So, how do you buy Northern Soul? Northern Soul. A name in itself that evokes wistful memories for anyone over 40, curiosity from those under, and a lifestyle for those still involved. Even after thirty years of being a fan of the genre, I'd be hard pushed to come up with a definition that satisfied everyone.

The core though has always been 60s American uptempo soul music, and whilst the periphery has included what can be recognised as pop music, TV themes, R&B (Original R&B I might add, not the bland claimant to the title of today), Modern Soul (but this means soul recorded in the 70s just to confuse matters!), and walking pace Beat Ballads, the music has always returned to songs with soul. The vital ingredient to defining the style though are the allnighters that played the music. Originally back in the late 60s the Mods started the all night dances, and by the 70s Wigan Casino had made them an essential ingredient of life for what seemed like a whole generation. Allnighters still run regularly and can attract anything up to 1100 people on a monthly basis, with Weekenders attracting in excess of 3,000.

From my perspective, as an allnighter veteran of over thirty years standing, what has always been the key though is the emotion expressed by the singer in performing the song. Sometimes joyous, other times so Deep it hurts, sometimes a group, weaving a tune themselves by swapping lead vocals. But always with soul.

Ace Records, through their Kent Records subsidiary, has been reissuing some of the best Northern Soul tracks ever recorded since 1981. Perhaps even more importantly, through Ady Croasdell's bloodhound like ability to search out previously unreleased tracks, Kent Records have now issued in excess of 150 tracks for the first time, thus making them a crucial contributor, rather than just a reissuer, of the music that is called Northern Soul.

The six CDs highlighted are a varied selection that show off the better side of Northern Soul, and disregard quite deliberately some of the more bizarre records that have been played on the scene. So buy them, and use them as an introduction to a music and lifestyle that will live with you as long as you want it to.

OK, I'm cheating here by including two releases under one review. Kent have specialised in releasing all the best tracks from a specific label's output. In this particular case, Shrine Records from Washington DC produced such a limited output, and vinyl copies have remained so rare over the years, that both these CDs are essential if you want the whole picture. Not only do you get to hear every piece of vinyl that was released, but there are also a further 25 recordings that never actually made it onto vinyl before the label got into financial difficulties and shut down.

While Kent specialises in single label compilations, this set draws from 24 different labels and reflects what you are likely to hear on the dance floors these days as opposed to twenty five years ago. Ranging from traditional style uptempo stompers, through raw R&B, to what has become known as Tumbleweed Soul. Mixed in with midtempo magic, this is as good as it gets as a representation of the huge variety of tracks that are played on the Northern Soul scene today. Almost certainly, because of the huge variety of styles and tempos you might find you don't like one or two of the tracks, but on the up side that means you probably will like the other twenty two tracks.

Yes, yes, I know it was only supposed to be six reviews, and this makes eight (Nine if you include the second RCA one), but there is such a wide choice that it's been hard keeping it down to this number. The OKeh label out of Chicago had a sound and a style all of its own; fostered, created, and brought to fruition by a combination of Carl Davis, Curtis Mayfield and Johnny Pate, with of course the many, many talented singers and musicians who came out of the Windy City. The uptempo dance classics they produced, wrote and arranged were almost tailor-made for the youth of the UK to discover five years after they were originally recorded. OKeh recordings have a pedigree on the Northern Soul scene which goes right back to the early days of when The Twisted Wheel in Manchester was still running, right through to last weekend, because there are still a huge number of OKeh tracks which get regular plays on the Northern Soul scene, and I bet you couldn't find a single DJ who doesn't have an OKeh recording in his DJ box. So yes, the label is a Northern Soul obsession, and these two CDs demonstrate exactly why!

DAVE RIMMER is the author of "The Rare Soul Bible...An A-Z Of Northern Soul" (BeeCool Publishing). He is the Editor of Soulful Kinda Music, a quarterly magazine based around the UK's Northern Soul scene, whose first issue appeared in 1989. Contents vary with each issue but include Venue Reports, CD Reviews, Artist Biographies and Discographies, Label Listings and Record Reviews, and many 'comment' articles by different authors.

The website at www.soulfulkindamusic.net provides a whole host of other features and background information on an easy to navigate 600 plus page site. The Artist's Discographies and Label Discographies pages in particular are now so detailed that the website is recognised, specifically for soul artists and labels, as the world leader in this type of reference tool.

www.soulfulkindamusic.net