Rock -- In Stock -- All Formats  

Massively heavy sounds from A Bolha -- a Brazilian group who were previously known as The Bubbles, and backed up Gal Costa during the Tropicalia years -- but who work here in a fuzzy, bassy groove that's totally great -- definitely an heir to the headier sounds of the UK scene at the start of the... read more

Some of the funkiest punk ever recorded! A Certain Ratio were an incredible band -- coming out of the Manchester scene that spawned Joy Division and other Factory Records bands -- working in a dark-tinged mode that was every bit the bleakness of late 70s England. But they also were tremendously... read more

Garage galore from The A-Bones -- one of the few groups who manage to get a sound like this right on the money -- with a searing edge that never fails to grab our ears! The approach here is stark, simple, and plenty darn effective -- plenty of raspy guitar and keyboard lines, driven by rattletrap... read more

Garage galore from The A-Bones -- one of the few groups who manage to get a sound like this right on the money -- with a searing edge that never fails to grab our ears! The approach here is stark, simple, and plenty darn effective -- plenty of raspy guitar and keyboard lines, driven by rattletrap... read more

Just a voice and a guitar -- but what a voice! David Ahlen's got a style unlike any singer we've ever heard -- really eerie and haunting, and working here with a bit more force in his acoustic guitar than on his full length album for the Compunctio label. "Wasted Breaths" has a great... read more

Spiritual sounds with an ethereal feel -- some very sensitive work from singer/songwriter David Ahlen! The album's issued on a label that mostly releases jazz and modern compositions, and the approach here is definitely more art-based than you might expect -- even though the overall presentation... read more

Wonderfully tripped-out work from Air -- a totally great little rockish band with a spare groovy feel -- a mix of jazz, bits of folk rock, and some of the hipper sides of the singer/songwriter scene! Lead vocalist is Googie Coppola, who also plays piano, organ, and harpsichord -- with a style that'... read more

... read more

Unreleased work from Air -- aka the duo of Googie & Tom Coppola -- working here in a mode that's definitely got lots of 80s touches! Googie's vocals are as soulfully bold as on the pair's Columbia sides, but the instrumentation here is heavier on 80s keyboards, fuzzy guitar, and beats -- all... read more

Beautiful grooves from Googie & Tom Coppola -- working here under the name of Air, which hearkens back to their wonderful album for the Embryo label -- but sounding a lot more like their self-named duo who recorded for Columbia Records at the end of the 70s! The material here is previously... read more

A later gem from the Turkish scene of the 70s -- one that's got a bit more funky touches than earlier Anatolian rock! There's still a fair bit of Eastern styles running through the mix, but most of the rhythms are really straightforward and use heavy basslines that really set the groove nicely --... read more

A very different album than usual from Jan Akkerman -- but in a really nice way! The album's not nearly as guitar-heavy and rock-leaning as some of Jan's other sets from the 70s -- and has a bubbling sort of soul-based finish, one that's arranged by Akkerman with some help from Mike Gibbs -- and... read more

Weird funky rock album by this obscure band on Kama Sutra. The music's pretty funky and instrumental at times, but at other times, there's sort of these bad soulful rock vocals. The best tracks on here are the minute-long interludes between songs. They're all pretty funky, and they have no vocals... read more

Two weird and wonderful albums from Alex -- aka Alex Oriental Experience -- a weird version of Turkish rock, filtered through the German scene of the early 70s! The albums were recorded with help from Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit of Can, who possibly play on the records too -- and they're a... read more

... read more

... read more

Nice work from the early 70s Dutch scene -- post psychedelic material from Alquin -- who mix a bit of the West Coast style psychedelic pop arrangements with some jazzy interplay! The groove is spare in the vocal department, with some piano and flute that provides a vibe that ranges from spacey to... read more

A nice one from Dutch scene proggy & jazzy rockers Alquin! Mountain Queen, like their previous gem, has an eclectic vibe -- from heat generating organ, bass & drum funk rock dynamics, to more moody and dramatic textures. The rhythms hit pretty hard, with lots organ, nice flute, guitars,... read more

... read more

... read more

... read more

One of the greatest albums to come from the New York underground of the early 80s -- even if it was a relatively big "hit" on a major label! Laurie Anderson is in perfect form here -- drawing on a strong tradition of avant garde performance, but without any of the indulgences that would... read more

Two break-heavy groovers -- one selected by The Judge, the other by David Holmes! "Flight 2" has a really rattling style of percussion -- skittish drums underneath a darker, rumbling sort of instrumentation -- peppered with some odd guitar bits, blown-out vocal samples, and other... read more

