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Dark-tinged ambient grooves from Mark Rudolph – a departure from his earlier Daszu project, as the work here was mostly intended for live performances, often with a visual component alongside the music! Many of the tracks have a cyclical sort of energy – waves of rhythms and keyboards flowing out in space, swirling in ways that are both moody and groovy – and which must have been pretty great accompaniment to images on a screen. CD features 15 tracks in all – including "Reich", "Trip", "Jill", "Trance", "Dancing Calligraph", "Hypno", "Contained Joy", "Butterfly Close To Me", "Hey Suni", "Oo Eh", and "Kanushanya Sweet". CD

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A British group, but one who also bring in a bit of American straightforwardness as well – mostly in the way they strip down the vibe of the record, harmonize their vocals, and go for an approach that avoids some of the overblown modes of their contemporaries! There's definitely some great hard rock guitar in the mix – played by Les Nicol, who can really tear it up – yet the whole thing also has a way of sounding nicely different than late psych or nascent prog, maybe in part because of the American production and the album's initial release only in the US. Titles include "My Poor Mary", "Matthew", "Mark", "Luke", "John", "High In The Tower Of Coombe", and "Methuselah". CD reissue features seven more bonus tracks from the original sessions – including "Don't Ask Me & I Won't Lie", "Put Me Down Woman", "You Are My Sunshine", and other mixes of tunes on the album! CD

A fantastic classic from The Band – a set that's hardly got them cowering in the corner the way the "stage fright" title might imply – and which instead seems to have the group at their most confident during the early years, effortlessly spinning impeccable musicianship and some surprisingly biting lyrics! The young Robbie Robertson is on guitar, Garth Hudson warms things up with organ lines, and vocals are handled by the shifting array of other players in the lead – Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Richard Manuel. Titles include "The Shape I'm In", "Sleeping", "Strawberry Wine", "Just Another Whistle Stop", "Daniel & The Sacred Harp", "Stage Fright", and "Time To Kill". CD reissue includes an alternate take of "Daniel & The Sacred Harp", two alternate mixes, and a radio commercial. CD

One of those 70s records that has everything going for it, but somehow never got a chance to get off the mark – well-written and catchy tunes, a tight approach to production that's also somehow fresh, and a sense of personality that marks this second set by the band to be one where they're really hitting their stride! The record's of the AOR generation, but it's also got a sense of individuality that really shines through – never too polished, but also not an indie effort as well – and some nice echoes of the kind of cuts that would have peaked on British radio a few years before. Titles include "Confident Man", "Coaltown", "As A Lover I'm A Loser", "Alone Tonight", "Good To Me", "Free & Easy", and "Faith In The Family". CD

The Challengers cook it strongly here – adding in a bit more sax than before to their sweet guitar instrumental groove – almost using the instrument as a second sort of engine to give themselves even more power than before! There's a slightly deeper tone than on the group's previous records – all the sharp guitar lines that made The Challengers one of the best of the bunch, but with a range that stretches out nicely overall – and keeps even the familiar tunes from sounding like the usual bag! Titles include "Mr Rebel", "K-39", "Out Of Limits", "One Mint Julep", "Bedlam", "Chiflado", "Just Drums", and "Mark Of Zorro". CD

One of the great lost groups of the UK scene of the 60s – not lost to UK audiences, or to hipsters over the generations – but still an act that never made the impact on these shores that they should! The Creation are step in step right up there with early material by The Who or Small Faces – and share a similar groundbreaking re-fusion of American roots into a new London groove – all with searing guitars, clever wordplay, and a cutting-edge spirit that may well have kept them off our charts – but which makes them so great to discover all these many years later. You might have caught a few of their songs over the years – thanks to soundtrack placement from directors like Wes Anderson, or covers by many of their bigger fans. This 2CD set features 46 tracks in all, with remastering overseen by original producer Shel Talmy – and the set includes early sides by The Mark Four, some alternate takes, and even new mixes – plus an 80 page hardcover book with scores of photos, other images, session and discographical details, and a new essay too. CD

Not experienced? Well, this album will help push you over the top – as it's done for decades of listeners from the heyday of young Jimi Hendrix all the way up to the present! The set's a classic through and through – a blueprint not just for the genius of Hendrix, but for generations of guitar heroes to come – as you might expect with a lineup that includes "Hey Joe", "Manic Depression", "The Wind Cries Mary", "Fire", "Third Stone From The Sun", "Are You Experienced", and "Purple Haze". CD

Jefferson Airplane's weirder follow-up to Surrealistic Pillow – and a pretty incredible record – concentrating their sprawling psychedelic impulses into fairly succinct 3 to 4 minute songs, for the most part! It's a creative approach,and it's a brave record. If Surrealistic Pillow lured the mainstream into the rabbit hole, this one is the tripped out tea party inside! Only a couple of tunes roll past the 5 minute mark, so it never gets too far out, and it's got plenty of chugging, bluesy rock to keep it neat. Includes "The Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil", "Young Girl Sunday Blues", "Martha", "Wild Tyme", "Two Heads", "Watch Her Ride", "Won't You Try/Sunday Afternoon"and more. CD

