Now Sound — LPs  

A wonderful little record from Michel Legrand – one of his best non-soundtrack albums of the time! The album is titled after the theme to the soppy film Brian's Song – but it's got a lot more to offer than that – and has Legrand performing versions of soundtrack numbers from a variety of films, using sweet 70s orchestrations in a manner that builds off his best 60s work – but also opens up the sound a bit more. There's a spacious feel here we really love – soaring strings over electric basslines, and lots of tight piano work from Legrand himself – and titles include "Picasso Summer", "Pieces of Dreams", "I Will Say Goodbye", and "Dis-Moi".

Sublime 60s instrumental sounds from LA – with a groove that's similar to The Ventures, or some of the lesser-known surf instrumental groups. Includes the group's big hit reading of "Out Of Limits", plus "Bell Star", "Saturn", "Re-Entry", "Other Limits", "Twilight City", and "Limits Beyond".

Groovy groovy sitar pop – played by Big Jim Sullivan, also known as Lord Sitar! This set is a great session of 60s pop tunes, turned Eastern, in the mode of work by Ananda Shankar or Vince Bell – with a blend of original compositions, mixing sitar, tabla, and all manner of baroque 60s arrangements. The tracks include some excellent originals – like "Ltts" and "The Koan" – plus groovery covers like "She's Leaving Home", "Sunshine Superman", and Donovan's great "Trans Love Airways"!

Cool repackaging of some of Burt's great work for Kapp from the 60's. The album, which has a cover that makes him look like a statue at a piano in a forest, was put together for the Abbott pharmaceutical company as a promotion for their drug Placidyl! A wild package, and a great batch of cuts that includes Burt's good versions of early stuff like "Saturday Sunshine", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "One Less Bell To Answer", and "Walk On By".

Fantastic funkiness! Although Les Baxter's best known for his easy listening work in the late 50s/early 60's, this 1969 biker flick soundtrack is a motherlode of funky funky tracks, and a veritable cornucopia of breakbeats! Highlights include the classics "Hogin' Machine" and "Hot Wind", but there's lots of other nice ones like "Soul Groove" and "Scoobee Doo". The drums are nice and hard, and there's plenty of fuzzy fuzzy guitar to go around nicely! A few tracks have vocals, but the instrumentals more than make up for any weak spots. Essential.

A wonderful combination of music and sound effects – very similar to some of the bigger label work from artists like Jack Fascinato or Dean Elliott over at Capitol Records in the late 50s, but an even more sonically-sensitive session done for the smaller Cook imprint! Jimmy Carroll leads an assortment of vibes, bells, harps, toys, percussion, and other odd instruments – all in a weird and playful mix of melodies that almost come across like mini-cartoons in sound! There's not much in the way of larger or conventional instrumentation – which makes Jimmy's work even different than bigger label experiments like this – and the recording quality from Cook really makes all the odd sounds come through with great clarity!

Quite similar to the great Beatles Jazz sets of the 60s – some jazz takes of familiar tunes by Bob Dylan! Features core sounds by some wrecking crew members – in a mix of players that includes Jim Horn on saxes and flute, Glenn Campbell on guitar, Al DeLory on piano, Lyle Ritz on bass, and Hal Blaine on drums!

Insanely wonderful grooves from lost Italian sources! Like the other two volumes in this series, this third entry in the Stroboscopia set is a must-have if you dig 60s Hammond organ groovers, 70s keyboard funk tracks, and any sort of tune that has a slightly offbeat edge. The set list features 20 tracks in all – all instrumentals with the kind of funky and groovy sound that you'd expect to find on jazz albums by more famous funk artists, but which are equally great in this nicely packaged compilation! Titles include "Carter", "Joy Bells", "The Taste Of Repeat", "Asfalto", "Smooth & Manly", "Supermarket", "A Little Sad", and "Malcontento Popolare" – and artists include Rino De Filippi, Giuliano Sorgini, Puccio Roelens, Alessandro Alessandroni, and Mirot Lash. One of the best sets on Plastic we've heard in years!

A classic bit of Esquivel, with a genius summed up perfectly in the cover image – a photo that features Juan Garcia gazing into a telescope, looking at the stars and contemplating his next musical direction! The sound here is great – a hard-swinging blend of dynamic orchestrations, wordless scatting vocals, and other instrumentation that feels like it seeped out of some spaceship that was just passing by! There's some nice percussion touches at times, and the interplay between all instruments is quite lively – never nearly as sleepy as other easy albums from the time. Titles include "My Blue Heaven", "My Number One Love", "All Of Me", "Spellbound", "Whatchamacalit", "La Ronde", and "Bella Mora".