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Old school Rap check how the « es pee » sound !

First time reissue on 7' since the original Bell issue from 1971 which now exchanges hands for upwards of £400. Gerri is both a singer and actress, appearing as guest of both Johnny Carson and David Frost both sides of the Atlantic in the 60s and 70s.

- First time reissue on 7' - Classic soul.

blackSUMMERS'night is Maxwell's first album in seven years. It is the second installment in a musical trilogy that began with 2009's platinum-selling, BLACKsummers'night, which debuted at #1 and was one of the year's most critically lauded releases. The new album comes 20 years after his genre-defining debut, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite.

The singer and songwriter recorded blackSUMMERS'night in New York over the last several years. 'I'm working with all of the same people on the new album. It's always been a family type of thing, and I think that that's what, maybe, has made it special. It feels, to me, even better than what we did twenty years ago,' he said recently.

Maxwell redefined classic soul music in April of 1996 when he released his critically acclaimed debut on Columbia, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite. It earned Grammy nominations, double platinum status and RIAA gold for the single, 'Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder).' The platinum albums Embrya (1998) and Now (2001) followed. After eight years, 2009's BLACKsummers'night debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and won two Grammys, including Best R&B Album. To date, Maxwell has achieved 13 gold and platinum certifications from the RIAA.

MICHAEL 'CRAZY' CAMPBELL and RAYMOND MONETTE first caught our attention as singer/songwriters Mike & Ray on their debut 45 'If Only You Knew', recorded in Detroit in 1966. A year later they struck gold, well at least in Wigan, with their self-penned, Northern Soul anthem 'Man Without A Woman' featured here. A name change to The Abstract Reality found them on Shelly Harris' Sport label with 'Love Burns Like A Fire Inside'. The pair teamed up with Bob Babbitt and Andrew Smith to form the psych band Scorpion and released one, eponymous album for Tower Records. Mike went on to become a Hollywood actor scoring parts in Beverly Hills Cop and Total Recall and now lives with his family in Wyoming selling cars. Ray joined the Motown group Rare Earth with whom he still performs today.
Our chosen B-side features the monumental instrumental 'Interplay' written and performed by the unlikely soul duo Derek Smith and Ray Cohen.

Calypso, Highlife, Juju & Apala: Popular Music And The Birth Of Independent Nigeria 1960-63

Soul Jazz Records' new Nigeria Freedom Sounds! features a stunning selection of material spotlighting the vibrant musical scene in Nigeria at the start of the 1960s. With a wealth of musical and cultural history and newly independent from Britain, Nigerian music during this era was complex, diverse and forward-thinking, with musicians as excited in exploring their country's own musical lineage with styles such as Juju and Apala as they were in adapting and absorbing outside influences such as Ghanaian Highlife, Caribbean Calypsos and Mambo and more.
This album features many of the defining artists of this time who helped shape the Nigerian musical scene. Artists include I.K. Dairo and his Blue Spots, Haruna Ishola and his Group, E.C. Arinze, Sammy Akpabot and His All Stars, Godwin Omobuwa and his Soundmakers, Ganiyu Kale and His Guinea Mambo Orchestra and many more.
Few nations on earth are as diverse as Nigeria, and the wide assortment of Nigerian music styles collected on this album reflect the country's rich variety of cultures. Western-influenced dance music, played on European instruments such as guitar, brass, and woodwind sits alongside traditional musical styles, made with indigenous instruments such as the talking drum, marimba, or obo. And there is also religious musical styles first brought to Nigeria by European Christians and Islamic traders from North Africa. And of course, there are points where these musical styles overlap, merging into one another to create unique new sounds.
This album is released in two formats, as CD and as heavyweight gatefold double vinyl edition. The CD includes a large outsize 48-page book containing extensive sleevenotes, original photography, artist biographies, as well as selection of Nigerian adverts celebrating its independence and original artwork from some of the rare original Nigerian 45s on which this music was first (and only ever) released. The heavyweight gatefold 2xLP comes with full sleevenotes and download code.

Mashuping the Hip Hop and the rock and the reggae and the Variete Internationales... A big Hip Hop Meltdown !

THE GLORIES were formed in New York in 1966 by lead singer Frances Yvonne Gearing and producer Bob Yorey. They were a trio - Gearing, Mildred Vaney and Delores Brown - and signed to Date Records in '67. Only their debut disc, the uptempo 'I Stand Accused', saw any chart action, peaking at No. 74 in the Hot 100. Our chosen side, 'I Worship You Baby' was released to little acclaim in July 1968 but remains a Northern Soul anthem. The group were signed to Hi Records in '72 and became Quiet Elegance.
THE OPALS were another trio - Rose Addison, Myra Tillison and Tootsie - signed to Okeh Records in 1963 by Carl Davis. They released only 4 singles during their brief tenure and we spotlight their superb version of 'You're Gonna Be Sorry' from Aug '64, recorded a year later by label mate Billy Butler.

