(FORTUNE Small Business) – Eccentric Soul, the maiden release from Chicago's tiny, recently formed Numero label, is somewhat misnamed. The soul is there by the bucketful--sweet '70s gems by such little-known artists as Marion Black, Bill Moss, and the staggering Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr--but there's nothing particularly esoteric or unusual about the music. To the contrary, it goes down as smoothly as that of Marvin Gaye, the JBs, the Four Tops, and other R&B legends. Maybe they should have called it Ecstatic Soul.

Numero is the creation of Tom Lunt, 52, and Ken Shipley, 27, two "recovering record collectors," as Lunt puts it, who decided last year to form a label dedicated to re-releasing lost treasures. In addition to Eccentric Soul, the company has put out Camino del Sol, a 1982 album by a French electronica band called Antena, and is set to introduce a three-disc set of power-pop singles called Yellow Pills: Prefill in July. "What we really want to do is create a curatorial approach," Lunt says. "In a way, we're more like an art gallery."

To sample Numero's wares, head to numerogroup.com; they're available only online. "Distribution is something that gets really distasteful," says Lunt, a former ad executive. "You're fighting every other wholesaler for shelf space, and you don't have control of your brand." Lunt and Shipley prefer to spend their energy discovering great overlooked music. That's our gain. --JASON TANZ