Funk | Soul 206 Items

USM are pleased to announce the release of Marvin Gaye: 1961-1965, a collection of his first seven studio albums on 180g vinyl in one fantastic box. This includes the stereo mixes of The Soulful Moods Of Marvin Gaye, That Stubborn Kind Of Fellow and When I’m Alone I Cry released as LPs for the first time ever.

They have been known to deep soul, funk and disco collectors for decades for their sought after 7” “Watching Out/Dazed,” long thought to be the band’s only recordings.
Egon tracked down Split Decision Band’s vocalist and songwriter Gordon Starr Flipping in the hopes of more and got it – with Split Decision Band, Now-Again presents a never-before-released album of devastatingly good disco and boogie from the unlikely
city of Des Moines, Iowa. Flipping’s collaborations with Prince’s stable made him a Midwestern legend, but his band’s music is more than an urban tall tale – this album finally proves to the world their merits.

As always, D_m flexes his multi-instrumentalist talents by handling all the production but still makes time for guests including rapper Q-Tip, the father-son duo of Leon Sylvers III & IV, and funk giant Junie
Morrison of the Ohio Players, who opens and closes the album with
dire warnings of what could happen in a world without funk. Rest
assured, D_m is here to make sure that never comes to pass. As he
puts it, "funk is the underdog, the black sheep of black music," and if
that's true, D_m-Funk is its shepherd.

Thundercat presents “drunk”- a 23-track epic journey into the often hilarious, sometimes dark mind of the Grammy-winning singer/ bassist - featuring a few of his friends joining him along the way including: Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell, Michael Mcdonald, Kenny Loggins, Wiz Khalifa, Kamasi Washington and Brainfeeder Mastermind Flying Lotus.

With love from Northern Europe... Erotic Mondo's hidden treasure! Long-awaited analog reissue of two Monica Lassen album titles

A Wamono erotic work produced in Japan with the setting of ``A work created for the enjoyment of men and women by a Swedish female musician named Monika Lassen, who is also active as a sexual psychologist.'' Mondo's hidden treasure. This is a rare and unusual record, with sounds that overlap with the dazzling sounds of jazz, rock, lounge, psych, etc.

The sequel was released one year after the previous work ``woman'' was well received. It's an erotic Japanese groove that knows no bounds, with more moaning voices than the previous work, heavy fuzz guitar, piercing organ, and sexy scat! A total concept album consisting of the same song at the beginning and end of both sides.

120 gram vinyl in gatefold sleeve with download code!

After 14 years out of the spotlight, D'Angelo releases 'Black Messiah'. Lyrics from Q-Tip and Kendra Foster, and backing by Questlove, James Gadsen and Pino Palladino. All sexy as hell, like his previous work.

The pop world lost one of the most important soul singers ever to grace the world on 1st April 1984. Marvin Gaye has left behind a series of fantastic hits plus a big handful of tracks which deserve the title of masterpiece, all Collected on this album.

The Supremes, the most commercially successful girl group in Pop history, were one of the jewels in Motown Records' artist stable. Two dozen of Number One hits, both as The Supremes and as Ross solo, are collected here, including the timeless classics "Come See About Me", "You Can't Hurry Love", "You Keep Me Hangin' On" and "Stop! In the Name of Love".

180g vinyl.

For 23 straight Saturday nights of 1982, "The Chicago Party" dance show assaulted Chicagoland UHF eyeballs with Spandex, Southside fly guys, tender tenderonies, magicians, contortionists, prismatic video gimmickry, and lip-synched singles by a rising regime of local post-disco casualties. Unfettered nightlife and outlandish humor poured out of oddball outpost The CopHerBox II and onto TV screens, presented here as a 100-minute video mixtape on DVD. Its companion compilation features five previously unreleased tracks, joined by music culled from a trove of self-released 45s and small-time 12"s. Die-cut cathode-ray jacket and six in-package stills put the Party at your fingertips.Available on CD or 2LP, each edition of Ultra-High Frequencies: The Chicago Party will arrive in one of six cover configurations, all of which are interchangeable via printed inner sleeves and enclosed booklet. Both editions include our entertaining DVD mixtape, isolating the most absurd and outrageous moments from the original broadcasts. Play functions enable viewers to enjoy 23 unique musical performances, as well as a mini-documentary about the creation and realization of "The Chicago Party." For fans of electronic soul with a public-access aesthetic, Ultra-High Frequencies: The Chicago Party is the place to be.

