Four lost albums from David Blue – a really compelling singer/songwriter, ripe for rediscovery! First up is These 23 Days In September, recorded for Reprise – a really moody little record from David Blue – a folksy singer who's got a style that definitely lives up to the melancholy promise of his name! Blue's definitely an artist with a difference – working in the familiar mode of vocals and acoustic guitar, but with an edge and distinctness that really sets him apart from the folkies of a few year before – that sense of different that really set apart a new wave of contemporaries, like Leonard Cohen, Fred Neill, or Tom Rapp. Titles include "These 23 Days In September", "The Sailor's Lament", "Scales For A Window Thief", "You Will Come Back Again", "Slow & Easy", and "The Grand Hotel". Stories is an overlooked early set on Asylum – the kind of really special singer/songwriter material that really set the label apart at the start of the 70s! David Blue has this compelling vocal style that's moody, but down to earth – inflected here and there with guitar contributions from Ry Cooder, who's understated, but really brings out some special qualities in the tunes. Jack Nitzsche adds in some light strings at points – but overall, things are pretty spare and personal – and titles include "Looking For A Friend", "Another One Like Me", "Sister Rose", "The Blues", "Come On John", "Marianne", and "Fire In The Morning". Nice Baby & The Angel shows David Blue really starting to get some star power in his mix – a fuller set, produced by Graham Nash – with work from Nash on guitar, plus more guitar from Dave Mason and David Lindley – in a nice mix of roots elements, but which never overwhelm that unique sense of songwriting and vocals that set David Blue apart from the rest. Titles include "Darlin Jenny", "Troubadour Song", "Train To Anaheim", "True To You", "On Sunday Any Sunday", and "Outlaw Man". On the cover of Cupid's Arrow, David Blue might look a bit cheesy, what with his open shirt and all – but he's definitely the real deal, and very down to earth in his singer/songwriter approach – with a quality that's only underscored by the lineup on the set – a group that features Levon Helm on drums, Jesse Ed Davis on guitar, David Lindley on mandolin and slide, and Barry Goldberg on piano and organ, and also handling production of the album too. The shift from David's roots is a bit like that taken by other contemporaries who once started in more folksy territory, then found a new way to grow in the west coast singer/songwriter scene – and that means that things are more electrified, but still quite far from mainstream music – with original tunes from Blue throughout, and titles that include "I Feel Bad", "Maria Maria", "Primeval Tune", She's Got You", "Tom's Song", and "Run Run Run". CD

Rockabilly legend Billy Joy definitely rocks – hardly a household name in the 50s, but a killer figure in the rock and roll underground – and one whose fame has just grown more and more over the years! The package is a beautifully-done tribute to Benny's genius – and presents the most hard-rocking of his important 50s recordings, as well as a host of unreleased tracks from later demos too! Joy's guitar work alone is amazing, but when it's coupled with the kickass rhythms of the tunes, the music really takes off to a whole new level – burning with the power you'd expect from the classic Johnny Burnette Trio – and that's before Benny's gritty vocals even come into play! CD features 30 tracks in all – including some lost recordings from the 70s – titles that include "Rollin To The Juke Box Rock", "Dark Angel", "Miss Bobby Sox", "Little Red Book", "Button Nose", "Come Back", "Wild Wild Lover", "In Study Hall", "Crash The Party (unedited)", "Spin The Bottle (Nashville demo)", "Big John Taylor", "High High School Baby", and "Nosey Nosey Neighbors". CD

A trio of overlooked albums from UK group Vinegar Joe – packaged here with bonus tracks as well! First up is the group's debut, Vinegar Joe – a record with a UK blend of roots rock and deeper blues currents – but served up in that 70s style that takes all the best elements way past their familiar incarnations! The group sports two singers – a young Robert Palmer and female vocalist Elkie Brooks – and although Palmer would soon emerge as a more pop-oriented artist, he's got plenty of soulful chops here – but maybe still only second to Elkie, who soars out with the sort of inspiration that must have touched Janis Joplin as well. Titles include "Circles", "Leg Up", "See The World", "Never Met A Dog", "Live A Little Get Somewhere", and "Avinu Malkenu". Next up is Rock & Roll Gypsies – a record with a really wonderful sound – tight, but never too polished – maybe that UK love of American soul inspirations that folks know more famously in work by artists like Joe Cocker or Traffic, but which is served up here with a really unique feel by the overlooked Vinegar Joe! The group sports a fantastic lead female vocalist in Elkie Brooks, who'd later go on to make some great records on her own – and a young Robert Palmer rounds out the lyrics with a quality that's so different than his later work, and maybe even more soulful overall. Titles include "Falling", "It's Gettin To The Point", "Buddy Can You Spare Me A Line", "Angel", "No One Ever Do", "Forgive Us", and "Charley's Horse". Last up is Six Star General – the third album from Vinegar Joe, and a set that we're not sure got the same global circulation as the earlier albums – which is a real shame, as the group here are maybe even more focused on their sound than before! By this point, Robert Palmer has left the group, but the wonderful Elkie Brooks is still in the lead on guitar – and the group have impeccable instrumentation from Jim Mullen on guitar, Keef Harley on drums, and Mike Deacon on keyboards. Titles include "Proud To Be", "Black Smoke Rising From The Calumet", "Let Me Down Easy", "Fine Thing", "Lady Of The Rain", and "Dream My Own Dreams". Also features bonus tracks "Speed Queen Of Ventura", "Long Way Round", and single versions of "Black Smoke Rising From The Calument" and "Rock & Roll Gypsies". CD

