Now That's What We Call A Compilation!

This November, the label will be celebrating 20 years of operation in various incarnations and are releasing a special compilation.

Soul Jazz Records’ 200% Dynamite! set the benchmark for reggae meets funk compilations that has never been bettered.

30th Anniversary edition of Above The Rim (The Soundtrack). This is the first time the full 21-song tracklist is available on vinyl.

Once more we're ready to take flight on Africa Airways, for this sixth journey we're taking you above 5280 feet and laying on the funk.

After “Afro Exotique – Adventures In The Leftfield, Africa 1972-88” was enthusiastically embraced by heads, collectors and core Africa Seven enthusiasts alike, we dived back down into the vaults, and hope we’ve come up with another volume of listenable esoterica from roughly the same period.

One of the earliest and rarest compilation of Jamaican ska jazz, released in 1961 on the iconic Blue Beat Record.

Funkadelic's wild fourth album remastered from the original tapes for the first time in 15 years.

An ocean of water has passed under the Zero 7 bridge since we originally issued this collection of music.

Above all, he is celebrated for his prolific output in the genres of Dub, Lovers Rock, Reggae and more through his own Ariwa label and south London recording studio boasting an impressive catalog of over 300 releases, among other notable achievements.  A few years back, Melodies stumbled upon this outstanding Lovers Rock and Dub album which had a very unique raw sound and felt like a whole experience when listened to from start to finish. Alternate versions of the same tracks with different performers in varying styles, tape rewinds, it had us all wonder why it hadn’t gained wider recognition amongst Mad Professor's other releases.  When Melodies finally had the pleasure of meeting Neil at his recording studio, he revealed that this album was one of his earliest works. It was born out of a birthday gift from his wife—a four-track recorder that inspired him to venture into music-making after years of repairing and building electronics and audio equipment. When we asked him if he would be making music if not for that gift, he confessed that it was highly unlikely (!)  Mad Professor further explained that this album, originally released in 1984, is a compilation of tracks recorded between 1979 and 1981, representing the nascent stages of his recording and production career, when the idea of establishing a studio and the Ariwa label were just beginning to take shape. He set up all his gear, including his first homemade four-track mixing desk, in the front room of his house in South London. With no prior studio experience, he positioned microphones where he thought they should fit and invited local musicians to collaborate. Errol Sly, Ranking Ann, Sergeant Pepper, Deborah Glasgow, Victor Cross, Sister Audrey, his backing band the Sane Inmates and a host of other talented local artists, some of whom would go on to become stalwarts in their respective genres, all contributed to this album, capturing the raw essence of Mad Professor and Ariwa's early sound.

Contradictory accounts of Miles Davis’ creation of the soundtrack to Louis Malle’s film noir Ascenseur pour l'Échafaud have all become part of its legend.

Ayo Ke Disco (meaning "Let's go to the disco" in Indonesian) celebrates the musical identities emerging from the newly independent countries in South-East Asia during the 1970s and 80s.

The official soundtrack release to the new biopic of Amy Winehouse, Back to Black, releasing Spring 2024.

The iconic album series Back to Mine returns in 2019, to mark it’s 20th anniversary, with the indomitable Nightmares on Wax, to share his personal collection of music for after hours grooving.

Released over six years ago, NYC producer Thornato's debut album "Bennu" was a milestone here at Wonderwheel.

Featuring musical contributions from El Michels Affair, The Shacks, Fleet Foxes and more.

The esteemed scribe, proper DJ, and discreetly deft twiddler Bill Brewster, drops the latest instalment in his ‘After Dark’ series, for Late Night Tales.

Blue Note Re:imagined is a brand-new collection of classic Blue Note tracks, reworked and newly recorded by a selection of the UK scene’s most exciting young talents.

Blue Note Re:imagined returns this year with a new 16-track compilation featuring fresh takes on music from the illustrious Blue Note vaults recorded by a heavyweight line-up of the UK jazz, soul and R&B scene’s most hotly-tipped rising stars.

Blue Note Re:imagined II once again infuses the spirit of the new UK jazz generation into the legendary label’s iconic catalogue.