Limited whitelabel 7-inch deejay press of 50 copies only!

Rare UK only modern soul/boogie release recorded 1979 in Los Angeles with Fred Wesley providing the horn section perfectly de-guitarized by BTO Spider b/w in demand sensational smooth '77 modern/crossover groover!

2023 re-issue of Nai Palm (of Hiatus Kaiyote)’s debut solo album.

What started as an idea 5 years ago now becomes reality with the release of SAIGON SUPERSOUND Vol.1, compiled by Jan Hagenkötter. A compilation about the story of a musical era in Vietnam that was almost lost, made of tracks from 1965 to 1975, the so-called “Golden Music” period in the south of Vietnam, where – under difficult circumstances – a lively pop culture had developed. This period is characterized by the fusion of Vietnamese music with western pop music. The compilation includes some tunes reissued for the very first time since they´ve been released originally. With the release of Saigon Supersound Vol. 1 on double gatefold vinyl and cd in May 2017 the story of this nearly unknown music will be reissued.
Jan Hagenkötter a music-lover and DJ who is also the mind behind the renowned music publishing company and record label INFRACom!, relocated to Saigon in 2012. In co-operation with the Vietnam based dOSe crew, Jan organized parties and shows, inviting guest and friends like DJ Spinna, Jazzanova, Alice Russell and many other artists. During this year as he was spinning tunes in Saigon and other parts of South East Asia the idea for this project was born. In 2013 Jan returned to Germany but has been swinging back and forth between Saigon and Frankfurt ever since.
In the following years he began to research and collect more seriously. He bought vinyl singles from around the world, often several copies of the same release, just to restore or rather “rebuild” one good recording from several sources. With the help of friends based in Saigon, he was able to navigate an almost impenetrable jungle of music websites. Thanks to invaluable support and translation assistance from Vietnamese friends, he came into contact with several collectors. The best recordings from this treasure hunt were then retouched, refined and remastered in the studio for this release.
Besides this amazing project, Vietnamese producers like Maqman from Saigon, DJ Yellow from Paris and others who also share roots in Vietnam have already started to work on edits and re-works of songs featured on Saigon Supersound Vol. 1. These will be released in a next step....the mission is not completed....it just started!

A delicate, slinky figure with a powerhouse voice, Ann Peebles occupied a special place among the many great talents that roamed the halls of Memphis' iconic Hi Records in the 1960s and 1970s. While producer Willie Mitchell was the company's heart, musicians the Hodges Brothers its soul, and Al Green its top star, it was Peebles who gave the label its first national success, and a lasting female identity. Over the course of seven albums and dozens of singles for Hi, Peebles expressed a complex range of moods and emotions in her music. Her songs were alternately pleading and defiant and destructive, but always, utterly soulful.

Released For The Very First Time In The Format It Was Recorded For. The Holy Grail Of Bolan's Unreleased Soul Recordings As Producer For Sister Pat Hall, Includes Completely Unheard Version Of Do Your Thing Taken From Newly Acquired Original Reels Features Completely Reworked Version Of Classic T. Rex Tracks 'Jitterbug Love', 'Get It On', 'Sunken Rags', And The Never Released In Marc's Lifetime 'Sailors Of The Highway'. Besides Some Self-Released Gospel Recordings, Pat Hall Was A Much Sought After Vocalist In The Late 60's Early 70's, Having Worked With Joe Cocker As One Of The `Sanctified Sisters' Along With Gloria Jones.In 1972 Pat (& Hloria) Became Backing Singers On The U.S T.Rex Concerts And In Mid To Late 1973 Marc Bolan Decided He Was Going To Produce An Album By Pat, Being Well Ahead Of The Then Interest In Black American Soul By Fellow Pop Stars David Bowie John Lennon And Elton John. The Album Was Recorded But Never Released (On Vinyl), Until Now!Pat Hall Never Released Anything Again, This Album Remains The Sole Released Recordings Of This Extraordinary Singer.

Great retrospective of Lil Bob And The Lollipops' discography. Classic Louisiana swamp soul / R& B, recorded in the early to mid 1960s. Includes the popular dance floor fillers "I Got Loaded" and "Stop," as well as some real beautiful obscurities. Ballads and stompers to make life better. Old school "tip on" cover.

