... LP, Vinyl record album

The title here is very apt – as there's a reaching sort of vibe to the whole record – uplifting tunes from the farther reaches of the Numero catalog, all brought together in a way that really makes things soar! Genres shift nicely, and maybe the lack of description or cover notes is a good way of just making you trust the label and dive right in – something we've been doing for many years now! Tracks include "The Kiss" by Alex Johnson, "To Live In The Sea" by Masumi Hara, "Touch" by Calvin Keys, "Rain" by Bob Siebert, "Enchanted Pool Suite (prelude & part 1)" by Lenny White, "The Kiss" by Alex Johnson, "Thou Art With Me" by LaRhonda LeGette, "Past Life Regression" by ART Wilson, "Modulation Del Sol" by Ascending Wave, and "Gold Dust Twins" by Reach. (Funky Compilations, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

It's Christmas time in East LA – and Los Lobos have gotten together to give us a real standout of a holiday album! The tunes are mostly originals by the group, and done up in that mix of modes that's always made them so great – border-styled instrumentation on some cuts, straighter sounds on others – and all recorded with a stripped-down, personal vibe that may well make the record one of their most satisfying in years! But, if anything, the group have seemed to just get better with age – something we might never have expected decades ago – and a record like this is proof that they're one of the few older groups who deserve to keep on creating into their twilight years. Titles include "La Rama", "Donde Esta Santa Claus", "La Murga", "Christmas & You", "Regalo De Reyes", "Feliz Navidad", "Reluciente Sol", and "It's Christmas Time In Texas". (Holiday Music, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A definite heavy jammer from the Peruvian scene of the early 70s – proof that while some of the late 60s crowd was headed towards soft rock modes, the rest were coming up with an even sharper edge and heavier barrage of guitars! There's a real sense of darkness to the record that matches the group's name and cover – a sound that's nicely allied with Deep Purple or Black Sabbath at their early best, but which also has its own uniquely spooky overtones. Titles include "Tempestad", "Cambiemos Ya", "Martha Ya Esta", "Rio Tonto", "Tema Para Lilus", "Tranquila Reflexion", and "Teimpo En El Sol". LP, Vinyl record album

Bassy funk from the early 80s southern scene – the only album we've ever seen from Piranha, and a gem of a tight little set! The groove here is roughly in the mode of some of the better-known northern club groups in the post-disco years – crafted with lots of boogie bass on the bottom and tight rhythms throughout the set. But there's also a style that's a bit more in the ensemble funk mode here too – one that still keeps most of the instrumentation acoustic, and which has a bit less keyboards and electric percussion than other boogie-era work. Titles include "Funk-a-sol", "One Sided Love", "Let's Get It Back Together", "Good Time Lady", "Headed In The Right Direction", and "Let Your Feelings Show". (Soul, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Really great work from Arnold Dreyblatt – a set that's almost a distillation of his excited strings material from many years back, taken into rock minimalism territory that almost seems to tie it to early projects from composer Glenn Branca too! The strings here are all electric – Arnold on excited strings bass, next to two live guitars, and one computer-controlled guitar – all moving in these modal rhythms that build nicely, with some slight phase shifts and inflections – but also enough punch at the core with some drums, so that the tunes almost seem to have more rock appeal than some of Dreyblatt's other material. Titles include the very long "Auditoria", plus the cuts "Shuffle Effect", "Container", and "Flight Path". (Out Sound, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

The amazing second album from Annexus Quam – a record that's almost as much of a jazz session as it is a Krautrock classic – given that the record is full of really long tunes that spin out plenty of solos, some of which almost verge on free improvisation in their approach! The group features wonderful work on reeds from Ove Volquartz – who blows tenor, soprano sax, and flute – and there's also this amazing trombone work from Hans Kamper, a player who seems to resonate with the music of Albert Mangelsdorff at the time – mixed with all sorts of cool contributions from Harald Klem, who plays tablas, electric zither, echo guitar, and a whole host of other unusual instruments too. Titles include "Leyenburg 1", "Dreh Dich Nicht Um", "Leyenburg 2", and "Trobluhs El E Isch". LP, Vinyl record album

