Ikebe Shakedown-'Ikebe Shakedown'

Tracklist
1. Tujunga
2. Kumasi Walk
3. No Name Bar
4. In Circles
5. Don't Contradict
6. The Hold Up
7. Refuge
8. Tame The Beats
9. The Viking
10. Five Points
11. Asa-Sa
12. Pepper
13. Sakonsa
14. Green and Black

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble- 'Bulletproof Brass'

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble proudly present their new release titled “Bulletproof Brass,” a 6 song mini album showcasing this family band’s unrivaled musicianship and universal appeal...

Spring 2011 saw the group reform (like Voltron) in their native Chicago to record a selection of the many new songs they have written over the past few years touring and recording. Mesmerising melodies and pulsating rhythms that sound from another world are like a remedy or tonic to the listener in this digital age of over produced music. Bonafide, raw and unadulterated; HBE’s music grips the listener and brings them on a trip to another world teaching the true value and meaning of music.

Bandleader Hudah says of the new record
“The EP ‘Bulletproof Brass’ is part of the next mission for HBE. The stage in our quest for completely rescuing music from the hands of vultures, and parasites. Our mission starts with us as ‘Starfighters’, wearing ‘Bulletproof Brass’ armour. ‘Touching The Sky’, HBE began taking ‘Kryptonite’ from the ‘Black Boy’, travelling the galaxy and cosmos, HBE crushed all fear of peace, with the most fierce battle being fought on ‘Pluto’. HBE is victorious, in becoming ‘World Champions’, in the war on music. In our opinion, we need to create new dialogue regarding how great the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble are. By releasing singles, producing music for artist's, creating relationships with our fans to develop our brand...”

Tracklist
1 Starfighter
2 Touch the Sky
3 Pluto
4 Kryptonite
5 World Champions
6 Pluto feat. Phil Kelan Cohran

Nostalgia 77-' The Sleepwalking Society'

Tracklist
01. Sleepwalker
02. Beautiful Lie

03. Simmerdown (LP)
04. Golden Morning
05. When Love Is Strange
06. Blue Shadow
07. Mockingbird
08. Cherry
09. Hush

Osunlade-Tribute To Prince

Osunlade - Tribute To Prince by Red Bull Music Academy Radio on Mixcloud

What It Is! Funky Soul And Rare Grooves (1967-1977) [4 Disc - Box Set]

Ninety-one (91) tracks deep and five hours long, this multi-artist, 4-CD set mines rare, renowned, legendary and little-known grooves from the vaults of Atlantic, Atco, and Warner Bros Records!

Too many reissue compilations are content to merely slice 'n' dice familiar catalog choices in not particularly original ways. But this four-disc, 91-track trove of obscure '70s R&B and funk from Warner-distributed labels, great and small, argues there's still treasure to be gleaned from studio vaults -- a five-hour groove-fest that's as interested in shaking booty as in opening ears. Even the genre's groundbreaking usual suspects (Wilson Pickett, the Bar-Kays, Curtis Mayfield, Earth, Wind & Fire, et al) are represented by selections that aren't immediately familiar, while Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin serves up a radically different, previously unreleased take of "Rock Steady."

Still other stars contribute their sonic touches to some of the lesser-known cuts, as witnessed by the patent trippiness of Sly Stone alter egos 6ix and Stanga on "I'm Just Like You" and "Little Sister," respectively. The stark, party-not-so-hearty contrast of the Mayfield-written-and-produced "Hard Times" by Baby Huey & Baby Sisters and the Meters' version of "Tampin'," released under the moniker of the Rhine Oaks.

Sequenced in rough chronological order, it's a savvy window into a musical evolution as well, with the rhythmic guitars, organ swells, and horn flourishes of traditional '60s R&B giving way to sinewy synths and increasingly chunky bass lines as the decade grooves on. While savvy hip-hoppers will note that shrewd mixers have already repurposed many of the rarities here, it's a revelation to hear them in their original form.

A compelling deconstruction of an often clichéd and too-narrowly-defined genre, this is an anthology that showcases music that has influenced such contemporary artists as Tupac, the Beastie Boys, Snoop Dogg, and Kanye West, annotated by many of the original musicians who set the dance floor in motion.

Disc 1 - Track List:

01. The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Spreadin' Honey (2:25)
02. Bar Kays - Soul Finger (2:21)
03. Brother Jack McDuff - The Shadow of Your Smile (3:55)
04. Jimmy Norman - Gangster of Love, Pts. 1 & 2 (4:10)
05. Rufus Thomas - The Memphis Train (2:33)
06. Grassella Oliphant - Get out of My Life Woman (2:44)
07. Eddie Harris - Live Right Now (2:49)
08. Natural Bridge Bunch - Pig Snoots, Pt. 1 (2:36)
09. Freedom Sounds, Wayne Henderson - Soul Sound System (5:34)
10. Clarence Carter - Snatching It Back (2:41)
11. Artie Christophher - Stoned Soul (1:56)
12. T.S.U. Tornadoes - Getting the Corners (2:27)
13. Alvon, Tony & The Belairs - Sexy Coffee Pot (2:28)
14. Mark Putney - Don't Come Around Here Anymore (2:44)
15. Commodores - Keep on Dancing (2:39)
16. Southshore Commission - Right on Brother, Pt. 1 (2:40)
17. Eldridge Holmes - Pop, Popcorn Children (2:53)
18. Cold Grits - It's Your Thing (2:52)
19. Soul Angels - It's All in Your Mind (2:49)
20. Cameron, Johnny & The Camerons - Funky John (2:48)
21. Joyce Jones - Help Me Make Up My Mind (2:45)
22. Lou Johnson - Rock Me Baby (2:15)
23. Noble Knights - Sing a Simple Song (2:57)
24. Titus Turner - Do You Dig It (2:13)
25. Moore, Phil Jr. - Funky Canyon (2:38)
26. Fabulous Counts - Jan Jan (2:17)
27. Rhine Oaks - Tampin (3:02)

Disc 2 - Track List:
01. Cyril Neville - Gossip (2:38)
02. Mighty Hannibal - Somebody in the World for You (2:55)
03. Little Sister - Stanga (3:42)
04. Ananda Shankar - Jumpin' Jack Flash (3:40)
05. Brute Force - The Deacon (4:32)
06. Don Covay & the Jefferson Lemon Blues Band - Sookie Sookie (2:44)
07. Clarence Wheeler & The Enforcers - Right On (4:41)
08. Curtis Mayfield -(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below We're All Going to Go
09. Johnny Harris - Stepping Stones (5:24)
10. Gix - I'm Just Like You (3:08)
11. Unemployed - Funky Thing, Pt. 1 (3:06)
12. Shirley Scott - Messie Bessie (4:19)
13. Willie West - Fairchild (3:20)
14. Gaturs - Cold Bear (2:55)
15. Mongo Santamaria - I Can't Get Next to You (2:44)
16. Lulu - Feelin' Alright (3:02)
17. Memphis Horns - Soul Bowel (3:21)
18. Hammer - Tuane (3:07)
19. Tolbert, Johnny & De Thangs - Take It Off, Pt. 2 (3:17)
20. Harlem River Drive, Eddie Palmieri - Seeds of Life (5:09)
21. Wilson Pickett - Engine Number 9 (2:50)

  
Disc 3 - Track List:
01. Baby Huey & The Baby Sitters - Hard Times (3:21)
02. Houseguests - What So Never the Dance, Pts. 1 & 2 (3:59)
03. Eugene McDaniels - Headless Heroes (3:34)
04. Wade Marcus - Spinning Wheel (3:58)
05. Earth, Wind & Fire - Bad Tune (4:42)
06. Rasputin's Stash - Mr. Cool (3:34)
07. Junior Mance - Don't Cha Hear Me Callin' to Ya (5:09)
08. Stovall Sisters - Hang on in There (3:16)
09. Beginning Of The End - Funky Nassau, Pt. 2 (2:00)
10. Mark Holder & The Positives - Whatever's Fair (2:42)
11. Ed Robinson - Face It (2:25)
12. Young-Holt Unlimited - Wah Wah Man (3:47)
13. Aretha Franklin - Rock Steady [#] (4:32)
14. Black Haze Express - Won't Nobody Listen (4:17)
15. Allen Toussaint - Goin' Down (2:59)
16. Malo - Suavecito (3:27)
17. Charles Wright - You Gotta Know Whatcha Doin' (3:58)
18. Teri Lynn - Mo Jo Hanna (3:26)
19. King Curtis - Ridin' Thumb (3:10)
20. Macondo - Almendra (3:46)
21. Little Richard - Nuki Suki (5:30)

Disc 4 - Track List:
01. United B - Getting Uptown (To Get Down) (2:46)
02. Howard Tate - 8 Days on the Road (2:40)
03. LaBelle - Moon Shadow (4:25)
04. Society's Bag - Let It Crawl (2:37)
05. Black Heat - Wanaoh (3:54)
06. Clarence Reid - If It Was Good Enough for Daddy (3:05)
07. Claudia Lennear - Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky (3:46)
08. Mystic Moods Orchestra - Cosmic Sea (2:37)
09. Cold Blood - Kissing My Love (6:06)
10. Seatrain - Flute Thing (3:23)
11. Meters - Chug Chug Chug-A-Lug (Push N' Shove), Pt. 2 (3:29)
12. Freddi - Funky to the Bone (2:42)
13. Bobby Byrd - Try It Again (3:36)
14. Cornell Dupree - Teasin' (3:55)
15. Doctor John - (Everybody Wanna Get Rich) Rite Away (2:44)
16. Oscar Brown, Jr. - Chicken Heads (2:40)
17. Funk Factory - Rien Ne Va Plus (5:18)
18. Herbie Mann - Cajun Moon (3:08)
19. Darrow Fletcher - Improve (2:51)
20. Faze O - Riding High (5:21)
21. Fred Wesley & The Horny Horns - Four Play (3:34)
22. Eddie Hazel - California Dreamin' (4:04)