Ten songs that ultimately changed the world. Ten songs pulled from precedent-establishing albums recorded between 1963 and 1966.

For a whole decade, spanning between the second half of the ‘50s and the second half of the ‘60s, jazz took over the Italian screens.

Long-awaited repress of a classic Mr Bongo compilation, compiled by Sean Marquand and Greg Caz, 2 DJs well-known for their epic parties at Williamsburg’s legendary Black Betty club, that sadly closed in 2009.

Café Society opened the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews. Woody Allen became the first and only director to have three opening night films selected for the Cannes Film Festival. 

Progressive jazz from the 1970s: music which has influenced Kamasi Washington and the Brainfeeder crew.

Re-issue of the 1987 Profile Records holiday compilation in a red and white split colored pressing, with songs by Run-DMC, Dana Dane, Sweet Tee, The Showboys, The Surf M.C.s, Spyder-D, and more.

Circles is the sixth and final studio album by Mac Miller. Conceived as a sister album to 2018's full length Swimming, the album was completed with the assistance of Jon Brion, with whom Miller worked on Swimming and had been working together on Circles at the time of his passing.

15 Heavy Funk Rarities. Cold Heat is Eothen “Egon” Alapatt’s a follow-up to the famous Funky 16 Corners set he curated in the early 2000s.

The Austrian music duo Kruder and Dorfmeister, consisting of Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister, launched a world career in the 1990s.

Soul Jazz Records release a new 2017 edition of their classic album Dancehall: The Rise Of Jamaican Dancehall Culture.

"Destination Unlimited" triumphs in pushing artistic boundaries, leaving an indelible mark in the vast expanse of musical expression. An essential experience for avid music explorers.

Previously unreleased compilation from the Jazz Workshop catalog, a Motown jazz oriented subsidiary founded by Berry Gordy Jr. in 1962.

Reissue of Bonobo's Dial 'M' for Money from 2003. Simon Green aka Bonobo presents nine perfectly formed tracks on a perfectly formed album. 

This album draws on the outer limits of leftfield disco championed by Levan and Mancuso, bringing together unlikely dancefloor anthems.

Releasing in the autumn of 2024 Andy Smith's curation of the 3rd volume in his Reach Up – Disco Wonderland series brings us more carefully selected music from the Discosphere.

After a brief ambient introduction from Pépe’s Life Signs, Disclosure keep the energy high, in a mix that showcases the wonderful malleability of a house beat in the right hands.

The approach Parrish took to compiling DJ-Kicks was very ambitious, inviting his Detroit peers to produce a collection of brand new material, and in turn creating the first ever all exclusive entry to the esteemed series.

Django Reinhardt devised an astonishing new technique of playing guitar built around the two fingers on his left hand that were left with full mobility after a devastating fire and, together with Stéphane Grapelli, he was responsible for defining the gypsy jazz genre.

Soundway Records present a new compilation of twenty rare and mostly unavailable tracks from the slick and sassy world of Nigerian pop music and club culture of the early 1980s.

Best of Doo-Wop!

After a 10-year hiatus, Balearic Mike and Kelvin Andrews return to continue the journey of the Balearic Beat with another edition of their distinguished Down To The Sea And Back compilation series, presenting a formidable new set of rare and obscure records.

Ata records is pleased to announce the release of early works: funk, soul & afro rarities from the archive, a compilation of tracks that were recorded at the very outset of the label

Northern soul floor fillers of the Eccentric variety.

Lost in the soot and fallout from Youngstown, Ohio’s infamous Black Monday steel industry collapse was Tony March’s cross-generational Tammy label.

Atlanta’s original Eccentric Soul labels, Jesse Jones’ Tragar and Note concerns captured critical regional R&B, soul, and funk from 1968-1976.

While the recordings on Eddie Piller's latest release maybe familiar to diehard fans of great '60s music, the story behind it will be new to many but is well worth telling - and hearing - all the same.

The artists and inventors, along with the many other notable composers present on this 2LP compilation, are the true innovators in the sounds and science of electronic music and its production.

