The soundtrack package for Northern Soul consists of CD1: the soundtrack itself containing all the key Northern Soul tracks from the film, CD2: an additional CD of specially chosen Northern Soul tracks compiled by “Northern Soul” director Elaine Constantine and an exclusive DVD with Elaine Constantine being interviewed about the making of the film by actor James Lance who plays top Northern Soul DJ Ray Henderson in the film.
This beautifully packaged 2CD/DVD package also come with a 20 page booklet specially written by Gareth Sweeney – co-author of the bestselling accompanying book “Northern Soul”. This will be Harmless’ key release throughout 2014 and early demand and interest are already indicating that this will be a ‘must-have’ purchase for anyone…

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…who is interested in British musical culture, U.S. soul music and no doubt everyone who will see the film.

Disc: 1

1. Right Track – Billy Butler
2. Back Street – Edwin Starr
3. Soul Time – Shirley Ellis
4. I Gotta Find Me Somebody – The Velvets
5. If This Is Love – The Precisions
6. Seven Day Lover – James Fountain
7. You Don’t Mean It – Towanda Barnes
8. The Night – Frankie Valli
9. I’m Com’un Home In The Morn’un – Lou Pride
10. (Just Say) You’re Wanted And Needed – Gwen Owens
11. They’ll Never Know Why – Freddy Chavez
12. Tear Stained Face – Don Varner
13. Crying Over You – Duke Browner
14. Exus Trek – Luther Ingram
15. Too Late – Larry Williams & Johnny Watson
16. Your Autumn Of Tomorrow – The Crow
17. I’m Gone – Eddie Parker
18. I Really Love You – The Tomangoes
19. This Love Starved Heart Of Mine (It’s Killing Me) – Marvin Gaye
20. Stick By Me Baby – The Salvadores
21. Time – Edwin Starr
22. Come On Train – Don Thomas
23. Lonely For You Baby – Sam Dees
24. Gone With The Wind Is My Love – Rita & The Tiaras
25. Suspicion – The Originals
26. Turning My Heartbeat Up – The MVP’s
27. Time Will Pass You By – Tobi Legend

Disc: 2

1. She’ll Come Running Back – Mel Britt
2. Little Love Affair – Patrinell Staten
3. You Don’t Love Me – Epitome Of Sound
4. I Just Can’t Live My Life (Without You Babe) – Linda Jones
5. What Good Am I Without You – Darrow Fletcher
6. I Surrender – Eddie Holman
7. I Don’t Like To Lose – The Group feat Cecil Washington
8. In Love – Tony Galla
9. I Was Born To Love You – Herbert Hunter
10. I Really Love You – Jimmy Burns
11. Blowing My Mind To Pieces – Bob Relf
12. Please Stay – The Ivories
13. The Chase Is On – Johnny Howard
14. You Left Me – The Admirations
15. Ain’t Gonna Run No More – The Royal Esquires
16. Love Slave – The Antellects
17. As Long As You Love Me (I’ll Stay) – Ronnie & Robyn
18. My Lonely Feeling – Milton James
19. Can You Win – Charlene & The Soul Serenaders
20. This Won’t Change – Lester Tipton
21. Love Factory – Eloise Laws
22. Under Your Powerful Love – Joe Tex
23. It Really Hurts Me Girl – The Carstairs
24. Hung Up On Your Love – The Montclairs
25. Baby Don’t You Weep – Edward Hamilton & The Arabians
26. The Magic Touch – Melba Moore
27. If You Ever Walked Out Of My Life – Dena Barnes

Ten Out of Tenn was formed in 2005 by Kristen and Trent Dabbs, and it has seen some of Nashville’s most talented songwriters fall into its ranks over the last decade.

Ready, Set, Records! released the compilation Ten Out of Tenn: 10 Years to celebrate its already storied history with 20 songs from some of the best artists to have been part of the group.

In addition to Dabbs, Ten Out of Tenn: 10 Years features tracks from Mikky Ekko, Katie Herzig, Joy Williams (The Civil Wars), Paper Route and more.

It’s an impressive collection of songwriters in any right, let alone a collection coming from the same Ten Out of Tenn background.

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CD1
1. We Were Just Kids – Andy Davis
2. Lie Or Lie Awake – Katie Herzig
3. Time – Mikky Ekko
4. Wants What It Wants (Blackwatch Remix) – Andrew Belle
5. ZHIVAGO – Paper Route
6. Let Me Love You – Erin McCarley
7. Nobody’s Stranger Anymore – Trent Dabbs
8. Too Far From You – Sarah Siskind
9. I Realize – Jeremy Lister
10. Speaking A Dead Language (J. Alan Morant 2010 Remix) – Joy Williams

CD2
1. Emerald City – Kyle Andrews
2. Back Burner – Amy Stroup
3. Battles – K.S. Rhoads
4. Burn – Madi Diaz
5. One Thing – Gabe Dixon
6. Mama Hold Your Head Up – Tyler James
7. All My Worry – Kate York
8. Go Through It (Live From Prison) – Griffin House
9. It Pulls Me Under – Butterfly Boucher
10. Cancion de la Noche – Matthew Perryman Jones

