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Pete Jolly on piano, Chuck Berghofer on bass, and Nick Martinis on drums. CD

The first Motown full length record by the Spinners – Original Spinners from '67 – followed by an impeccably well-chosen collection of bonus material! It's excellent stuff – an overlooked album with some very hard to find Motown work by this early version of the legendary Spinners – with lead vocals by Bobby Smith and Edgar Edwards. The tracks have a mixture of sweet and raw harmonies – crafted with an elegantly soulful sound that would later take the group way over the top during the 70s, and which here sounds sublime next to some of the group's Motown contemporaries! The first 12 tracks on this excellent Kent compilation are the Original Spinners tracklist – including "Sweet Thing", "I Cross My Heart", "I'll Always Love You", "Truly Yours", "Like A Good Man Should", "For All We Know", "How Can I", "It Hurts To Be In Love", "Nobody Else But You", "Where Is That Girl", "Tomorrow May Never Come" and "That's What Girls Are Made For". Most of the 14 bonus tracks are previously unreleased masters – revelatory stuff from earlier in the 60s – formative, yet beautifully realized recordings with productions by Harvey Fuqua and Ivy Joe Hunter! Titles include "Darling", "Words Can't Describe", "12 O'Clock", "Just Another Guy", "We're Gonna Be More More Than Friends" and more. CD

The first Motown full length record by the Spinners – Original Spinners from '67 – followed by an impeccably well-chosen collection of bonus material! It's excellent stuff – an overlooked album with some very hard to find Motown work by this early version of the legendary Spinners – with lead vocals by Bobby Smith and Edgar Edwards. The tracks have a mixture of sweet and raw harmonies – crafted with an elegantly soulful sound that would later take the group way over the top during the 70s, and which here sounds sublime next to some of the group's Motown contemporaries! The first 12 tracks on this excellent Kent compilation are the Original Spinners tracklist – including "Sweet Thing", "I Cross My Heart", "I'll Always Love You", "Truly Yours", "Like A Good Man Should", "For All We Know", "How Can I", "It Hurts To Be In Love", "Nobody Else But You", "Where Is That Girl", "Tomorrow May Never Come" and "That's What Girls Are Made For". Most of the 14 bonus tracks are previously unreleased masters – revelatory stuff from earlier in the 60s – formative, yet beautifully realized recordings with productions by Harvey Fuqua and Ivy Joe Hunter! Titles include "Darling", "Words Can't Describe", "12 O'Clock", "Just Another Guy", "We're Gonna Be More More Than Friends" and more. CD

A set that offers up a slightly different look at the Studio One label – and at the lovers rock style of reggae that broke big at the end of the 70s! Studio One is often known for its rough-edged early classics – but right from the start, the label had a great ear for soul – which proved a perfect fit for the sorts of mellow steppers that made lovers rock so great! And before you think that "lovers" means "soft" or "commercial" – think again, as these cuts are prime reggae at its best – and often represent a later current that kept the rocksteady vibe going strong, especially with the expressive strengths of the right sort of lead singers of groups serving up the tune. The work here is more down to earth than the headier themes of the roots reggae generation – often very personal in approach – on titles that include "Tumbling Tears (12" disco mix)" by Alton Ellis, "I'll Be Gone" by Horace Andy, "Oh Me Oh My" by Jerry Jones, "Yours Until Tomorrow" by Carlton & The Shoes, "I Hold The Handle" by The Heptones, "Wanna Be Free" by Horace Andy, "Rock All Night" by Billy Cole, "Ghetto Girl" by Sugar Minott, "Soulful Music" by The Invaders, "My Ting A Ling (12" disco mix)" by The Heptones, "I Was Born To Be Loved" by The Righteous Flames, "Truly" by Marcia Griffiths, and "I Don't Know" by Freddie McGregor. CD