Very cool French pop from Antonin Appaix – contemporary cuts, but done with an ear for the best styles of the vintage generation – which makes these lean little tracks completely charming all the way through! Antonin's got a slightly soft, slightly spoken vocal approach, and works with spare keyboards, beats, and samples – at a level that almost feels like a French take on some of the styles that Momus was laying down in the early 90s, presented with an equally seductive kind of vibe! Titles include "Magneto", "Samena", "Radoub", "September", "Du Monde Entier", "Ouais J'Aime Bien", "Isla Isola Iles", and "Flashdance". (French, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderfully raw keyboard trio session from the Norwegian scene of the early 70s – served up by a group led by Christian Reim, who you may know from more modern jazz-styled material, but who's in a killer funky group here! Reim plays Fender Rhodes and organ next to the guitar of Rickard Rolf – a player who's got plenty of rock chops, and really knows how to bring out a bolder solo next to the grooves of Reim and drummer Tom Karlsen – as they step out on long tracks that also have a similar soulful vibe to some of the Webster Lewis famous recordings at Club 7! Titles include long takes on "Them Changes", "Anything", "Bloodthirst", "Dance Of The Maya", and "Sometime Ago". (Jazz, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A bittersweet farewell from The Beatles – a record that definitely shows the fracturing unity of the group, with lots of near-solo moments – but a set that also makes us really wonder what they'd have done with all this genius, had they managed to hold it together! There's great hints here of the solo work to come – especially from George Harrison and John Lennon – and the Phil Spector production really helps open up a new sound for the group. Includes the genius cuts "I Dig A Pony", "Two Of Us", "Across The Universe", "I Me Mine", "One After 909", "For You Blue", and "Let It Be". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe one of the most authentic records ever cut by John Berberian – an American musician, but one who delivered great work on the oud during the 60s – including some projects that were often a bit psychedelic in nature! This set's a bit more straightforward, but equally great – really hard-driving and surprisingly earthy, without any attempts at all to touch up the sound with rock or pop elements – quite a surprise, given that the set was issued on Roulette Records, home to more mainstream rock and soul! Instrumentation includes lots of percussion, plus saxes and guitar – as well as a host of great oud solos from Berberian, on titles that include "Samra Ya Samra", "Dale Dale", "Chifte Telli", "Gamavor Zimfor", "Tamiko", and "Oud Solo". (Global Grooves, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Genius, pure genius from a young David Bowie – an album that we've always treasured as much as Ziggy Stardust! This set's pre-Hunky Dory, pre-Space Oddity – and it's an amazing little record that's almost completely devoid of guitars – instead using weird woodwinds (lots of oboe!), soaring strings, and offbeat orchestrations to carry off the tunes – all of which are as weird, mad, and wonderful as anything Bowie wrote in later years! The subject matter of the songs is almost a dark reflection of the picture postcard England that you'd find in work by The Kinks – the local pederast, weird guy who lives with his mum, old military geezer who can't get out of the past, cross-dressing soldiers, a gravedigger about to meet his death, and hip Londoners gallivanting all over town – all delivered with a sharpness that's stunning. We honestly think the record is flawless – incredibly complicated instrumentally, but incredibly groovy too – with all the edge you'll always love in Bowie, but in a fresh young flavor too. Years back, as young Bowie-heads, we always passed this one by – assuming it was unformed early roughness – but it's not, and is an incredible album that would have been more than enough for any other artist to build a career on. Titles include "Uncle Arthur", "Sell Me A Coat", "Rubber Band", "Love You Till Tuesday", "There Is A Happy Land", "When I Live My Dream", "Maids Of Bond Street", "We Are Hungry Men", "She's Got Medals", and "Please Mr Gravedigger". LP, Vinyl record album

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 the kind of magical music you might hope for in a set recorded at the close of the 60s – a shift into new modes, new sounds that seem to suck up all the best influences in rock from the previous few years, but fuse it into a new cosmic vision for the next decade. And while others might stumble on cliche with the weight of such a task, Bowie pulls it off brilliantly – mixing his fuzzier feelings with some of his more personal leanings – and showcasing a newly deep sense of songwriting here that's really amazing. Some tunes have the sensitivity of work on Hunky Dory, while others burn with the fire of Man Who Sold The World – all in a balance that never sounds schizophrenic at all. Titles include"Space Oddity", "Memory Of A Free Festival", "God Knows I'm Good", "Cygnet Committee", and "Unwashed & Somewhat Slightly Dazed". LP, Vinyl record album