1. The Fall – Fibre Book Troll
2. Gill Landry – Funeral in My Heart
3. FFS – Johnny Delusional
4. Jim O’Rourke – This Weekend
5. Richard Thompson – Beatnik Walk
6. Funkadelic & Soul Clap feat. Sly Stone – In Da Kar
7. Michael Head & the Strands – Poor Jill
8. Soapkills – Galbi
9. Leftfield – Universal Everything
10. Meg Baird – Counterfeiters
11. The Pre New – Psychedelic Lies
12. William Tyler – The Sleeping Prophet
13. Jah Wobble – Merry Go Round
14. Trembling Bells – Killing Time in London Fields
15. Bitchin Bajas – Marimba

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1. Freddie King – San Ho Zay
2. Elmore James – Shake Your Moneymaker
3. Buster Brown – Doctor Brown
4. Otis Rush – So Many Roads
5. Howlin’ Wolf – No Place to Go
6. Little Walter – Last Night
7. Fabian – Tiger
8. Eden Kane – Well I Ask You
9. Buddy Holly – Rave On
10. The Kingston Trio – Greenback Dollar
11. Little Willie John – Need Your Love So Bad
12. Jimmy Rogers with His Rocking Four – The World Is in a Tangle
13. Eddie Boyd – Five Long Years
14. Elmore James – Coming Home
15. Robert Johnson – Hellhound On My Trail

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In the late ’60s and early ’70s, the New York folk singer Karen Dalton released a couple of albums of spindly, meditative folk-blues before disappearing into obscurity. She died in 1993, and years after her death, people started to rediscover her music. Dalton left behind a fair amount of music that she never released, and on a new compilation, a number of younger voices take on some of her unheard lyrics.
By the good graces of legendary guitarist Peter Walker, who oversees Karen’s Estate, we are gifted with these lost lyrics, now given voice by other great women of song on Remembering Mountains: Unheard Songs By Karen Dalton. Featured artists include: Sharon Van Etten, Patty Griffin, Julia Holter, Lucinda Williams, Marissa Nadler, Laurel Halo…

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1. Remembering Mountains – Sharon Van Etten
2. All That Shines Is Not Truth – Patty Griffin
3. This Is Our Love – Diane Cluck
4. My Love, My Love – Julia Holter
5. Met An Old Friend – Lucinda Williams
6. So Long Ago And Far Away – Marissa Nadler
7. Blue Notion – Laurel Halo
8. For The Love I’m In – Larkin Grimm
9. Don’t Make It Easy – Isobel Campbell
10. At Last The Night Has Ended – Tara Jane O’Neil
11. Met An Old Friend – Josephine Foster

Globe-trotting label Putumayo offers up Café del Mundo, a collection of low-key, singer/songwriter-oriented fare from a variety of different nationalities.

Songs like “Ojos Negros” by Cuban duo Descemer Bueno & Kelvis Ochoa, “Sinar” by Indonesian singer Rita Lestariani, and “Beschäftigt Mit Dem Blues” by German jazz singer Katharine Mehrling may seem worlds apart, but like the rest of the music on this set, they share a welcoming, contemplative nature that is universal.

It’s a pleasurable worldbeat journey, mostly set to acoustic guitars, that could be enjoyed over coffee or tea just about anywhere.

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1. Les Freres Guisse – Metro – Boulot – Dodo [04:14]
2. Kelvis Ochoa And Descemer Bueno – Ojos Negros [04:12]
3. Gianmaria Testa – Nuovo [03:13]
4. Julie Fowlis – Lon-Dubh (Blackbird) [02:39]
5. Les Babacools – Lluvia Sol [04:12]
6. Monica Giraldo – Gran Intento [03:21]
7. Blick Bassy – Hemle [02:48]
8. Razia Said – Ny Alantsika [03:30]
9. Rita Lestariani – Sinar [02:54]
10. Fernando Lameirinhas – Amarte’Ei [02:31]
11. Katharine Mehrling – [03:33]
12. Pascal Lejeune – Les Lendemains Melodieux [03:02]

The concept of ‘Rare Groove’ has come a long way since its origins in the 1980s London club scene, where DJs would try to out-do each other with soul and funk obscurities. These days the blogosphere is full of enthusiasts sharing their latest vintage vinyl finds, with African music providing rich pickings. But there is a largely untapped resource of independent labels in Africa, America and Europe releasing fabulous sounds that deserve a much wider audience. This collection pulls together a variety of African grooves music from Mozambican marrabenta to Nigerian highlife.
Gentleman Mike Ejeagha and his protégé Celestine Ukwu are both known for morally instructive songs in the Igbo language of south-eastern Nigeria. ‘Ikpechakwa A-Akem Kpee’ starts with a clarion…

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…call of horns and quickly settles into an old-school highlife groove. Osayomore Joseph is known as ‘Ambassador’ for popularising the Edo language through music. ‘Oyeye’, with its ringing guitar and rasping brass was one of his first hits in the early 1970s.

Orchestra Marrabenta Star De Moçambique takes its name from an urban music style from Maputo, speeding up the rural majika rhythm and adding pulsing horns. Ayalèw Mèsfin started singing with Ethiopian Police Orchestra before developing his own rock’n’roll-influenced sound full of moody fuzz-guitar riffs, keyboard stabs and horn punches. Analogue synths meet old school East African Rumba in ‘Kai Kai’ by Yam Yam, a previously unreleased track featuring the talents of Congolese émigrés Les Mangalepa, now based in Nairobi, and British producer Guy Morley.

West Nkosi’s sax jive style provides a stepping-stone between penny-whistle kwela and mbaqanga, the township music unforgettably dubbed ‘The Indestructible Beat’.

