Two antenatal hours of rare and unreleased recordings — from Jimmy Jam extroversion to Andre Cymone’s bedroom demos — with Prince’s head showing from the off. A 144-page book, in fine Numero style.

Sublime soul and funk by the Cleveland legend, 1967-77. Including the LPs Hot Chocolate and Understand Each Other, rare-groove holy grails; plus an unreleased live album.

‘Barely disco and hardly jazz, Rupa Biswas’ 1982 LP is the halfway point between Bollywood and Balearic. Tracked in Calgary’s Living Room Studios with a crack team of Indian and Canadian studio rats alike, Disco Jazz is a perfect fusion of East and West; sarod and synthesizer intricately weaving around one another for thirty-seven transcendent minutes, culminating in the viral hit Aaj Shanibar.’

‘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.’

‘Teenage melancholy from the original Miami Sound Machine. Backed by the infamous FAMU Marching 100 Band and Frank Williams’ crack shot players The Rocketeers, I Am Controlled By Your Love compiles sides from Helene Smith’s ‘60s tenure with the Deep City, Lloyd, Reid, and Blue Star labels. A sweltering album of twelve deeply soulful, alternate universe hits from the First Lady of Miami Soul!’

‘Synth chutes, synth ladders, popcorn 808 beats, dirge-y chants and busted sub-woofer hums from inner-galactic soul pioneers Nathaniel Woolridge and Anthony Freeman intertwine to create this hypnotic, mythical 1984 LP from Newark, New Jersey. The most damaged party record ever set to black, or the most partied cry of the heart ever howled into personal space. Probably both.’

‘Eventually crowned Queen of the Norfolk Sound, Barbara Stant was just a teenager when she auditioned for Shiptown impresario Noah Biggs in 1970. A dozen sides were tracked throughout the decade, producing a body of work that stretched from deep soul to northern soul to sister funk. By 1978 disco was in overdrive, Noah Biggs was in the ground, and Stant’s career on hold. My Mind Holds Onto Yesterday is what remains.’

‘Wasulu hunter music, griot praise-song, Senufo pastoral dances, Fula and Mandingo music, hypnotically mixed in with Western psychedelia, blues, and afro-beat; led by Zani Diabaté’s stunning guitar-playing. Recorded at Radio Mali in 1982.’

Deeply dug up, Numero-approved folk and rock covers of songs impossible to delete from the collective unconscious of Pop (however hard you hit the button).
Done-over Boz Scaggs, War, Redbone, Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Diamond, John Denver,Glen Cambell, Smokey Robinson, The Carpenters, Joe Cocker, and something ostensibly from Willy Wonka.