Spine-tinglingly yearning, rootical rocksteady classic — one of Phil Pratt’s top tunes — with an ace Tommy McCook version.

Terrific, gospelised, soulful disco by Gwendolyn Dennison, produced for P&P by Arthur Manning and P. J. Wyatt, making a change from Greg Carmichael or Patrick Adams.
Theo and Floating Points both rinse it.

With Larry Young, Elvin Jones and Bobby Hutcherson.

Illmatic cultists mithered about this 1996 follow-up, but it’s aged magnificently, and they were wrong.
‘Amidst production from heavy hitters like Dr. Dre, Havoc of Mobb Deep and DJ Premier, Nas weaves evocative narratives of gang warfare, downtrodden neighborhoods, drug deals gone awry, and gangsta triumph, against a backdrop of samples from Sam Cooke, Etta James, the Isley Brothers, and even Chuck Mangione. With guest turns from Lauryn Hill, AZ, Foxy Brown, and Mobb Deep; classics like Street Dreams and If I Ruled The World.’

Outstandingly soulful Barry White productions from 1974, with fine songs by Tom Brock, and Gene Page pon spot.
(A Case Of) Too Much Lovemaking… What Am I Gonna Do… Biff… Boof.

LP fresh in.

Fifty-six fearless forays deep into the consecrated crates.
ALC does what he does best, with Roc Marciano rocking the pulpit; Budgie wheels back to the UK scene, dazzlingly rallying Knucks, Novelist, JayaHadADream, Joe James, Ragz Originale, Natanya, Qendresa, and full crew.
The CDs are resplendently dressed like a Bible, with foil debossing, the full monty. Lovely stuff.

Lovely, rootsy, melancholic, multifarious music from Angola. Check the sublime, chugging proto-house of Kazum-zum-zum, to start, with its twist of Afrobeat; then the hypnotic Fourth World marimba of Kizomba Kya Kisanji; then the expressive soul of Dembita, flowering out of Baden Powell… Warmly recommended.

Transportingly sublime, dazzlingly virtuosic Carnatic chanting in Sanskrit about female divinity, accompanied by mridangam drums, bells and tambura drone. Beautifully recorded, in Chennai. The chorus singing is the coup de grace.
Ravishing, restorative music; hotly recommended.

Over three hundred pages: numerous previously-unpublished photographs of Sun Ra and the Arkestra by Hartmut Geerken and Val Wilmer; a fully revised discography by Chris Trent, co-author of The Earthly Recordings Of Sun Ra; articles by Amiri Baraka, Chris Cutler, Robert L. Campbell, Salah Ragab and others; and newly gathered, full-colour images of hundreds of Sun Ra album covers, posters, handbills and ephemera, including reproductions of rare, hand-drawn, hand-coloured LP sleeves.
French fold cover, metallic foil blocking on cloth, hardback; 290mm x 245mm.
Fab. Pricey, but it’s a must, let’s face it (and Amazon has the previous, inferior edition for a grand).

‘Previously unreleased recordings made over several nights of the Wailers’ West London residency in June 1976, during their Rastaman Vibration tour. Highlights include a transcendent version of Roots, Rock, Reggae, a rarely-performed Bend Down Low, an extended version of Crazy Baldhead, and a thirty-minute encore that incorporates a twelve-minute Get Up, Stand Up.’