Aimarr Wrote:
okay
i) female soul
I'll give you 3:

Syreeta - S/T/Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta
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The first 2 Motown albums by the lovely Syreeta -- both of them recorded under the supervision of her partner Stevie Wonder! The genius of these records is hard to describe accurately -- a sort of spacey soul approach that builds on the work of Stevie at the time, but which also has traces of Minnie Riperton -- and it's own sort of fragile, gentle, groove. The Syreeta album is very spare -- often just featuring bits of electronics and percussion next to Syreeta's pure and honest vocals -- and while the Stevie Wonder Presents album works in slightly fuller arrangements, the sound is still nicely stripped-down overall -- very unique for the time, not only for Motown, but for all of mainstream soul as well! Cosmic righteousness abounds, and the 20 track CD is a delight throughout! Titles include "I Love Every Little Thing About You", "Black Maybe", "Keep Him Like He Is", "What Love Has Joined Together", "She's Leaving Home", "I'm Goin Left", "Waitin For The Postman", "Cause We've Ended As Lovers", and "Come & Get This Stuff".
The 2fer might be hard to find but if you can't find it get the S/T.

Tommie Young - Do You Still Feel The Same Way?
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Excellent work from this oft-overlooked southern soul singer! Tommie's a girl (in case you didn't know it), and she's got deep deep style that'll knock you flat if you dig southern soul or hard soul -- especially the small label, indie-type variety! Bobby Patterson wrote most of the tracks on this debut album, and the set was recorded in Shreveport with a deep burning Louisiana sound that was the best of that city's scene at the time. The whole thing's great, and titles include "Do We Have a Future", "Everybody's Got a Little Devil In Their Soul", "Hit & Run Lover", "Do You Still Feel The Same Way", "You Came Just In Time", "You Brought It All On Yourself", and "That's How Strong My Love Is". CD features 5 bonus tracks: "Take Time To Know Him", "Get Out Of My Life", "I'm Not Going To Cry Anymore", "One Sided Affair", and "Midsummer Dream"!

Betty Davis S/T
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Amazing! Betty Davis was one of the nastiest ladies in 70s soul -- and this is one of her greatest albums. Betty had a sound like nobody else -- she took hard heavy drums, throbbing bass, ripping guitars, and screamed over the top in a raunchy nasty funky voice that was all her own! The tracks are a mix of hip themes about sex, gal power, and struttin your stuff -- and the album features the classic break tracks "If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up" and "Steppin in Her I. Miller Shoes", but every cut is a funky monster. Other titles include "Ooh Yea", "In The Meantime", "Your Man My Man", and "Anti Love Song". A great one if you dig hard female soul, heavy funky guitars, or both at the same time!
Her album They Say I'm Different is very good too.
For Funky Drums/Afrobeat,

Geraldo Pino - Heavy, Heavy, Heavy
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They certainly got the title right on this one -- because the groove is heavy heavy heavy, and the set is one of the funkiest African collections we've ever stocked! Geraldo Pino's often credited as the man who inspired part of the Fela sound of the 70s -- and Pino was one of the first Africans to pick up the styles that James Brown was forging in the 60s, and recast them into a longer, more jamming mode that would eventually form the sound of Afro Funk. This set's the first collection we've ever seen of Pino's work -- and it's a long-overdue set that adds a whole new chapter to the history of Afro Funk! Many tunes have skittish electric piano and organ riffing along with heavier percussion and guitar -- in a way that creates a really unusual groove, and one that grabs our ears instantly! 12 tracks in all -- including "Afro Soco Soul Live", "Let Them Talk", "Heavy Heavy Heavy", "Africans Must Unite", "Shake Hands", "Power To The People", "Let's Have A Party", "Right In The Centre", "On The Spot", and "Black Woman Experience".
Its probably the best Afrobeat album I've bought in the last few years.
And not from this thread, but I expect you'd dig Timbalada...they are a brazilian band based on afro percussion and often employ as many as 100 drummers in their music. All their albums are good, just avoid the dance remix album as an introduction.
hope that helps.