P-VINE is thrilled to reissue Anime that Jazz: Evening! as a limited edition LP for the first time with an iconic obi strip attached.

Astral Travelling in the meadowlands with acid folk and spiritual jazz.

fabric, the iconic hub of electronic music culture, proudly announces its latest addition to the fabric mix series: fabric Presents The Streets.

The Hamburg-born producer and DJ Helena Hauff has been revolutionising the sound of techno and electro since her emergence on the scene at the turn of the 2010s.

Featuring 17 chart-topping hits from the legendary band Earth Wind and Fire, this album is a must for any collector.

Delve into the Dutch jazz scene of the 1950s and 1960s with a selection of classic and rare hard bop and cool jazz tracks from artists like Herman Schoonderwalt, the Diamond Five, Wessel Ilcken and Tony Vos.

Volume 4 of the Hot Sauce compilation LPs dedicated to the Trojan related UK labels between 1965 and 1975.

Woke rhythms and high-spirited grooves from the vaults of two seminai ltalian jazz labels, between the 70s and 80s.

New CAM Sugar collection on Italian crime soundtracks (Poliziottesco / Spaghetti Crime); Piombo paints a ‘picture in sound’ of The Years of Lead (1973–1981), a controversial period when the escalation of political violence and terrorism in Italy reached its climax. Italian cinema documented this season with Polizieschi (aka Spaghetti Crime Films / Poliziotteschi / Euro Crime): a genre that, drawing from the French Polar tradition and American Blaxploitation, encompassed thrill and action (but also comedy and drama) in a whirlwind of breath-taking car chases, heists, kidnaps, gunfights, political terror attacks, and brutal violence.

In celebration of the 21st Anniversary of this popular Christmas double album, Jeepster and War Child are releasing It’s A Cool Cool Christmas on vinyl for the first time. Originally released on November 20th 2000 as a CD only release, it will now be available on vinyl on November 19th 2021.

Quentin Tarantino established himself as one of the few filmmakers to effectively use pop music with his first film Reservoir Dogs, a movie where the music was integral to the success of the film yet also worked well as a collection of songs. Jackie Brown, Tarantino's long-awaited third feature, finds him exploring new territory, creating an homage to blaxploitation flicks as well as a surprisingly subtle character study and love story, and its soundtrack appropriately finds him in new territory as well.

The sound of the night drums and the cry of the horns empower you!

Guru's Jazzmatazz Volume 1, originally released in 1993, is one of the first albums to combine a live jazz band with hip hop production and rapping.

Crafted by its two residents, John Gomez and Nick the Record, it aims to transmit a taste of Tangent's spirit.

Strut and Art Yard present the culmination of a 5-year project researching the archives of author, DJ and activist John Sinclair with the first ever retrospective of the influential Detroit Artists Workshop spanning 1965 to 1981.

Over the past few years, London based DJ and curator Sam Don has shone new light into the Reggae sub-genre of Lovers Rock with his comps 'For the love of You'. His deep, yet deeply accessible selections have opened the ears of many to the genre.

First time on vinyl, highly sought after by fans and frequently bootlegged.

A treasure-trove of rare and unusual recordings from East Africa.

This installment of the LateNightTales series pairs up with Jean-Benoît Dunckel's solo project as the total fall publicity for Air. It's also one of the best of this type of mix I've heard in a while. 

Sweet, sensual and atmospheric, with plenty of unlikely gems and forgotten classics for the heads to enjoy, it surprises and impresses with each successive track.

Floating Points’ personal collection of global soul, ambient, jazz and folk treasures form the latest in the warmly revered Late Night Tales series.

All in all, a rare treat composed of, er, rare treats. Thoroughly recommended.

What you are going to hear here is a thick brew of Agbadja, Soul, Cavacha, Funk, Afro-Beat, AfroLatin Sounds all mixed in with Heavy Traditional Rhythms - distinctively Beninese Sound!

The immediate successor to ska, the soulful, melodic sound of rock steady first developed during the long hot Jamaican summer of 1966 and reigned supreme thereafter for two glorious years before finally being superseded by the more energetic style of reggae.

