Various

How time flies! It seems that it was only yesterday back in 2001 that funk and soul aesthetes were grooving to the very first Daptone release: Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings' "Got A Thing On My Mind." Since then, the Daptone label (based out of a small house in Bushwick, Brooklyn) has been a prime source for some of the best and most vital funk, soul, Afrobeat and gospel jams of the past decade. Daptone Gold is a definitive souvenir of the Daptone sound, since classics from staples like the aforementioned Sharon Jones, the Budos Band, Sugerman & Co. and the Menahan Street Band are all present and accounted for. It's a splendid introduction for newcomers, but that's only half the album, with the remainder of the set devoted to unreleased, rare and 45-only releases that stand up as well as the better known songs. It's a goldmine for diehards, with Jones's startlingly beautiful, unreleased cover of Gladys Knight's 1964 classic "Giving Up," the out-of-print twelve-inch mix of Antibalas's classic take on Willie Colon's version of "Che Che Cole Makossa" and Binky Griptite's "A Lover Like Me." Throw in some very cool packaging with insightful, entertaining liner notes and Daptone Gold is incredibly essential.