Incredible sounds from the team of Paul and Limpe Fuchs -- a record that's filled with unusual improvisations on a variety of instruments -- including some of the pair's own creations! The record's much more outside than most of the German generation of the time -- proggish in its sonic approach,... read more

Freaky fuzzy guitars from the great Jerry Cole -- working here under the name of The Animated Egg -- not a real group, but a one-off studio project! The music is much trippier than Jerry's famous surf work -- more fuzz on the amps, and a romping sort of rhythm that often takes these tunes right... read more

The underappreciated indie pop of London's Another Sunny Day -- the chiming London Weekend album -- plus bonus tracks! The template for raw indie pop songcraft probably isn't all that different from so many other groups and solo artists on both sides of the Atlantic, from the mid 80s through today... read more

Bebel Gilberto eat your heart out -- Antena explored the same electric-bossa territory you did, nearly 20 years before your first big record! The group were a short-lived French outfit who were one of the shining jewels in the crown of the lovely label Les Disques Du Crepuscule during the early... read more

... read more

Electro pop and hip hop from Apsci on Quannum -- from raw electronic thump with pop hooks, to more of buzzing post punk terse funk vibe -- unique it's synthesis of disparate elements, and given some slinky soul in the vocals! It's catchy as hell, and unlike other records on the un-pigeonhole-able... read more

Duo material from the late 60s British folk revival -- nice stuff from Dave & Toni Arthur -- resonating versions of traditional folk numbers -- many with just voices and no instrumental accompaniment! It's pretty endearing stuff, the kind of thing you wish pubs full of people would sing, and... read more

Incredible, indelible guitar instrumentals from the early years of Chet Atkins -- later to conquer civilization with his 60s Nashville Sound -- here with mid 50s guitar exotica that really is eclectic and well ahead of its time! Chet's 60s production work ranges from absolute genius, with... read more

A strange one from late 60s San Francisco trio Aum -- a pretty wild blend of spiritually mind psychedelia and power trio romping! Aum covers a lot of stylistic territory, from light, harmony vocal sweetened starkness, to lumbering, drum heavy stomp, to bluesy emotive psychedelic rockers with... read more

A wonderful album from the eternally underrated Hoyt Axton -- whose rich, folksy lead vocals are given some fairly soaring arrangements on tunes that range from topical but not quite protest folk material to some trippier, chemically enhanced narratives! Hoyt's got the kind of easygoing, laconic... read more

A wonderful album from the eternally underrated Hoyt Axton -- whose rich, folksy lead vocals are given some fairly soaring arrangements on tunes that range from topical but not quite protest folk material to some trippier, chemically enhanced narratives! Hoyt's got the kind of easygoing, laconic... read more

A weird title, but a cool little book -- one that's kind of a rock/leftfield counterpart to some of the Japanese jazz discographies we've been stocking! As you might guess from the title, there's a pretty cosmic bent to the book -- and it's an attempt to list key records that inform a spacier,... read more

A really cool promo -- featuring 2 of our favorite tracks from the B-52s' amazing second album!... read more

... read more

Funky breaks and fuzzy guitars -- one of the most amazing albums to come out of the Turkish scene of the 70s -- and one with a sound that really defies categorization! Although the sweet image of a girl and guitar on the cover might make you think the record's a folk set, the overall production is... read more

Psychedelic folk rock from the Turkish scene of the 70s -- a real criss-crossing of styles, carried off with strong emotive effect by protest singer Selda! There's a powerful sound here that's completely without referent, but immediately gripping -- a blend of familiar and strange elements that... read more

A Brazilian underground classic from the early 70s -- mindblowing work that mixes heavy percussion with lots of guitar -- in a style that's samba soul one minute, but heavier rock the next! There's a bit of a Jorge Ben influence going on at times -- particularly in the way the record uses quickly-s... read more

Out of the wreckage of Cream came some very hip grooves! Ginger Baker was the hippest of the group's 3 members -- and although he's often credited by soul fans for his work with Fela, he should also get a hats off for his work with the group Air Force -- essentially a 10-piece (which seems to have... read more

A great collection of groovy French pop! Although Brigitte Bardot's best known in this end of the world for her acting, she actually cut quite a few great records in France during the 60s -- and this set includes 20 of them -- excellent Parisian sounds from the mod generation, with instrumentation... read more

