Back catalogue: Soul

Review: David Hepworth has been writing, broadcasting, and speaking about music since the 1970 - often alongside Mark Ellen, with the pair currently hosting the Word In Your Ear podcast. He helped launch and edit Smash Hits and The Word amongst others, and was a presenter on BBC's The Old Grey Whistle Test and an anchor for Live Aid in 1985. As such, he knows his stuff. Following the success of his Underrated Cuts From A Misunderstood Decade comes this follow up, which he has annotated track-by-track.From Roy Harper and Sandy Denny's folky shenangans to Status Quo. ZZ Top and proto-punks Eddie & The Hot Rods, this is Hepworth making a case that the 70s remains unmatched for music invention, and a strong case it is too.

Review: Dutch keyboard player Fred van Zegveld's 1969 release is a high-voltage display of Hammond organ wizardry, stretching across jazz, soul and r&b with unshakable confidence. His originals, like 'Family Blues' and 'Blue Organ,' are thick with groove, their choppy rhythms and swelling chords bouncing off Ruud Jacobs' steady basslines and Louis de Bey's crisp, unfussy drumming. The title track channels that same energy into a slow-burning, percussive churn, each phrase pulling tighter before van Zegveld lets loose with another spiralling run. His approach to covers is just as striking. 'Misty' drifts into smoky, late-night territory, drenched in shimmering vibrato, while 'I Wanna Be Your Man' ditches the Beatles' pop polish for something grittier, the organ growling over a rolling rhythm section. There's a looseness to the playing, a sense that the band is locked in but always on the edge of cutting loose. The whole record moves with a natural, in-the-room warmthivan Zegveld doesn't just play the Hammond, he makes it breathe, pulling back for hushed, introspective moments before launching into ecstatic swells.

Review: In light of the latest Bridget Jones flick comes Bridget Jones's Diary: The Mixtape, a curated collection of unforgettable tracks from the beloved film series. Released alongside the fictional, happy-go-lucky 30-come-50-something's latest film, Mad About The Boy, this mixtape celebrates the final chapter in Bridget's story. Expect Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue, and Ed Sheeran, facilitating a ride through love, laughter, and respite, as we watch the unforgettable Renee Zellweger portray a relatable conjuration of wit and error.

Review: Bilbao's Soul4Real Records' subsidiary label celebrates its first compilation after delivering 14 singles in three years. The album kicks off with the rare 12" mix of Samuel Jonathan Johnson's wonderful 'You' and includes previously unreleased gems from Glenn Jones, Earth, Wind & Fire and Gladys Knight & The Pips. Highlights include Glenn's 'Share My Love' and Gladys's timeless 'How Deep Is Your Love' as well as EWF's 'Club Foot,' all of which were omitted from their original albums. Side two features Phyllis Hyman's 'Forever With You' and downtempo classics like Tyrone Davis's 'Never Stopped Loving You' and The Dells' 'Somebody's Gotta Move' round out an exceptional compilation.

Review: Numero Group is a buy-on-sight label for us and it should be for you too. Whether collating soul, gospel, indie or something more niche, it does so with real authority. This time we get treated to gospel-soul treasures that originally came on the Boddie Recording Company and BOS Records now brought to light by The Numero Group. This first volume highlights some of Cleveland's rarest and most powerful gospel recordings. Filled with soulful, funky gospel grooves, these tracks embody the city's rich musical legacy and are all carefully curated so as to offer an authentic glimpse into a vibrant era-saving you years of searching in the process.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


On a new compilation, 180g Japan zero in on a distinct '60s movement in soul jazz, tracking the development of the genre across improbably vast Pacific waters, from the United States to Japan. Rocketing to prominence in Japan after Nippon Columbia upheld contracts with US labels the likes of Buddah and Blue Thumb Records - in turn spurring sax player and NC label head Jiro Inagaki to release such music as Gladys Knight and Curtis Mayfield in conjunction with Japanese counterparts, such as Tan Tan, Kenji Niinuma, Masaaki Sakai and Mieko Hirota - the music you hear here is a dense and perhaps still untapped look at the ingenuity of transmarine soul-jazz. The target locale here is Tokyo's Akasaka neighbourhood: not only was it the hub and hotspot of soul jazz in Japan, but it was also the first municipality to host a discotheque in all of Japan. Most of these recordings were not previously available outside of the nation, marking a Pandora's lid opened on a crock of sweetly produced, brightly lit, downbeat soul delights.

Review: On a new compilation, 180g Japan zero in on a distinct '60s movement in soul jazz, tracking the development of the genre across improbably vast Pacific waters, from the United States to Japan. Rocketing to prominence in Japan after Nippon Columbia upheld contracts with US labels the likes of Buddah and Blue Thumb Records - in turn spurring sax player and NC label head Jiro Inagaki to release such music as Gladys Knight and Curtis Mayfield in conjunction with Japanese counterparts, such as Tan Tan, Kenji Niinuma, Masaaki Sakai and Mieko Hirota - the music you hear here is a dense and perhaps still untapped look at the ingenuity of transmarine soul-jazz. The target locale here is Tokyo's Akasaka neighbourhood: not only was it the hub and hotspot of soul jazz in Japan, but it was also the first municipality to host a discotheque in all of Japan. Most of these recordings were not previously available outside of the nation, marking a Pandora's lid opened on a crock of sweetly produced, brightly lit, downbeat soul delights.

Review: Heavyweight champions of the compilation world, Numero Group, defend their undisputed title once more with this collection of greats from San Antonio mogul Abe Epstein's Dynamic label. In its heyday, it became a hub for soulful music with its flagship band the Commands scoring a hit in 1966 with 'No Time For You.' Their success led to 20 more singles over 30 months and Epstein's inclusive studio welcomed a diverse racial mix of Texas talent which in turn created a melting pot of sound. This collection reflects that across 28 gems from groups like the Tonettes, Little Jr. Jesse & the Tear Drops and Bobby Blackmon & His Soul Express all exploring different soul niches.

Review: A typically powerful collection of gospel-soul treasures from the Boddie Recording Company and BOS Records now brought to light by The Numero Group, which once again stakes its claims as the greatest ever complier of vital and unusual comps. This first volume showcases Cleveland's finest and rarest gospel recordings so is packed with heart rending sounds and raw, real, spiritual uplift. Overflowing with funky gospel grooves, these tracks capture the heart and soul of the city's rich musical heritage and will make your own collection 87% better without having to do all the years of leg work the label must have put in. So electrifying it could inspire a congregation of its own.

Review: Paul Weller is perhaps one of the best non-soul musicians to ask to compile a rare soul compilation. Rather than documenting soul music as it proliferated in the 1960s, Ace Records' soul aim was to capture a genre, fashion and style as one man saw it in retrospect, in light of his involvement in the mod revival of the mid 1970s. Weller would later go onto form and front The Jam, but in late 1974, shortly before his involvement in the punk movement, he was about none of that business at all. Punk partly grew on febrile tissues of mod, which was in turn an offshoot of 60s soul; and it is true that we may hear a foetal form of the sound in the brasher cuts on this record, be it Billy Stewart's 'Summertime' or James Carr's 'Pouring Water'. Also clock Brother To Brother's 'In The Bottle', a super-early drum machine blues gem perfect for the house heads.