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A wonderfully spaced-out album of electronic rock from the early days of Island Records! White Noise are a bit like Silver Apples – mixing trippy rock with odd electronic twists that are all very much in a heady late 60s sort of way. But the "rock" component of the album is a very small one – and the record's got equal parts of the audio trickery of contemporaneous work by Bruce Haack or Jon Appleton. Most of the record is the brainchild of David Vorhaus, but the record also features a bit of drum work by Paul Lytton (who would later do a lot of electronics himself), plus oddly-keyed strings and some goofy vocals from Annie Bird. Tracks include "Love Without Sound", "Here Come the Fleas", and the very long cuts "The Visitation" and "Black Mass". (Out Sound, Rock) CD

One of the best by The White Stripes – delivering on the rambunctiousness of their blues punk roots while making their greatest creative strides yet! There's a few more tracks with acoustic guitar and keyboards here, and some songs that honestly feels a bit like Led Zeppelin with the indulgent rock star bombast trimmed away. It's a more ambitious set from Jack and Meg than we expected to come after their more primal early recordings – and that's a good thing! Includes the hits "Seven Nation Army" and "The Hardest Button To Button" – plus "Black Math", "In The Cold, Cold, Night", "Ball And Biscuit", "Little Acorns", "Hypnotize", "Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine", "It's True That We Love One Another" and more. CD

The last album in The White Stripes incredible late 90s to mid 00s run – and they really went out on an epic high note – one of their very best records! As kicked off by the classic title tune, this one goes on to be fully connected to their raw roots, but committed with a bigger, more full-bodied sound, carrying over the depth of instrumentation they'd been building in over the years but still really honing in on the raging, fuzzy guitars. Classic! Includes "Icky Thump", "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do What You're Told)", "300 MPH Torrential Downpour Blues", "Conquest", "Bone Broke", "Little Cream Soda", "I'm Slowly Turning In To You", "Catch Hell Blues", "Effect And Cause" and more. CD

The record that really broke the White Stripes out of the box – a set that was recorded as an indie, then later got wider circulation around the globe – as a fantastic demonstration of the raw, back-to-basics energy that made the duo such a standout in contemporary rock at the start of the century! All these many years later, there's still a sense of power that has the group rivaling some of the bigger garage punk legends of the past – on titles that include "Dead Leaves & The Dirty Ground", "Hotel Yorba", "Fell In Love With A Girl", "I Think I Smell A Rat", "Now Mary", "We're Going To Be Friends", "Expecting", "I'm Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman", and "The Same Boy You've Always Known". CD

Debut of the underground garage rock duo who pretty much conquered modern rock altogether at the the end of the 90s! Includes "Jimmy The Exploder", "Stop Breaking Down", "The Big Three Killed My Baby", "Cannon", "Astro", "Little People", "One More Cup Of Coffee', "Slicker Drips" and more. CD

A punky funky no wave classic from James White – working here under the name of The Contortions, in a manner that's very similar to his Off White album! The tunes dip, turn, and kind of groove with a mad sort of art school energy – shifting easily between fast and frenetic playing, and some more "out" jazz styled riffing – that crazy saxophone work that always made James White sound so amazing! Most tracks have raw vocals, and titles include "Bedroom Athlete", "Twice Removed", "Roving Eye", "Anesthetic", "Contort Yourself", and "I Don't Want To Be Happy". The CD version includes 3 bonus tracks – live versions of "Throw Me Away", "Twice Removed" and "Jailhouse Rock". CD

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The most stylistically sprawling record yet from Jack White! White's trajectory from Detroit garage-blues-punk wunderkind to Nashville record biz provocateur/label magnate is pretty damn impressive – and he really lets his far-reaching impulses fly on Lazzaretto. Unpredictable twists and turns abound, bu t it's all held together by an undercurrent of pummeling, unpretentious rock and roll, with a rootsy swagger. Titles include "Three Women", "Lazaretto", "Temoprary Ground", "Would You Fight For My Love?", "High Ball Stepper", "Just One Drink", "Alone In My Home", "That Black Bat Licorice", "Entitlement", "I Think I Found The Culprit" and "Want And Able". CD