Super Cayor De Dakar described their brand of Afro-Latin music salsa-mbalax. The 1996 version of ‘Dégoo’ included here is more immediate than later recordings, with a sublime combination of keyboards and horns. Saleta Phiri was one of the first two musicians to receive ‘The Malawi Honours Of The Achievers Award’. His songs speak of the hardships of life in the volatile township of Ndirande. — worldmusic.net

01. Gentleman Mike Ejeagha & His Premiers Dance Band – Ikpechakwa A-Akem Kpee (6:15)
02. Orchestra Marrabenta Star De Mocambique – Elisa Gomara Saia (5:11)
03. Ayalew Mesfin – Hasabé (3:56)
04. Les Mangelepa – Kai Kai (5:33)
05. International Orchestra Safari Sound – Homa Imenizidia (7:06)
06. Osayomore Joseph & The Creative 7 – Oyeye (4:20)
07. West Nkosi – Durban Road (2:42)
08. Super Cayor de Dakar – Dégoo (4:15)
09. Saleta Phiri & The AB Sounds – Kalulu Mwana (5:08)
10. Malombo – Mbaqanga Blues (4:46)
11. Celestine Ukwu & His Philosophers National – Onwunwa (5:13)
12. Francis Bebey – Ndolo (2:54)

Fado is the lifeblood of Portugal’s urban folk scene. Its melancholic songs pump thick through Lisbon’s cobbled streets and steaming port-side bars, piercing the hearts of listeners with typically mournful lyrics and full-hearted vocal performances. Fado is soaked in what the Portuguese call saudade, a word that translates best as a deep-set feeling of melancholy and yearning. The seventeenth century Portuguese writer Manuel de Mello described fado as ‘a pleasure you suffer, an ailment you enjoy’.
Fado emerged in the late 1820s in Lisbon, its irresistible sound trickling outwards from the neighbourhoods of Alfama, Mouraria and Barrio Alto. Owing to the vibrant port at Lisbon, the new cultures and traditions flowed in and out of the waterfront city, promoting a previously…

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…unprecedented level of musical exchange. Related to fado’s seafaring origins, is its historic connection to marginal social groups; songs of dispossessed prostitutes, lonely sailors, far from home coachmen and underhand criminals are all common to the genre. One legend tells that the first fado diva was Maria Severa, a prostitute who was embroiled in an affair with a high profile Count. When the affair ended, Maria began to sing impassioned songs about her heartache, giving way to the emergence of the genre.

Today, a young crop of fadistas beat together traditional forms with international inferences. Critics raise concerns surrounding the commodification of fado and the overpowering of the old, authentic fado houses by money-hungry tourist venues. Supporters of new formations point out that by its very nature, fado has always been a fluxing, changing site of creativity. This Rough Guide celebrates the legends of fado that inspire the forerunners of the present day. The classic giants of the genre that are heard on this album performed during the late twentieth century – a heyday for impassioned compositions, trembling portentous guitar parts and dramatic, heart-saddening songs.

Amalia Rodrigues, known as the ‘Rainha do Fado’ (Queen of Fado) is one of the most important figures in fado history, renowned for her consuming performances both at home and on the international stage. Her sister Celeste Rodrigues must also be credited for her deep-rooted influence on the genre. Celeste is also the grandmother of this Rough Guide’s expert compiler: the filmmaker Diogo Varela Silva. Diogo created the 2010 documentary Fado Celeste about his relative, charting her career as one of the oldest fadistas still active on the contemporary live scene. Feel the fado running deep on this compilation, showcasing the great masters of Portugal’s passionately poetic fado tradition.

Also presented as part of this package is the critically acclaimed album from one of Fado’s next generation of promising stars, Katia Guerreiro. Receiving the award for ‘Best Performer of Fado’ from the Amália Rodrigues Foundation, as well as being awarded the ‘Order of Arts And Letters’ in France, Katia is a fantastic ambassador for fado on the world scene and set to become a legend in the future. — worldmusic.net

01. Armandinho – Fado Armandinho (3:01)
02. Alfredo Marceneiro – Lembro-Me de Ti (5:56)
03. Herminia Silva – A Tendinha (2:06)
04. Joao Ferreira-Rosa – Triste Sorte (3:23)
05. Tristão da Silva – Lisboa É Sempre Lisboa (2:26)
06. Fernanda Maria – Saudade Vai-Te Embora (2:59)
07. Max – Vielas de Alfama (3:38)
08. Lucilia Do Carmo – É Loucura (3:06)
09. Antonio dos Santos – Minha Alma de Amor Sedenta (3:59)
10. Domingos Camarinha – Guitarra Triste (3:30)
11. Maria da Fé – Até Que a Voz Me Doa (3:06)
12. Maria Teresa De Noronha – Fado das Horas (2:50)
13. Carlos Ramos – Não Venhas Tarde (3:37)
14. Fernando Farinha – Canção de Lisboa (2:36)
15. Celeste Rodrigues – Lenda das Algas (3:04)
16. Tony De Matos – O Fado Mora Em Lisboa (3:06)
17. Amalia Rodrigues – Povo Que Lavas No Rio (5:02)
18. Jose Luis Nobre Costa – Olhando o Mar (3:53)
19. Katia Guerreiro – Asas (3:32)
20. Katia Guerreiro – Vira Dos Malmequeres (2:29)
21. Katia Guerreiro – Segredos (2:17)
22. Katia Guerreiro – Rosa Vermelha (2:19)
23. Katia Guerreiro – Algemas (3:25)
24. Katia Guerreiro – Incerteza (2:02)
25. Katia Guerreiro – Ponham Flores Na Mesa (4:07)
26. Katia Guerreiro – Vodka e Valium 10 (2:17)
27. Katia Guerreiro – Amor de Mel, Amor de Fel (3:10)
28. Katia Guerreiro – Fados Dos Olhos (2:55)
29. Katia Guerreiro – As Rosas/Promessa (2:05)
30. Katia Guerreiro – A Voz da Poesia (3:03)
31. Katia Guerreiro – Procuro e Não Te Encontro (3:08)
32. Katia Guerreiro – Lisboa À Noite (3:16)
33. Katia Guerreiro – Pranto de um Amor Ausente (3:38)
34. Katia Guerreiro – Chora, Mariquinhas Chora (3:15)
35. Katia Guerreiro – Arraial (3:54)
36. Katia Guerreiro – Perdigão (1:34)