Runner-Up at Apollo Theater Amateur Night! Highly Anticipated Debut Album from a Major New Talent Set to Take the World by Storm Nao Yoshioka's first album, "The Light," was recorded by three teams in the U.S., the Netherlands, and Japan. The notable vintage soul artist Brian Owens from the U.S. handled the instrumental recording and vocal direction for three tracks. In New York, Dani Elliott and Orly collaborated on songwriting and provided tracks. In the Netherlands, Shirma Rouse, hailed as the No. 1 Soul Queen, also took charge of the instrumental recording and vocal direction for three tracks. The Japanese team featured top musicians from the scene, including Takuya Kuroda, a trumpeter renowned for his work with the José James Band. Soul music, connected through Nao Yoshioka, casts its spell from Tokyo to the world.

Oddball Japanese electro-fueled vocoder funk with occasional raps from the 80s, including unreleased material...

Japanese Electro original, Minoru Hoodoo Fushimi, self-released four albums. Two vinyl LPs and two CDs between 1985 and 1992. Melbourne`s Left Ear Records have selected twelve tracks from Minoru`s four albums, and a further two from the archives, for a double vinyl retrospective.

Minoru set out to combine his love of all things Funk with traditional instruments and song from his homeland. He uses shamisen on Thanatopsis. Where Parliament`s Flashlight, George Clinton`s Atomic Dog, ride with Osamu Kitajima`s Masterless Samurai. Shakuhachi on Mizuko No Tamashii Hyakumademo. Nohdashi puts koto with a Jimmy Castor riff. All set to popping and locking beats.

Raised amid the rich musical culture and history of the San Francisco Bay Area, Monophonics proudly carry the torch through the generations into today’s musical landscape. Holding on to tradition, but by no means purists of any kind, they play their own brand of music known as “Psychedelic Soul.”

The 2012 release of Monophonics last album In Your Brain saw the band pulling influences from such acts as early Funkadelic, Sly and The Family Stone and the The Temptation's Norman Whitfield produced records. With the new album, Sound of Sinning (April 14, 2015 on Transistor Sound Records), the band has grown in all areas of record making and felt a need to explore other important in- fluences. While the group has come to cherish these inspirations, With Sound of Sinning they started venturing beyond, to the groups that were inspiring those soul acts to embrace the psychedelic sound of the 60's and 70's. Bands such as The Zombies, The Beatles, Beach Boys and Pink Floyd. Even with the experimentation of new musical territory, they display the sound that people know and love about Monophonics. Touching on Northern soul, doo-wop, rock and roll, Psych pop, and cinematic music, Monophonics show off their diversity while remaining true to their roots. Overall it's heartfelt music and old school vibes, without losing sight of the present. This is is music steeped in that timeless feeling when people could write and produce songs that you could listen to over and over again. Sound of Sinning was produced by Kelly Finnigan & Ian McDonald and recorded on an old Tascam eight-track 1/4” tape machine at Transistor Sound Studios in San Rafael, CA.

“The only time you wear a Tuxedo is when it’s time to party.”

So says legendary West Coast player Snoop Dogg on the opening track of “Tuxedo II”. The blessing of the Doggfather is of special importance to Mayer Hawthorne and Jake One, whose second album as a duo finds them at the forefront of a new wave of gangster boogie - one that owes as much to G-funk as P-funk.This is the territory of pre- and post-hydraulic low riders: a mélange of Cali boom-bap, analog synth bass and elegant disco that resonates truth and authenticity in an era where so many are faking the funk.

Bonding over a shared love of Chic, Parliament, and the other signs in the greater funk Zodiac, Mayer Hawthorne (Aquarius) and Jake One (Taurus) were early predictors of the sea changes that American music would undergo in 2016. Their first release of 2015 debuted at #1 on iTunes America’s RnB charts, christened as “Dance Floor Catnip” by the Boston Globe, and “Pure disco-funk hot fire” by Okayplayer. Considering their individual successes (Mayer’s four solo albums, Jake’s production work for the likes of Drake, Future, The Weeknd, and De La Soul) and five Grammy nominations between the two of them, it’s no surprise that their powers combined have yet again yielded a bevy of absolute slappers that are packaged perfectly for dance parties in 2017. The material here, while wholly original, is an exercise in honoring its forebears. “Tuxedo II” recalls the future funk wobble of Zapp, Gap, Jam/ Lewis and Junie Morrison, while nodding lyrically to Mtume, Jodeci and Cameo.The crystallization of the album’s concept comes courtesy of its message of universal love; thanks to the signature combination of soul and pop sensibility that have come to define Mayer’s hooks.

