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Arthur Verocai's long-lost solo LP straddles the continents to fuse Brazilian tropicalia with American funk, yielding a shimmering, dreamlike mosaic of sound that both celebrates and advances the creative spirit. Employing a dizzyingly lush 20-piece string section, stiletto-sharp bursts of brass, and electric piano melodies that twinkle like stars, Verocai's heady productions draw on folk, jazz, and pop traditions from both sides of the equator to make music that is both immediately familiar and quite unlike anything else you've ever experienced. While its sun-kissed arrangements and insistent rhythms clearly evoke its Brazilian origins, Arthur Verocai nevertheless seems to exist somewhere far outside of space and time.

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If some cynics chimed that Hot Buttered Soul had been a fluke, Isaac Hayes easily repeated the success of that 1969 breakthrough for symphonic soul with this 1970 masterpiece. Like its predecessor, it contains four long songs and became a massive seller, peaking at No. 8 on Billboard's pop album chart. Highlights include Hayes's soulfully simmering renditions of Jerry Butler's "I Stand Accused" and the Beatles' "Something," the latter featuring the serpentine jazz violin work of John Blair. Stax Records historian Rob Bowman has called Hayes's vocal on "I Stand Accused" "his finest moment as a singer" and that song's interplay between Pat Lewis's background vocal line and Michael Toles's circular guitar figure "pure alchemical magic."

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We all know that the best black music compilations are those put together by enthusiasts rather than suited and booted marketeers. Enthusiasts come no more enthusiastic than Joey Negro and Sean P and as time testifies, both know a good groove when they hear one. Last year their "Soul Of Disco" set was so well received that it was only a matter of time before they hit us with the second instalment. Once again, the Disco Freaks have delved way deep into their record collections to bring you the choicest picks from the era.

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A powerful live set including timeless classics such as People Get Ready and We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue. A celebration of Mayfield's genius through Amiri Baraka's intense voice and the deep singing of Leena Conquest. A very cool project from bassist William Parker – a set that's unlike anything else we've ever heard from him before, and a loving tribute to the music of Curtis Mayfield! Instrumentation is mostly jazz-based, but there's also some vocals on the record too – sung by Leena Conquest, and spoken by Amiri Baraka – both of whom really help add some depth to the record.

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Love to unearth DISCO’s more soulful jewels: Disco- nut producer and international DJ Joey Negro and fellow crate-digger Sean P come to the rescue with this great value DOUBLE CD rammed to the rafters with over 20 CLASSIC, RARE, HARD- to FIND GEMS from the era that brought us boob tubes, fantastic music and sparkly platforms.

Greetings ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the wonderful world of Cocktail Disco. And what does Cocktail Disco refer to you may ask? Well, as you might know, for many years I have been a fervent collector of the Disco genre, which between 1975 and 1979 was immensely popular not only in clubs, but also in the real world; and as such it developed many a sub genre.

Erotis is a teenage love in 48 minutes. Aqeel and Sandra Nkak are the main vocalists. Instruments used are keys, bass, guitar and drums. None of the record have been recorded live, this is all studio sessions and overdubs. If you follow me you may find some stuff you already know in there, all mixed and arranged differently.

Based out of San Francisco, the Shotgun Wedding Quintet are best described as a hip-hop jazz outfit. They’re members of the Jazz Mafia collective, and they’re not afraid to get political. Pulling in influences from ska to reggae to klezmer, the Shotgun Wedding Quintet could be viewed as just another novelty band. To make that assumption, however, would miss one important thing: they’re ferociously talented.
The Shotgun Wedding Quintet’s dark, sharp-edged, often funny lyrics detail the daily trials of San Francisco life, from the girlfriend that’s “too hip to live” to the frustrations of being used as a derogatory example on the national political stage. Their solid beats had people dancing in front of the stage.

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The new work of Peter Musebrink, the head of DEEP DIVE CORP., is again a high-class mix of funky dubgrooves, chillout ethno-beats and synthpop – it even includes a cover version of one of DEPECHE MODE's best song ever: "Enjoy the Silence"! Again, a lot of guests met in the DEEP DIVE CORP.

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