Following his recent studio album with Afrobeat Academy, 'Love And Death', his first international release, Ghanaian highlife guitar legend Ebo Taylor teams up again with Strut for a long overdue definitive compilation of his seminal 1970s recordings, 'Life Stories'.

London Brew is inspired by Miles Davis’ album, Bitches Brew. Recorded in December 2020 at the Church Studios, this three-day recording session brings together 12 London-based artists

Coming almost two decades after the release of the original Grammy-winning, self-titled LP, the new album is a collection of previously unreleased tracks - some of which were recorded during the original album's sessions in Havana and others from the years that followed. The studio tracks on Lost and Found were recorded at the 1996 Egrem studio sessions in Havana and during a period of rich and prolific creativity stretching into the early 2000s following the recording of the original album.

Lost In Translation was the soundtrack to Sofia Coppola’s Academy Award winning movie of the same name.

With some of the best DJs and selectors there is a certain mysterious sound or underlying feeling which unites the music they play, regardless of genre, year or tempo.

The selection is eclectic, global, and plucked from different times and spaces. In theory, perhaps they shouldn't work together, but there is a mysterious link that makes them gel as a whole. That's what Luke does best. He creates a sort of musical alchemy, unifying the diverse.

In the mid-70s, Bob Shad’s cult New York Jazz label Mainstream Records turned to the burgeoning underground disco scene and released a handful of great singles produced by the likes of Tommy Stewart, Jimmy Roach or Bert DeCoteaux.

Wewantsounds continues its collaboration with Bob Shad's venerable jazz label Mainstream Records, and present a selection of 12 turntable-friendly tracks recorded between 1971 and 1975 and showcasing the label's superb blend of Spiritual Jazz, Funk and Soul.

Having been brought up as much on albums as singles, it is a natural progression for Kent to make a 12-inch version of our “Masterpieces Of Modern Soul” CD series. The modern soul fan is used to wielding vinyl 12-inchers and our latest Kent LP is aimed squarely at them.

Compiled by label founder Dom Ore Miles Away: One is a collection of tracks that spans continents, era and genres. Rooted in soul this compilation features recordings from legendary musical figures side-by-side with perhaps lesser-known soulful gems – all beautifully bought together in one cohesive long player

2019 marks the 60th year of Motown, and this anniversary is commemorated with a brand new Greatest Hits compilation featuring tracks from across the label’s unique history.

Curating and ordering the tracks for a Mr Bongo Record Club is always special.

In this collection, we have curated new finds alongside old, treasured tracks that hold a special place in our hearts, selecting music inspiring us from the Brazilian, Latin, soul, disco, gospel, cosmic, dancehall and downtempo genres.

Intuitive, authentic, and full of ruthless rhythms, Madalitso will make you clap, dance, smile, and rethink everything you thought you knew about African sound and instrumentation.

Label Two-Piers release new compilation Music Against Misogyny, released for International Women’s Day 2023. 

Music That Inspired Buena Vista Social Club

This definitive reissue features the original LP remastered and pressed on 180 gram triple vinyl in a gatefold sleeve.

Soul Jazz Records' new Nigeria Soul Fever is their first release to explore the vast wealth of Nigerian music recorded in the 1970s.

In Ghana “to chop” is to eat, so the phrase No Funk, No Chop quite simply means; deliver afro funk and disco bombs, or no one will eat today.

The songs were recorded sometime between 1970 and 1975 at either Harmonic Sounds Studio or at the home of studio co-owner Clem Price in Columbus.

Wewantsounds is delighted to present the first retrospective of Saravah Records, one of the most influential French labels founded in Paris by singer, songwriter and producer Pierre Barouh in 1966.

Dick Dale's surf-guitar provided the memorable title theme ("Misirlou"), for Quentin Tarantino's 1994 smash, and although that sound runs throughout the soundtrack (along with bits and pieces of dialog from the movie), this is a pretty eclectic bunch of really terrific songs.