While much has been made of Indian music’s influence on Western psychedelia, it seems the reverse was also true. Paralleling George Harrison’s introduction of the sitar into Western pop culture via the Beatles’ Rubber Soul, a grassroots garage rock scene had begun to establish itself in India and the adventurous musical spirit that overtook late- ’60s pop music was felt all over the subcontinent.
This collection from the Rough Guide series spans psychedelia’s influence in Indian music from the ’60s onward, with classic cuts like Ananda Shankar’s groovy “Dancing Drums” and the trippy Bollywood vibes of the R.D. Burman-penned “Dum Maro Dum,” as well as contemporary songs like “Satyam Shivam Sundaram” by the British/Indian fusion group Sunday Driver. Perhaps a little…

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…too light on the Nuggets-style deep cuts, the Rough Guide series has always been true to its name, and this volume is a solid enough representation of an admittedly wide swath of music. — AMG

1. Kalyanji-Anandji – Dance Music (Instrumental) (2:10)
2. Ananda Shankar – Dancing Drums (5:22)
3. Sunday Drive – Satyam Shivam Sundaram (6:52)
4. The Bombay Royale – Bombay Twist (3:02)
5. Simon Thacker’s Svara-Kanti – Rakshasa (6:33)
6. Tiger Blossom – Brishtir Pani (2:24)
7. Asha Bhosle – Dum Maro Dum (3:38)
8. Paban Das Baul – Kaliya (3:12)
9. Jazz Thali – Chamber of Dreams (4:59)
10. Jyotsna Srikanth – Thilana (4:27)
11. Ray Spiegel Ensemble – Moksha (8:36)
12. Debashish Bhattacharya – A Mystical Morning (feat. John McLaughlin) (16:03)

Some spicy finger food from the Jazzman label.

Jukebox Mambo vol. 2 is the second part in this funky journey.

Based around mid 20th century mambo jams, this spans all sorts of African-american styles with some Latin-american tinges through out.

A strong follow up to 2011’s first volume, Vol. 2 further showcases Liam Large’s curatorial skills and broad knowledge of early stateside R&B.

Two years in the making, this sequel ploughs deeper still into the revolutionary ’40s and ’50s Afro-American musical canon, pulling together another combustible collection of lascivious Latin-edged blues exotica.

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01. Lincoln Chase – I Love Your Many Ways (2:22)
02. Christine Chatman and Peppy Prince Orchestra – Run Gal Run (2:59)
03. Chris Powell and His Five Blue Flames – I Come from Jamaica (2:38)
04. Zilla Mays – Calypso Blues (2:51)
05. Johnny Oliver – All I Have Is You (2:41)
06. Chuck Edwards – Morning Train (2:22)
07. Oscar Saldana – Mambo Hop (2:13)
08. Jimmy Nolen – Jimmy’s Jive (3:08)
09. Four Blazes – All Night Long (2:45)
10. Chanters – She Wants to Mambo (2:49)
11. Jeanne DeMetz – Calypso Daddy (feat. Johnny Alston Orchestra) (3:16)
12. Camille Howard – Within This Heart of Mine (2:12)
13. Ashton Savoy – Denga Denga (2:15)
14. Freddie Mitchell and His Orchestra – Later Gator (3:13)
15. Note and Toe and The Grenadiers – I Got a Cold (Calypso) (2:48)
16. John McKinney and The Premiers – Gee I Love You (2:11)
17. T-Bone Walker – Plain Old Down Home Blues (3:06)
18. Ron Rico and Sax Kari Orchestra – Chano (3:07)
19. Don Tosti Y Su Conjunto – Mambo Del Pachuco (2:54)
20. Billy Emerson – Satisfied (2:20)
21. Frank Motley – Wanda Landa Landa (2:40)
22. Red Saunders – Summertime (2:33)

Between the late 70s and the mid-80s, a Los Angeles based label named Sheridan House was releasing slabs of modern soul, boogie & funk on (now rare) wax. DJ Shane “Sureshot” Hunt has compiled his favourite 27 tunes from that catalog for a 2-CD or 6×12″ boxset anthology on Ubiquity/Luv N’ Haight Records.
Most of the songs were recorded at Ray Charles’s home studio in L.A. with Ray engineering. Kool and the Gang were session musicians as well as the Jazz Crusaders, who were childhood friends of the label’s founder, Kent Harris.
A superb selection of modern soul really more leaning towards funk, synth-funk & boogie rather than disco – essential for DJ’s spinning at disco and boogie funk nights! — ParisDJs