There is funk, and there is Funk. This here is of course the latter. Struttin' is the third studio album by the funk group The Meters, originally released in 1970. The first single was the song Chicken Strut'. It reached #11 on the U.S. R&B Singles chart.

It may not appear to be drastically different than its predecessors, at least not on the surface. After all, the title of the lead single Chicken Strut' intentionally recalls their previous biggest Cissy Strut,'and it has the same basic Meters groove.

And if the essential sound remains unchanged, that's because that organic, earthy funk is The Meters' signature.

Other groups have tried to replicate it, but nobody ever played it better.

It was on this album The Meters introduced vocals to their style as well, with Art Neville's leads on covers of Ty Hunter's soulful uptown shuffle Darling, Darling, Darling,' Jimmy Webb's groovy ballad Wichita Lineman,' and Lee Dorsey's Ride Your Pony' (the Meters provided support on the original recording).

TRYCK002 is the followup to one of the hottest edit-releases this year. With this release the Swedish producers return with an even stronger release. The wonky groove of Old Lady Friend' is the perfect oddball summer soundtrack. The flip consists of two mid-tempo bangers. Carribean-grooves done by a couple of drunk Swedish fishermen. Tryck & Ton is the rebirth of a long lasting musical relationship between Edvin Edvinsson & Anton Klint (Public Possession, Italians Do It Better, DFA etc.)

Contains all 4 of Karl Hector's limited edition EP's: Tamanrasset, Ngugna Yeti Fofa, Coomassi and Ka Rica-Tar. Following their deft handling of musics from Eastern and Northern Africa alongside Western psychedelia, jazz and funk on Unstraight Ahead, Karl Hector & The Malcouns combine the previously available only on vinyl tracks from four EP's - Tamanrasset, Ngugna Yeti Fofa, Coomassi and Ka Rica-Tar — into an album as Krautrock as Afro Beat, as Multi-Culti-Psychedelic as Deep Funk.







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People Records was the revered funk/soul imprint of the legendary James Brown, who throughout the 1970s curated and made it home to an array of top-tier deep funk artists, singers, and songwriters. It was during this time that the label hosted a variety of "funky divas" like Marva Whitney, Vicki Anderson, and Myra Barnes. Unquestionably the greatest of them all was Lyn Collins, whose R&B hit, the frequently-sampled "Think (About It)" is one of the most enduring singles to emerge from Brown's People label. Get On Down now presents here, an unearthed gem from the famed "Female Preacher." "We Want To Parrty, Parrty, Parrty" was previously unavailable on any Lyn Collins full-length release, and has never been reissued as a standalone 7" single until now. The track is a rollicking funk burner, produced by James Brown himself, and has sampled its way into tracks by Eric B. & Rakim, The Prodigy, De La Soul, and Big Daddy Kane among others, and comes on a large hole 45 with freshly re-mastered audio. "You Can't Beat Two People In Love", the funky soul-ballad B-side, is not to be missed either, featuring additional backing vocals by Brown

Big Crown records is proud to present Max Shrager's debut EP Thoughts Of You'. This is a collection of songs Max recorded over the past 7-8 years, at the ripe young of 20, it's clear Max was born for this. Now dedicated to his band The Shacks, he spends most of his time focusing on writing and recording for their upcoming full length due out on Big Crown in 2017. These songs are what he calls the best of everything he has recorded up to that point'. 6 songs on a beautiful 10 picture sleeve EP, another Big Crown sureshot.

