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A great record from folk rock oddball Michael Hurley – with spare, ragged little solo guitar & vocal tunes that greatly showcase both Hurley's easygoing, slowly rolling along vocals, as well has his piercing, high emphatic howls– plus more fleshed out tunes with the band, full of groovy, eccentric instrumentation. He brings in some fiddle and mandolin for a rustic feel here and there, a coronet that lends a bit of a jazzy cognizance, and more streamlined, folk rock touches. The album includes a Hurley staple or two, including "Werewolf" – plus "Grand Canyon Line", "English Nobleman", "Be Kind To Me", "Troubled Waters", "Sweedeedee", "Open Up", "Jocko's Lament", "Light Green Fellow", "Get The Best Of Me", "Biscuut Roller", "When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano" and "Penguins".

Raw & rambling folk sounds from Michael Hurly – recorded in early '72 – some of his better material of the era, living up to if not surpassing his Armchair Boogie of a couple years earlier! Michael's in seemingly amiable spirit here on some tunes, and a standing on shakier ground and in scarier waters at other points, with some country rock tinged jams and weirdo troubadour numbers. Titles include "Blue Driver", "Water Train", "The Sun Is Slowly Sinking", "I'm Worried, I'm Worried", "In Florida", "Lilly Pads Upon The Pond", "Trinidad" and more.

A monster set of work by one of the funkiest guitar players ever! Ivan Boogaloo Joe Jones recorded a number of sides for Prestige Records during the early 70s – but this rare gem came out after all those, in 1975, on the tiny Joka label, and never really got into proper circulation at the time – making it one of THE indie jazz funk classics of the 70s! The album's actually one of Boogaloo's best – and has a rougher edge than his Prestige albums – heard to great effect on the two standout funky cuts, "Sweetback" and "Confusion" – both of which are stunners that feature Jones really ripping away on the guitar! The whole set's nice, though – and other tracks include "You've Got It Bad Girl", "Trouble In Mind", and "Jamaica Farewell".

Proof that the Kenton sound could work in just about any format – as Stan transforms a host of older tunes from his book into a bossa nova groove! The approach is simple, but great – as the rich Kenton tones and colors are infused with some added rhythms laid down by Milt Holland, Larry Bunker, and Frank Guerrero on Latin percussion. Horn players Steve Marcus, Jack Nimitz, Dalton Smith, Conte Candoli, and Gabe Baltazar carve out some great lines in the set – cascading waves of sound that are a wonderful counterpoint to the driving rhythms of the set – almost in a way that recalls the Kenton Latin sides of the 50s, but a bit more subtle. Titles include "Kentonova", "Opus In Chartreuse", "Artistry In Rhythm", "Concerto To End All Concertos", "Loco Nova", "Artistry In Bossa Nova", "Eager Beaver", and "Painted Rhythm".

One of the earliest albums as a leader from reedman Robin Kenyatta – and a set that's also one of his most compelling too! There's a definitely freer sound here than on some of Robin's smoother sets from the 70s – a vibe that's somewhere near the space of Impulse Records in the post-Coltrane years, and which is right at home on Atlantic's Vortex label subsidiary. A few tracks get surprisingly out, but always with a nice sense of focus, especially in the rhythms – and in addition to Kenyatta's own bold work on alto sax, the album features performances by Roswell Rudd on trombone, Mike Lawrence on trumpet, Walter Booker on bass, Fred Simmons on piano, and Horace Arnold on drums. The tunes have lots of sharp edges – almost Ayler-like at times, but more inside – and titles include "You Know How We Do", "Little Blue Devil", "This Year", and "Until".

The second album from Kleeer – and a record that really has the group solidifying their sound – compressing keyboards, guitar, and grooves together in a sublimely boogie-heavy mode! Kleeer were really at the forefront of the coming 80s groove scene – and Woody Cunningham and the group draw heavily here from their previous experience with Patrick Adams, yet move into a smoother, tighter finish that set a new standard for the coming generation. Instrumentation is funky, but not exactly funk – and the tunes are mostly groovers throughout, but also move nicely away from disco norms of the late 70s. Isabelle Coles sings lead vocals on the track "I Still Love You" – and other titles include "Winners", "Your Way", "Close To You", "Rollin On", "Nothin Said", and "Hunger For Your Love".

Crazy funk from a crazy-costumed geezer with an equally crazy name! Boobie Knight led an obscure 70's funk outfit that was somewhere between Sly & The Family Stone and The Jimmy Castor Bunch. His group has a definite guitar-heavy sound that's a bit blunted, and a bit fuzzed out at times – but which also has a nice soulful edge at it's best moments. The band here includes vocals by Al Johnson (who may well be the same Al Johnson who went onto later mellow soul fame) – and titles include the crazy "Earth Creature", plus "The Lovomaniacs", "Power Greater Than Man", "Feeling My Cheerios", and "Woman Will Make You Love".