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1. Something Unique – Catch Action
2. Deborah Foster – Whip It On
3. Janette Renee – What’s On Your Mind
4. Back To Back – Real Love
5. Something Unique – The Feeling Between Us
6. Deborah Foster – Sweet and Sassy
7. Deborah Foster – Sweet and Sassy (Instrumental)
8. Janette Renee – I’m Gonna Be Your Lover
9. Janette Renee – I’m Gonna Be Your Lover (Instrumental)
10. Ty Karim & George Griffin – Keep On Doin’
11. Beverly Cason – Frenzy
12. Ty & Towanna – Catch Action
13. Right Connection – High School Love Affair
14. 2-Ana – Jungle Animal
15. 2-Ana – Jungle Animal (Instrumental)
16. Robert Edwards – Funky On The Bottom
17. Robert Edwards – Sweet On The Top
18. Back To Back – Shake That Body Music
19. Deborah Foster – It Takes Money
20. Beverly Cason – Love Me
21. Romeo Stone – Keep On Doin’ Whatcha Doin’
22. Big Bundy – Sex
23. Tammi Hanson – So Weak
24. Towana – Tell Me How It Is
25. Ty Karim – It Takes Money
26. King James – Suspicion
27. Deborah Foster – Sweet & Sassy (Alternate Take)

1. Mikal Cronin – Say
2. Giant Sand – Texting Feist
3. My Morning Jacket – Big Decisions
4. Thee Oh Sees – Web
5. Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell – The Traveling Kind
6. The Weather Station – Way It Is, Way It Could Be
7. Malukayi (feat. Konono No 1) – Mbongwana Star
8. Joanna Gruesome – Honestly Do Yr Worst
9. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – Mountain Scramble
10. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Can’t Keep…
11. The Sonics – Livin’ in Chaos
12. Super Furry Animals – Y Gwyneb Iau
13. Wire – Jousyt & Jostle
14. Richard Dawson – Poor Old Horse
15. Blanck Mass – Dead Format

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1. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Funeral
2. David Corley – Available Light
3. Calexico – Falling from the Sky
4. Cannibal Ox feat MF Doom – Iron Rose (Skylab 3 Remix)
5. Waxahatchee – Under a Rock
6. Bop English – Dan’s Blues (It Was Beyond…)
7. Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba – Siren Fen
8. Torres – New Skin
9. Villagers – Courage
10. Goran Kafjes Subtronic Arkestra – Yet Again
11. Bill Fay – War Macine
12. Dean McPhee – Smoke and Mirrors
13. This Is the Kit – Bashed Out
14. Xylouris White – Pulling the Bricks
15. Todd Rundgren – Rise

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On the third volume of Bear Family’s seven-entry country-rock chronicle Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels: The Blissed-Out Birth of Country-Rock, the label moves into 1970, a year that saw a nascent, long-haired Americana gain popularity but also get a bit weirder. Thanks to the Band’s success — Music from Big Pink turned heads in 1968, but 1969’s The Band found its way onto the Billboard Top 10, bringing the group to the cover of Time in the opening weeks of 1970 — there were now hordes of fellow travelers, including hippies like Jefferson Airplane, trying on overalls for size. The Airplane brought in Jerry Garcia to play steel on “The Farm,” one of the 38 tunes featured on this double-disc set, a collection…

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…of songs that also includes two cuts from the Grateful Dead’s twin ’70 releases, Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty. If the San Franciscan hippies were embracing roots, so were the blissed-out Los Angelenos. Led by Gram Parsons, who spent much of 1970 closing out his run with the Flying Burrito Brothers, these creatures of the Canyon included Mike Nesmith, who was just breaking free from the Monkees, and Rick Nelson, continuing the path they started in 1969 — a journey that can be heard on the second volume of Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels — but the ’70s saw the rise of idiosyncratic singer/songwriters like Jesse Winchester, Eric Andersen, and Townes Van Zandt, along with Nashville rebels David Allan Coe and Kris Kristofferson, the latter also seeing success via a cover of “Me and Bobby McGee” from Janis Joplin. A new wrinkle came in the form of the wooly, hard-driving rockers from the south, a breed typified by the Allman Brothers Band but also encompassing Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. A lot of the lesser-known names here — Swampwater, Goose Creek Symphony, Country Funk, Wildweeds — fall outside of these parameters, skewing closer to the bright, wide-open sound of Poco, a feel that might typify how country-rock felt at the start of the ’70s: after all the heaviness of the ’60s, it seemed like a new day was dawning.