The UK’s Official Albums Chart has compiled a list of the 60 top-selling albums. Queen’s 1981 Greatest Hits takes the number-one spot by a landslide, being the only album to break 6 million sales on the chart.

Compilation from the Queen of Soul

Rastafari: The Dreads Enter Babylon 1955-83 charts the many links between reggae music and the Rastafarian faith.

Fela Kuti lives on! This is the 10th Anniversary reissue of the classic tribute album pressed on opaque banana yellow and opaque red vinyl benefiting the Red Hot organization. 

A part of Gilles Peterson’s expanded network, Future Bubblers is backed by Arts Council England, which continues to focus on uncovering unsigned talent and growing the audience for innovative, experimental music.

Ten Numero-minted, dancefloor-ready dive bombers from disco’s all-too-brief heyday, previously swept under the rug by the whitewashed glitz and glam of the era. Chugging grooves, bubbling synths, soaring strings and sonorous voices are guaranteed to light up your night, on living room rugs and da...

The definitive survey of America’s independent 70s soul scene, and a companion piece to Now-Again’s long-running Soul Cal series.

The ever on point selection takes in music from across the world, covering Latin, Afrobeat, soulful beats and tropical grooves.

Have you ever felt sad about the times you are living in? You may not always be able to work it out, but you can sprinkle a little sugar on your sadness with songs like these.

Le Chant du Monde are proud to present the second production of their new ‘Snow’ collection, simply titled Secret Nuggets Of Wise Reggae. 

Wewantsounds is delighted to release 'Sharayet el Disco' a selection of Egyptian 80s Disco and Boogie tracks curated by Egyptian DJ Disco Arabesquo from his vast collection of cassettes.

A sonic snapshot of America’s steel capital, developed in the prosperous cavern between the departure of the Jackson 5 to Motown and the collapse of U.S. Steel, Skyway Soul is a love letter to Gary, Indiana.

Soul Jazz Records’ new album ‘Kaleidoscope – New Spirits Known and Unknown’ brings together many of the ground-breaking artists involved in the new jazz scene.

This is the first ever collection of the music of The Sound Dimension - a mixture of classic tracks alongside super-rare singles only ever released in Jamaica.

Since 2008 our Spiritual Jazz series has presented unlimited horizons. 

Soul Jazz Records’ Down Beat Special is a roller- coaster Greatest Hits ride through many of the all- time classic tunes hand-picked from across the mighty vaults of, without doubt, Jamaica’s finest ever record label and pioneering powerhouse of reggae music.

Studio One Rocksteady is the fantastic new installment in Soul Jazz Records' journey through the mighty vaults of Studio One, reggae's number one record company and its legendary pioneering producer Clement Sir Coxsone Dodd.

Studio One Roots 2 delves deep into the vaults of the legendary Jamaican Reggae label and features rare and classic roots as well as an unprecedented seven unreleased tracks that up till now had never seen the light of day.

The fifth Soul Jazz Studio One release after Rockers, Roots, DJs and Studio One Soul is Studio One Instrumentals. Studio One instrumentals are the foundation of Reggae.

Studio One Soul 2 takes us further into Jamaican musics fascination with american soul and funk music.

Studio One Space-Age Dub Special is a brand new Studio One release on Soul Jazz Records which draws on more rare and classic dubs taken from the mighty vaults of Studio One Records.

Spanning tracks from 30 years of Studio One releases, Studio One Story is a roller coaster ride through many of the label’s finest moments and features many of the tracks that defined its history as well as Reggae itself.

Ska, rocksteady, funky reggae, roots, dub mixes, disco mixes, theyre all here from the queens of the Jamaican music scene.

Brand new selection of rare and classic releases made at Studio One by reggae's leading women!

In the 20 years since hip hop culture broke over-ground with the arrival of the Fatback Band's King Tim III and the massive international success of the Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight, rap music has moved to becoming the premier sales arm of the US record industry.

There has been much talk of a funk revival in the last couple of years. DJ's such as Snowboy and Keb Darge have rejected the same old rare groove classics and dug deeper and deeper to find the lost sound of the urban America of the late 60s and early 70s.