A brilliant solo effort from drummer Jim White – a musician who's provided support to a wide range of rock greats – including Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, and Bill Callahan – but one who's also a secret master of the drum kit, with a command of his instrument that's really breathtaking! In some ways, the set's a record of solo drums – maybe not as improvised as on a free jazz album, but pretty open overall – yet Jim also mixes in some other sounds too, mostly just to fill up the background space so that the drums are in the lead – a gentle sonic palette that still emphasizes all the live, spontaneous action on the acoustic drum kit at the core! Titles include "Names Make The Name", "Here Comes", "Soft Material", "Curtains", "Percussion Build", "Marketplace", and "Walking The Block". CD

A really cool blend of voice and electronics – years ahead of its time, and with a vibe that maybe prefaces some of the European industrial work to come at the end of the 70s! Ruth White is well known for her electronic experimentation – right up there with the work of Pierre Henry at the same time – but for this release, she also adds a bit of her own voice too – readings of words from the poems of Charles Baudelaire, but processed in ways that really emphasize some of the darkness in the lines in a really great way! White does all sorts of cool things with her voice, in ways that are again years ahead of their time – and titles include "Owls", "The Cat", "Spleen", and "The Litanies Of Satan". (Out Sound, Rock) CD

The complete Monument recordings of southern soul-tinged swamp rock trailblazer Tony Joe White – in a wonderful box set from the deep catalog explorers at Rhino Handmade! Swamp Rock contains everything from the Black & White, Continued and Tony Joe LPs – with dozens of previously unreleased work from the era. Unlike the most famous dude we can think of who wears the swamp rock genre tag, Tony Joe White really was reared in the swamp country of Louisiana – and genuineness shows on these fine recordings! His vocals here have a bit of that laconic storyteller vibe of a Bobby Bare type character – but the production and arrangements have a real feel for the Stax and Muscle Shoals sounds. It's a blend of styles that's quite unique – and well worth rediscovery! Includes all the tracks from Tony Joe's 3 LPs for Monument plus a swampful of great bonus numbers from those sessions and more – a whopping 81 tracks on four CDs! Disc one includes the Black & White LP and much more: "Willie And Laura Mae Jones", "Soul Francisco", "Whompt Out On You", "Wichita Lineman" and more. Disc 2 features the Continued LP and more: "Elements And Things", "Woodpecker", "Old Man Willis", "Woman With Soul" and much more. Disc 3 includes the Tony Joe LP tracks and more: "Stud-Spider", "Widow Wimberly", "Save Your Sugar For Me", "Hard To Handle" and more. Disc 4 includes a slew of previously unreleased material cut at Barclay Studios in Paris, plus live work from Tony Joe at the Isle Of Wight: titles include "Mississippi Delta", "Chain Of Blues", "Ballad Of Hollis Brown" and more from the Barclay sessions, plus "Boom Boom", "I Want You", "Groupy Girl" and more from Isle Of Wight. CD

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Slightly easy, slightly baroque, and with a sound that's somewhere near Free Design, The Mamas & The Papas, and other groups of the time – The Clique were one of the many groovy lost pop bands that came out of the west coast during the 60s. The record boasts the original version of the track "Superman", which went to become a big hit for R.E.M. about 20 years later. There's lots of other nice groovy original material, like "Sugar On Sunday", "Shadow Of Your Love", "Judy, Judy, Judy", and a cool version of the Bee Gees "Holiday". 17 tracks, with extra cuts, and good liner notes on the band. (Now Sound, Rock) CD

