Here is a beautiful melange of interesting jazz-adjacent sounds by Romanian pianist Mischa Blanos, a new name to me.

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Run For Cover was one of first minor hits for The Dells, one of the finest and longest-lasting vocal groups in R&B history – and it’s a Northern Soul classic.

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Spencer Wiggins had no success even at the height of his career in the ’60s, but this song has since become a Northern Soul classic.

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Veteran reggae outfit The Twinkle Brothers reached an early peak in their career with this rockers favourite, Rasta Pon Top.

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I’ve always been a sucker for sad songs, and songs rarely sound sadder than The Way It Goes by bluegrass revivalist Gillian Welch.

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PragVEC were one of the first of the post-punk bands to emerge in London in 1978 and sounded unlike anyone else at the time – or since. (more…)

Tom Misch’s jazzy house update on Roberta Flack’s 50-year-old chart topper Feel Like Makin’ Love is the kind of thing you might hear at a beach bar in Ibiza. 

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Still digging into early-Seventies soul, I have to admit I’d never heard of Brick and consequently I’d never heard of their disco and jazz hybrid that they called “dazz.”

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In 1977 I was listening to a solid diet of one-chord wonders, varied only with a weekly dose of Top of the Pops to find out what the rest of the country was listening to while I pogoed.

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Everybody knows Aretha Franklin. Few apart from hardcore soul fans remember the Queen of Soul’s big sister Erma. (more…)