“You gotta do what you love...” says Mayer in a recent interview with Nordstrom’s style blog, one of the many fashion outlets to cover Tuxedo’s rise. After all - the transcendental ritual of the party and the rippling self affirmation of the funk are of one spirit: the spirit of self love...of self expression. “Tuxedo II” is a modern testament to unity and positivity in trying times. It is a reminder that the dance floor will always be there to welcome you, whoever you are.

Back IN Print 2022 Edition - Limited Edition of 300 copies Recorded Live in Hyattsville, MD 1975-2015. George really had no interest in releasing this record. "Seeing Is believing, they don’t need records, trust me I did that, today they getting it live". So this record is that, live tapes from the house, recorded on a government issued cassette recorder from National Library Service for the Blind. George calls these his practice tapes for songwriting, and performance warm-up, and never beyond his ears were they intended to travel. "You just got to see me live if you want to really see me.. so when we get there just plug me in, and point me at that crowd". Last time I saw George they had him wired to the club system. He unplugs his Yamaha keyboard, licks the tip of the power cord and taps a beat on it, finally plugging in, synth lights up, tones all at zero, beats at zero. Then he builds from there, counting blind through a preset one hunderd factory tones and rhythm patterns. "I gotta start off at zero, and go from there." After the Marshmellow Band disperesed, he got this Yamaha keyboard, same one he’s been playing since 1990, endless scrolling over the same presets, trying to make them fit, tempo down, tapping while telling the story and asking if that feels right to you. "This always gonna be different live."Some selections on this album are original material from home sessions prior to George’s 1980 self- released LP. The rest, just a sampling from the Smallwood mind’s library of classic song writers. - Andrew Morgan (Peoples Potential Unlimited)

Utterly magnificent, sublimely soulful survey of the Gospel Roots label, subsidiary of the mighty TK Records at the height of the Miami Sound. Beautifully presented, the LPs come with a 12"-square, full-colour, sixteen-page album of photos and original artwork and truly outstanding notes, including insightful new interviews across the board; mastered at Abbey Road.

120 gram vinyl in gatefold sleeve with download code!

After 14 years out of the spotlight, D'Angelo releases 'Black Messiah'. Lyrics from Q-Tip and Kendra Foster, and backing by Questlove, James Gadsen and Pino Palladino. All sexy as hell, like his previous work.

James Brown had several incredibly talented funky divas in his late 60s and early 70s stable, including Vicki Anderson and Marva Whitney. But as great as those two powerhouse singers were, Lyn Collins was the strongest hitmaker of that funky JB era. Her strong voice and commanding stage presence - which earned her the nicknames The Female Preacher and Mama Feelgood - quickly proved to be a potent addition to the People Records universe. In the spring of 1972 her second single, the driving and ridiculously funky “Think (About It)” hit the R&B music world like a ton of bricks. As fans young and old know, thanks to its timeless, relentless groove and powerful vocals, “Think” gained a powerful second life in the 1980s thanks to the hip-hop generation, fueling the platinum smash “It Takes Two,” by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock in 1988 and additionally sampled by dozens of hip-hop and dance music artists up to the present day. But Collins was far from a one hit wonder: she was as vocally adept on ballads as she was with full-blown funk. She proves this throughout her debut album, which was released in 1972 on James Browns new People Records - the imprint's second full-length release. To wit, aside from the title smash: a powerful and emotional cover of Bill Withers "Ain’t No Sunshine"; the socially progressive "Women’s Lib"; the Gamble & Huff-penned "Never Gonna Give You Up" (originally done by Jerry Butler); and even a daring, muscular take on the song “Fly Me To The Moon,” made famous by, among others, Frank Sinatra. Throughout Think (About It), Collins shows that she was a vocal force to be reckoned with. Backed by a James Brown assembled musical crew that included Pee Wee Ellis, Fred Wesley and, of course, James Brown himself, the platter was bound to impress and succeed. And that it did.

