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(Cassettes, Rock) Cassette

Gary Numan plays on the Numan-penned song, "I Dream Of Wires". Chris Franz from Talking Heads also makes a guest appearance. LP, Vinyl record album

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Titles include "Pressure Drop", "Give Me An Inch", "Work To Make It Work", "Here With you Tonight", "Which Of Us Is The Fool", and "Fine Time". LP, Vinyl record album

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There never was a second volume of work from Robert Savage – but maybe that's because he has enough musical adventures on this set to last him a lifetime! Savage is better known as Bobby Arlin, who started out with The Leaves – and his guitar here is far more searing than his work on the LA scene of the late 60s – certainly informed by the rise of British hard rock at the time, but with a boldness that's all its own! The odd cover is hardly a hint at what's inside – as Bobby works with a lean trio of just bass and drums, and none of the trappings that prog-like image might make you expect – qualities that are underscored with some occasional rootsy inflections, and a nice sort of attitude in the vocals. Titles include "Seven Days Drunk", "Don't Run & Hide", "Beaver Baby", "Milk Run", "Save Us From The Cyclops", and "Road Apples". CD

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Mindblowing music from Robert Wyatt – never-heard demos, but cuts that are every bit as essential as his music in Soft Machine, and his early solo sides as well! Robert handles almost all the instrumentation here himself – except for one guest solo from Jimi Hendrix on bass, and some other guest bass from Hugh Hopper and guest organ from Mike Ratledge – and the drums are plenty heavy, with surprisingly funky currents – set loose on these studio tracks that are also heavy on Hammond, and both acoustic and electric piano. Wyatt sings on all numbers, already with that unique voice we love so much – and tracks include the incredible "Chelsa", which is a precursor to a later Matching Mole classic – plus "Rivmic Melodies", "Slow Walkin Talk", and "Moon In June". CD

A great little record, and one of Robert Wyatt's best! The album was cut after his years with Soft Machine and Matching Mole, and is a perfect blend of Wyatt's earlier jazz-tinged work with his newer interest in electronics, spacey pop, and madly clever lyricism! The record is at once thoroughly groundbreaking and endlessly charming – one of the best moments in the British experimental rock scene of the 70s – and still easily one of the greatest albums that Robert ever cut. Fred Frith co-wrote some of the tunes with Wyatt – and titles include "Song For Che", "Sonia", "Team Spirit", "Muddy Mouth", "Muddy Mouse", and "5 Black Notes & 1 White Note". CD

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A wonderful departure for Kevin Ayers – an album that's a lot lighter and more whimsical than his original fame with Soft Machine! The tunes are extremely playful, and often quite catchy – almost a Donovan-esque blend of folksy roots and jazz inflections – but tuned a bit more towards trippier ends, thanks to instrumentation that includes celeste, electronics, flute, oboe, kazoo, cello, organ, and a wide range of different guitars! David Bedford handled arrangements, and other players on the session include some ex-Soft Machine comrades – like Hugh Hopper and Robert Wyatt! Ayers' vocals are produced with a nicely compressed quality that squeezes them in alongside the instrumentation – and titles include "Joy Of A Toy Continued", "The Lady Rachel", "All This Crazy Gift Of Time", "Eleanor's Cake", and "Girl On A Swing". LP, Vinyl record album

A British art rock jam session, more or less, pulled together by Soft Machine bassist Kevin Ayers, who recruited Eno, John Cale and Nico, former bandmate Robert Wyatt, the enigmatic Rabbit (John Bundrick) on keyboards – more well known for his work with the Who – plus Mike Oldfield on guitar and a number of other guests and co-conspirators. A nice document of the scene a the time, with concise performances and a much tighter feel than you might imagine given the circumstances of the recording. 9 numbers in all, including "Driving Me Backwards", "Baby's On Fire", "Heartbreak Hotel", "The End", "May I?", "Shouting IN A Bucket Blues", "Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes", "Everybody's Sometime And Some People's All The Time Blues" and "Two Goes Into Four". LP, Vinyl record album

