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Another demo tape recently discovered by Family Groove Records. **Hand Stamped limited edition of 300 copies.
Hall & Floyd's previously unreleased 1981 session is a nice slice of Disco Funk & R&B that didn't make the major label cut. Sunrise is the stand-out song featuring a nice blend of Earth Wind & Fire style harmonies, funky horns, spaced-out Moog Synth and a righteous groove good enough to properly fuel your next Roller Skating party.

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In 1977 Jake Sollo returned to Nigeria to record his first solo album, Coming Home. His long-term band, The Funkees, had imploded in London. And his big break with the Afro super band, Osibisa, was cut short when he went on strike with Kiki Gyan and promptly got sacked. Rather than sit at a bar and feel sorry for himself, Jake returned to Nigeria and got his mates together - including the aforementioned Mr. Gyan - and headed into the EMI studios in Lagos. The result was Coming Home, a triumphant album that combined the raw power of The Funkees with the slick tricks he learned in London. The opening instrumental, '404', is the track Carlos Santana would have recorded if he'd been born in Nigeria rather than Mexico. 'Raise Your Hands' and 'I Just Wanna Dance' are slick boogie monsters and 'Deiyo Deiyo' sees Jake displaying some mad synth skills on Africa's only Prophet-5, a hot piece of hardware that was transforming music in Europe and America. Coming Home is the sound of an artist at the heights of his power. And a precursor of the skills and sounds that would make Sollo the most sought after producer in Nigeria

7' release featuring the previously unreleased Can't Nobody' featuring K-Maxx on vocals and a remix of Gotta Get Out' not released on The Pendletons Gotta Get Out' EP.

Two Modern Soul Masterpieces restored from the Master Tapes.
Family Groove pairs these solid dancers by The Pretenders back to back on 7' vinyl. Whether it be the roaring Funk Bass intro of 'It's Everything About You' or the Sultry Jazz vocals of Madam Pat Tandy on 'Just Be Yourself'' that suits you, it's no wonder the original Carnival label pressings of both tunes are in big demand.

Few artists have created a body of work as rich and varied as Prince. During the '80s, he emerged as one of the most singular talents of the rock & roll era, capable of seamlessly tying together pop, funk, folk, and rock. Not only did he release a series of ground breaking albums, he toured frequently, produced albums and wrote songs for many other artists, and recorded hundreds of songs that still lie unreleased in his vaults. With each album he released, Prince has shown remarkable stylistic growth and musical diversity, constantly experimenting with different sounds, textures, and genres. Occasionally, his music can be maddeningly inconsistent because of this eclecticism, but his experiments frequently succeed, no other contemporary artist can blend so many diverse styles into a cohesive whole.

Few artists have created a body of work as rich and varied as Prince. During the '80s, he emerged as one of the most singular talents of the rock & roll era, capable of seamlessly tying together pop, funk, folk, and rock. Not only did he release a series of ground breaking albums, he toured frequently, produced albums and wrote songs for many other artists, and recorded hundreds of songs that still lie unreleased in his vaults. With each album he released, Prince has shown remarkable stylistic growth and musical diversity, constantly experimenting with different sounds, textures, and genres. Occasionally, his music can be maddeningly inconsistent because of this eclecticism, but his experiments frequently succeed, no other contemporary artist can blend so many diverse styles into a cohesive whole.

First single from the album 'Ten Out Of The Box' by JetTricks.

It's been a while since JetTricks 2012 album "Better Than Real Life", but Paul Elliott & Jamie Lawrence haven't been sitting around wasting time..., Jamie has been touring with various blues, soul and funk outfits including The Heliocentrics (Strut Records) and Paul has been laying down percussive grooves for all manner of acts.

The pair also wrote, recorded and took to the road heating up the dance floors of the best clubs and festivals the UK has to offer to support the debut album release of their very own psychedelic-afro-funk band Hot Border Special ("Hot Border Special", Legère Recordings 2015). With their latest album 'Ten Out Of The Box" JetTricks return to their laidback, lo-fi, rootsy and soulful beginnings with a collection of ten covers versions of tracks straight out of their record collections!

