Hilarious! This is the soundtrack to a goofy late 60s shocker film about the time when hippies and young folks would take over America. Les Baxter handled the musical score for the film, but the real treat is the schlocky rock tracks – written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, with arrangements by Mike Curb in that fuzzy Tower/AIP mode! The lyrics are hysterical, but also oddly catchy, even though they're trying to make fun of 60s rock. Titles include "Psychedelic Senate", "Fourteen Or Fight", "Wild In The Streets", "Sally LeRoy", and "Free Lovin". LP, Vinyl record album

Strange soundtrack to a weird early 70s film about a Jesus-peddler – with songs that are mostly in a folk-rock mode similar to some of the drippier tunes showing up on AIP soundtracks of a few years before. The best tunes are the instrumentals by Hatcher, which have kind of a biker bluesy sound to them – but the bulk of the album is vocal numbers, sung by Matthew Crowe & His Travelin Band. Oh for the days when the studios had this much money to throw away! Titles include "Send Me A Friend", "Brian's Theme", "Heleana's Love Theme", "San Diego Blues", "Soul Hustler", and "Set Me Free". LP, Vinyl record album

A wild little soundtrack that's equal parts biker and hot rod – a great rocking rarity that really bridges two sub-genres of rockish sounds in the 60s! The set's one of Mike Curb's great soundtracks for AIP – and like some of the others, it features a set of lesser-known talents coming together in a batch of tracks that works equally well as a rock album or a soundtrack! Some cuts have vocals, other feature fuzzy guitars riffing away instrumentally – a bit more surf/hot rod than psych, but still nice and trippy at times – and the lineup features the great "Theme From Thunder Alley" by Band Without A Name –plus "Pete's Orgy" and "Mud Fight" by The Sidewalk Sounds, "Calahan's Theme" by The Lorraine Singers, "When You Get What You Want" by Annette, and "Riot In Thunder Alley" by Eddie Beram – which is an excellent drum and sitar track that is worth the price of the album alone! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest of the AIP late 60s rock and roll soundtracks – featuring some killer tracks by The Standells, plus a few more by The Chocolate Watch Band, and other odd psyche rock bands of the time! This one's got a feel that's a lot more real rock and roll than some of the other Tower soundtracks of the time – and the overall intensity of the film is stronger than the usual schlock biker movie. Titles include "Get Away From Here" and "Riot On Sunset Strip" by The Standells, "Don't Need Your Lovin" and "Sitting There Standing" by The Chocolate Watch Band, "The Sunset Theme" and "Make The Music Pretty" by The Sidewalk Sounds, "Children In The Night" by The Mom's Boys, "Sunset Sally" by The Mugwumps, and "Like My Baby" by Drew. LP, Vinyl record album

One of Egberto Gismonti's fantastic records from the seventies, and is waaaay better than anything he did for an American label. It's a wild mix of strident jazz and odd "experimental" moments, with a lot of joy and a lot of wonderful emotions running through all the tracks. The album's filled with baroque arrangements, cool keyboards, and lots of Gismonti's haunting compositions! Titles include "Frevo", "Cancao Da Espera", "Selva Amazonica", "Saudacoes", and "Maracatu". LP, Vinyl record album

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John Zorn on saxophone, Dave Douglas on trumpet, Greg Cohen on bass, and Joey Baron on drums. CD

Includes tracks by Jorge Ben, Caetano Veloso, Banda Beijo, Luciana Mello, Gilberto Gil, Toquinho & Chico Buarque, Mestre Marcal, and Banda Eva. CD

Bobby Womack at the height of his powers – perfectly balancing southern soul roots and 70s soul polish – with an amazing sound that was unlike anyone else at the time! The set was recorded at Muscle Shoals, but has a quality that goes way beyond any of the standard modes from the studio – almost as if Bobby brought a special sort of magic to the sessions that made everyone rise above the sometimes too-familiar work they were giving to the bigger names who were traipsing through the studio. Of course, a big part of the success of the album comes from Womack's amazing vocal delivery – that style that's raspy, yet warm – and which is a perfect fit for the well-penned tunes on the set. Titles include "I'm Through Trying To Prove My Love To You", "Nobody", "If You Can't Give Her Love Give Her Up", and a very cool version of "The Look Of Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Another fine effort from the Chicago Underground Duo – multi-instrumentalists Chad Talyor and Rob Mazurek – and like the duo's earlier work on Thrill Jockey, it's a wonderful listen, that traipses through elements of Don Cherry-like jazz experimentation, and percussive, minimalist avant rock! The sound is uncategorizable in the best sense, and the duo has chops that devour most of their contempories. Another great one! Mazurek works on cornet, organ, celest, piano, harpsichord and more, and Taylor is drums, perussion, gongs vibe and more. Tracks include "In Praise Of Shadows", "Falling Awake", "The Glass House", "Cities Without Citadels", "Pangea", "Funeral Of Dreams" and "The Light Between". CD