CD1
01. The Allman Brothers Band – Midnight Rider
02. Delaney & Bonnie And Friends – Living on the Open Road
03. Cowboy – Livin’ in the Country
04. The Band – Just Another Whistle Stop
05. Jesse Winchester – Biloxi
06. The Flying Burrito Brothers – Lazy Days
07. Doug Sahm – The Sir Douglas Quintet /Be Real
08. Kris Kristofferson – The Best of All Possible Worlds
09. Grateful Dead – Casey Jones
10. Jefferson Airplane – The Farm
11. Moby Grape – Right Before My Eyes
12. Michael Nesmith & The First National Band – Joanne
13. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Some of Shelly’s Blues
14. Townes Van Zandt – Delta Mama Blues
15. David Alan Coe – Walkin’ Bum
16. Rick Nelson – California
17. Eric Andersen – Just a Country Dream
18. Poco – You Better Think Twice
19. Brewer & Shipley – One Toke Over the Line

CD2
01. Linda Ronstadt – He Darked the Sun
02. The Flying Burrito Brothers – God’S Own Singer
03. Swampwater – Big Bayou
04. The Band – The WS Walcott Medicine Show
05. David Allan Coe – Tobacco Road
06. Goose Creek Symphony – Charlie’S Tune
07. Country Funk – Really My Friend
08. Grateful Dead – Truckin’
09. Jefferson Airplane – A Song for All Seasons
10. Morning – Tell Me a Story
11. Michael Nesmith & The First National Band – Silver Moon
12. Poco – Hurry Up
13. Townes Van Zandt – Where I Lead Me
14. Rusty Kershaw – The Country Boy
15. Wildweeds – Mare, Take Me Home
16. Jesse Winchester – Snow
17. Kris Kristofferson – Sunday Morning Coming Down
18. Janis Joplin – Me and Bobby Mcgee
19. Townes Van Zandt – Delta Mama Blues (Unissued)

Ace revives their SuperFunk series in 2015 with Soul Emissaries. The title alone is a tipoff that this collection has a bit of a heavier soul bent than its predecessors, and that’s quite appealing.
These rarities, dating as early as 1971 and as late as 1984, aren’t focused on the groove but they are rhythm-heavy, offering an addictive blend of song-oriented, danceable funk. Often, this does mean that Soul Emissaries edges toward proto-disco, a hybrid that’s fetching, but there’s a variety of different styles here: a down-and-dirty variation on the Jody on “Jodine,” the reggae of “Funky Kingston,” an elastic reinvention of the Beatles’ “We Can Work It Out” from Raymond Parker, and a bit of neon Rick James sleaze on William Bostic’s “What You Do to Me.” All these styles are held together…

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…by that focus on the song and those deep, infectious rhythms that turn this into a never-ending party.

01. Samson & Delilah – You Bring the Tears
02. George Jackson – Love Highjackers
03. Billy Cee – Dark Skin Woman
04. William Bostic – Sweet Thang
05. The Two Things In One – Teardrops
06. Mary Love – Born to Live With Heartache
07. Viola Wills – Sweetback
08. The Huck Daniels Co. – Foolish Man, Pt. 2
09. Marcene Harris – Work It Out
10. Earl Foster – Jodine
11. Tribe – Funky Kingston
12. McKinley Mitchell – Days Got Brighter
13. Chuck Brooks – Behind Closed Doors
14. Raymond Parker – We Can Work It Out
15. William Bostic – What You Do to Me
16. Chet Ivey & His Fabulous Avengers – So Fine
17. Lee Porter & Peaceful Persuasion – Nobody’s Doin’ a Doggone Thing
18. The Funky Kids – Brother Jack
19. Obrey Wilson – Daddy Please Stay Home
20. LaMont Johnson – Forgotten

After the London Symphony Orchestra’s version of the Who’s Tommy, Classic Quadrophenia is Pete Townshend’s second rock opera to be turned into a, well, opera. Who fans might spit beer into their speakers, but Rachel Fuller and the Royal Phil’s renditions build on the symphonic components of the original. The new arrangements explore the majesty of the melodies, ranging from gentle beauty to the symphonic equivalent of speaker-busting raw power. Alfie Boe taking Roger Daltrey’s vocal role might raise some eyebrows, but the tenor inhabits the songs with a different, controlled intensity. Townshend himself roars through The Punk and the Godfather, and there are some lovely curveballs, with massed choirs on 5.15 and Bell Boy. Boe’s Love Reign O’er Me is something…

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…of a tour de force, all tinkling pianos and kettle drums as roaring thunder.

01. I Am the Sea (3:55)
02. The Real Me (3:22)
03. Quadrophenia (6:08)
04. Cut My Hair (3:49)
05. The Punk and the Godfather (5:05)
06. I’m One (2:47)
07. The Dirty Jobs (4:28)
08. Helpless Dancer (2:37)
09. Is It in My Head? (3:50)
10. I’ve Had Enough (6:14)
11. 5:15 (4:19)
12. Sea And Sand (4:03)
13. Drowned (3:58)
14. Bell Boy (4:54)
15. Doctor Jimmy (8:24)
16. The Rock (6:51)
17. Love Reign O’er Me (5:41)

The fourth volume of Bear Family’s seven-edition country-rock history Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels: The Blissed-Out Birth of Country Rock kicks off with Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen’s locomotive rendition of Hot Rod Lincoln, possibly the hardest-rocking cut yet featured in this series. It’s a good indication of how things were changing in 1971, the year chronicled in this double-disc set. What began as a mellow breeze blowing out of Southern California grew grittier as it swept across the country, picking up musicians who were perhaps a little rowdier than the previous generation’s. That’s another way of saying that there are a lot of bands featured on this installment of Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy…

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…Angels: Commander Cody, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Randy Bachman’s Brave Belt, Cochise, Cowboy, Head Hands & Feet, Twin Engine, and Poco, every one of them bringing a heavier backbeat. When combined with a slight diminishment of the literate singer/songwriters that dominated Vol. 3 — the moody Mickey Newbury shows up toward the end of the collection, but both Kris Kristofferson and John Prine seem comfortable showcased alongside the shaggier country-rockers here — helps give this installment a funkier feel, a suspicion confirmed by the funkier acts included here: Link Wray and Lonnie Mack riding the roots movement, Hoyt Axton roaring through “Never Been to Spain,” Sir Douglas Quintet sending out “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights,” Freddy Fender, wherever he is, and this comp’s great re-discovery, Alex Harvey, a sensational singer/songwriter who wrote “Delta Dawn” and “Tulsa Turnaround” (and has nothing to do with the British rocker who shares his name). This kind of relaxed, down-and-dirty groove is so addictive that it’s easy not to realize that Gram Parsons is M.I.A. (the Chris Hillman-led Flying Burrito Brothers are here, though), but that only underscores how by 1971 the movement Gram set into motion grew into its own thing.