Incredibly groovy pop from the team of Nino Tempo and April Stevens – an LA couple who'd cut some fab work for Atlantic records in the early 60s, but who are sounding even better on this late 60s album for the White Whale label! The feel here is a bit more rock-oriented than some of their earlier work – more guitars, tighter percussion, and an overall feel that's much more in the late 60s "strung out" mode implied by the title. Lots of lovely sunshine pop numbers – with titles that include "Help You To See", "Alone Alone", "Little Child", "Out Of Nowhere", "I Can't Go On Livin", "Bye Bye Blues", "The Habit Of Lovin You Baby", and "You'll Be Needing Me Baby". CD

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A classic double live set from David Bowie – recorded during his years as The Thin White Duke (as you might guess from the cover!), but featuring a fair bit of material from the Ziggy Stardust years! The music is pretty straightforward, and pretty rocking – lots of fuzzy guitar in the Diamond Dogs/Aladdin Sane mode – played by a group with Earl Slick on guitar and Michael Kamen on electric piano and moog. Titles include "Rebel Rebel", "1984", "Knock On Wood", "Here Today Gone Tomorrow", "Watch That Man", "Cracked Actor", "All The Young Dudes", "Width Of A Circle", "Jean Genie", "Rock N Roll Suicide", "Big Brother", and "Panic In Detroit". CD

Hey, don't hold Wayne Cochran's hair against him – because he's one massively soulful dude, despite a high white pompadour – and really knew how to rock the clubs back in the 60s! Cochran's a really unique figure – working with a look that was whiter-than-white, but coming across with a groove that was right up there in the best funky soul mode of the time! Wayne played for the same sort of crowds that went to see Baby Huey & The Babysitters – blending together soul and R&B influences with a really party-oriented groove laid down by his legendary CC Riders backup group – and crossing countless borders along the way, all in pursuit of a socking soul sound! This wonderful set is the best we've ever seen on his music – and features tracks pulled from his sessions for King, Chess, and Mercury – plus a full never-issued live album for King, titled The Wayne Cochran Show. There's more than a few covers here of other 60s soul tunes, but Wayne somehow manages to make most of them sound even better than the originals – bringing in funky arrangements that weren't even used on the hits, and making us wish we'd had a chance to catch his cooking show back in the day. 38 tracks in all – with titles that include "Dance To The Music", "Hold On I'm Coming", "Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song)", "I Can't Turn You Loose", "Hard To Handle", "Chopper 70", "Everybody", "Let Me Come With You", "My Machine", "Get Ready", "Which One Should I Choose", "I'm In Trouble", "The Peak Of Love", "Somebody Please", "I'm Leaving It Up To You", and "Big City Woman". (Soul, Rock) CD

Titles include "I Feel Free", "Politician", "Badge", "Sunshine Of Your Love", "Crossroads", "White Room", "Strange Brew", and "Swlabr". CD

Four classic albums from Jackie DeShannon – all in a single set! First up is Me About You – sophisticated Jackie at her best – working with great arrangements from Jack Nitzsche and Nick DeCaro – both cats from the California scene we can really trust for "cut-above" pop work like this – music that goes way past the simple sounds of DeShannon's start – into cool adult territory that really makes the album great. Jackie's vocals are surprisingly soulful in the setting – even more so than before – and the tunes include lots of gems, including versions of Van Dyke Parks' "High Coin", John Sebastian's "Didn't Want To Have To Do It", and Tim Hardin's "Baby Close Its Eyes". Also includes "I Keep Wanting You", "Me About You", and "Nicole". Next is Laurel Canyon – heady work from Jackie DeShannon's later years in 60s pop – an album with themes and styles that go way beyond her earlier recordings – as you might guess from the hip Laurel Canyon reference in the title! Jackie's working here in a mode that's much more strongly in a singer-songwriter style than before – with arrangements and backings that are a lot more organic, and less pop-tuned than ever – almost in a Laura Nyro approach on some numbers. As usual, a good portion of the tracks were written by Jackie herself – including "Holly Would", "Come & Stay With Me", "LA", "Too Close", and "Laurel Canyon" – and the album also features a few well chosen tracks by other writers too, like "Bitter Honey" by Paul Williams & Roger Nichols, "I Got My Reason" by Barry White, and "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" by Smokey Robinson. Put A Little Love In Your Heart is quite possibly the last great hit from singer Jackie DeShannon – an album built around the righteous spirit of the title track – filled with really wonderful original tunes penned by Jackie and soul singer Jimmy Holiday! The album may well be the best to explore the space between pop and soul that often characterized Jackie's work – and the overall sound is somewhat similar to some of Dusty Springfield's best pop/soul work from the same stretch. 10 of the album's 12 tracks are originals by Holiday and DeShannon – all set to soaring orchestrations by James Langeford, which often have a pronounced influence from the sound of Atlantic Records in the late 60s! Titles include "Put A Little Love In Your Heart", "You Are The Real Thing", "River Of Love", "Movin", "You Can Come To Me", "You Have A Way With Me", and "I Let Go Completely". To Be Free is an interesting little record – with kind of a crossover California soul feel overall – recorded with Rene Hall arrangements that echo a few rootsy modes at times, mixed in with fuller orchestrations that step a bit back towards Jackie's earlier years on Imperial – a surprisingly nice blend, with a fresh sound for the 70s. The album features a number of great tracks co-written with Jimmy Holiday – a fellow Imperial talent – and titles include "Mediterranean Sky", "Sooner Or Later", "What Was Your Day Like", "Livin On The Easy Side", "Brighton Hill", and "When Morning Comes Again". CD