From the dawn of doo-wop to the death of disco, the Notations saw_and sang_it all. Persisting through changing trends and technologies, on major labels and minor ones, produced by both Syl Johnson and Curtis Mayfield, nothing could stop the Notations from representing Chicago's Southside for decades. The first overview of their indie label golden age, Still Here 1967-1973 finds the Notations at a musical crossroads, turning from simmering R&B ballads to socially-conscious soul. Offering up a platter of golden-dipped harmonies, inventive arrangements, and super-powered soul, the Notations survived as unheralded legends in their own time.

Dr.Dre and Jay-Z sampled, legendary cinematic funk combo Calibro 35 announces the reissue of their fifth album "S.P.A.C.E." on ltd edition Crystal Orange vinyl and digital deluxe edition with bonus tracks.

Record Kicks presents the reissue of Calibro 35's fifth acclaimed long-time sold out album "S.P.A.C.E." on limited edition Crystal Orange vinyl and digital "deluxe" version with bonus tracks.The publication is part of "The Record Kicks Trilogy" that follows the reissue of the first three albums of the band, released in 2020. This time, Milan label Record Kicks will repress on wax of three different colours and on digital deluxe edition, the fourth, fifth and sixth legendary studio albums of the Italian cinematic-funk cult band. The digital deluxe edition of "S.P.A.C.E." includes 3 bonus tracks: "clbr 35", originally released as a b-side of "Bandits of Mars" 45 vinyl, and the unreleased songs "Omicron Paradox"and "The Haploids".

Recorded to tape on an 8-track tape recorder at the 'analog mecca' Toe Rag Studios in London, the worldwide famous studio where The White Stripes penned "Elephant", "S.P.A.C.E." is the fifth studio album by Calibro 35. Forget about the gripping noir atmospheres of their previous full lengths, with this album the Milan combo escapes from planet earth and lands on their own satellite to write the perfect funk soundtrack of an imaginary sci-fi movie directed by Sergio Leone. They've thrown away the balaclavas and embraced a bunch of synthesizers in their new instalment where Calibro 35 explores fresh new territories.

From the storming imaginary main title notes of the title track "S.P.A.C.E." to the percussive effects and creepy organ of "Serenade for a satellite", with incursions into cosmic afrobeat ("Ungwana Bay Launch Complex"), lunar funk ("Bandits On Mars") and trippy atmospheres ("Something Happened on Planet Earth"), in "S.P.A.C.E." Calibro 35 sound as cinematic and groovy as ever. Captured live and direct to tape with no overdubbing or editing facilities by Tommaso Colliva (Muse/Franz Ferdinand), the sound is tough, warm and super tight and confirms the unique musicianship of the band able in few years to gain followers worldwide.

Active since 2008, Calibro 35 enjoy a worldwide reputation as one of the coolest independent bands around. During their fourteen-year career, they were sampled by Dr. Dre on his Compton album, Jay-Z, The Child of lov & Damon Albarn; they shared stages worldwide with the likes of Roy Ayers, Muse, Sun Ra Arkestra, Sharon Jones, Thundercat and Headhunters and as unique musicians they collaborated with, amongst others, PJ Harvey, Mike Patton, John Parish and Stewart Copeland and Nic Cester (The Jet). Described by Rolling Stone magazine as "the most fascinating, retro-maniac and genuine thing that happened to Italy in the last years", Calibro 35 now count on a number of aficionados worldwide including VIP fans such as Dj Food (Ninja Tune), Mr Scruff and Huey Morgan (Fun Lovin' Criminals) among others.

Just 3 Words: Stone Cold Classic!

Limited edition of 500 copies only!

An unreleased before album recorded in 1973 in Rome at the Recording Studios "Sound WorkShop" of Piero Umiliani, and a stand-out Italian Library LP to say the least.

The whole record oozes a dreamy, mysterious, surrealist atmosphere enhaced by the vivid instrumentation that open a series of mesmerising pieces which range from the gentle to the hypnotic.

Eastern sounds, ritual horns and assorted metal banging and scrapping add to the whole mix for a landmark sound that will evolve in delirious acid passages, hypnotic bass riffing, stoned funk beats, dubbed-out passages and Rino De Filippi trade-mark collage and sound manipulation make up to a really unique listening experience that submerges and puzzles the unexpecting listener. A must-have!