Nas' debut LP masterpiece Illmatic – a record that will probably stand forever as one of the greatest hip hop full lengths of its time! Nas has had some creative ups-and-downs over the years, but nothing can take away the impact of this damn near perfect slice of east coast street hop – truly one of the great, filler free, beginning-to-end classics with not a wasted second! Part of the strength of the record is the top-shelf choice of production – work from DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock and Q-Tip – all of whom help the young Nas really find his voice with the right sort of vibe – on titles that include "NY State Of Mind", "Life's A B***h", "Half Time", "One Love", "Memory Lane", "Represent", "The World Is Yours", and "It Ain't Hard To Tell". LP, Vinyl record album

Phyllis Hyman's last full album in the studio – and really more of a collection of unreleased material put together after her untimely early death, but a set that still stands nicely alongside most of Hyman's best work in the later years. The feel on the record is mature and powerful – almost regal at times, as if Hyman had realized her role in the soul spectrum, and had begun to record as such. Titles include "This Too Shall Pass", "I'm Truly Yours", "I'm Calling You", "I Refuse To Be Lonely", "Why Not Me", and "Give Me One Good Reason To Stay". CD

Nas' debut LP masterpiece Illmatic – a record that will probably stand forever as one of the greatest hip hop full lengths of its time! Nas has had some creative ups-and-downs over the years, but nothing can take away the impact of this damn near perfect slice of east coast street hop – truly one of the great, filler free, beginning-to-end classics with not a wasted second! Part of the strength of the record is the top-shelf choice of production – work from DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock and Q-Tip – all of whom help the young Nas really find his voice with the right sort of vibe – on titles that include "NY State Of Mind", "Life's A B***h", "Half Time", "One Love", "Memory Lane", "Represent", "The World Is Yours", and "It Ain't Hard To Tell". Columbia has gone all out with the reverence on this double disc reissue, with remastered digital sound polish and a bonus disc with remixes of "World Is Yours", "Life's A B***h", "One Love" and "It Ain't Hard To Tell", plus bonus tracks "On The Real" and "Star Wars". CD

Nas' debut LP masterpiece Illmatic – a record that will probably stand forever as one of the greatest hip hop full lengths of its time! Nas has had some creative ups-and-downs over the years, but nothing can take away the impact of this damn near perfect slice of east coast street hop – truly one of the great, filler free, beginning-to-end classics with not a wasted second! Part of the strength of the record is the top-shelf choice of production – work from DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock and Q-Tip – all of whom help the young Nas really find his voice with the right sort of vibe – on titles that include "NY State Of Mind", "Life's A B***h", "Half Time", "One Love", "Memory Lane", "Represent", "The World Is Yours", and "It Ain't Hard To Tell". 7-inch, Vinyl record

A milestone for Pete Rock – stepping out on his own after the split of his legendary duo with CL Smooth for one of the finest producer headlined hip hop records of the late 90s! An all star lineup is on the mic – including Inspectah Deck, Kurupt, Method Man, OC, Raekwon, Ghostface, Prodigy, Large Professor, Kool G Rap, Black Thought, CL Smooth, Common, Big Pun – all clearly invigorated by the opportunity to bring their A-games to late peak era Pete Rock timeless soul beats. A masterclass in classic hip hop craft. "Tru Master", "Half Man Half Amazin", "Truly Yours 98", "Take Your Time", Respect Mine", "Mind Blowin'", "Strange Fruit", "Massive" and more. 17 tracks in all. CD

Way more than just a "best of" – as the record is more like a full Spinners album for Motown – issued as a way of bringing together some of the best singles the group recorded for the label! The work's not really hits – at least not at the level of the group's later fame on Atlantic – and instead the set is a key illustration of the group's Detroit roots, with a soaring Motown groove mixed with their sublime harmonies – a style that's often forgotten, given their big move to Philly styles in the 70s! The whole thing's great – about as killer as you can get for Motown group soul – and titles include their classic "It's A Shame" – plus "Oooh Child", "Truly Yours", "We'll Have It Made", and "I'll Always Love You". LP, Vinyl record album

