Blog Roll (of Honour)

It's been awhile since I let you know who I tune into. Blogs come and go so fast, sometimes it's hard to know who's left, or for that matter who you're missing. Apologies therefore to those I've left out.

Let's start with the grandaddy's, the hardest working people out there, who certainly influenced me to set this up. These three rule supreme :

Soul Sides : Oliver Wang continues an extraordinary run that for many years has been the benchmark for music bloggers everywhere : great music, tight liner notes, sharp contributors, and ever-regular posting. Chasing top soul and fine hiphop, we wish him well for his recent move across the West Coast, and would still like to prise the Mary Lou 45 out of his hands.

Funky 16 Corners : Larry Grogan knows music. If you put him and Martin Soulgeneration together in a room armed with a bunch of their New Orleans 45's, then my friend you would have a ton of knowledge...

Home Of The Groove : ...and if you added Dan Phillips, then you would have one hell of a party. Again, favouring that supertough New Orleans R&B sound, Dan's blog continues to open ears with killer sounds.

Moving to a more diverse sound, these bloggers continue to surprise :

Number One Songs In Heaven : Lee's dual interests of music and design come together in one of the prettiest of blogs, and always has an interesting range of musical styles. Plus he's a Chelsea boy.

Aurgasm : Paul Irish brings us "your favourite music you've never heard" - a mix of everything from popcorn soul, edgy electronica, Norwegian folk, French pop. Prepare to be surprised.

Freemotion Hiphop : Oustanding hiphop blog, and again scores major points on looks, let alone sounds. Currently thinking about chucking it all in, head over, and try to convince them otherwise.

Earfuzz : A fine example of a collective of conbtributors making a blog work - not only do you hear the most diverse of sounds, but also ensures the blog's survival. Heads up for the hard workers, Maru, Junior, Matt W, Still Life et al.

Diddywah : Adam has killer taste in music, tracing strong 60's rock and soul, including fellow postee Tim Rose. So good you can even forgive his recent diversion into Yacht Rock.

Funk & Soul : A label scan, the track , maybe a cursory comment from contributors Pete Beaver, Nick Cope, Euan Fryer, Brent Goodsell & Others. But with music this good, and often rare, you should be grateful for scraps.

The Of Mirror Eye : Currently hosting some wonderful gospel funk from Numero Group's recent releases, and has a keen ear for some leftfield soul, jazz and psyche. One to watch.

Soul Shower : AK's blog maybe veers a little close to the mainline for me, but there's some good knowledge and sounds being dropped here.

The B Side : Red Kelly's blog is all about the flip, charting the best flips of the greatest records, and favouring more of that soul and funk we love, including recent posts on Barbara George, The Meters, Charles Brimmer and the mighty Bennie Spellman. Great concept, great music, terrible banner.