Here's an excellent & inexpensive comp recently issued: Conquer The World: The Lost Soul Of Philadelphia International Records. None of the usual Philadelphia International suspects (O'Jays, Harold Melvin, MFSB, etc) are included. The most familiar name is Bunny Sigler, whose releases are mostly unfamiliar to me. Anyone who loves orchestrated soul should dig this set. My favorites include "Love Is Here" by the Futures, "Ghetto Woman" by Ruth McFadden, the funky "Grasshopper" by the Soul Devalents and the Bunny Sigler songs, "Everybody Needs Good Lovin" and "Theme From Five Fingers Of Death". Nice to hear rarities from this label, and I hope they do a follow-up.

By now any soul lover checkin' this forum knows about what has to be the greatest soul reissue label of the decade (if not of all time), Numero. The label has this year released 3 albums on Ohio based soul acts, two v/a and one single artist collections. All are highly recommended and the the cd I've been digging recently is Wee's You Can Fly On My Aeroplane. Ten bonus tracks are added to the original which is a concept album. The main album is psych-soul with a slight jazz edge while the killer bonus tracks land firmly in Stevie Wonder Innervisions-era territory. Really a gorgeous funky-soul album and the difference in styles of the album make it stronger, especially when heard in its entirety.

Came across this retrospect recently of LA soul singer Ty Karim, entitled The Complete Ty Karim: Los Angeles' Soul Goddess. The compilation is made up of singles & b-sides, previously unreleased and rare material as well as collaborations from the late '60s/early '70s. I'd never heard or heard of Ty Karim before diggin' up some sounds online on deciding whether to pick up this interesting looking collection. Basically this is Northern Soul with some fine husky vocals (but not too husky- think a funky Gladys Knight meets Lynn Collins). Maybe Karin was the link between '60s funk and '70s soul for the female vocalists. Unfortunately she passed way too young, back in 1983. Here's a chance to discover some fine soul songs that should be automatic soul classics.

"Love-itis" was a fantastic pre-"Centerfold", FM jewel for the J.Geils Band. The song was written by one Harvey Scales, a funk & soul artist from Milwaukee. Magic Touch records recently reissued a collection of Scales' music, Love-Itis: All The Rare & Unissued 45s From The Vaults Of Magic Touch 1967 to 1977. The sound is awesome and to hear so many worthwhile soulful and funky gems for the first time makes this an better find. If James Brown had been a member of Cornelius Bros & Sister Rose (instead of Sister Rose), maybe it'd sound like this. Some of my favorite tracks include "Too Good To Be True", "Welcome Home" (awesome soul ballad), "Love Is A Gas", "Broadway Freeze", "Trying To Survive", "Love-itis" (better than Geils but they get credit for covering it nicely) and the instrumental, "The Sound Of Soul". Nice package of photos & liner notes, too.

This is essential, even though it's not very old [actually, it's yet to be re-released]:
DAPTONE RECORDS SET TO RELEASE DAPTONE GOLD ON NOVEMBER 24, 2009

NEW COLLECTION OF HITS, OBSCURITIES AND ALBUM FAVORITES, INCLUDES UNRELEASED MATERIAL FROM SHARON JONES AND THE DAP KINGS

Daptone Gold is a collection of hits and obscurities, album favorites and unheard exclusives from the Daptone Records catalog. Since first rearing it's head in 2001, Daptone has upheld it's reputation as both a premier source for new raw soulful music and a model for the possibilities of independent music today. With a library of albums and 45's spanning from rhythm and blues to afrobeat, gospel to funk, Daptone has established a sound that is consistently sincere, heavy, and soulful.

As Gabriel Roth (Daptone Records co-owner, engineer and bass player for Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings) sees it, “Over the past decade, a lot of blood and sweat was shed in this little house in Bushwick, and when people experience all these recordings together in a package like this, they are really going to feel what the “Daptone Sound” is all about.”

Roth continues, “I'm very proud of this record. It's hard evidence of what the Daptone family has accomplished. I'm also excited to finally have so many of my favorite Daptone cuts, many of which were previously only available on vinyl seven inches, included on a proper album. People should really hear this.”

After much heated debate, Daptone has selected and sequenced the tracks that were chosen to represent both the depth and breadth of the Daptone sound. It features some of the most popular songs such as Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings' “Tell Me” and the Budos Band's “Up From the South”, alongside some deeper selections such as Lee Fields' “Could Have Been” and Charles Bradley's “The World (Is Going Up In Flames)” which have previously only been released as 45 rpm singles. With the inclusion of unreleased tracks such as Binky Griptite's “A Lover Like Me” and Sharon Jones' version of Gladys Knights' “Giving Up”, Daptone Gold promises to be a special addition to the collection of Daptone die-hard fans, as well as a perfect introduction to the label for those who have not yet been experienced. As always, Daptone has made sure that the entire presentation is of a quality and design consistent with the music it contains: decadent gold foil packaging with the Daptone logo prominently embossed across the front, incentives for the vinyl fans, and extensive liner notes.

“Daptone's aesthetic is built around sounds, attitudes and even design sensibilities that were invented 35 or 40 or 45 years ago, but their best records end up sounding timeless rather than retro. They've struck gold in their own backyard.” - Excerpt from Douglas Wolk's liner notes.

I love Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, If more r&b was like that, it would be a more vital genre.

For those who enjoy slabs of jazz-based funk, soul & blues, check out the reissue of John Heartsman & Circles' Music Of My Heart. Originally a private press release in 1977, two rare copies of the 100-print LP went for around $5000 each on ebay. The cd's a lot cheaper and sounds great. Heartsman played on thousands of R&B and jazz sessions in the '50s & '60s. The album starts out more jazz-oriented before slipping into a funkier side. Then we get a nice trio of soul tracks- "Up From Down", "Dream A Dream" & "If We Can't Be Lovers (Can't We Be Friends)". I really liked the instrumentals on the album, the two-part "Silky Pete" numbers. Great vocals from both Heartsman and Janice La Von, who does lead vocals on several songs. This reissue is part of Jazzman records "Holy Grail" series. Another entry in the series is Ricardo Marrero & The Group's A Taste cd, a must-have for fans of Afro-Cuban jazz.

Bill Withers' fans rejoice- +Justments has finally been reissued. I never did have this before now, so I snapped it up as soon as I saw it. Several songs have been featured on the two main Bill Withers best-of collections. The best known of these is "You", which reminds me somewhat of his "Use Me". "Stories" is a very nice modern-sounding track (I can see this placed on a independent film soundtrack). A few melancholy soul numbers that Withers excels at: the gorgeous "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh", the moodily funky "Ruby Lee", and the mournful ballad "Heartbreak Road". But dig that Jose Feliciano on guitar on the brilliant "Can We Pretend"- worth the price of the cd alone. The album closes with the funky, rollicking "Railroad Man" jam. +Justments may be Bill Withers' forgotten gem but now that it's reissued at last, there's no reason for this soul masterpiece to be ignored any longer.

Now if only Withers would come out of retirement and record some new songs...