From Max: Each song on this record represents a period of my life. Listening to them brings me back to the experiences that inspired them, like a smell that causes a flood of memories. "Sophia" I wrote "Sophia" in a piano rehearsal room at my high school. It started with those first two chords, and I just kept going because the harmonic movement was making sense. I came up with the chorus a few minutes before we cut the rhythm track. Tom Brenneck got excited about this one early on, which was very encouraging. "Thoughts of You" This one was written the summer I moved to New York City. I thought of it as a country ballad as I was writing it. It ended up having some interesting rhythms and flavors. My grandmother came downstairs to my parent's basement as I was recording the guitar, and she was in to it. "Silver" I bought a 12 string Martin guitar at First Flight music and brought it to school. I ended up skipping class and sitting in the park, working on a song idea that came to me the night before. My new girlfriend had given me a silver ring, which I put in my pocket. It got all scratched up, among the coins, which made me feel guilty and provided the inspiration for this song. "Girls of the Galaxy" This one was really fun to record. It's very much about the production for me, which I did with Homer Steinweiss. Listen closely for the Spanish radio crosstalk at the end. "Train Song" This tune is about the train ride from New Jersey to New York City that I must've taken a thousand times. There's also some stuff about a trip to Las Vegas, where my dad and I walked miles out of the city on a dusty highway and ended up at a nuclear testing museum. "You're Still There" This is a love song that was inspired by a specific feeling I had one night in Atlantic City. The feeling was so deep and unique that this song just poured out of me at the piano. The drums were recorded by putting the microphone under a ceramic pot.

Big Crown Records is proud to present a reissue of the highly sought-after, very rare, and only release by Texas funk band, The Soul Explosives. Active in 1971 and 72, The Soul Explosives were a high school group from Kingsville, TX led by high school senior Skip Frazier. Their main goal was to play a neighborhood know as the"The Cut" in nearby Corpus Christ, where there were a number of Soul & R&B clubs. They paid for the recording and pressing of the 45 which was done by a tiny local Tejano studio/label, Bormeh. Copies of the record were given to friends and sold at shows. In '72 Skip decided to leave the group to pursue his college studies and they disbanded not long after. The A Side Tryin To Get Down' is a lo-fi funk gem with all the makings of an underground classic. Driving drums and blown out vocals somewhere between encouraging and liberating are sure to peak funk fans ears. The B Side, a absolutely smashing cover of Ain't No Sunshine', is nothing short of a must have. The Soul Explosives nearly instrumental cover might just be the toughest version on a 45. Another Big Crown sureshot.

Trojan introduce a genre-themed vinyl album range aimed at satisfying the demands of Jamaican music fans of all persuasions - from hardcore collectors to casual buyers. Pressed on high quality vinyl and presented in handsomely designed sleeves that convey an authentic yet contemporary feel, each LP focuses on a specific style, ranging from vintage mento to modern dancehall, with the first three in the series highlighting the ever-popular sounds of ska, dub and classic reggae. Over the coming months every major genre will be highlighted on further equally compelling collections, ensuring fans of all Jamaican music styles are satisfied. Every album will be exhaustively promoted via Trojan's website, Facebook page, Twitter, YouTube channel and mailing list, with reviews actively solicited from all the major music periodicals and online sites. Recent years have witnessed a significant resurgence of interest in dub, a style developed in the early seventies by a small number of talented sound engineers who took reggae beyond previously perceived limits. Featured on this hard and heavy set are 10 of the finest dub mixes from the Seventies and early Eighties, mixed by its most influential exponents, including such giants as King Tubby, Lee Perry, King Jammy and Scientist.

Trojan introduce a genre-themed vinyl album range aimed at satisfying the demands of Jamaican music fans of all persuasions - from hardcore collectors to casual buyers. Pressed on high quality vinyl and presented in handsomely designed sleeves that convey an authentic yet contemporary feel, each LP focuses on a specific style, ranging from vintage mento to modern dancehall, with the first three in the series highlighting the ever-popular sounds of ska, dub and classic reggae. Over the coming months every major genre will be highlighted on further equally compelling collections, ensuring fans of all Jamaican music styles are satisfied. Every album will be exhaustively promoted via Trojan's website, Facebook page, Twitter, YouTube channel and mailing list, with reviews actively solicited from all the major music periodicals and online sites. Since Jamaica's independence the island's music industry has blossomed from an almost insignificant local business into a hugely successful global concern. During these past five decades an array of Jamaican talent has graced charts the world over and this essential album features a dozen of the very best, including UK Number One hits from Desmond Dekker, Dave & Ansel Collins, Ken Boothe and Althea & Donna.

All Saints melden sich zurück und läuten das Comeback des Jahres ein. Die britische Erfolgsband der 2000er veröffentlicht mit Red Flag ihr neues Studioalbum. All Saints haben 12 Millionen Alben verkauft, allein in Großbritannien fünf #1-Hits gelandet (u.a. Pure Shores, Never Ever und Black Coffee), dazu zwei BRIT Awards gewonnen, und zwei ihrer Alben wurden gleich mehrfach mit Platin ausgezeichnet. In Deutschland landeten die Alben allesamt in den Top 15 der offiziellen Charts. 19 Jahre nach ihrem gleichnamigen Debütalbum sind sie zurück - und definieren den Pop-Zeitgeist mit - Red Flag ein weiteres Mal neu. Die erste Single-Auskopplung des Albums "One Strike" ist bereits veröffentlicht. Das erste Konzert seit Jahren im Londoner KoKo am 4. April war innerhalb weniger Minuten ausverkauft. Das Album erscheint als Standard CD mit 12 Tracks.
Jetzt auch als Vinyl erhältlich!