One of the most compelling albums ever recorded by British alto genius Joe Harriott – a very unusual record that has him working with guitarist Amanico D'Silva, in a style that's got some wonderful modal undertones! The feel here is a bit like Harriott's work with Michael Garrick – minus piano, of course – as he and D'Silva work through some tunes that are long, filled with complicated rhythms, yet still have a magically dancing sound. The mood shifts a bit from track to track – as Norma Winstone comes in for wordless vocals on two numbers, and Ian Carr blows a bit on one tune – and there's one short track on the record that only features Harriott's alto next to a bit of drums. Great stuff all around – with titles that include "NNNT", "Hum Donon", "Jaipur", "Stephano's Dance", and "Ballad For Goa". LP, Vinyl record album

J Boogie delivers track after track on Undercover – warm dancefloor material that spans genres and skirts boundaries – electronic soul rave-ups and moodier ones, spacey leftfield hip hop, horns and percussion flavored funk, Latin club bangers and beyond! Includes "Type Of Girl" feat The Mamaz, "Undercover" feat Chrys-Anthony, "It's On Fire" feat Lateef The Truthspeaker, "Go To Work" feat The Pimps Of Joytime, "El Ritmo" feat Deuce Eclipse & Caipa of Bang Data, "Blue Mountain Dub" feat Jazz Mafia, "Salaam", "Big Brother's Drunk", "Space And Time"f eat Gina Rene & Rich Armstrong and more. CD

A very cool record from Noro – one with a heck of a lot of weird influences! Some tracks on the set are straight Latin – done in a style that recalls some of Machito's work from the early 60s – but there's a few others that have an electric guitar in the mix, some slightly pyrotechnic scoring, and almost a 60s twist/mod kind of sound. Titles include "Rock A Bong", "Papa Boco", "Windows Of Paris", "Clap, Chaipaneca Clpa", "Colonia", and "Mexican Hop". LP, Vinyl record album

Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet and flugelhorn, Damage Edson Mbaisa on saxophone, percussion and vocals, Zivanai Wilberforce Masanga on trumpet, vocals, and keyboards, William Roper on tuba, David Philipson on bansuri, Henry Kaiser, Joshua Dube, Woody and Lee Aplanalp on guitar, Chakaipa Mhembere, Ngoni Makombe, and Zivai Guveya on mbira, Christopher Muchabaiwa and Ollie Elder on bass, Gordin Mapika and Sonship Theus on drums, William Mapfumo on percussion, and Lancelot Mapfumo on congas and vocals, with vocals from Memory Makuri, Rosa Sande, and Thomas Mapfumo. CD

Two later records from 60s French easy maestro Paul Mauriat – recorded at a time when we're not sure we even knew Mauriat was still making music! The instrumentation and production are updated slightly, but Paul's still got that sense of melody and space that always made his music stand out – on a set of two dozen titles that include "Descendant Of The Dragon", "Windy","About Winter", "Tomorrow Will Be Better", "PM Eastern's Love Theme", "Song For Taipei", "Ending Song Of Love", "Day After Day", "Part Time Lover", "Nikita", "Saving All My Love For You", and "Sara". CD

Maybe the most jazz-based record we've ever heard from Misha Panfilov – a set that still has all the great funky and spacey elements of his other records, yet which uses an expanded lineup to really deepen the soul of the album! The tracks are long, and have a soulful vibe that's wonderful – maybe in that late 60s moment when hardbop was moving past more familiar modes on labels like Blue Note and Prestige, but touched with slight spiritual currents too – in a group that mixes trumpet, flute, tenor, piano, bass, drums, and percussion with Misha's own leadership, percussion, and even some very cool steel guitar. Titles include "Draw Us Here", "Ravin", "Caipirinha", and "Dryland". LP, Vinyl record album

A set that's as warm and sunny as the image on the cover – one that continues the mix of global elements and contemporary production from this very hip team! There's a vibe here that's almost like some of the Africanism tracks from the French scene in years back – that is, with more of a contemporary vibe overall, and plenty of sweet beats and keyboards – moving past familiar house with a style that's more lean, and which makes just the right use of all the elements that DjDj and LtN want to throw into the mix! Vocals are in French, and as warmly soulful as the music – on titles that include "Ping Pong", "Bola Mba", "Rai Publique", "Pas Si Vite", "Clic", "The A La Menthe", "Caipirinha", "Planete", "Police", "Continent De Joie", and "Coeur Breton". LP, Vinyl record album