Great work from this cool Dutch group – a quratet with lots of piano and organ from bassist Robert Verwey, lead guitar and "mouthorgan" from Ron Meyjes, percussion from Frans Smit, and vocals and flute from Michel Van Dijk! The set's after Jan Akkerman left the group, but they still have a pretty striking progressive sound. LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the greatest moment ever from Caravan – one of the greatest groups to emerge from the jazzy Canterbury scene in the late 60s! The album's a wonderful blend of jazz roots and more focused rock impulses – and has some subtle funky elements that's given it a wider sort of audience over the years – that special sound you'd find in a rare few Deram gems by artists like Mike Westbrook or Colosseum too. The drums are especially great – snapping out in a way that really holds things together, even when the instrumental solos really step out strongly – especially the organ, flute, and tenor – all of which retain a jazzy appeal. The vocals from Richard Sinclair are nice, too – never overdone, with almost a Robert Wyatt sort of reserve – and titles include "Golf Girl", "Love To Love You", "In The Land Of Grey & Pink", and the extended "Nine Feet Underground", which takes up all of side two. CD features bonus tracks – the unreleased "I Don't Know Its Name", "Aristocracy", "Group Girl", and "It's Likely To Have A Name Next Week" – and a new mix of "Disassociation/100% Proof". CD

A landmark session that gathered together just about every hip British jazz and jazz/rock musician of the time – and brought them together into one super-cool orchestra of sound! Robert Fripp produced the record, and Keith Tippett is the overall music director – but the album's got a feel that's much more in the avant side of the UK jazz spectrum – particularly the trippier side of the Deram/Decca label of the late 60s – like work by Mike Westbrook or Mike Gibbs! The lineup is huge – with Elton Dean and Dudu Pukwana on alto sax, Alan Skidmore and Gary Windo on tenor, Ian Carr and Mongesi Fesa on trumpets, Mark Charig on cornet, Nick Evans and Paul Rutherford on trombone, Keith Tippett on piano, Brian Godding on guitar, Robert Wyatt and John Marshall on drums, and Maggie Nicholls, Julie Tippett, Mike Patto, and Zoot Money on vocals – plus lots of strings as well! Great 2CD version – remastered from the original tapes, with much better sound than previous versions. (Jazz, Rock) CD

Perfect early work from The Cure from the heart of the late 70s post-punk era – music that's short, sharp, and surprisingly powerful after all these years! The trio here has all the best sharp edges that made them a real standout in the post-punk years – and Robert Smith reminds us that although his vocals have gone onto be the stuff of legend, it may well have been his guitar work that first got him noticed! Really just guitar, bass, and drums – but used extremely well – on titles that include "Another Day", "Subway Song", "10:15 Saturday Night", "Accuracy", "Grinding Halt", "Three Imaginary Boys", "It's Not You", and "So What". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the crowning early moments from the young Grateful Dead – a key Warner studio album that really has the group moving from psychedelic to more roots-oriented modes – maybe a Marin vibe versus a Haight sort of happening – with loads of great guitar and pedal from Jerry Garcia, plus lots more from the rest of the crew too. Robert Hunter wrote the tunes, Mickey Hart added in lots of percussion next to the drums - and titles include the very groovy "Truckin", plus "Box Of Rain", "Candyman", "Operator", "Sugar Magnolia", "Friend Of The Devil", "Ripple", "Brokedown Palace", "Attics Of My Life", and "Till The Morning Comes". (Cassettes, Rock) Cassette

The seminal debut of Hatfield & The North – a group that maybe came a bit late in the UK prog scene of the early 70s, but who had a huge influence for decades to come! The quartet are a late transformation of the earlier Canterbury sound – leaner, maybe jazzier, and with a great ear for warm tones and organic elements that help hold the complexity of their music to the surface of the planet. Plus, there's this more open, honest quality to some of the work – especially the vocals – that quality, say, that made Matching Mole so different than Soft Machine. The whole lineup is an all-star affair – Richard Sinclair on bass and vocals, Pip Pyle on drums, Phil Miller on guitars, and Dave Stewart on organ, piano, and tone generator – plus some nice guest sax and flute from Geoff Leigh of Henry Cow, and vocals from Robert Wyatt on one track. Titles include "The Stubbs Effect", "Calyx", "Licks For Ladies", "Bossa Nochance", "Big Jobs No 2", "Lobster In A Cleavage Probe", and "Rifferama". This CD edition includes the bonus tracks "Let's Eat Real Soon", "Fitter Stoke Has A Bath" and "Your Majesty Is Like A Cream Donut". CD

