Good Times Sound System/Various

There is no getting around paying homage to brothers Joey and Norman Jay. Their names are as ubiquitous and revered as the names that communities pay homage to across the Atlantic at Paradise Garage. In addition to creating the Good Times Sound System over 20 years ago, the duo's sets have become synonymous with London's annual Notting Hill Carnival - an urban street celebration whose heart and soul is injected with life via their brilliant and eclectic sets. Good Times 2... follows the first double CD set, cataloguing some of their beautiful and diverse track choices for the Carnival, and within the context of their Sound System itself. Disc one begins with Gladys Knight and the Pips doing "Bourgie Bourgie," and the Jays pull out everything thereon from reggae via the Ethiopians' "The Whip" to Leroy Smart's "Ballistic Affair." Inner Life and Nuyorican Soul take on Jocelyn Brown (via mixes by Larry Levan and Masters At Work) in tracks that are equal parts soul anthems and passionate songs of survival. The highlight of the first disc is the Young Disciples' "All I Have In Me," filled with strings and brooding, yet full of spirit, it is over ten minutes of sheer bliss. Disc two ups the ante on the eclectic quota, putting in the sounds of a new London, via Wookie and Nithin Sawhney, alongside classics like the Flirtations' "Nothing But A Heartache" and Labi Siffre's "The Vulture." The Jay brothers pay homage to the funk maestros and soul gods of the '70s, bringing them firmly and gladly into the future, making this absolutely vital in any collection.