Both Paul & Jamie are big fans of music of all genres and styles and after endless hours of motorway driving between gigs listening to all time classics, rarities and guilty pleasures they decided to enlist the help of some of their favourite vocalists to join them on an excursion of cover versions. The result of which is a covers album like no other, where Black Sabbath & Tony Joe White sit side by side with Basement Jaxx, Jonny 'Guitar' Watson & Queen!

Featuring standout performances from longtime JetTricks collaborators - Detroit soul man Marcus Malone, London blues-scene veteran Sam Hare and chart topping Noisettes and Hot Border Special guitarist Daniel Smith as well as a little guitar from Fun Lovin Criminal and BBC Radio's Huey Morgan, plus the sultry tones of Faye Houston (The Resonators) and award winning blues singer Katie Bradley. All in all this is an album of monster hits and choice cuts reinterpreted in a style and vibe only possible with JetTricks at the helm...,

REPRESS ALERT: With two massive reissues from Suns of Arqa and Jaki Whitren under their belts, the fledging label Emotional Rescue have come up with the goods once again, with this remastered reissue of incredibly rare 70s psyche-funk from Bob Chance. Two versions are included: the original 7" version, driven along by a razor-sharp guitar riff and sweetly lamenting lyrics, topped off with weird cosmic synths and galloping rhythm. However, the real gem is the edit entitled "Wild It's Broken" which sharpens the focus of the guitar and adds some serious kick to the drums to create a beefy counterpart to the new age original.

Virginia-born singer/songwriter Nicole Wray has everything you'd want in a singer: an infectious Jackson-5-family-member flare, a range like Aretha's, and a church upbringing that's brought a pure, healing texture to her voice. But the struggle she's been through has made her more than a singer. Nicole Wray is an artist. When talking about Queen Alone, her first solo album in some time, Nicole explains, It's a reflection of my soul. It's who I am today.' And aptly so. Nicole is writing and singing songs about her life. And yet to even start to know her soul, you have to go back to the beginning. Growing up in Portsmouth was tough at times for Nicole. However, at the age of fifteen, life opened up quickly when Missy Elliot paid a visit to Nicole's family home to audition her on the spot. Missy was there on the rumored strength and quality of her voice. Instantly blowing her away, she signed and left with Missy that night. Two years later, at age 17, she had a hit gold single off a solid debut album (Make It Hot). Suddenly she was part of a team that included late '90s R&B and rap royalty: Missy, Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Playa, Timbaland and Magoo. She made it, and fast. However, as rapidly as she achieved success, Nicole then found herself needing to re-make it. By late 2001, her time with Missy and company had run its course. They amicably parted ways and Nicole, once on top of the R&B world, was unsure of what was next. It was a very low, but important, point in her life. While neck-deep in this struggle, Damon Dash and Roc-A-Fella Records called. They signed an album deal and by 2004, in what was starting to be a pattern, just as things were looking up Roc-A-Fella suddenly (famously) split. Nicole found herself in a familiar situation. In 2013, Nicole paired up with London vocalist Terri Walker and released the album Lady. Once again, Nicole was tested. Terri parted ways with the group to pursue her own projects shortly after the album's release. Fast forward to now-the transformation from singer-for-hire to pure artist is evident in this new full-length solo release, Queen Alone. The record was written and recorded in 10 days at the legendary Diamond Mine Studios, in Queens NY with Leon Michels and Tom Brenneck handling production. Nicole says she is Singing out loud now-singing from the stomach.' Back in 1998 she was coached how to sing, and told to stay in a pocket that never let her show her range, power, and passion. Today, after stutter-stepping in and out of the industry, there is a new soul and substance to her songs-all of it from her life. They Don't Hang Around", tells the story of her post Roc-a-Fella days, Guilty", is about her brother's incarceration, Make Me Over" tells the relatable story of being broke with expensive taste, and 'Let It Go', a perfect way to end the record, is about the simple act of letting go and moving on. Almost echoing her new record, Nicole says, You have to go through something for it to be real.' She has been living with one foot in fame and the other in real life. The result is clear: she's feeling something real in her music again. And it's hard for us as listeners not to follow suit.