One of the most comprehensive sets we've ever seen to look at the legacy of the legendary Lee Hazlewood – and one of the few to focus on the impact he's had on the 21st Century! Lee's songs have become the stuff of legend over the years – not just his own recordings, but classic tracks sung by the Sinatra family members, Dean Martin, and countless others – who are usually features on similar sets under the Hazlewood banner. But this package goes those one better – and looks mostly at material from the past 20 years – plus a few older songs – showing that, if anything, the present century has given Lee's music even more power than ever in the hands of diverse talents like these. As with more "vintage" sets from Ace Records, the presentation is great – a lot of tracks, and very detailed notes that really like the Hazelwood heritage to all this recent music. Titles include "A Cheat" by Jarvis Cocker & Richard Hawley, "Some Velvet Morning" by Primal Scream & Kate Moss, "First Street Blues" by Mick Harvey, "I'm Glad I Never" by Jesus & Mary Chain, "Sand" by Holly Golightly, "Look At That Woman" by Gallon Drunk, "You Turned My Head Around" by Dean & Britta, "I'd Rather Be Your Enemy" by Boyd Rice, "Summer Wine" by Ville Valo & Natalia Avelon, "Paris Summer" by Frances Ruffelle, "My Autumn's Done Come" by Mark Morriss, "No Train To Stockholm" by Dan Michaelson & The Coastguards, and "Long Black Train" by Thriftstore Masterpiece with Frank Black. Also includes vintage songs – "She Comes Running" by Waylon Jennings, "The Man Who Made An Angel Cry" by Loy Clingman, "Lady Bird" by Virgil Warner & Suzi Jane Hokom, and "Friday's Child" by Billie Dearborn. CD

A really mindblowing collaboration between two of the most spiritual mainstream musicians of the early 70s – legendary guitarist Carlos Santana and spiritual jazz guru Alice Coltrane! The set came at a time when Santana was reaching for much deeper ideas in both his music and his personal life – and Coltrane turned out to be a perfect creative fit, as she'd already been down the path with her own music for years – and helps Carlos here find an incredible setting that really lets his new vision take flight! The album's a very collaborative effort – with Alice on piano, organ, and harp – but Coltrane also brings in some fuller arrangements on half of the tracks – really opening things up, alongside other musicians who include Jack DeJohnette on drums, Dave Holland on bass, Jules Broussard on soprano sax and flute, and Tom Coster on both acoustic and electric piano. The strings are sublime – as heavenly as on Alice's own records – and titles include "Angel Of Air Angel Of Water", "Bliss The Eternal Now", "Angel Of Sunlight", "Illuminations", and "Guru Sri Chinmoy Aphorism". (Jazz, Rock) CD

An assortment of tracks from that time in the LA scene when both the hair and guitar solos got longer, and the music stepped from raw punk to proto-metal – yet still somehow managed to keep its edge! In a way, you could think of these tracks as being by metal kids who were raised on punk – and although the scene would soon have some very commercial moments, the cuts here are from that key point right before that time – when punk and hard rock were blurring together, still with plenty of South Cali attitude overall! Titles include "Rock N Roll Ain't Pretty" by Jaded Lady, "Ready To Explode" by Steeler, "Savage Kind Of Girl" by VVSI, "Up From The Depths" by Hellion, "Cold Reception" by Knightmare II, "Cinderella In Black Leather" by Witch, "Bound For Hell" by Max Havoc, "Cocaine" by LA Rocks, and "We Came To Kill" by Leather Angel. CD