Introducing California cult legend Doug Hream Blunt, featuring the hit "Gentle Persuasion". Tip!

Nine unreleased and rare tracks from the amazing Roger Damawuzan also known as the “James Brown from Lomé”, backed by the tremendous “Les As du Benin” orchestra, and recorded between 1972 and 1981.

San Diego’s The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble is here with
their debut full-length on Colemine Records. Laid back
vibes, funky rhythms, and heavy instrumental goodness
are the order for the day.

Limited edition vinyl!

Transcendent : “Surpassing the ordinary; exceptional”
2007 - 2017 : Heavenly Sweetness is turning 10 years old!
They are celebrating with 3 birthday parties, and 2 compilations! One is a best of the label’s production, and the 2nd one is made of exclusive tracks, composed for this occasion.
This compilation is a very subjective best of the label’s production, from each album or single we had the chance to produce, with great artists.
A journey through 10 years of music, a great introduction to the label’s universe, but even the experts will discover unknown tracks.
Including well known artists such as Guts, Blundetto, Sly Johnson, Anthony Joseph, but also more confidential artists: Robert Aaron, Jacaranda Muse, Patchworks (and his tribute to Gil Scott-Heron) and many others!

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings' final studio album, Soul of a Woman is a lush, orchestral masterpiece. A true testament to the life and career of Daptone's fearless leader and one of the world's greatest performers.

Though we’ll never again see her electric form shimmy across the stage, Sharon Jones continues to give us her soul and her music. She died nearly a year ago, but only now can we hear her final creation. Soul of a Woman captures a singer and a band at the peak of their power. Cutting one last time to eight-track tape at Daptone’s House of Soul studio in Bushwick, Brooklyn, the band endeavored to create a record that stretches the limits of their soulful sound in all directions, giving us both their rawest and most sophisticated recordings to date. A final statement by one of the most influential rhythm and blues voices of the 21st century.

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2015!

Always best selling Adele is back with a new set of heartfelt anthems.

8 tracks of raw Arabic funk music, none of these have ever been reissued before. It took 2 years and countless trips to Morocco to find the artists family to license the release from them. Vinyl and CD edition come with liner notes, unseen live photos and lyrics translations.

The past few years have found Sean McBride, the artist behind Martial Canterel, in a state of flux, ebbing back and forth between material displacement and musical aestheticism. His expert pedigree in electronic sound and arrangement bridges the gap created by an undecidability between life at home and abroad His new album, Lost At Sea, is an attempt for the artist to locate this elusive common ground.The album's introductory track, Giving Up, has all of the hallmarks that Martial Canterel has utilized in the past_melodic chorus, upbeat rhythm and classic sequential dynamism. Where the song diverges is in its core theme of nature: nature's return to a period of restoration after the failures and recklessness of humankind.The slower pace of songs like Scampia and Puszta yearn for McBride's complex love affair with far flung destinations. Re-evaluating the political strife and social unrest in these historical locations, McBride delves deeper into political and geological reference points creating symbolic representations using mechanized percussion, white noise and various sine waves.The conceptual nature of Lost at Sea reaches even deeper depths within the waveforms of Astralize, a track based upon academic Donna Haraway's pre-civilized theories of human neglect after the `azstralization'.

As humans, we are aware of our inner beast and should therefore be able to control it. We understand our hard-wired primal urges and why they exist in an evolutional sense. We understand the relationship between mind and body. Highly evolved and intelligent, we should be able to recognize these genetic hangovers and control them as a means to act positively and move forward as a compassionate species. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Recent global eve...

Some twenty years after René Costy's passing, his work - finally - goes global. Moreover, this being a selection out of more than 400 tracks from a virtuoso, versatile andinsatiable artist, it is hard to underestimate the importance of this compilation, which focuses on Costy's library music production from the 70's.