Following the success of the debut single Paint It Black - which sold out in only 1 week from release date, Mohawkestra return with another great Funk 7" on Reed Records, available on 7" vinyl and download.

The first side here is an amazing Mohawkestra arrangement of Cream's monumental I Feel Free. Packed full of blazing Organ and Guitar over the super tight rhythm section and arranged into a concise 3 minute Funk workout this is sure to be as well received as the previous single.

The debut single featured 2 superb covers but for the follow up a Mohawkestra original entitled Growler is included on the flipside which demonstrates not only the incredible musicianship of the band but also their own writing and offers a glimpse at what is in store for future releases from one of the UK's finest current live bands.

"I feel Free" builds on the storming first 7" "Paint It Black" and is every bit as good. What really sets this band apart though is the authenticity both in musicianship as well as production. The bomb!... Ben Dubuisson (Hundred Strong)

limited re-stock of this original pressing !! contains a phat electro techno track on the flip side !!

"Milano Marittima Time Of The Season" is a compilation double CD dedicated to the most refined palates, a perfect mix of gentle and soothing sounds for two hours of "easy listening" pure. We find jazz sounds in international songs here re-proposed with a new arrangement, many Italian songs revisited in key lounge retracing vintage atmosphere of the past. A product for true connoisseurs and absolute must for collectors and fans of high-class music.

Mel Williams began singing in a bingo hall where his dad worked. He became a popular live performer touring the USA and overseas. As a recording artist he has released singles since 1955. In 1966 he recorded 'Can It Be' for Modern Records and popular among soul fans and then for his one stop at Buddah Records in 1974 came this modern soul masterpiece 'Sweet Girl of Mine'. Expansion release this due to demand that cannot be satisfied by the original, last sold on Discogs for £1,500

Soul Jazz Records' are releasing Tee Mac's 'Night Illusion', a lost classic Nigerian Afro soul meets disco boogie funk album originally released in Nigeria in 1980 as a private-press release of 1000 copies on the enigmatic artists' own label. Impossibly hard to find, the record remains practically unknown outside of Nigeria. Tee Mac Omatshola Iseli is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger and features on Soul Jazz Records' recent collection Nigeria Soul Fever - Afro Funk Disco and Boogie alongside Joni Haastrup, Christy Essien and others, as well as on a recent compilation 'Nepa Oh Nepa' (released on Hot Casa earlier this year). The timelessness of this soulful, ground-breaking funk jazz lost masterpiece 'Night Illusion' leads to comparisons with James Mason's legendary lost classic album Rhythm of Life, with his unique individualism and intensity hinting at the boogie funk of groups such as Mass Production and Slave so loved by artists such as Moodyman and Theo Parrish. While Fela Kuti is now a cultural icon of Nigerian music throughout the world, the recent crossover success of William Onyeabor shows just how much undiscovered Nigerian music remains waiting to be explored outside of the country.
Tee Mac was born in Lagos, the son of a Nigerian princess and a Swiss diplomat. He picked up the flute at age 7 and ten years later was studying classical musical in Switzerland under his uncle the composer J.J. Direndirger. Returning to Lagos, Nigeria in 1970 he formed the heavyweight afro rock group Tee Mac and Afro Collection (which included Johnny Haastrup on keyboards and The Lijadu Sisters on vocals). This band was famously joined by the legendary Cream drummer Ginger Baker who came to Nigeria to play with them in 1971 (captured in the film Ginger Baker in Africa).
At age 24, Tee Mac moved to Germany where he co-wrote and recorded the European disco group Silver Convention (whose 'Fly Robin Fly' became number one in the USA charts). This enabled him to return to Nigeria where he formed his own label SKJ Records to release his self-financed album Night Illusion, as well as buying two nightclubs and also investing in a number of mineral mining companies!
Tee Mac continues to live in Lagos today and travels the world as a composer - one of whose pieces is The City of Mer Kailash (2009), a two-hour ballet featuring over 60 dancers and a 100+ piece orchestra.
Soul Jazz Records are releasing this lost classic Nigerian album as a strictly limited-edition 1000 copies worldwide exact-replica artwork reproduction LP (+ sleevenotes + free download), CD and digital album.

