Various Artists - Aloha Got Soul (STRUT133)

Compiled by Roger Bong, the eponymously-titled Aloha Got Soul comprises 16 tracks of inspired funk, disco, jazz and AOR recorded in Hawai‘i.

The release is the first definitive compilation representing a vibrant and varied era of recordings, and we’re hoping it shines a whole new light on the Hawaiian Islands’ not-so-distant music culture of the 1970s and 1980s.

"Forget everything Martin Denny taught you about Hawaii, this is the true funky sound of paradise. What could be brighter for a cold December day than the news that Honolulu’s finest reissue label Aloha Got Soul will be curating an exhaustive 16-track double LP overview of the island’s soul, disco and AOR golden age for Strut Records? With our well-being in mind, Roger Bong has picked out a collection of shimmering gems, that emerged in the late ’70s and early ’80s as the island consumed and reworked the soul and disco sounds drifting over the pacific from the United States." — The Vinyl Factory (link)