Inn", "Evil Hearted Woman", "Mighty Mighty", "Sunrise", and "Hellhound On My Tail". Accidentally Borne In New Orleans (title correct, by the way!) is a record that really has Alexis Korner stretching out from the straighter blues of his 60s material – using his fantastic style on a set of tunes that show as much New Orleans influence as you might guess from the title – but also an evolved British roots rock quality too! The group is very interesting – relatively lean, and with loads of saxophone solos from Mel Collins – the reedman who made some early 70s King Crimson albums so great – plus second guitar from Peter Thorup, who also adds a bit of slide, and makes for a strongly guitar-based groove amidst some of the slightly funky rhythms. Titles include "Gospel Ship", "Lo & Behold", "County Shoes", "Don't Change On Me", "Rock Me", and "Sweet Sympathy". CD

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A totally great entry in this always-great series – and one that looks at a slice of raunchy rock that's a bit different than usual! The Warner Brothers label started up right at the end of the 50s – after most of the other rock powerhouse imprints – and they also had more of an ear for pop and mainstream sounds, given their Hollywood home. Yet they also quickly found a way to turn out some really remarkable 45s – music that was maybe even just recorded with leftover studio time, or between the bigger projects on the label – funded by bigger money from films, and often done in a top-shelf studio setting! This legacy of Warner isn't nearly as well-known as their 60s pop and vocal material, but it's equally groovy – if not more so – and gets fantastic treatment here from Bear Family, who not only present a whopping 30 tracks, but also accompany the whole thing with a wonderful booklet that's filled with notes, photos, and record images. The set even includes some surprising rockers by unlikely sources – and titles include "Shimmy Shake" by Billy Land, "The Swing" by Johnny Carroll, "Teen Beat" by Don Ralke, "Road Hog" by Johnny Zorro, "Hanna Lee" by Shelly Dane, "The Fool" by Bob Luman, "Lucille" by The Everly Brothers, "Baby Please Don't Go" by Troyce Key with Eddie Cochran, "Drum Twist" by Buddy Harman, "Saturday Night Fish Fry" by Eddie & Betty, and "Forbidden City" by John Buck & His Blazers. CD

Group soul galore in this mighty series from the Warner/Atlantic vaults – a set that starts with some of the killer 50s doo wop on the latter label, then moves through some of the great changes in pop, rock, and soul styles as the 60s moved in! As with the other volumes, there's a nice mix of unusual tracks here – definitely a few hits, but also plenty of the more obscure nuggets that always make the right sort of group compilation so enjoyable! Titles include "Nobody Loves Me Like You" by The Flamingos, "Speedoo" by The Cadillacs, "Come Back My Love" by The Wrens, "Devil Or Angel" by The Clovers, "Moments To Remember You By" by The Romeos, "A Thousand Miles Away" by The Heartbeats, "A Kiss From Your Lips" by Billy Storm, "Pretty Pretty Girl" by The Time Tones, "Always Late" by The Top Notes, "Lucky Ladybug" by The 4 Seasons, "Shy Girl" by The Cascades, "Roberta" by Barry & The Tamerlanes, "Maybe" by The Chantels, and "Mr Lee" by The Bobbettes. CD

This great Japanese series moves farther into the 70s than before – and brings together a great array of pop rock nuggets from the mighty Warner Brothers vaults! The music is partly soft rock of the post Sunshine years, but also shares other sweet 70s modes – maybe a pre-AOR sort of vibe, when tuneful songs could be well-produced, but still sound relatively personal presented here by artists with a surprising mix of original styles. There's a few giant hits here, but they're mixed with lots of overlooked 70s pop gems – in a lineup of 21 tracks that include "Let There Be Music" by Orleans, "Motorcycle Mama" by Sailcat, "Please Sent Me Someone To Love" by Paul Butterfield's Better Days, "We May Never Pass This Way Again" by Seals & Crofts, "One Woman Man" by The Ides Of March, "Tighter Tighter" by Alive & Kicking, "Popsicle Toes" by Michael Franks, "I Don't Wanna Go" by Bruce Roberts, "Love Is The Answer" by England Dan & John Ford Coley, "Never Let Her Go" by David Gates, "Cherry Pie" by The Hagers, and the surprising "Five Years On" by Laverne & Shirley. CD