The Apostles were disciples of a heavy kind of psychedelic soul/rock fusion. After The Funkees left for London, they stepped into the breach to become the champions of East Nigeria's flourishing post-war music scene. Based in Aba, and led by guitarist and charismatic chancer Walton Arungwa, they laid down a couple of singles with the city's newly-formed BEN label. EMI liked what they heard and in 1976 whisked the band to Lagos to record The Apostles with the legendary Emmanual Odenusi at the controls. A heavy mix of wailing guitar, swirling organ and James Brown-style vocals, it became a fixture in every east Nigerian home. 'Never Too Late' sets the stage with a scorching lead break that most believe was played by guitar-slinger-for-hire, Felix 'Feladay' Odey. Drummer Joel Madubuike and bass player Henry Tandu lay down the rock solid groove for Benji Davidson's righteous organ lines in 'Inflation' and 'Highway to Success.' And each is invested with an urgency from battle-hardened vocals of Chyke Fussion, a vetran of the Biafra war. Don't be fooled by the angelic white outfits worn on the cover of The Apostles. These guys were BAD. And 'Never Too Late' could well be the best Afro Rock song ever recorded.

Here's a revamped reissue of this extremely rare Italian library album (Italy 1970) featuring Silvana Simoncini (Arawak's wife) on the cover, and with new liner notes. Long revered in connoisseur circles, but always elusive almost to the status of a myth, Arawak's Accade a..' takes us on a journey across the planet, depicting faraway places with an uncanny sense of style, using a tapestry of sounds and instruments, sometimes mellow and dreamy, sometimes engulfing the listener in a funky wicked drum break groove. We are offered the chance of a unique journey that takes us from Harlem to Boston, passing through Cuzco, Bali, Bahia, Belfast, Lima and more.. Arawak is one of a multitude of pseudonyms that Luciano Simoncini used in his career as a composer for film scores and background music for radio and television in Italy. Luciano Simoncini was an italian pianist, arranger and conductor (born in Piedimonte Matese, province of Caserta, September 25th , 1939, died in Rome November 8th , 2011). Originally released in 1970 on Simoncini's own Squirrel records' this album managed to stay under the radar until Hip Hop performer Quasimoto (alter ego of producer Madlib) sampled Accade a Harlem' for the Suono libero' series on 70's Jazz funk from Italian library music. Since then, the album slowly but steadily progressed to its well deserved cult status. This release is fully licensed and comes with liner notes by Luciano Simoncini's family friend Claudio Casalini and Golden Pavilion producer and record collector Antonio Barreiros. The laid-back grooves and enticing dreamy atmospheres alternate with more funky sounds to make a truly unique music experience that will appeal to fans of Janko Nilovic, Stefano Torossi, Remigio Ducros, Pino Canizzo...