One of the greatest albums ever from Joni Mitchell – and maybe one of the most go-to records in her legendary catalog! The record set a new high mark for singer/songwriter material in the 70s – and there's an intimate, upfront quality here that's even more striking than Mitchell's early work – personal storytelling, with a slightly poetic vibe, set to spare acoustic backing that really makes the presence of the lyrics stand out even more. Well worth all the praise and attention the album's gotten for decades – with titles that include "All I Want", "My Old Man", "Little Green", "Carey", "Blue", "California", "This Flight Tonight", "River", "A Case Of You", and "The Last Time I Saw Richard". CD

A sharp little record that's as well put-together as its 70s cover – served up by a group who certainly have some of the rootsy modes you'd guess from their name, but honed into a sharper studio sound, thanks to production help from Terry Melcher and Mark Lindsay! The record's one of those real 70s mysteries – a set that got plenty of care from the label, and which is filled with catchy tunes that could have crossed over big on AM radio – but which were maybe lost in the shuffle, while the promotion team behind the record were sneaking into some Sunset Strip lounge for mid-afternoon cocktails. Melcher and Lindsay also apparently appear on the record – and titles include "One More Round", "Piece Of My Life", "Together Now", "Tracy", "Ain't It Sad", "Whatcha Treatin Me So Bad For", and "Love You Tonight". CD

A wild set of early 70s leftfield folk from Caroline Peyton – a freewheeling batch of tunes that's a little bit more out there than the warmer, sunshine folk soul of the later Intuition album – but a unique gem that's a great showcase for Caroline's stunning voice, and the songwriting of partner Mark Bingham. The duo's creative origins trace back to a hippie commune outside of Bloomington, Indiana – and the tunes often feel like an unselfconscious, artier riff on the Cali folk scene of the time. The arrangements are built around the voice, and piano on many of the tracks. Unconventional, but warm and true – well worth a late discovery. Original album tracks include "The Sky In Japan Is Always Close To You", "Pull", "Don Beggs", "Tuna", "Engram", "Sweet Misery", "Hook", "Gone For A Day" and more. The Numero/Asterisk reissue goes the extra mile with liner notes by Edd Hurt, lots of photos, and bonus tracks including "Breathe (Live)", "Alll This Waiting", "Paths Of Light", "White Teeth" and enhanced video footage – "Call Of The Wild" and "Fishing Blues" live at the Hummingbird Cafe, in Bloomington, Indiana. (Folk/Country, Rock) CD

A vital performance by Pete Seeger at a pivotal point in his career – captured at Maine's Bowdoin College in 1960 – the complete performance! You really get a powerful portrait of this good-natured giant of American musical history here. At a time when Seeger was under intense political scrutiny, he delivers a charismatic and inventively musical show for the people of Maine! He tells stories, leads sing-a-longs and plays the heck out of his banjo and acoustic guitar, and it's captured very well by Folkways. He more about honoring American folk songs and traditions here, but he does slyly put forward his beliefs, with subtlety and grace. A pretty amazing set, not only for how well documented it is, but for the wealth of material – a few dozen songs if you count the medleys (and you should!) with avuncular monologues and commentary on 2CDs – plus a generous booklet of notes. Includes "Penny's Farm", "He Lies In The American Land", "Oh, Riley", "D-Day Dodgers", "Al Smith Holds The Bottle", "Goodnight Irene", "Living In The Country", "Water Is Wide", "Big Rock Candy Mountain", "Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream", "Wimoweh", "Bourgeois Blues", "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena", "Cripple Creek/Old Joe Clark/Old Dan Tucker" (in a brilliant banjo medley) and much more!" (Folk/Country, Rock) CD

A pair of records from Tempest – a group formed by drummer Jon Hiseman after the breakup of Colosseum! First up is the self-titled Tempest record – music by a hell of a group from the glory days of the Bronze Records scene – a group who boast some fantastic guitar work from a young Allan Holdsworth that are more than enough to get them on the label – but who also have a richness and complexity that rivals some of the hippest prog acts on labels like Vertigo or Harvest too! Ex-Colosseum member Jon Hiseman handles drums and percussion with a mighty nice edge, Mark Clarke delivers some heavy sinister basslines, and Paul Williams echoes all of those strengths with his dark-tinged vocals – in a mode that's nicely beyond some of the cliches that other groups might hit on a record like this. Titles include "Gorgon", "Brothers", "Foyers Of Fun", "Upon Tomorrow", "Grey & Black", "Up & On", and "Dark House". Next up is Living In Fear – a really great record from Tempest – a group who have so many different things going on at once – guitars that would be right at home on a hard rock effort, rhythmic complexity that verges on prog, and a tunefulness that really sends the whole thing over the top with an unexpected appeal that keeps on going throughout the entire set! Maybe the tipoff is the group's great cover of "Paperback Writer" – showing a love of the harmony in earlier work by The Beatles – updated here to a more guitar-based, fuzz-heavy style for the 70s – and matched with some equally groovy songs that have us wondering why these guys never found more of a following at the time! Other titles include "Funeral Empire", "Stargazer", "Dance To My Time", "Living In Fear", and "Waiting For A Miracle". CD set features two bonus tracks – "You & Your Love" and "Dream Train". CD