This great Japanese series moves farther into the 70s than before – and brings together a great array of pop rock nuggets from the mighty Warner Brothers vaults! The music is partly soft rock of the post Sunshine years, but also shares other sweet 70s modes – maybe a pre-AOR sort of vibe, when tuneful songs could be well-produced, but still sound relatively personal presented here by artists with a surprising mix of original styles. There's lots of surprises on this 21 track set – songs we'd forgotten about, or never heard at all – and titles include "Eden Rock" by Fifth Avenue Band, "Gas Lamps & Clay" by Blues Image, "Ain't That Peculiar" by Fanny, "Beverly Glen" by Country, "Only The Children Know" by Jeanie Greene, "Flying To The Morning" by Rosebud, "All I Need" by Batdorf & Rodney, "Cruel Wind" by Eric Kaz, "Lover Baby Friend" by Dana Cooper, "Fineline" by Ned Doheny, "Ever Since You're Gone" by Brinsley Shwarz, "Gotta Get Next To Somebody" by Brigati, and "Occapella" by Van Dyke Parks. CD

Killer funk, soul, and jazz tunes from the Warner and Atlantic catalogs – including more than a few that rank with our favorite funky cuts of the era! As with previous volumes in this series, the titles are selected with a focus on tunes that have or can be sampled – so there's lots of sweet jazzy brakes, warm keyboards, and tasty drums on the package! Titles include "Wah Wah Man" by Young Holt Unlimited, "Nuki Suki" by Little Richard, "Mama Soul" by The Soul Survivors, "It's Love" by The Young Rascals, "Funky Canyon" by Phil Moore Jr, "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky" by Claudia Lennear, "Soul Bowl" by Memphis Horns, "Shiloh" by David Newman, "Let Me Fix It" by Brook Benton, "Angela, My Sister" by Richard Evans, "When She Made Me Promise" by The Beginning Of The End, "Moment Of Truth" by Earth, Wind, & Fire, "Bumpin On Young Street" by Young Holt Unlimited, and "Mortgage On My Soul" by Keith Jarrett. CD

Essential set that brings together all of Herbie's key transitional recordings for Warner Brothers! Herbie started his years for the label playing in a more straight-ahead funky style – with perennial sample fave recordings like "Wiggle Waggle", "Fat Mama", and "Tell Me A Bedtime Story". Soon, however, he moved into more spacey territory – of the sort that he would later examine fully on his Columbia recordings of the early 70s. Tracks in this vein include "Sleeping Giant", "Water Torture", and "Wandering Spirit Song". The whole set features 3 full albums – Fat Mama, Crossings, and Mwandishi – and it's a great 2CD set filled with hard to find jazz funk classics! CD

A massive package of funky music – and maybe one that no home should be without – as the set includes all the classic Josie Records and Warner Brothers albums by legendary New Orleans funk group The Meters – plus a fair bit of bonus tracks too! The Josie albums are incredible – a lean, powerful blend of funky drums, bass, guitar, and organ – almost the New Orleans answer to Booker T & The MGs, but with a sound that's far funkier overall – and which continues to bring new ears to the magic of The Meters as the years go by! Their Warner work is a bit fuller – as the group were part of a big wave of Nola talent to get the nod from LA – which means that The Meters were able to add in vocals, experiment with arrangements, use additional instrumentation – yet all without ever losing that core groove that made them so great! This package is the first time all the records have been brought together, and many are presented here in the "expanded edition" versions with bonus tracks – which makes for a whopping 116 titles on 6CDs – bonus tracks, plus the full albums The Meters, Look Ka Py Py, Struttin, Cabbage Alley, Rejuvenation, Fire On The Bayou, Trick Bag, and New Directions – plus some singles too! CD