Curtis Harding's new album Face Your Fear is out October 27 on Anti-. New York Magazine already named the forthcoming album one of their most anticipated fall releases lauding Harding’s “scorching voice” while Clash UK hails recent new track “On and On” as “a blistering slice of dancefloor soul that recalls prime Curtis Mayfield and late 60s Motown.” The new album follows 2014’s Soul Power, on which Rolling Stone called Harding an “artist you need to know.”
Harding fuels his psychedelic sound with the essence of Soul but isn’t bound by it. Instead, the 12 songs on the new album convey an eclectic blend of genres leaping from the many musical lives he has lived from following his evangelical Gospel-singing mother on tour as a child in Michigan to rapping in Atlanta, forming a garage band with The Black Lips’ Cole Alexander to singing back-up for Cee Lo Green. Through these experiences he fully embraces life’s darkest intricacies conjuring dynamic, addictive melodies.
Face Your Fear features production by Harding, Sam Cohen, and Danger Mouse and was recorded in New York at Danger Mouse’s 30th Century Studio.

This is the instrumental version of Lee Fields’ latest album.

Produced by Leon Michels and Thomas Brenneck, and brilliantly performed by the Expressions, “Special Night” was written, recorded, mixed, and mastered entirely to tape in three weeks at the legendary Diamond Mine Studios in Queens, NY. A sense of urgency, equal parts fun and inspiration, and a decent amount of beer and Jack Daniels were the driving forces during the sessions that produced Lee Fields & The Expressions latest offering.

"I use music as a medium to talk to other people", Sun Ra once revealed. The Düsseldorfer Stefan Schwander would agree with this statement by the avant-garde jazz great, though he would not necessarily sign his name to it. He also speaks to people through music. Yet he also likes to let music talk to music. Since 2008, as Harmonious Thelonious, on numerous EPs and two albums, he blends the reduced patterns and structures of American minimalist music with African, Latin American and Caribbean rhythms.

For his new work "Santos", which he sees as an LP with a unified concept, he embarked on a mental journey to the north of the African continent and became entranced by Moroccan trance music. The resulting pieces are light, with traces of pop, interweaving the atmospheres of the Master Musicians Of Joujouka and Gnawa music with the driving force of techno. This time Schwander invited a handful of guest musicians to serve as sound sources. The Berliner Ghazi Barakat, former bass player of Stereo Total and man behind the psychedelic experimental project Pharoah Chromium, contributed modified sounds from his Moroccan flute. A second guest musician is the Cologne-based composer Volker Zander, who has long played double bass and electric bass with Calexico. For songs like "Mountains" or "Belloumi" he played a melody on the Turkish Tambur, lending an oriental flair to the vital rhythms of the tracks. The intricate rhythmic patterns also incorporate instruments such as banjo, mandolin and Afro-Cuban drums, played by the percussionist Stefan Suhr, who studied Afro-Cuban ritual drumming in Cuba. Schwander's electronic sequencing blurs these organic sources and brings them into a fluid dialogue with his electronic ideas. For a piece like "Rendez-vous of the Dead", for example, Harmonious Thelonious projected himself out of the studio onto the Djemaa el Fna square in Marrakech. Here, every evening after sunset, local musicians meet and play themselves into a frenzy on distorted mandolins. Harmonious Thelonious translates this dream into a quaking dance monster whose home might be a techno club with an experimental sonic approach. Of course, most of the pieces of "Santos" are heavily danceable, although this time Harmonious Thelonious' tracks roll a little slower than previously. Their rugged beauty has also given way to a very smooth sound. His music, however, has lost none of its complexity. The many voices speak together, propelling each other toward something that traverses traditional genre boundaries, creating a playful trance.

The cover of "Santos" underscores this: It is a collage designed by the artist himself, depicting his notion of an all-star band. Everyone must decipher for themselves exactly who is to be found there. Here, once again, the pictures are not direct portrayals, but veiled references to an emotional state hidden far beyond the visual realm. Just like the music of Thelonious Harmonious, which uses various layers tell countless stories.

Band Leader Alex Puddu is behind the project the Moonfires. The Album is released on 300 copies limited edition on Alex Puddu's own label Al Dente. The Album Black sugar is written, Arranged and Produced By Alex Puddu Recorded during the summer 2014 in Copenhagen Recorded at Redrum Studio Mixed and Masterd in N.Y.C Astoria Queens Soundworks recording by Kamilo Kratc Album photo by Maiken Kildegaard Artwork by Leo Scherfig

Considered an underground classic by many, XL Middleton's “Tap Water” was released at the height of the fervor over 'modern funk' music, brought to life by Dam Funk & carried on by a small but dedicated cadre of artists including Middleton. Always in demand, “Tap Water” has become scarce in the aftermarket and demands collector-level prices when it does sell; thus a reissue was inevitable.