A groovy psychedelic rock LP from Milwaukee's The Baroques -- reputed to be the first ever psych group signed to Chess Records in 1967 -- and a compilation of tunes from the group's one LP, plus unreleased demos and non-album tracks! The Baroques played to the psych demographic in a lot of ways,... read more

An excellent collection of work from Spanish combo Barrabas -- and one that really has a focus on the group's most groove-heavy tracks! Barrabas were as much of a rock group as a funk combo -- but their more soulful sides managed to cross over big here in the US in the early 70s -- and a good... read more

Javier's a singer on the Mexican scene of the 70s, but he carries a distinct influence from electric American blues -- as you'll hear on this classic set! Despite the south of the border origin of the record, the album's got a feel that's much more like the best blues rock from the US at the time -... read more

Post Blossom Toes grooves from Blossoms guitarist Little Brian Godding and bassist Big Brian Belshaw -- a more eccentric and freeform combo with some spiraling post psychedelia, melodic guitar jams, wailing blues & soul influenced grooves, and anthemic rockers -- really following the muse... read more

A harmony heaven way to enjoy the Holiday! The group's version of Christmas has to be one of the best-ever recorded in rock and roll -- and given the undercurrent of sadness that was coming forth in their non-Holiday hits of the period, the style here is perfect to fit the melancholy mood of the... read more

An expanded version of the Beach Boys' legendary Christmas album -- a harmony heaven way to enjoy the Holiday! The group's version of Christmas has to be one of the best-ever recorded in rock and roll -- and given the undercurrent of sadness that was coming forth in their non-Holiday hits of the... read more

An incredible record -- and quite possibly our favorite Beach Boys album ever! Sunflower is the kind of record that's easy to pass by when you're first getting into the group, but later on -- after digging for gems on records like Wild Honey or Friends, you'll come back to it as a totally solid... read more

A back-to-basics album of sorts -- shorter, catchier songs recorded by the group after the collapse of Smile -- but a record that still has some really wonderful moments overall -- and which shows that The Beach Boys would never be the same after Pet Sounds! There's a mix of older rock themes and... read more

A hip little set from The Beat Boys -- an Argetine group working in late 60s Brazil, supposedly with a bit of an influence on the sound of Tropicalia! The sound here is a bit straighter than the work of Caetano Veloso or Os Mutantes -- a bit in the Jovem Guarda sound of more mainstream Brazilian... read more

The sound of the Star Club lives again -- in this great set of retro-styled German beat group tracks! Beatplanet have a sound that's sure to take you back to early 60s Hamburg -- a clear Beatles inspiration in the way they put together their tracks, complete with great production touches that make... read more

A rare bit of Florida funk from the 70s -- an album recorded by TK during the height of its soulful run at the time, but never issued until now! The group's headed by vocalist Becen Padron -- who also plays keyboards, guitar, and drums -- and the rhythms have a snapping, funky, clubby sort of... read more

... read more

Groovy Eastern sounds from John Berberian -- a musician we know from more rockish projects, but who steps out here on a relatively traditional set of tunes! As you'd guess from the title, Berberian's instrument is the oud -- that weird stringed instrument we probably know best from Ahmed Abdul-Mali... read more

Middle Eastern rock and psychedelic grooves from the John Berberrian -- who leads his tight group on the oud over highly rhythmic percussion, thumping bass, some clarinet and saxes, and fuzz-toned guitar on this mostly instrumental set -- one that's as groovy as the cover photo! The cultural basis... read more

The complete Chuck Berry recordings for Chess in the first half of the 60s -- incredible stuff all the way through, richer, and more varied stylistically than his earlier proto rock/punchy rhythm & blues of the mid-to-late 50s -- more than 100 tracks on 4CDs in this beautifully designed box for... read more

... read more

Includes covers from The Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols, and Beatles.... read more

A ferocious, noisy EP from Chicago underground legends Big Black -- more ominous, angry and foreboding and less all out buzzing and aurally asaultive then Atomizer or Songs About F**cking -- an essential firing from the noise rock cannon of one of the most important and uncompromising bands of the... read more

Steve Albini's early loner version of Big Black -- ferocious, jagged metal bucket postpunk that holds up strongly to this day and is the blueprint for the full sensory onslaught to come! Albini recorded Lungs mostly on his own, save for his once and future pal Roland, of course, a little blurting... read more

Big Black's live album -- captured at the London date of the hugely influential, fiercely independent, unprecedently brilliant Chicago noise rock genius final tour in 1987 and postumously released in the early 90s by Touch & Go. 1, 2, 1-2 F** YOU! Includes "Fist Of Love", "L... read more