CD1
01. Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen – Hot Rod Lincoln
02. Hoyt Axton – Never Been to Spain
03. Link Wray – La De Da
04. Gene Clark – White Light
05. Alex Harvey – Tulsa Turnaround
06. Kris Kristofferson – The Pilgrim Chapter 33
07. Johnny Cash – Singing in Viet Nam Talking Blues
08. Lonnie Mack – Three Angels
09. The Flying Burrito Brothers – Colorado
10. Michael Nesmith & The First National Band – Grand Ennui
11. The Band – When I Paint My Masterpiece
12. New Riders of the Purple Sage – Henry
13. Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen – Seeds and Stems Again
14. John Prine – Angel from Montgomery
15. JJ Cale – Crazy Mama
16. Brave Belt – Crazy Arms, Crazy Eyes
17. Cochise – Lost Hearts
18. Cowboy – Please Be with Me
19. Heads Hands & Feet – Country Boy

CD2
01. Delaney & Bonnie and Friends – Never Ending Song of Love
02. Little Feat – Willin’
03. Ry Cooder – Taxes on the Farmer Feeds Us All
04. Lonnie Mack – Asphalt Outlaw Hero
05. Kris Kristofferson – Good Christian Soldier
06. John Prine – Paradise
07. Gene Clark – For a Spanish Guitar
08. New Riders of the Purple Sage – Glendale Train
09. Michael Nesmith & The First National Band – Tumbling Tumbleweeds
10. The Flying Burrito Brothers – Hand to Mouth
11. Rick Nelson – This Train
12. Twin Engine – My Life Gets Better Every Day
13. Alex Harvey – Delta Dawn
14. Mordicai Jones – All Because of a Woman
15. Doug Kershaw – Who Needs That Kind of Friend
16. Poco – Bad Weather
17. Mickey Newbury – The Future’S Not What It Used to Be
18. Link Wray – Fire and Brimstone
19. Sir Douglas Quintet – Wasted Days, Wasted Nights
20. Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen – Lost in the Ozone

Cultures of Soul release the highly anticpated follow-up to the widely successful Tropical Disco Hustle compilation, an album full of rare disco tunes that exude a Caribbean flavor.
This volume takes us back to Trinindad and Jamaica and sends us on a few new adventures in St. Lucia and Guadeloupe.
Three tracks by Wild Fire including “The Dealer,” as well as two other classic disco tracks, “Dance with Me” and “Try Making Love,” can be heard on this new compilation. The album also features two killer disco workouts by the Tru Tones, “Dancing” and “Let’s Party,” with the latter having been heavily influenced by the Jacksons. Both tracks are rare and in demand by DJs and record collectors alike.
Also featured here is an excellent cover of…

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…Chanson’s “Don’t Hold Back” by reggae legend Derrick Harriott, and the under-the-radar, African-influenced disco tune “Caribean People” by Camille Hildevert.

This album was compiled and researched by Deano Sounds, with edits by french DJ-extraordinary Waxist Selecta and legnedary UK disco DJ Al Kent.

1. Wild Fire – Try Making Love (3:20)
2. Tru Tones – Dancing (4:13)
3. Hamilton Brothers – Music Makes The World Go Round (4:12)
4. Maestro – Savage (4:21)
5. Patti Charles – Music Lady (3:40)
6. Wild Fire – The Dealer (3:40)
7. Defosto – Socorama (5:06)
8. Tru Tones – Let’s Party (3:51)
9. Keith Paul & The GT Boom Band – My Life, My Music And Me (3:46)
10. C Soprann H – Caribean People (Waxist Selecta Edit) (7:27)
11. Wild Fire – Dance With Me (3:25)
12. Wild Fire – Try Making Love (Al Kent Version) (6:26)
13. Derrick Harriott – Don’t Hold Back (Waxist Selecta Edit) (6:18)

South Africa’s Julian Bahula created a unique synthesis of Western jazz and the indigenous rhythms of his home country, spreading his culture to an international audience as well as creating awareness for political issues affecting his homeland.
Strut’s new Spirit of Malombo collection sheds light on this visionary musician and tireless advocate for equality in South Africa. In the early ‘60s, Bahula introduced indigenous malombo drums alongside guitar and flute to create a new, politically-charged fusion. After a spell with guitarist Philip Tabane, Bahula settled with musicians Lucky Ranku and Abie Cindi as Malombo Jazz Makers and the trio placed themselves bravely on the frontline of anti- apartheid activism including a domestic tour…

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…with Steve Biko as part of the ‘Into The Heart of Negritude’ theatre production.

As the pressure of apartheid intensified, Bahula moved to political exile in the UK, where he formed new Afro super-group, Jabula. The band worked closely and selflessly with the exiled ANC, the Anti-Apartheid Movement and other anti-apartheid organisations, using their music to help spread political awareness across Europe.