"Now you can experience transcendental consciousness without spending 10 years in a Tibetan monastery" – or so the liner notes proclaim – a pretty great description of what's bound to happen after making your way through this very trippy album from the early 70s! The set's essentially a set of long electric guitar solos – played by Wilburn Burchette on his self-created "impro guitar" – recorded with lots and lots of echo, and maybe a bit of distortion too – so that the long, cyclic lines ring out beautifully – with every bit of the hypnotic feel you might expect! The whole thing's almost like an electric version of some of John Fahey's longform solo work – and titles include "Dawn Of Awakening", "Regeneration", "Transformation", "Introversion", and "Piercing The Psychic Heart". LP, Vinyl record album

"Now you can experience transcendental consciousness without spending 10 years in a Tibetan monastery" – or so the liner notes proclaim – a pretty great description of what's bound to happen after making your way through this very trippy album from the early 70s! The set's essentially a set of long electric guitar solos – played by Wilburn Burchette on his self-created "impro guitar" – recorded with lots and lots of echo, and maybe a bit of distortion too – so that the long, cyclic lines ring out beautifully – with every bit of the hypnotic feel you might expect! The whole thing's almost like an electric version of some of John Fahey's longform solo work – and titles include "Dawn Of Awakening", "Regeneration", "Transformation", "Introversion", and "Piercing The Psychic Heart". LP, Vinyl record album

A really fantastic album from trumpeter Ian Carr and his legendary Nucleus group – a combo who are really right on the money here, finding their own sort of space at a level that's very different than some of the other rock/jazz projects on the UK scene at the time! There's often a lot more space between the notes going on here than on more jamming, more progressive records – a laidback groove that's wonderfully soulful, and which ties this Nucleus set a bit more strongly to American jazz funk that was rising up at the time – or maybe like some of the better Euro work by groups like Cortex or Placebo! Ian Carr leads the group on trumpet, Dave MacRae plays a lot of great keyboards, and Brian Smith blows strong solos on tenor, soprano, and flute – on titles that include "Southern Roots & Celebration", "Capricorn", "Images", "Caliban", "Roots", and "Whapatiti". (Jazz, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic pairing of these two contemporary French acts – coming together here in a style that's even greater than the sum of their parts! The set is full on with all sorts of fuzzy elements and funky rhythms – a range of keyboards and other instruments from Pascal Comelade, more guitars and fuzz from Lionel Liminana, and drums from Marie Liminana – the latter two of whom also provide vocals! The set is heavy on the kind of tripped-out sounds that we love from both acts – who seem to whip each other into a frenzy here, with lots of other cool elements added into the mix – theremin, plastic guitars, and plenty more – on titles that include "Playitloudornotatall", "Le Retour De Black Sabata", "Concinacion", "Solo De Boxe En Conserve", "Contortionne Toi Toi Meme", and "Elvis Has Left The Building". (French, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the headier groups in the Mainstream Records psychedelic scene of the late 60s – and that's saying a lot, considering the company the act were keeping on the label! December's Children features both a male and female vocalist, each of whom sing a bit solo, but also come together in occasionally majestic ways – a bit like the mode of Jefferson Airplane at times, but with a lot more complexity. Styles range from funky blues rock to gentler, folksier modes – and although the instrumentation is conventional for a rock combo, the group manage to get a lot of unusual sounds out of what they have on hand. Titles include "Afternoon", "Hide The Water", "Sweet Talkin Woman", "Slow It Down", "Livin Way Too Fast", and "Back Road Rider". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the darkest albums we've ever heard from Domenico – very different than his collaborations with Kassin and Moreno Veloso! The sound here has a lot more electronics and distortion – not unfamiliar with other records on the Mais Um Discos label, but a bit different than some of Domenico's other work – although there's some bossa-styled acoustic guitar and vocals at times, which really makes a great contrast and warms things up nicely! Producer Ricardo Dias Gomes had a big hand in the sound, and the album is maybe more of a collaboration between the two than just a Domenico solo set – and the whole thing definitely marks another amazing chapter in his wonderful run of records over the years. Titles include "Diga", "Nada Sera De Outra Maneira", "Mole", "Ta Brabo", "Aterrizar", and "Um Abraco No Faust". (Brazil, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album