Perhaps the definitive Big Black LP -- the searing, shrapnel inflected, jackhammer noise rock masterpiece from Steve Albini, Santiago Durango, Dave Riley and Roland -- a drum machine that just so happens to be one of the most influential postpunk drummers of the 1980s! Big Black most notorious... read more

A motherlode of Big Star -- a fantastic box set featuring nearly 100 songs on 4CDs, more than half of which are previously unreleased -- including hard grooving demos, killer live versions, and alternate takes of many classic numbers -- as well as the cream of the crop of their uber-essential 70s... read more

One of 70s rock's finest moments -- the second album from Big Star! With Chris Bell out of the picture, one could successfully argue the traits lacking from the first album, but this thing stands up as work of genius all its own -- with a raw, shambling immediacy to the songs that cuts incredibly... read more

Fiery early 60s Merseybeat tunes from the Big Three -- live recordings (complete with girly screeches in the background) as well as studio gems from the early 60s Decca Years -- plus a solid reunion LP from the early 70s -- on a single CD! The earlier material includes the uncommonly propulsive... read more

One of the darkest records we've ever heard from the Far Out label -- a set that reminds us of some of the best Brazilian new wave that was showing up on compilations a few years back! Guitars are in the lead on most numbers -- sometimes played with energy that's punkish, at other times psycheish -... read more

A wonderful set of moody pop numbers -- recorded by Benjamin Biolay, one of France's greatest pop producers of recent years! Biolay's had a hand in work by Keren Ann and Coralie Clement -- and on his own, as a singer, he sounds every bit as great as those two artists -- working in a style that's... read more

Benjamin Biolay's looking a bit strung out on the cover, but the music here is as warmly charming as ever -- a sublime modern French take on territory first explored by Serge Gainsbourg in the 60s! Biolay's production, as always, is impeccable -- a beautiful blend of warmth and grit, acoustic and... read more

... read more

The first-ever full length set from The Birdwatchers -- a cool combo from the Miami scene of the 60s, and one who had a fair bit of local hits, but never seemed to crack the nationwide charts! The sound of the work is surprisingly sophisticated at points -- kind of a mix of garagey roots with... read more

One of the darkest albums we've ever heard -- even if it is part of the spiritual redemption of singer/songwriter Dave Bixby! The album's mostly a solo outing -- Bixby on vocals and acoustic guitar, recorded in a spare echoey space that really underscores the sadness in the songs -- kind of a dark-... read more

Huge! Dark, heavy -- an album of mythical proportions, and that's a lot to say for a mainstream LP! It would be hard to imagine the modern rock landscape without this album or group, who provided the template for so much music to follow, and the soundtrack to many bong-fueled excursions to the... read more

The fourth nearly flawless album of heavy genius from Black Sabbath -- featuring some of the mightiest rock riffs ever! Vol 4 is just the tiniest of notches below Master Of Reality and Paranoid in overall greatness -- which is the tiniest of possible complaints given that those previous two albums... read more

The second great album from Black Sugar, and every bit as great as the first -- perhaps even more so from a keyboard perspective, given the sweet organ and moog that filter through the set! The record's got the group sounding even tighter than before -- mixing Latin rhythms with some great... read more

Solid grooves that range from a bluesy rock rumble to more of an easygoing style from Blackstone -- with gritty, emotive vocals, guitars and drums that drive the sound along -- with some sweet organ and keys sweetening it up! The blues & soul influences are right out front, but the group has a... read more

A lost bit of sunshine pop from the New York scene -- the one and only album by the Blades Of Grass, reissued here with some great bonus tracks! The group's got a sound that's much more in keeping with the California scene of the time -- bits of pop harmony, Brit-inspired rocking, and clear... read more

... read more

Tight rhythms, anthemic melodies, and postpunk dynamics from South Africa's Blk Jks -- delivering on the earlier EP and positioning themselves as one of most unique groups in the indie scene -- on any continent! The group generally works with rock instrumentation of lead & rhythmic guitars,... read more

Tight rhythms, anthemic melodies, and postpunk dynamics from South Africa's Blk Jks -- delivering on the earlier EP and positioning themselves as one of most unique groups in the indie scene -- on any continent! The group generally works with rock instrumentation of lead & rhythmic guitars,... read more

A dawn of the 70s psychedelia steeped, early prog gem from Blonde On Blonde -- slowbuilding guitar jams with heady grooves -- nice stuff in the mellower moments and in the more rave up oriented mode! The extroverted lead vocals strive for a Tim Buckley style soar, and the dynamic, fuzzed out... read more