Death Grips ist eine amerikanische Hip-Hop Gruppe , die im Jahr 2010 gegründet wurde. Zur Band gehören der Rapper MC Ride, derSchlagerzeuger Zach Hill und der Produzent Andy Morin. Die Musik von Death Grips wird von Kritikern oft dem experimentellen Hip-Hop zugerechnet.

Light of Love Wax Co. is honoured to release Gloria Jones and The Tiara's Gone With The Wind is My Love' Mastered specifically for vinyl by Grammy®-award winning engineer Reuben Cohen at Lurssen Mastering in Los Angeles.

Paired with the Tiaras B-side, You're My Man', Gone with The Wind Is My Love' is available as a limited edition pressing. Issued in a custom tri-color sleeve evocative of the Dore imprint the record was originally released on in 1967. Gone With The Wind Is My Love' is the latest release on Gloria Jones' Light of Love Wax Co. imprint. Ms Jones set up the Light of Love Wax Co. as a vehicle to help support Music & Film schools in West Africa. Proceeds from every Light of Love Wax Co. sale helps support this cause.

REPRESSED !!

Two more slices of official dance floor dynamite from the Disco Fuentes catalogue get unleashed on the strictly vinyl only, singles only Mukatsuku Record label for autumn 2013.

First up is an unreleased version of the popular Wganda Kenya club favourite 'Tipit Hayed' which Blundetto had done a few years ago for his own DJ sets but never surfaced commercially.

On the flipside a bona fide salsa funk monster which a piano intro to die for from Fruko Y Sus Tesos.

Ocote Soul Sounds is Martin Perna, founder of the New York-based group Antibalas. together with Adrian Quesada, co-founder of the Grammy-winning Latin music powerhouse Grupo Fantasma. This 7" is their debut on Wonderwheel Recordings and features more of the same hazy, psychedelic Latin funk that they've become known for, featuring Chico Mann providing vocals on the "A" side, alongsided Quantic on guitar and accordian. Quantic is also featured on the "B" side instrumental cut "Not Yet"

Soundsci return with another vinyl treat, the second single from the 'Walk The Earth' album.

The A side hears emcee's Oxygen, UGeorge and Audessey rejoicing in expression "The struggle builds character when you weather the storm, so write on" The music, funky as ever pushes along with an anthemic horn line enhancing the emotion of the moving message.

The B side 'Changing of the Gods' debuted on Soundsci's newest member Supastition's LP The Gold Standard from 2015. Supastition's infectious energy hits you immediately with Ugeorge and Oxygen adding pure fire on this golden nugget. Dj Ollie Teeba adds the finishing touch with some precision cuts, letting you know that the crew are ready to show & prove at the drop of a dime.

Scotland's foremost (possibly only) disco obsessive returns with a fourth volume in the critically acclaimed Disco Love series. Previous volumes had critics saying things like Some of it is risqué, cheesy and (may I say) sexy. Great stuff for us disco-geeks' and A real gem for the disco connoisseurs' and This will enhance any deep disco collection' and the ever-reliable Glaswegian crate digger unearths even more dusty gems' and Just when you think that Al Kent guy is not going to get you again, he assembles a third Disco Love that is more stimulating than the first two volumes' and, less excitingly, The mastering and sound quality is great' So, just when you think that Al Kent guy isn't going to get you again, here he is - with fifteen more obscure disco tracks (or at the very least soul records you could dance to), most of which were pressed in limited quantities before sinking without trace, including five very special edited and extended versions and a DJ mixed second CD.

Die 2LP-Vinyl Edition Volume 1 präsentiert 22 essentielle Dub-Aufnahmen aus dem goldenen Zeitalter des Reggae von 1975 bis 1979, ausgesucht mit der nötigen Expertise von der Koryphäe Steve Barrow. Die Aggrovators waren die Studioband des Produzenten Bunny Lee, zu deren Mitgliedern gehörten im Laufe der Jahre Carlton Barrett, Sly Dunbar, Santa Davis, Robbie Shakespeare, Aston 'Family Man' Barrett, Valentine 'Tony' Chin, Geoffrey Chung, Earl 'Chinna' Smith, Carl Harvey, Keith Sterling, Ossie Hibbert, Ian Winter, Augustus Pablo, Jackie Mittoo, Winston Wright, Tommy McCook, Lennox Brown, Bobby Ellis und Skully Sims. Das Frontcover zeigt den Eingang zum Studio von King Tubby.