A set that's partly an album by massive funk trio Khruangbin, and partly a tribute to some of the musicians they worked with on a recent tour – as side one has the other performers in the lead, while Khruangbin gets plenty of instrumental space on the flipside! The group themselves turn in a great James Brown tribute in the mix of "Blind Man Can See It/It's The Monaurail" – and also serve up "Bin Bin", "Friday Moring", "People Everywhere", and "Number 4". Other titles include "Nobody Smokes Anymore" by Robert Ellis, "Woman Trouble" by Kelly Doyle, "At The Trailride" by Ruben Moreno, and "Don't Bother Me" by The Suffers. (Deep Funk, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

One of those killer records from that 80s moment when Robert Fripp rebooted King Crimson with a lean lineup that had a really fantastic sound – with more guitars and vocals from Adrian Belew, a younger player who really had the same ear as Fripp for unusual sounds from guitars – alongside Tony Levin on bass and Chapman stick, and the great Bill Bruford on drums! Titles include "Elephant Talk", "Frame By Frame", "Thela Hun Ginjeet", and "The Sheltering Sky". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the heaviest early King Crimson albums – a set that really has the group taking off even more than before – pushing the needles way into the red with their own sort of sonic intensity! The group's a trio this time around – with the legendary Robert Fripp on guitar, really carving out the sound with an edge that's incredibly sharp – plus the great John Wetton on vocals and bass, giving the group an unexpected sense of soul – and lots of mighty drums from Bill Bruford too! Additional instrumentation comes from some cats who really help round out the more complicated edges of the Crimson sound – David Cross on violin, Mel Collins on soprano sax, Marc Charig on cornet, and Ian McDonald on soprano sax. Tracks are all nice and long – and titles include "Starless", "Providence", "One More Red Nightmare", and "Red". CD

A record with a strange mix of elements on the outside – a confusing title, a proggy-cover image – but one that's got a sound that's a perfect maturation of the fantastic sound of Alexis Korner in the 60s! Korner's one of the overlooked heroes in British music – a strong devotee of American blues, and maybe so much so that sounds more like his inspirations than most – but never in a slavish way, as Alexis is always able to full absorb the sound, and make you feel like it's coming from his own deep soul – and over the years, he really shifted things in these slight, but powerful ways – making his music a huge influence on a big generation of UK rock acts to come. Here, the double-length set is almost a "thanks back" affair – as Korner records with a huge all-star array that includes folks like Robert Plant, Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Ginger Baker, Graham Bond, Lol Coxhill, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Ray Warleigh, Harry Beckett, and many more – a fantastic crossroads of all that's hip in British rock, blues, and jazz at the start of the 70s. Titles include "I Got A Woman", "Rockin", "She Foold Me", "I Wonder Who", "Dee", "Love Is Gonna Go", "Clay House Inn", "Evil Hearted Woman", "Mighty Mighty", "Sunrise", and "Hellhound On My Tail". LP, Vinyl record album

Solo album by the Pink Floyd drummer, with a heavy roster of guest musicians that include Robert Wyatt, Chris Spedding, Carla Bley, Mike Mantler, and Howard Johnson. LP, Vinyl record album

Two parts Duran Duran, mixed with one part Chic, and throw in one Robert Palmer. Includes "Some Like It Hot" & "Bang A Gong (Get It On)". (Cassettes, Rock) Cassette