Lost material from from Brit psychedelic combo Blossom Toes -- rare studio recordings and unheard gems cut after their excellent We Are Ever So Clean album in '67 and and early versions of gems from their final album that came out in '69 -- kind of looser, but no less excellent material from the... read more

A stellar compilation of material from underappreciated (in the States, anyway) UK indie guitar pop from Brighton's Blow Up -- including the rare singles they cut for Creation, a bunch of tunes the Watermelon Sugar and Amazon Eyegasm albums, and a few tracks that are only now seeing light of day! ... read more

Heavenly! This was the first solo album that Colin Blunstone cut after leaving the Zombies, and in our humble opinions, it's one of the most god-like albums ever to be released on this planet. Colin's dreamy breathy voice is matched with some extremely spare arrangements that are filled with... read more

Late 60s psyche pop on Atco from Bo Grumpus -- a Boston group who only ever cut this one LP that we know of -- and it's a groovy one! The sound has kind of tight pop combo groove with catchy melodies -- fleshed out into trippier territory with some keys, trumpet, and overall bigger arrangements --... read more

Rare work from the ex-frontman for The Millennium -- recorded in LA, with all the sunniness that the title implies! The shift from the simple pop of Boettcher's late 60s work to the smoother, more sophisticated studio groove of the 70s -- one that bears traces of America, post-Sunflower Beach Boys... read more

The funky freaky soundtrack to Ralph Bakshi's animated feature Fritz The Cat -- a really messed-up little film based around the original character created by Robert Crumb! Like the movie, the album's got a very skittish kind of feel -- leaping from one genre to the next with each different track --... read more

Rural accented, haunting and wonderful folk material from Jay Bolotin -- a Kentucky bred songwriter and singer who made an impact on some powerful artists in Nashville, and in the country and folk landscape in general, but never really got his due for his own work -- including this wholly excellent... read more

Heady and heavy work from Billy Bond and La Pesada Del Rock & Roll -- a guitar heavy group from Argentina, and one with plenty of blues rock overtones! The guitars are definitely turned up to 11 here -- jamming with an intensity to match some of the best hard rock sides from Peru reissued by... read more

... read more

Funky rock from The Bosom Blues -- a group with a lot more grit than you might expect from their name! The "blues" in their groove comes mostly from some strong use of electric bass -- more funky than bluesy on a lot of the numbers here -- creating a strong rumble on up from the bottom,... read more

Quite possibly David Bowie's first complete moment of genius -- an incredibly-formed album that's filled with tunes beyond definition and description! There's still some traces of the earlier madman in the mix, but the overall sound is much more rock-heavy -- although not without the fuzzed-up and... read more

An amazing departure for David Bowie -- hardly the kind of record you would expect from his oboe-filled tunes of a few years before -- and really the start of the groundbreaking, earthshaking, reinventionist era of his genius! There's a spacious, soaring quality to Space Oddity that's every bit... read more

An amazing departure for David Bowie -- hardly the kind of record you would expect from his oboe-filled tunes of a few years before -- and really the start of the groundbreaking, earthshaking, reinventionist era of his genius! There's a spacious, soaring quality to Space Oddity that's every bit... read more

We're not the biggest fans of VH1 around here, but we definitely give the station props for a show like this -- an up-close, intimate performance by David Bowie -- one in which he tells the tale behind some of his famous tunes, then delivers special versions for the program! The performance is... read more

... read more

A really charming little set from vocalist Bobbi Boyle -- a singer in Encino during the late 60s, working here with a great mix of jazz, bossa, and all things groovy! The album's almost a Sunshine Pop take on jazz vocals -- one that has Bobbi singing with a sweet small combo, and vocalizing in... read more

There's a nice undercurrent of fuzz in this lovely album from Francoiz Breut -- kind of a rumbling, brooding sound that's a wonderful counterbalance for her softer-styled vocals! The fuzz comes not just from guitar, but from keyboards too -- rumbling up from the bottom to create a sinister... read more

One of Tim Buckley's greatest albums ever -- thanks to some incredible work by Dave Friedman on vibes! Friedman's sound really brings out the jazziness in Buckley's writing and phrasing -- making for a beautiful blend with the album's 12 string guitar work and acoustic percussion -- and giving the... read more

Sandy Bull's third album -- a pair of long pieces that combine the multicultural folk instrumental experimentation -- with Bull playing guitar, bass, bass drum, oud and hand percussion -- rolling in a bit more electric blues on one side, and meandering psychedelic impulses on the other! The album... read more