An unusual moment in the career of Tom Waits – a set that features some tracks done for a stage production, and which almost seem to unlock a Brechtian side in the singer's approach – especially given the jagged rhythms and dark currents that seem to inflect to many of the tunes! At a number of points, Waits sings in a style that's even more gruff than some of his standard albums – and mixed with the instrumentation on the set, there's almost a between the wars sort of vibe to the whole thing – a very nice change from the vibe of so many previous albums. At some level, the set might also mark an elevation to some of the more "serious" modes that Nick Cave was also hitting around the same time – a onetime underground hero realizing the power of himself in the larger world of art and culture. Titles include "Everything Goes To Hell", "Another Man's Vine", "Knife Cause", "The Part You Throw Away", "A Good Man Is Hard To Find", "Starving In The Belly Of A Whale", and "Misery Is The River Of The World". CD

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Music from Jerry Fuller, Gary Stites, Rocco Granata, Marty Wilde, Jimmie Rodgers, Mark Dinning, Betty Smith Group, and Don Costa. 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 wonderful collection of obscure solo acoustic guitar tunes from the mid 60s up to the dawn of the 80s – beautiful work from a slew of players we've never heard of – but we'd put right up there with Fahey and Basho in the way they reach from the back porch to the cosmos with just their fingers and some strings! One thing we love about this set, and the Numero Group releases to date, is how deep they dig and what beauty they unearth, somehow with impeccable sound quality. Some tunes are starkly beautiful, some chime on fairly intently, some do both those things and more – and it's very heartening and instantly appealing stuff – wordless tunes that carry a lot of sensitivity and emotion! The 40 page booklet features detailed notes and bio material for each track, plus an introduction by Numero's Rob Sevier and essays by Dan Lambert and Jim Ohlschmidt. Titles include "Beginning" by Dana Westover", "Raga In D" by Ted Lucas, "Sailor's Dream" by Scotte Witte, "Flight" by George Cromarty, "Diagonal" by Richard Crandell, "Baha Dream Songs" by Daniel Hecht, "Delta Freeze" by Jim Ohlschmidt, "No More School" by Stephen Cohen, "Strawberry Man" by Mark Lang, "Warm River" by Bread Chequer, "One Forty Eight" by Swayne Canna and more. (Folk/Country, Rock) CD

The Beatles weren't just the biggest recording act on the scene in the mid 60s, they were also probably the most influential from a songwriting perspective too – such that countless other groups, singers, and musicians picked up their songs and gave them a try, including some tracks that The Beatles never recorded themselves! These aren't just hack cover versions, though – as the artists here clearly love the Fab Four, and are dedicated to unlocking ways that the music inspires them, and makes them seek their own expressions too – expressions that are presented here in full force, in a very cool package that mixes up rock, soul, jazz, folk, and other styles too – all in a massive 85 track set, with very detailed notes. Artists include Jackie Lynton, Marilyn Powell, The Merseymen, Dick Rivers, Mary Wells, Duffy Power, The Coterie, Mark Wynter, Strawberry Fair, Brotherhood, The Buckinghams, Madeline Bell, The Transatlantics, Count Basie, Jimmy James, Spanky & Our Gang, Zoot, Junior Parker, Jackie Trent, The Four Preps, PJ Proby, Mae West, Five Man Electrical Band, Dave Baby Cortez, and many others. CD

An archetypal album from the legendary Paul Butterfield – and a set that would shape the sound of countless blues rock records to come! Despite what you might think of the genre or its many later incarnations, there's a raw power here that's really amazing – the young Butterfield and his Chicago comperes, hanging out at clubs on the south side, drinking in the relatively new electric sound of the city, and turning out a groove that's a lot more hard-edged than some of the overseas imitators at the time! Paul's pretty darn great on vocals and harmonica – but the group has some even more powerful sounds in the twin guitar talents of Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop – the former on slide, the latter on rhythm – along with Jerome Arnold on bass, Sam Lay on drums, and Mark Naftalin on some Hammond too. Titles include "Blues With A Feeling", "Born In Chicago", "Shake Your Money Maker", "Mystery Train", "Screamin", "Last Night", and "Look Over Yonders Wall". CD