4. Various Artists
Cooler Than Ice: Arctic Records and the Rise of Philly Soul
Jamie/Guyden
The Arctic Records label helped Philly Soul find its footing. Their complete discography of 121 sides, spread over a six-disc box set, are raw, washed-out, occasionally sloppy — a young Kenny Gamble before he hopped on the love train, a young Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes before you knew them by now — essentially the sound of Philadelphia in the 10 years before "TSOP." The 27 tracks from dynamic soul-stirrer Barbara Mason are the biggest victory here, tracing a slow evolution from the vulnerable, sugary-sad, girl-group era ("Girls Have Feeling Too," the No. 5 hit "Yes, I'm Ready") to the assured, brassy tip of the funky '70s. We'd be remiss not to point out the inimitable tenor of a young Daryl Hall (yes, that Daryl Hall) levitating over the only four released sides from his circa-1967 white-boy soul crew the Temptones, when dude was doing straight Temptations-jacking sans the big bam booms.