Daptone recently released Daptone Gold, a collection combining some of their biggest hits with obscurities and unreleased material. The compilation is up to the high standard set by previous releases, however devout followers of the label likely already have a good amount of material presented. By the same token it’s also good way for neophytes to get familiar with some of the more notable items in their catalog.

Here are a few of the tracks that caught my ear (keep in mind that this whole collection is solid, what I’m posting is more skewed to my personal preferences)

Lee Fields with Sugarman and Co. – Stand Up

Lee Fields’ My World is by far my favorite album of this year, so I was glad to see several tracks from him included in this release. This one is probably my favorite of them.

Sugarman And Co. – Down To It

The group that backs Lee Fields on Stand Up comes through with an instrumental soul/funk excursion with a mood so dangerously sleazy it could be used to soundtrack an orgy of Bob Guccioni vs multiple hookers happening in the middle of 42st street in NY circa 1972 while pimps stab tourists with pearl-handled stilettos.

Cynthia Langston & the Gospel Queens – I need you to hold my hand

This one is a sweet gospel soul number, religiously themed and firmly on the opposite end of the moral specter from the Sugarman and Co. track.

Binky Griptite and the Mellomatics – The Stroll part 2

A b-side from a single released by the Dap-Kings’s guitarist/emcee earlier this year. Straight up instrumental funk with dueling guitar solos, good stuff.

And here’s something a little extra for the holidays. A free track by Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings called Ain’t No Chimneys In The Projects. A decidedly un-maudlin tune which is way more Cold World than Oh Tannenbaum.

Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings – Aint No Chimneys In The Projects