Early genius from these Bay Area stalwarts – one of the greatest rock records of its time! Surrealistic Pillow is the second Jefferson Airplane album, but they took a number of huge creative leaps in the 8 months or so between their debut record and this one. This one is where they're joined by psych siren Grace Slick, but it's not just the line-up change that sets it apart. Surrealistic Pillow is a perfect title, as it's comforting and disorienting at the same time. It's also the magical confluence of wildly different spirits – with standout contributions by the entire band. Titles include the seminal "White Rabbit" – plus "Embryonic Journey", "3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds", "DCBA 25", "How Do You Feel", "Today", "She Has Funny Cars", and "Plastic Fantastic Lover". CD

Titles include "Aching, Breaking Heart", "Just One More", "Why, Baby, Why", "Love Bug", "White Lightning", "She Still Thinks I Care", and more – 18 tracks total. (Folk/Country, Rock) 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

An album with a wonderfully dramatic sort of approach – post-psych, but still plenty heady – and served up by a mysterious deep-voiced singer who had many people thinking that Jim Morrison had done some mojo rising at the time! Yet the set's hardly a Door-styled effort, either – as these guys hail from Detroit, and definitely echo with some of the freakier, spookier side of their city's scene – able to fold hard-edged expressions into a warmer sort of flow, one touched with hypnotic darkness that's very different than any sort of major label record from the mid 70s! If the set were a late 60s Dunwich production that got placed at Mercury, its sound would make a lot more sense – but somehow it's even cooler as a lost relic from the time, but one that sounds nothing like the rising AOR generation. Titles include "Half A Life", "Devil's Child", "Black Magic/White Magic", "Merlin", "Stand Beside My Fire", "Welcome To Hell", and "Spiders Will Dance On Your Face While You Sleep". CD

Totally amazing – includes all the classic albums – Velvet Underground & Nico, White Light/White Heat, Velvet Underground (3rd LP), and Loaded – plus loads of bonus tracksand unreleased demos and alternate mixes! CD

A lovely little record – every bit as wonderful as you might expect from the cover, with an evocative sound that fits right in with the concept of a rainy day raga! Peter Walker plays acoustic guitar, but he does so in these long, winding ways that are clearly inspired by Indian music – yet which come across with much more of an Americanist vibe – supported with some additional guitar from Monte Dunn, a 12 string "drone" from Alex Lukeman, and even some flute from Jeremy Steig – plus a bit of tamboura and bells too! The album's one of the most haunting we've ever heard on Vanguard – way more than familiar folk – and titles include "Morning Joy", "River", "April In Cambridge", "Sunshine", "Rainy Day Raga", "White Wind", and "Bianca". CD