In 1979 Jerry Dammers from ska band The Specials launched the cult music label 2 Tone Records, with the support of major label Chrysalis.

The Queen of The Blues, a title that she bestowed upon herself as she clambered to the top, was something else.

In Craig Charles' own words ‘The Craig Charles Trunk Of Funk Volume 3' features "19 of the finest slices of super slinky soul, boot shaking blues and boogie, dazzling discofied ditties and fine funky rump shakers!”

Compilation of the year. It wasn’t really a movement, barely even a moment, but the Daisy Age was an ethos that permeated pop, R&B and hip hop at the turn of the 90s.

Best-selling, 21-track hits set that’s now on vinyl for the first time.

The Endless Coloured Ways is a collection of songs by legendary singer / songwriter, Nick Drake, performed and recorded by over 30 incredible artists from a range of different backgrounds, genres, age groups and audiences. 

Wes Anderson’s latest film The French Dispatch brings to life a collection of stories from the final issue of an American magazine published in a fictional 20th-century French city. It stars Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Bill Murray and Owen Wilson.

Welcome to the 2nd Volume of the Jazz Room series compiled by DJ legend and label owner Paul Murphy.

The Psychedelic Scene, a compilation of various artists, brings together some of the pivotal pieces that shaped the unique energy of the psychedelic era.

Bt the first Funk Soul Sisters compilation struck a rich seem of soulful funk, and funky soul and this time round we think we have bettered that.

Abacothozi were formed in 1973 by bassist Berthwel Maphumulo, formerly of the Elite Swingsters.

Debuts on Black Friday. Never issued in this form. The compilation features a collection of small run releases and private press releases. All long out of print and impossible to find. 3000 pressed worldwide. Now-Again’s follow up to one of its most well-loved compilations, Forge Your Own Chains, and this, as the title hints, a recollection and rumination of what might befall the human race made especially salient by the past year’s trials and tribulations as performed by prison funk ensembles, Krautrock legends, Turkish teenagers, Icelandic prog-rock bands and even E-40’s uncle, the man to first distribute No Limit, and the creator of this album’s title track, St. Charles “Chucky” Thurman.

A stylish selection of city pop, funk and modern soul from Japanese label Nippon Columbia, selected by DJ Notoya and featuring cult classics and rarities by Hiroshi Sato, Hatsumi Shibata, Hitomi 'Penny' Tohyama & many more.

 Contains 12 Jamaican reggae chart hits from 1969-1972. 

Overflowing with positive vibes, memorable melodies, and irresistible rhythms, this essential feel-good collection is guaranteed to get feet moving, fill dancefloors and spread joy any time of the year.

Put the needle on the record, turn up the volume and dig right now into the Wamono sound - the cream of the Japanese jazz, funk, soul, rare groove and boogie music developed throughout the years since the sixties in Japan!

Dig right now into the Wamono sound - the cream of the Japanese jazz, funk, soul, rare groove and disco music developed throughout the years since the end of the sixties in Japan!

Following the highly acclaimed volumes I and II, dig further into the Wamono sound - the cream of the Japanese jazz, funk, soul, rare groove and disco music developed throughout the years since the end of the sixties in Japan!

Disco from a label that digs for Japanese jazz, funk, soul, rare groove and disco music.

Following the already classic Wamono A to Z trilogy, we are delighted to present an exceptional collection of jazz funk / rare groove tunes recorded in the mid-seventies at the Nippon Columbia studios by three giants of Japanese music: arranger Kiyoshi Yamaya, koto legend Toshiko Yonekawa and shakuhachi master Kifu Mitsuhashi.

Much of modern hip hop has its roots in the adventurous recordings made at Westbound in the early to mid-70s. “Super Breaks” pays homage to some of their greatest sampled tracks. Available on CD and 2LP formats.

The official soundtrack compilation release from Glitterbox and Defected Records first foree into Documnetary films : Where Love Lives.

Compiling the follow-up to a very successful first album is always a tricky task, but just 12 months since the release of volume one in the 'With Love' series, miche has excelled himself once again with another glorious, deep dive into the world of rare soul.