Giant Step Records gear up to release the second volume in their burgeoning ‘Simply Good Music’ series. This compilation, just in time for Spring, brings together wide ranging talents and friends of Giant Step such as Bebel Gilberto, Raphael Saadiq, Brazilian Girls, Fertile Ground and others for a tutorial on the future of “good music."

Taking this series into 2005, co-founder of Giant Step, Maurice Bernstein enlisted fellow Giant Stepper Adam Kurzawa, to help compile 'Volume Two.' The pair hand-picked thirteen songs that encompass Giant Step’s 15 year-long working with “simply good music.�? From the opening guitar licks of Raphael Saadiq’s “I Know Shuggie Otis" through to the final frenetic drum fills on RSL’s “The Mast (Love Will Be Strong)�," this compilation burns with soulful sounds that constantly turn the common wisdom of genre terminology on their collective ear.

With careful attention paid to the listening experience, Bernstein and Kurzawa took special note of the album’s sequencing to give you a vibrant aural journey filled with peaks and valleys. Perhaps best known for his work with Tony Toni Tone and Lucy Pearl, Raphael Saadiq was the ideal choice to lead off this powerful compilation. His upbeat, guitar-laden tune “I Know Shuggie Otis�" is a standout cut from his recently released solo album "As Ray Ray." Vocalist Georgia immediately makes her presence known on the next song, “Your Day Is Done" by Platinum Pied Pipers. Originally released as a B-side on the band’s “Stay With Me�" 12�" on Ubiquity Records, this is the only place you’ll find this booming underground hit on CD. One of Giant Step’s favorite live acts Los Amigos Invisibles comes in with the Reggaeton Remix of “Esto Es Lo Que Hay," previously only available on 7�" vinyl and two of Baltimore’s best and brightest are featured with Fertile Ground contributing the riveting and uplifting “Live In The Light�" and Fusion Unlimited’s exclusive ColdFusion remix of Lizz Field’s bouncy “When I See Love.�"

An exclusive track on 'Volume Two,' “Mr. Johnnie Walker" by Tiombe Lockhart, was just released on Giant Step Records on 7�" vinyl and the reaction has been ecstatic, so the notion of including it on this CD was predetermined by the underground “heads�." She’s been a busy bee contributing vocals to the forthcoming Platinum Pied Pipers full length album and this jazzed out glitch-filled soul tune is one of the most unique songs out at the moment. Counterflow Recordings’ brightest stars Plantlife represent with an inspired funk anthem, “Appreciate." A favorite among DJs around the world including BBC Radio 1’s Gilles Peterson (whose listeners also voted the full length as 'CD Of The Year"), Plantlife are one of the most highly touted bands in the American underground. This compilation also includes an exclusive version of Seek’s “Ever After" reworked by fellow Atlanta band Jiva, and cleverly titled Jiva Vs. Seek, music from Adriana Evans and Renovation Unlimited featuring Roy Ayers.

Another exclusive on this compilation is the Latin Project remix of Bebel Gilberto’s “Aganju.�" The song was a standout from her self-titled sophomore album and this exclusive US only remix was also previously only available on vinyl until now. True to the company’s roots of promoting the next big thing way ahead of the curve Giant Step included a track by one of our favorite NY bands, Verve Forecast’s Brazilian Girls’ “Sirenes de La Fete.�"