A label-spanning collection that definitely offers up the best of this wonderful soul singer – plus loads of lesser-known gems as well! Bettye Swann may never have truly hit the big time in the late 60s – at least not in comparison to a contemporary like Aretha Franklin – but she was a hell of a deep soul singer who always gave her best, and who got set up with an excellent range of sessions on labels that include Fame, Atlantic, Capitol, and Money Records – all of which are featured here! Swann's got this badass way of putting over a lyric when she wants to – the deep soul grit that came from her time in the indie market – but she also grew to a new level of sophistication in the 70s, and moved past any of the southern soul cliches that so many artists were still clinging to – to emerge with a righteous power that's summed up in the cool cover image here! The set features a few new mixes of tracks from Bettye's Money label sessions – plus lots more tracks too – a total of 24 that include "Traces", "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye", "A Change Is Gonna Come", "Make Me Yours", "Our Love", "Don't Wait Too Long", "When The Game Is Played On You", "Kiss My Love Goodbye", "Time To Say Goodbye", "I'm Just Living A Lie", "Tell It Like It Is", "All The Way In Our All The Way Out", "Closed For The Season", and "I Think I'm Falling In Love". CD

A killer collection of cuts, and one that looks at one of the coolest musical hybrids of the postwar years – work that's very strongly R&B at the core, but which also bears a surprising influence from Latin music in the rhythms – all of which makes for a very unusual groove! There's been other collections of this nature, but this one not only stacks the deck with a huge number of tracks – 62 in all – but also includes material that you might not normally associate with this mode, but which fits into the track list surprisingly well! Titles include "The Crawl" by Guitar Junior, "Got Love If You Want It" by Slim Harpo, "Mary Ann" by Texas Ray, "Girl That Radiates Charm" by Arthur Alexander, "Where's My Money" by Willie Jones, "Hurricane" by Dave Cortez, "Shoo Doo" by Andre Williams, "Night Train To Memphis" by Bobby Hebb, "Only Sixteen" by Tal Miller, "Voodoo Woman" by Curtis Knight, "Yours Truly" by Ford Eaglin, "Tell Me Pretty Baby" by Screamin Joe Neal, "Pig Tails & Ribbons" by Leonard Carbo, and "Wicked Old Fever" by Charles Sheffield. CD

Raw and riveting gospel-folk-soul from Johnnie Frierson – only ever issued as a self-released cassette before this vital re-discovery by Light In The Attic! Johnnie is one of the vital, though relatively unknown voices in the Stax/Volt universe, working with a his sister Wendy Rene and in the group The Drapels in the late 60s, before going to Viet Nam and being pretty quite in the proceeding years. The songs Have You Been Good To Yourself and raw and direct, but anything but simple – just voice and guitar, but carrying such a depth of feeling. Truly wonderful stuff! Includes "Have You Been Good To Yourself", "Heavenly Father, You've Been Good", "Miracles", "Out Here On Your Word", "You Were Sent To This World", "Woke Up This Morning" and "Trust In The Lord". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice one from Nashville modern funk veterans Sky Hi – balancing hard grooving grit and emotionally resonant soulfulness on this great set for the increasingly impressive GED Soul label! The group has been kicking around the region for the better part of a decade leading up to this album, and they've really evolved into masters of both modern funk and timeless southern soul – passionate vocals, both sweet and funky horns, some great Hammond organ, drums and percussion. Of course if the songs weren't great, all you'd have is instrumental chops – and the songs here truly deliver. One of the best GED Soul sets to date! The Testify lineup is 10 piece fronted by singer DeRobert "Dee" Adams – also the voice of DeRobert & The Half Truths – who along with some fellow Half Truths in the group, making Sky Hi something of a GED Soul supergroup at this point. That's a great thing to be! Includes "Junkyard Dog", "Testify", "Over The Influence", "Love Is Real", "Mess", "Walk Through That Door", "Fell Short", "Get Yourself Together", "The Reason" and more. CD also includes the bonus "Do It Differently". CD