Here's a revamped reissue of this extremely rare Italian library album (Italy 1970) featuring Silvana Simoncini (Arawak's wife) on the cover, and with new liner notes. Long revered in connoisseur circles, but always elusive almost to the status of a myth, Arawak's Accade a..' takes us on a journey across the planet, depicting faraway places with an uncanny sense of style, using a tapestry of sounds and instruments, sometimes mellow and dreamy, sometimes engulfing the listener in a funky wicked drum break groove. We are offered the chance of a unique journey that takes us from Harlem to Boston, passing through Cuzco, Bali, Bahia, Belfast, Lima and more.. Arawak is one of a multitude of pseudonyms that Luciano Simoncini used in his career as a composer for film scores and background music for radio and television in Italy. Luciano Simoncini was an italian pianist, arranger and conductor (born in Piedimonte Matese, province of Caserta, September 25th , 1939, died in Rome November 8th , 2011). Originally released in 1970 on Simoncini's own Squirrel records' this album managed to stay under the radar until Hip Hop performer Quasimoto (alter ego of producer Madlib) sampled Accade a Harlem' for the Suono libero' series on 70's Jazz funk from Italian library music. Since then, the album slowly but steadily progressed to its well deserved cult status. This release is fully licensed and comes with liner notes by Luciano Simoncini's family friend Claudio Casalini and Golden Pavilion producer and record collector Antonio Barreiros. The laid-back grooves and enticing dreamy atmospheres alternate with more funky sounds to make a truly unique music experience that will appeal to fans of Janko Nilovic, Stefano Torossi, Remigio Ducros, Pino Canizzo...

By the mid 1970's in Nigeria, the Biafran War was a distant memory and the music scene in the eastern city of Aba was booming again. Bands like The Funkees, The Wings and The Apostles grabbed the headlines, but the more interesting stuff was coming from smaller groups like the Friimen. The Friimen, or the Friimen Muzik Company to use their official name, were influenced as much by pre-Saturday Night Fever Bee Gees as Jimi Hendrix and James Brown. In Beni Tudumey they had the best keyboardist in the city, and in Dan Igbaji, Charlie Eze and Ken Okogbue its tightest rhythm section. Throw in Gbemi Saka Toju channeling his inner Barry Gibb and you had a band quite unlike any other in the country. The result is We Can Get it On, a hybrid of West Coast ballads and dancefloor chuggers. One moment they are thanking God for making the mountains ('The Creator'), the next salaciously suggesting it's time to make the mountains move ('We Can Get It On'). Some of the songs simply state the obvious ('Music Makes You Move'.) However, it's the track, 'Salt Sweet Style', that sums up the Friimen best: We have the salt. We have the sweet. We have the style.' It's all present and accounted for on We Can Get It On.

He was Nigerian guitar God, famous for his incendiary lead breaks with Aktion and Monomono. She was one of Nigeria's first female band leader who went off to the US and became a big deal in the New Jazz scene there. It should be no surprise then that when Jimi Lee and Monah Finnih got together in 1980 for A Stroll In The Moonlight, an Afro Jazz cosmic funk masterpiece was born. Intricately arranged, beautifully produced and showcasing musicianship of the highest order, A Stroll In The Moonlight was a notch above anything else that was coming out of Nigeria at the time. I Love Myself' is the perfect amalgam of a tight, horn-driven Lagos groove and an American New Jazz sheen. People of the World' is pure Afro Funk, brightened by Jimi Lee's sunny, twangy guitar. Son of A Man' brings reggae to the table and Iya Alakara' is a Lijadu Sisters style cosmic paean to beefcakes and plantains. Taking a stroll with Nigerian music's oddest couple is a slinky, funky affair that comes highly recommended, but be warned: You'll work up a sweat.

For the past four decades, a growing cult of soul music collectors have sought two obscure LPs and a handful of extremely rare 45s released on the vanity record label LAD Productions, Inc. between the late seventies and the mid eighties by the mysterious South Side Chicago singer/song writer Larry Dixon.
Larry's raw songs capture the transition from R&B to boogie-down as disco was rapidly becoming extinct.
They also perfectly illustrate Larry's ability to overcome his environment and discrimination, transcended by his determination to write and produce music. With the support of his faithful musicians, Larry's success was only hindered by lack of airplay and promotion, but his talent shines through.
This is the story of Larry Dixon, his label LAD Productions, Inc., and his friends and family throughout four decades of music in Chicago's toughest neighborhoods.
Jerome Derradji is proud to reactivate Past Due Records - the boogie funk division of Still Music to release this fantastic archive - what many consider to be the Holy Grail - of Chicago Funk, Boogie and Soul.
'Star Time' will be released in a limited 500 copies 10 X 7" Box Set, a limited 500 copies 4 LP Box Set, DCD and Digitally - all faithfully reproducing the vision of LAD Productions, Inc.
It features each and every Larry Dixon's releases from 1971 to 1987, including the ultra rare 'I'am So In Love' LP recorded live at the Copherbox Club in 1980 and the ultra rare boogie funk 'Can't Price Love' LP, each carefully re-mastered from the original tapes and a lot more!
Many unreleased songs (some mixed by Jerome Derradji) are also featured. Each format includes a unique booklet with the story of Larry Dixon and his friends, written by Jacob Arnold, along with numerous pictures and documents previously never published. Artwork is by Al Kent from Million Dollar Disco.

