Episode Twenty Five

"Studio One Lovers", one of Soul Jazz/Studio One's many releases, is a very satisfying and well balanced collection of tunes that deal with matters of the heart. The album is compiled and features some of the finest lovers tunes from Jamaica’s best loved label. Sweet harmonies, soulful reggae, love songs – the key ingredients of Lovers Rock - were all based on the revival of many of the classic Rocksteady harmony groups of the late 60s and early 70s. As might be expected from the Soul Jazz label, the selection and sequencing here are superb. To put it simply, this is nothing but sweet soul music from Jamaica.



Shawn Lee began his story in a Los Angeles recording studio in 1988. Since then, he has carved a prolific recording career as a collaboration artist, which makes quantifying his back catalog a bit of mine field. He began releasing his own material in 1996, and World of Funk is the tenth studio album to be released under the umbrella of Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra. A phenomenal range of exotic instrumentation is utilized. World of Funk plays host to a revolving door of international guest vocalists and multi instrumentalists, fusing the spices of the east with the snake hips of the south. World of Funk is an album meant to be shared with good company on a carefree summer evening; according to the calendar, its time is rapidly approaching.


Psych Funk Sa-Re-Ga! provides a fine overview of the influence of western funk and “out” rock over the music of India. Featuring 20 Indian psych-funk masterpieces and accompanied by a 52-page, in-depth color booklet, this is about the most comprehensive, and knowledgeable document of this topic you'll find, compiled by the very trustworthy heads behind the 'Psych Funk 101' session and the awesome 'Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas'. Much of the music on this compilation springs from the Bollywood film industry. The songs are indeed funky, and most are tinged with an undeniably Indian flavor. Think Bollywood with lots of horn stabs and a wah pedal!



Set 1

Undying Love - Ernest Wilson
Good Girl - Ed Nangle
My Voice Is Insured For Half A Million Dollars - Dennis Alcapone
Hello Stranger - Brown Sugar
I Love You - The Heptones
Never Give Your Heart Away - Carlton And His Shoes
Love Land - Sound Dimension
Roy Richards - Another Thing
Sound Dimension - Love Jah

Set 3

Dokunma Keyfine Yalan Dunyanin - Gulden Karabocek
The Music Of Today - Embryo
Swamp Fever - John Cameron
Tera Jasia Pyara Koi Nahin - Usha Khanna
No Matter What You Do - Leslie Gore
La Eterna Felicidad (feat. Bardo Martinez) - Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra
The Mod Trade - The Black Beats
Chicken Scratch - Count Suckle




Astral Navigations is really a recording of two different bands in each side of the original mono LP, Lightyears Away and Thundermother. Originally released in 1971, Lightyears Away is folk/psychedelic more toward the folk end while Thundermother is more straight-ahead rock with heavy fuzz guitars (a studio amalgam assembled by the label). A very difficult record to find now for only 250 copies where press.







Originally recorded in the Burundi Region of Central Africa. There are 25 Ingoma Drums involved in this sacred ceremony. The Ingoma Drums is a special instrument symbolizing power, and has been used solely in the past at the court of the King or in the big chiefdoms. The privilege of playing these drums is handed from father to son and the sound of the drummers is considered by the inhabitants of Burundi to be one of the most representative elements of the musical traditions of the country.




Super underground Brasilian group formed by Mauro Assumpção (voice), Rubinho (violão and keyboards), and friends in Rio De Janeiro in the early 1970's. At one level, the record's got an earthy feel that matches the cover image of the pair climbing out of a tree without their shirts on – but at another level, there's often echoes of some of the funkier modes coming into Brazilian music at the time – a slight Samba Soul influence that mixes well with the earthy, sometimes personal vocals of the duo.




Set 2

Clive Hicks - Cooler
DeRobert & The Half-Truths - Cops, Cars, and Taxis
Astral Navigations - Someday (Thundermother)
Ross - Madness In Memories
Ruben Rada - Malisimo
J Rocc - Track 24
Burundi Steiphenson Black - Burundi Black (Part 1)
Show & AG - Never Less than Ill
Boogiemonster - Warning


Set 4

Boobie Knights & the Soulciety - King Of The Real Good guys
Soul Creations - Funky Jive Part 1
Bruno Nicolai - Whiskey
Van Mccoy - Soul Improvisation
La Barra De Chocolate - Elm
Flash & The Dynamics - Guajira Sicodelica
Rubinho E Mauro Assumpзгo - Qualй a Sua
Paul Humphery - Me & My Drums
Eiko Shuri - Vehicle (Cover Song)
Lunice -Hitmanes Anthem
Mexican With Guns - Deities