Brazilian grooves all over the place – and a wonderful assortment of tunes from the Warner, Atlantic, and Elektra vaults of the 60s and 70s! The set list goes way past the pop-bossa numbers that you might think from the cover, which is a cop from an old Atlantic compilation of the 60s – and includes some lesser-known tracks cooked up in Brazil during the 70s, as well as some of their American counterparts. Titles include "Celebration Suite" by Airto, "Jive Samba" by Jon Hendricks, "Eu Bebo Sim" by Osmar Milito, "Mr Funky Samba" by Banda Black Rio, "From The Lonely Afternoon" by Flora Purim, "Upa Neguinho (live)" by Elis Regina,"Manha De Carnival" by Louie Ramirez, "Barsanova Brown" by Eddie Cano, and more. CD

A lot smoother than most of Airto's other work – and almost more of a soul record than a jazz one – but also a great batch of grooves with a really spirited feel! Airto's percussion is still relatively up front in the mix, and smooth funky LA arrangements take the album to a warm soulful place – giving the more uptempo tracks a tight dancefloor groove that's still kept a bit rootsy by all the acoustic percussion. Tom Scot lays down great solos on two tracks – "I'm Fine, How Are You" and "The Road Is Hard (But We're Going To Make It)" – and other good tracks include "The Happy People" and "Celebration Suite". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Airto's most polished records, and an album that we've really grown to love over the years! There's a pretty strong modern soul/R&B component to the album – but at the core, there's still a strong feeling for Brazilian rhythms, and the record's got a wonderfully warm Brazilian fusion component. Marcos Valle arranged many of the tracks with Airto, and the record's similar to some of his excellent R&B-ish work from the early 80s, particularly the stuff he did after working with Leon Ware. Great players and singers on the sessions, too – including George Duke, Herb Alpert, Flora Purim and The Sweet Inspirations. Tracks include "Heartbeat", "Amajour", "Partido Alto", "Open Space", "Tempos Atras", and "And Then We Touched The Sky". LP, Vinyl record album

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Maybe the strongest solo project ever from Phil Alvin – a late 80s effort dedicated to the romping R&B sounds of the 50s – done with great help from both the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the Sun Ra Arkestra! A number of cuts are from the glory days of the R&B single – and the approach moves between tracks with Alvin's combo, one with the Dirty Dozen, and three especially nice tracks with the Arkestra! Given the way that Sun Ra's 80s material was often dipping back into earlier generations of jazz, the group make for a very strong fit with Phil's approach – on titles that include "Someone Stole Gabriel's Horn", "Titanic Blues", "Collins Cave", "Death In The Morning", "Next Week Sometime", and "The Old Man Of The Mountain". CD

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One of the greatest albums to come from the New York underground of the early 80s – even if it was a relatively big "hit" on a major label! Laurie Anderson is in perfect form here – drawing on a strong tradition of avant garde performance, but without any of the indulgences that would mire down performance art in years to come. Instead, she's got a clean, clear style that's simply amazing – spoken passages that are poetic and pointed, but which also have a slight undercurrent of wit – a charming quality that never takes itself too seriously, even when the sounds and styles are somewhat dark. Instrumentation includes some great rhythm passages from David Van Tieghem, plus surprising performances from Rufus Harley on bagpipes and George Lewis on trombone. Titles include "From The Air", "Big Science", "O Superman", "Born Never Asked", "Walking & Falling", "Example #22", "Let X = X", and "It Tango". CD

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2 soaring cuts off their Stay Free LP, with Ashford & Simpson trading vocals over their patented sophisticated soul, that never loses it's nice dance floor oriented groove on the a-side, while "You Always Could" is one of their richly-produced ballads. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Great stuff! From Motown songwriters to world-class superstars, the trip was a well-deserved one for Valerie Simpson and Nick Ashford – and this album's perhaps their crowning achievement in sophisticated club soul! The record's got a great groove that offers a more soulful version of disco than most of the competing albums on major labels at the time – a perfect summation of the care and craft that Ashford & Simpson had always put into their music right from the start! The pair handle all production on the record, and also contributed all the songs too – and the whole thing's so wonderfully tight, right, and on the money, the album soars to the top even before the vocals come into the mix. Titles include more than a few club classics, like "Found A Cure", "Stay Free", and "Nobody Knows" – plus the cuts "Dance Forever", "Crazy", "Follow Your Heart", and "Finally Got To Me". LP, Vinyl record album