Procol Harum check into the Grand Hotel – and check out with one of their greatest albums ever! The set's got that majestic sound that was the group's strongest point – a strange mix of the very personal vocals of Gary Brooker and the expansive blend of piano, organ, and guitar that the group often sent soaring to the skies – augmented here with some perfect use of strings and chorus – never too heavy, but all fused perfectly with the core energy of the sextet! In fact, it's that sense of compression – of folding everything together so well – that really makes the group so great, and such an important precursor for so many acts that were beginning to blossom in the UK scene, using a similar approach in different ways. Yet it's that Gary Brooker/Keith Reid sense of songwriting that still sets these guys apart from anyone else – as you'll hear on titles that include "Grand Hotel", "Tojours L'Amour", "TV Caesar", "A Souvenir Of London", "Robert's Box", "Fires", "For Liquorice John", and "A Rum Tale". LP, Vinyl record album

The amazing debut of Soft Machine! It's hard to find a more seminal moment of jazz rock from the British scene – and there's certainly few albums from its generation that stand up as well over the years as this one! The trio of Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, and Michael Ratledge carve out the future of progressive playing on this excellent set of shorter tunes that still offer up all the hard jamming of later years. Beat group morphs into prog jazz before your very eyes – on tracks like "Hope For Happiness", "Why Am I So Short", "Save Yourself", "Priscilla", "So Boot If At All", "A Certain Kind", "Lullabye Letter", and "Why Are We Sleeping?". CD

Amazing sounds from British pianist Keith Tippett – a startling crossroads of musical scenes that beautifully brings together the best jazz, rock, and jazz rock impulses on the UK scene at the time – still with a freshness and clarity that the work would never reach a few years later! The sound here is brilliant – often a bit funky at the bottom, and definitely stretching out to freer jazz ideas on the solos, yet always managing a sense of soul and swing that really gives the record a rock solid core – so that even loopy lines seem to land back on the ground, and set the group on fire with a whole new energy. In addition to Tippett's work on electric and acoustic piano, the set also features Elton Dean on alto and saxello, Marc Charig on cornet, Nick Evans on trombone, and Robert Wyatt on drums – on titles that include "Gridal Suite", "Five After Dawn", "This Is What Happens", "Thoughts To Geoff", and "Black Horse". (Jazz, Rock) 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

A creative left turn for Waits – written for an ambitious theatrical project, which to a certain degree takes him into surprising new territory and is all the more exciting for it – but still comes through as great late Island-era Tom Waits album in its own light! The Black Rider stage work was written in collaboration with Waits, director Robert Wilson and William Burroughs, and while the songs have the overtures and shaggy orchestral flourishes inherent to and geared to theater, the songs are still so distinctively Waits-ian in all its woozy glory. Includes "November", "Just The Right Bullets", "Black Box Theme", "Russian Dance", "I'll Shoot The Moon", "Crossroads", "Ain't No Sin", "Lucky Day", " The Briar And The Rose" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A fabulous look at a new wave of music that hit the American scene at the end of the 60s – sophisticated songs with a deep sense of narrative that went way beyond the usual – first sprung by the world of country music, but with an influence that went on to touch all other styles too! This set goes right to the core – and brings together cuts from the hippest songwriters of the period, delivered in versions that may well be the best to ever make it on records – including a few tunes that will really come as a surprise if you think you know the artists from their hits! As you'd guess from the title, the world here is very similar to that in "Ode To Billie Joe" – a world that's also given great illumination by the detailed notes within. Titles include "Endless Miles Of Highway" by Jerry Reed, "If Only She Had Stayed" by Chris Gantry, "July 12, 1939" by Charlie Rich, "What Am I Doing In LA" by Nat Stuckey, "The House Song" by Lee Hazlewood, "Mr Jackson's Got Nothing To Do" by John Hartford, "Widow Wimberley" by Tony Joe White, "Mr Walker It's All Over" by Billie Jo Spears, "Drivin Nails In The Walls" by Waylon Jennings, "Four Shades Of Love" by Henson Cargill, "The Back Side Of Dallas" by Jeanne C Riley, "Way Before The Time Of Towns" by Hoyt Axton, "Down From Dover" by Dolly Parton, "Fabulous Body & Smile" by Sir Robert Charles Griggs, and "Why Can't I Come Home" by Ed Bruce. (Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album