Rare sounds from the UK underground of the mid 80s – work from a post-post-punk period that's come to be known as the cold wave – when electronic musicians who weren't sucked into the pop mainstream went deeper down and created some really wonderful sounds on their own! Most of the tracks here were only ever issued on cassette – which makes them even more lost to the sands of time than vinyl from the period – and the music has a rich blend of different analogue electronic modes that takes us from the moodier sounds of early Sheffield and Manchester to some of the warmer work of the Rough Trade or Cherry Red scenes. A few cuts here are appearing for the first time ever – and titles include "Don't Surrender" by WeR7, "Age Of Lights (inst)" by Modern Art, "Pigst Cafe" by Mystery Plane, "Space Is The Bass" by The Lord, "Beyond Reason Beyond Time" by Disintegrators, "Lives Of Angels" by Lives Of Angel, and "Tease" by Berserk In A Hayfield. CD

A pivotal record in the career of the great Matt Berry – a set that firmly established him as a musical act away from his work on the screen – not his first album, but one that really seems to have Berry finding his very unique voice! A number of the tunes have a slight nod to spookiness – an element that maybe prefaces Berry's role in What We Do In The Shadows – and the instrumentation has more Wicker Man-like elements at times than some of the mod-styled backings on other of Matt's records – although you can definitely hear his love of vintage keyboards on the album too. Tracks include "Vintage Dance", "Farewell Summer Sun", "Bonfire", "The Signs", "Solstice", "Wolf Quartet", "Fallen Angel", and "October Sun". This edition features all sorts of great tracks recorded at the original sessions – almost doubling the size of the record with cuts that include "Fire Chant", "Food Chain Blues", "October", "Sea Chant", "Honky Knock", "Venison Sketch", "The Dawn", and "To The Floor". CD

A set that brings together earlier work from this hip Japanese duo, including some unreleased tracks – work that's definitely in the farther spectrum of some of the more creative work from that scene at the start of the 80s! Beats and sound samples come together with ease – sometimes at a level that's warm and cozy, sometimes more noisy and all-out – and the vocals on the tracks are often processed right down into the mix, creating a very electric experience overall! Titles include "De To Re Mi", "After The Intelligence", "Trick Or Treat", "Night Paradise", "Angel", "Love Season", and previously unreleased versions of "Tamare Kurawanka", "Kitsune", "Heartbeat", and "We Are Only Dancin". CD

A legendary live performance from these three key members of the Velvet Underground – reunited on stage for a televised concert in Paris in 1972, and sounding really amazing together! Although Lou's star was the highest at the time, and Cale was releasing some incredible solo material, the overall vibe is maybe in the moody slowness of some of Nico's own recordings – very dark and spare, given that most of the instrumentation is just Cale on piano and viola, Reed on guitar, and Nico on harmonium – that spooky instrument that always seemed to bring out the best in her vocals! The whole thing is a key addition to both the Velvet Underground catalog, and the solo work of the three at the time – with titles that include "Berlin", "Black Angel's Death Song", "Heroin", "Ghost Story", "Janitor Of Lunacy", "I'll Be Your Mirror", "The Biggest Loudest Hairiest Group Of All", "Frozen Warnings", "Wild Child", "Empty Bottle", and "All Tomorrow's Parties". CD

Weird work from the Wicker Man generation – that moment in British music where it often seemed like the spookiest sounds could come from the past – as you'll hear here in a huge batch of music from the acid folk revival years! Instrumentation on these tracks is mostly acoustic, but basslines and guitar parts can sometimes be electric – and both arrangements and production amplify some of the elements of the tunes in ways that really bring out eerie currents, even when the lyrics might seem more innocent! There's lots of music here we'd never heard before, mixed with surprising contributions from bigger names, all wrapped together with the genius ear for song selection that always makes these collections from the Grapefruit label so great. The 3CD set features 60 tracks in all, complete with a big booklet of notes on the artists – a great lineup that features cuts by Magnet, Third Ear Band, Parameter, Carolanne Pegg, Dry Heart, Amber, The Young Tradition, Kevin Coyne, Gallery, Lal Waterson, The Sallyangie, Horden Raikes, Chimera, Comus, JP Sunshine, Oberon, Simon Finn, Jan Dukes De Graye, Shirley Kent, Spriguns Of Tolgus, Sweeny's Men, Green Man, Parke, Archie Fisher, Pentangle, Stone Angel, Celebrated Ratliffe Stout Band, Folkal Point, Mr Fox, Heather Adrian & John, Marc Bolan, and many more. CD