Charles Maurice - AOR Global Sounds Vol. 3 (2017)

For the third volume in his consistently superb AOR Global Sounds compilation series, Charles Maurice has largely opted to showcase tracks that combine West Coast rock flavours with disco and soul influences. It's a heady and intoxicating collection, where the blue-eyed soul/jazz-funk fusion of "Girl" by Stratus rubs shoulders with the horn-heavy, electrofunk era AOR cheeriness of Willy Santana's "Mais Uma Chance" and the '80s soul smoothness of Omega Sunrise's "Heartbreaker". Other highlights include the rubbery boogie bass and Steely Dan guitar passages of Billy Always' "More Than A Minute" and the drowsy warmth of Jon Konteau's synth-laden "The Heckler", which comes on like the Steve Miller Band jamming with Moon B.