Great 2 tracks single by 2 French underground Future-Funk acts: Funky Drive Band and Armadeo 85.Killer 80s funk vibes infused with Boogie, G-Funk, P-Funk and Electronic flavors...

Bossa Nova = Nouvelle Vague = New Wave.
This transliteration was the starting point for Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux's unique project, which, by appropriating the punk and post-punk cannon and running it through the Bossa Nova filter, reinvented the cover band genre, revealing new and brilliant talents along the way: Camille, Phoebe Killdeer (whose Fade Out Lines was remixed by The Avener,) Nadeah, Mélanie Pain, and, soon, Liset Alea. The gambit paid off, with sales of over one million records over four albums released between 2004 and 2010, and world tours that included stops at venues such as London's Royal Albert Hall, L.A.'s Hollywood Bowl and Paris' Olympia. Since 2011, Nouvelle Vague had stopped recording, focusing on an innovative live show created in collaboration with the mythical Jean-Charles de Castelbajac (Ceremony and Dawn of innocence,) and branching out into different projects: Olivier's Uncovered Queen of the Stone Age, and Marc's Bristol, along with his Kwaidan label.
The time seems right to write a new chapter in the Nouvelle Vague saga: with a new album I Could Be Happy' and live show, the band and its coterie of female vocalists continue their time travels with a renewed alegria. Nouvelle vague by Nouvelle Vague and Some Friends is thus more of a nexus of forthcoming projects: a new album comprised of punk and post punk standards imbued with the inimitable Nouvelle Vague touch, and, for the first time, a bevy of surprising Collin/Libaux which prove that the two producers are more than prodigious arrangers.
This album is also the opportunity to gather again the pioneer singers of Nouvelle Vague: Élodie Frégé, Mélanie Pain, Liset Alea, Nadeah and to find other guests as Camille or Clara Luciani.
A worldwide tour is already confirmed and announced. It will begin in Europe and Asia, in the fall, and will continue through South America and the U.S.A. in the new year, and feature the entire crew on stage, around Marc and Olivier: Mélanie Pain, Élodie Frégé, and Liset Alea.

Strut present the first in a series of essential original LP reissues exploring rare and under-rated African, Latin and Caribbean music classics, curated by Duncan Brooker. In January 2017, the series kicks off with 'Sugar Daddy', an experimental highlife / disco outing by Nigerian highlife guitarist Joe King Kologbo.Building his career as a composer and player with Eastern Star Dance Band at their residency at the Atlantic Hotel in Aba, Eastern Nigeria, Joe King Kologbo was forced to flee to Ghana when the Biafran War broke out in 1967. As his son Oghene recalls, when war came, everything just scatter. He lost his house, everything.'Joe King played with a variety of bands in Ghana including Real Ruby's, a jazz highlife big band, before returning to Lagos in 1971. By the time he recorded the 'Sugar Daddy' LP for the tiny Electromat label in 1980, he was one of the older musicians on the circuit. Oghene Kologbo remembers, My Mum used to say, 'I hope you don't go and play guitar everywhere and play around, don't go and be Sugar Daddy!' All my father's friends nicknamed him 'Sugar Daddy' so he did the song in a fun way. He was a nice man. He never did 'playboy'.Since he was based in the East during his early days, he was not as well known nationally as some of the other highlife players of the time,' continues Oghene,'so it's nice that this album is coming out again. It brings back good memories.