15 track Album from Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari released by Dub Store Records

Den 1984 im marokkanischen Rabat geborenen und Mitte der Neunziger in die Staaten emigrierten Rapper Karim Abdul Kharbouch kennen Freunde des Sprechgesangs vor allem als Young French sowie French Montana. Kharbouch brachte in den Nullerjahren gemeinsam mit Cokeboy Los eine ganze Reihe an Mixtapes heraus, die sie "Cocaine City" nannten. Diese liefen wie geschnitten Brot und legten den Grundstein für Kharbouchs rasch wachsende Popularität. Im Lauf seiner Karriere arbeitete French Montana mit zahlreichen Größen der US-amerikanischen Hip-Hop-Szene wie P. Diddy zusammen. Auf dessen Label Bad Boy Records erschien 2013 Kharbouchs Debütalbum "Excuse My French". Dessen Sound ist durch Einflüsse von Rick Ross, der an den Aufnahmen auch beteiligt war, Snoop Dogg, The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, 50 Cent und des Wu-Tang Clans geprägt. Der von DJ Smoke gewohnt gefühlvoll und kenntnisreich in Fluss gebrachte Mix "French Connection Mixtape" präsentiert rund 30 Highlights von French Montana, darunter etliche Kollaborationen mit namhaften Rappern wie Lil Wayne, Lil Jon, Juicy J, Chris Brown, Busta Rhymes, Chinx, Raekwon, Rick Ross und Akon.

2 panel digisleeve CD + DVD including one song in live. English subtitles

Les Sans Pattes is the rock band of Robert Combas (world renowned contemporary painter and creator of the free figuration' movement) and Lucas Mancione. Both are all-rounder, multi-instrumentalists, rigorous and nutty at the same time. They handle plastic arts, are musicians, video makers, actors, performers...in short, complete artists. They've got a rich and eclectic repertoire of more than 100 songs, and no limit: you'll hear them moving from rock to techno, from a love song to punk, with the same dexterity in each and every register. If you have the chance to be in Paris around June 24th, they'll deliver a live performance during Michel Houellebecq's exhibition, at the Palais de Tokyo, to inaugurate the release of their album.

When Lorraine Chandler's dramatic 'You Only Live Twice' was discovered in RCA's tape library in the 90s, it was recognised as the forerunner to Yvonne Baker's 'You Didn't Say A Word, with the powerful James Bond theme tune motif. Chandler and Baker's intertwined late 60s career also shared versions of 'Mend The Torn Pieces' and 'I Can't Change'.

It was exciting to then hear an earlier, rawer Pied Piper take of 'You Only Live Twice' and though that original RCA tape made it on to a 100 Club anniversary 45, this is the first single release for the original version. The instrumental mix of the Cavaliers' 'Hold To My Baby' is an adrenalin rush for dancers who want to revel in the maestros who made this music so memorable.

Lovin' Mighty Fire' is Howard Williams' third Japanese music compilation for the Ace Records house of labels - this time, for BGP International. Assembled in between his job as a record distributor and his monthly Japan Blues show for NTS radio, the first two have taken a look at the late 50s for a blast of Japanese rockabilly ( Nippon Rock'n'Roll' CDWIKD 313), then the 60s and 70s for a romp in Japanese surf music ( Nippon Guitars CDWIKD 297). Following his retrospective of jazz singer Maki Asakawa for Honest Jon's, this new outing searches for the soul music of Japan, from the early 70s to the early 80s.

Japan has long been known as the final destination for many a collectible soul record. Yet, who suspected that some fine soul grooves were recorded for the domestic market, from ballads, to funk and disco Strangely enough, some of the busiest writers and producers in this field came from a late 60s rock band, Happy End, but on listening to their collaborations, their rhythmic, soulful feel is immediately apparent.

The bluesy funk of Lily, the soul-diva brilliance of Minako Yoshida - represented here in both slow-grind mode and epic disco, the maverick genius of Haruomi Hosono, the lively songstress Yasuko Agawa, and the sultry steaminess of Mari Natsuki, and more. This album finally plants a Japanese flag firmly on the global map of soul.

12 track Album from Lynn Taitt & The Jets released by Dub Store Records