‘Politics have failed.’
Stone-classic Bullwackies (as excursioned by Rhythm & Sound for Burial Mix), sensationally throwing in two unreleased dubs, newly extracted from the master reels. Both are equally unmissable but quite different, with contrasting effects: the second dub adds ninety seconds, including whip-dem spring reverb. Drawn from the Selective Showcase LP, the vocal mix is more open and dubwise than the Sing & Shout LP offering, with less keyboards.
Asked whether it should be mash or march, after some pondering Bullwackies replied: ‘That’s a good question.’

Stone cold murder. Archetypal, slow-mo, eastern-sounds post-ska from Jackie Mittoo, Dizzy Moore, Roland Alphonso and co, around 1965.

Dynamite, previously unissued rocksteady version of the monumental Skatalites scorcher from a few years earlier.

Rollicking, mid-sixties, post-Skatalites ska thriller, led by Bobby Ellis and Roland Alphonso, with slightly different soloing to the original release.
Backed with a charming, forsaken, rare Summertairs: ‘I love you, Errol… come back today… but not too late… Errol, my dear.’

Tough pan-Caribbean wig-out, complete with twanging guitar and characteristically hot organ; plus The Jamaicans’ lovely version of the Sam Cooke.

A deadly, zonked Soul Syndicate excursion on Westbound Train, with Keith Hudson as the Fat Controller. Introducing a young LT — his first recording, he says — stylistically indebted to Dennis Brown.

Beautiful, heart-wrenching, anti-war roots.
Sublime singing, led by Tony Tuff, over the kind of rhythm you could run for hours.

Fiery, head-banging deep funk by this Louisiana guitarist; originally out on Eddie ‘Goldband’ Shuler’s ANLA label, in 1967.

Holy grail Detroit funk recorded in 1969 for Dave Hamilton; backed with a tape-find Northern dancer.

Sanctified, southern soul — lost, crying, frank harmonising, and swaying horns and organ — recorded at FAME, Muscle Shoals, in 1964, by cousins Johnny Simon and Ervin Wallace from Atlanta. Lover’s Prayer is a scorcher.
The vinyl is a facsimile of the original LP (on Russell Sims’ Nashville label); the ‘Complete Sims Recordings’ CD from Kent adds ten more sides.

Contemporary psych legends Acid Mothers Temple and Reynolds collaborating in the studio in 2017. Improvisatory, shamanic, ecstatic, nuts.

No-messing funk with whiffs of reefer, hooch and baize.
Eddie and Al Pazant came through with Lionel Hampton and Pucho. These are their locked-down, brassy, smoking, streetwise blends of R&B, soul, latin and jazz, from the late 1960s and early 70s.
Fab.