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Stone killer Californian funk from 1972, raw and banging, with juddering bass, two tough breaks, and desperately soulful, utterly compelling falsetto pleading.
A proper reissue this time around, courtesy of Ubiquity.

His third LP, following up Pieces Of A Man in 1972. One side of collaborations with Brian Jackson; the other, spoken word.
Adding alternate versions, the CD runs through the entire tracklisting twice.
The more expensive LP is newly remastered — all-analogue style, from the master tapes.

Hot 1981 mix of ESG-style no wave, revolutionary jazz rap, Latin, loft harmolodics and plain old nasty funk, with players from Prime Time and Defunkt, and the bands of Rollins, Eddie Gayle and Johnny Pacheco.

Spare, slow burning soul with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis at its core, from 1989 Detroit, courtesy of the Inner City milieu. On the flip, the dubwise club mix of I’m Losing Control is ace Motor City house, with heavy, grooving bass, splashing drum machine, and driving-by-night keys.

More-ish combination of UK street soul and spiritual jazz, from Floating Points’ label.

Consummate jazz-funk and two-step soul from their time with Wayne Henderson’s At Home, in 1975-76. Stone classic vocal takes on Ronnie Laws’ Always There and the Crusaders’ Keep That Same Old Feeling, through sublime mid-tempo harmonising like She’s A Lady, to jiggy jiggy murder like S.O.S. (which with sth assistance of gospel diva Helen Baylor trumps even Esther Phillips’ ace version).

‘A sonic snapshot of America’s steel capital, probing the fertile cavern between the departure of the Jackson 5 to Motown and the collapse of U.S. steel… a love letter to Gary, Indiana, salvaging twenty-plus lost songs from the southern-most tip of Lake Michigan. Housed in a deluxe tip-on gatefold jacket, with a 16-page booklet crammed with photos, ephemera, and an in-depth essay, Skyway Soul connects the dots between The Spaniels, Michael Jackson, and Freddie Gibbs.’

Truly pioneering electro-funk — treated, lo-fi, minimal, fundamentally desolate — this long overdue compilation of Sly’s own Stone Flower label runs the five 45s alongside ten previously unissued cuts, all newly remastered from the original tapes. The missing link between the rocky, soulful Stand! and the dark, ticking, overdubbed sound of There’s A Riot Going On, his masterpiece. The notes include an exclusive new interview with the great man himself.