Really great work by The Association – a back-to-basics effort that has the group handling most of the instrumentation themselves, in a way that often gives the set a surprisingly intimate feel! Sure, these are the guys who virtually invented candy-coated Sunshine Pop – but they're also a heck of a great group at the core, and move here into some of the looser, more relaxed modes of the Warner Brothers scene at the time – a setting that really helps them bring a hell of a lot of personality to the music. Harmony vocals still soar out beautifully when needed, and the arrangements and songwriting show a lot more signs of their association with the hip LA scene of the 60s – a maturation that really pushes their sound forward in a wonderful way. Titles include "Broccoli", "The Nest", "Love Affair", "Boy On the Mountain", "Under Branches", "Goodbye Forever", and "Yes I Will". LP, Vinyl record album

A hell of a debut from The B-52s – and a record that's become surprisingly timeless over the years, despite a retro-styled approach by the group! These guys aren't the silly group of later years here – and instead, they've got this moody darkness that's wonderful – a re-envisioned postwar America, one in which the neuroses are all on the outside – served up with instrumentation that's stark, but incredibly tight – snapping drums, riffing guitar, and these great organ lines that sound beautiful next to the vocals of Fred and the girls. The set gave the group their perennial hit "Rock Lobster" – but taken as a whole, it's an incredibly different landscape – as you'll discover on tracks that include "Planet Claire", "52 Girls", "Dance This Mess Around", "Lava", "There's A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon)", "Hero Worship", "6060-842" and "Downtown". LP, Vinyl record album

A favorite of post punk and new wave era fans for a decade plus, pop fans finally caught up the great, utterly unique party band with Cosmic Thing! A late classic and one where they finally got their due. Nile Rodgers's pop soul production works incredibly well, and titles include "Love Shack", "Roam", "Channel Z", "Cosmic Thing", "Dry Country", "Topaz", "Follow Your Bliss" and more. CD

Hard-jamming jazz rock from Back Door – 3 prime era Warner albums in a 2CD set! Graced with lots of free solo work on alto and soprano sax by Ron Aspery, and a pretty strong power-trio instrumental format from Tony Hicks on drums and Colin Hodgkinson on bass, the group's early-to-mid 70s triumphs are mighty to this day. The self-titled debut is a jamming affair with genuine strains of funk and pretty great playing – and overall, it almost sounds like a rock take on the ESP sound at times! Titles include "Back Door", "Jive Grind", "Askin The Way", "Vienna Breakdown", "Plantagenet", and the classic Beastie Boys' sample track "Slivadiv". 8th Street Nites more than lives up to its predecessor, with a lots of bass-driven grooves and a couple charged takes on classic Robert Johnson and Leadbelly. Titles include "Linin' Track", "Forget Me Daisy, "Roberta", "Dancin' In The Van", "The Bed Creaks Louder", "Adolphus Beal" and more. Another Fine Mess arrived a couple years later and brings some Fender Rhodes to the mix, with titles including "I'm Gonna Stay A Long, Long Time", another fine jammy jazz rock take on the blues in "TB Blues", plus "Manager's Shirt", "Streamline Guitar", "The Dashing White Sergeant" and more. CD

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An excellent album by one of the greatest Brazilian funk bands ever – a wonderful blend of funk, jazz, and soul – and a set that rivals any of the best work coming from the US at the time! These guys are right on the money right from the start – moving through sharp changes with effortless ease, yet never in a way that's too slick or commercial – kind of like that perfect balance that Kool & The Gang hit for just a few records in the mid 70s – but with more of a Brazilian feel overall. Jazzy licks abound – and the keyboards, guitar, and horns are just great – but the set's also got some more regional percussion, too – which really rounds out the record wonderfully. The grooves all have a really universal appeal – essential for any fan of funky sounds – and titles include "Mr Funky Samba", "Junia", "Casa Forte", "Na Baixa Do Sapateiro", "Lelbon Via Vaz Lobo", "Baia", "Maria Fumaca", and "Metalurgia". LP, Vinyl record album