In ’83, Bahula and his wife Liza set up the first concert in the UK to raise awareness for Nelson Mandela, ‘African Sounds’, an event that helped kick-start the international pressure leading to Mandela’s release in 1990. The Specials’ Jerry Dammers was there and was inspired by Jabula’s track ‘Mandela’ to write the huge hit for The Special A.K.A., ‘Free Nelson Mandela’.

CD1:
01. Malombo Jazz Makers Plus 2 – Bahula Dithabeng
02. Malombo Jazz Men – Abie’s Mood
03. Malombo Jazz Makers – Hleziphi
04. Malombo – Malombo Workshop
05. Malombo Jazz Makers – Matshenyogo
06. Malombo Jazz Makers – Bababelo
07. Malombo – Bird Meets Elephant
08. Malombo Jazz Makers – Abbey’s Body
09. Malombo Jazz Makers Plus 2 – Away From Malombo’s
10. Malombo Jazz Makers – Jikeleza
11. Malombo Jazz Makers – Sefuralomg
12. Malombo Jazz Makers – Sibathathu

CD2:
01. Jabula – Sorrows (Extract)
02. Jabula – Let Us Be Free
03. Jabula – Thunder Into Our Hearts
04. Jabula – Journey to Africa
05. Jabula – Mathome
06. Jabula – All for One
07. Julian Bahula’s Jazz Afrika – Woza Cindi
08. Jabula – Siakala
09. Julian Bahula’s Jazz Afrika – Tlhompho
10. Jabula – Jabula Happiness
11. Jabula – Ithumeleng Ba Mamelodi
12. Jabula – Bolotkwa
13. Julian Bahula – Heita Cindi

Bob Gaudio didn’t begin his career writing for Frankie Valli, and he’d later work with other artists, but there’s no denying he’s identified with the Jersey singer.
Valli was Gaudio’s vehicle, Gaudio was Valli’s voice, and nearly all of his hits were written for Valli, as Rhino’s 2014 compilation, Audio with a G: Sounds of a Jersey Boy: The Music of Bob Gaudio, makes plain. Released alongside Clint Eastwood’s silver screen adaptation of the jukebox musical Jersey Boys, Audio with a G begins with Royal Teens’ “Short Shorts” – a persistent, perky novelty – and quickly transitions to Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons delivering their three biggest hits (“Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man”) before easing into soul singers Jerry Butler…

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…and Chuck Jackson. From there, the compilation gets a little strange, opting to double-up big songs – “Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby, Goodbye)” has the Four Seasons followed by the Bay City Rollers, “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore)” has the Walker Brothers followed by Cher, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” has Valli followed by Nancy Wilson – a move that slows the album’s momentum pretty quickly. The second disc also contains duplicate songs but in the form of Jersey Boys cast recordings of Four Seasons songs, an understandable move given how the production revived the commercial fortunes of both Valli and Gaudio, but the end result feels simultaneously ill-considered and fussily curated: there’s a carelessness to the sequencing that only comes from somebody thinking too hard.

Disc 1:

01. The Royal Teens / Short Shorts [02:36]
02. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons / Sherry [02:35]
03. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons / Big Girls Don’t Cry [02:27]
04. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons / Walk Like A Man [02:18]
05. Jerry Butler / Whatever You Want [02:37]
06. Chuck Jackson / Another Day [02:08]
07. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons / Dawn (Go Away) [02:50]
08. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons / Rag Doll [03:01]
09. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons / Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby, Goodbye) [02:35]
10. Bay City Rollers / Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby, Goodbye) [02:52]
11. The Tremeloes / Silence Is Golden [03:13]
12. The Walker Brothers / The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore) [03:07]
13. Cher / The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore) [05:16]
14. Frankie Valli / Can’t Take My Eyes Off You [03:24]
15. Nancy Wilson / Can’t Take My Eyes Off You [03:26]
16. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons / Saturday’s Father [03:15]
17. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons / Wall Street Village Day [04:29]
18. Frank Sinatra / Elizabeth [03:40]
19. Frank Sinatra / I Would Be In Love (Anyway) [02:34]
20. Nina Simone / For A While [02:53]

Disc 2:

01. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons / The Night [03:25]
02. Diana Ross / I Heard A Love Song (But You Never Made A Sound) [02:33]
03. Diana Ross / Stone Liberty [03:02]
04. The Temptations / Deeper Than Love [04:02]
05. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons / Who Loves You [04:13]
06. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons / December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) [03:23]
07. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons / Down The Hall [04:18]
08. Lene Lovich / The Night [04:33]
09. The Boys Town Gang / Can’t Take My Eyes Off You [03:49]
10. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons / Beggin’ (Pilooski re-edit) [05:35]
11. Roberta Flack / When Someone Tears Your Heart In Two [04:08]
12. Ruthie Henshall (Peggy Sue Got Married Original London Cast) / This Time Around [04:15]
13. Ruthie Henshall & Tim Howar (Peggy Sue Got Married Original London Cast) / Two Kinds Of Fire [03:41]
14. Jersey Boys Original Broadway Cast / Ces Soirées-La [01:18]
15. Jersey Boys Original Broadway Cast / Sherry [02:17]
16. Jersey Boys Original Broadway Cast / Who Loves You [02:57]