The long-overdue return of Coultrain – an artist we've been digging right from the start, when he dropped off a pile of handmade CDs as freebies to give away in our store! Since that time, Coultrain has emerged to become one of the freshest talents of the underground – through work with the Platinum Pied Pipers and Hawthorn Headhunters, and work on other projects as well. But we've always loved the man himself out front of the spotlight – sharing his really unique vision of cosmic soul music – a sublime blend of inventive sounds, creative beats, and songwriting that will take you way way way past the usual! This album's been well worth the wait, and shows that our faith in Coultrain has certainly been well-placed – a beautiful set that features the tracks "A Gem Iza Jewel", "Gazelle's Dance", "Y Not", Deception", "Sassyphrass", "Wanted", and "Asherah Le Chameleon". ~ Dusty Groove
Amazing work from one of Chicago's best indie labels of the 60s – a wealth of wonderful soul that easily ranks with some of the best work at Chess or Vee Jay at the time! USA's a label that's also known for work in the rock and blues field, but the company had a marvelous ear for soul back in the day – and was often able to grab key Windy City talents before they broke big – or others who were already great, but finally found the right sort of treatment they needed at USA – a care with production and presentation that often rivals some of the beautiful presentation that Curtis Mayfield was bringing to his Impressions recordings or work with other artists – lots of deep soul roots, but also the tightness and sophistication that made Chicago so great at the time. The package features 36 rock-solid tracks – and titles include "Hot Spring Water" by Billy The Kid Emerson, "Come On In" by Detroit Jr, "A Lonely Boy" by Lee Wilson, "Step It Up" by Al Perkins, "I'll Wait For You" by LC Cooke, "No Appreciation" by Tut Sutton, "Taunting Love" by Frankie Newsom, "Just Being Careful" by Baby Huey & The Baby Sitters, "What You Don't Know" by Oscar & Anita, "Sweet Little Woman" by McKinley Sandifer, and "You Gotta Pay Dues" by Chris Campbell. ~ Dusty Groove
An excellent 80s set from one of the greatest voices in 70s soul – the sublime Billy Paul, sounding great here with a bit of electro groove in the rhythms! The album's approach is a bit different than Billy on Philly International – but the strength of Paul's presence is still very much in place – reshaped a bit like some of Marvin Gaye's later modes on Columbia Records – referenced possibly in the album's sweet slinky "Sexual Therapy" number. Titles include a wonderful remake of The Flamingos classic "I Only Have Eyes For You" – plus "On A Clear Day", "Let Me In", "Fire In Her Love", "Sexual Therapy", "Me & You", and "Hot Date". CD features a bonus single version of "Sexual Therapy". ~ Dusty Groove
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