A great overview of exotic music in all its forms – not just the familiar American variant of the postwar years, but also a strong look at Italian exotica too! The book was originally penned in Italian, and has a good ear for the kind of unusual soundtrack and sound library material that always get us going – but also brings those recordings into context with larger strands of exotica, both vocal and instrumental. There's plenty here to please soundtrack, jazz, and vocal fans too – and the book even features some listening suggestions at the end. 361 pages, softcover.

Aerosmith at their most classic! At their peak, Aerosmith brought a hard rock edge to the more groove oriented boogie and blues rock influences. Toys In the Attic is most certainly one of their peaks, if not THE peak. Includes the all time greats "Walk This Way" and "Sweet Emotion", plus "Big Ten Inch Record", "Uncle Salty", "Round And Round", "You See Me Crying", "Adam's Apple" and "No More No More".

Amazing work from the 78rpm days of Blue Note!

An incredible package – and one that features three of the most important records ever cut by the Art Ensemble Of Chicago! All three albums were recorded at the Saravah Studios in the summer of 1969 – during a time when the Art Ensemble of Chicago were making big waves on the Parisian scene (including their work in the film Les Stances A Sophie) – and finding a way to refine their new Chicago sound in the world away from the Windy City! These were the albums that really put the Art Ensemble on the map – letting them find new freedoms, and reach new heights in expression – in a mode that even surpassed previous recordings by individual members back home. The lineup is very heavy on reeds – with a variety played by Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman – and features bold trumpet from Lester Bowie, warm basslines from Malachi Favors, and a range of percussion and other instruments by all members of the group! The set comes in a nice book-like cover, with a booklet inside – and titles include "Reese & The Smooth Ones (parts 1 & 2)", "Rock Out", "Brain For The Seine", "Dexterity", "Jackson In Your House", "The Waltz", and "Song For Charles".

A cool little book that's partly an introduction to jazz – but more like a cool collection of sidebars from longer articles – offering up interesting slices that really help you understand the music! The book is roughly chronological, but served up with lots of images and smaller text pieces – sometimes a focus on a specific artist, sometimes a smaller genre – often with additional notes off to the side that help illuminate things! The volume is unusual, but surprisingly helpful too – and even offers up some recommendations for CD listening as well. 276 pages, with color and black and white images.

The life of Billie Holliday! Billie is one of the most fascinating singers in American musical history, both for her beautiful, amazing voice and for the life she led. Even the story behind this book about her life is fascinating! In the 70s, Billie Holliday was interviewed extensively for an intended biography by Linda Keuel, but she passed away in 1978 before her book about Billie could come out. Author Jula Blackburn mined the audio recordings of those interviews for this one – a biography that highlights Billie's strength and encourage. Paperback, 354 pages

The bossa remix combo of Bossacucanova wisely get a dose of history and soul from guitarist Roberto Menescal, one of the original bossa nova geniuses of the 60s – and an artist who's really come back into the fold in recent years. The record features Menescal's guitar upfront in the mix – with bouncy bossa rhythms, souped up by electronics, all handled with the right amount of subtlety on the best tracks. Titles include "Surfboard", "Telefone", "Nana", "Rio", "Nos E O Mar", "Garota De Ipanema", "Agua De Beber", and "A Morte De Um Deus De Sal".

Amazing images from the Santeria underground in contemporary Cuba – the rich spiritual culture that's persisted for decades – and, if anything, has gotten only stronger through a rich network of local practice and dedicated spirituality! The photographs here are all in brilliant black and white – shot both behind the scenes, and at public festivals – and accompanied by notes and writing in both English and Spanish. The oversized book is 158 pages, with very good paper stock – a heavy coffee-table tome on the topic!

Always brilliant work from the great June Christy – an album that's got a lot more darkness than you might think from the title and the bright-colored cover! The style is very booze-soaked and sad – with plenty of echoes of the classic Something Cool album – and like that set, this one features sublime arrangements from the great Pete Rugolo – who has a perfect way of shading things in with the dark tones and modern elements that always work best for Christy's vocals! One of our favorite-ever records from June – with titles that include "Let There Be Love", "When Sunny Gets Blue", "I Want To Be Happy", "Imagination", "No More", "Better Luck Next Time", and "The Best Thing For You".

Mod mod 60s jazz – and 20 tight-as-can-be instrumentals from London's Dave Davani combo! Dave's a Hammond player with a great mix of soul jazz and R&B in his grooves – very much the best sort of instrumental work you might expect from London in the swinging 60s – a great blend of American influences and UK mod styles. The rest of the group includes guitar, bass, and drums – plus a bit of vocals and Latin percussion from Beryl Wayne. The groove here is clearly a precursor to the James Taylor Quartet, and the overall sound is better than some of the more famous groups from the time – such as the combos of Brian Auger or Graham Bond. The set features tracks from Dave's Parlophone album, a few other singles, and even 4 previously unissued tracks from the same time – with titles that inlcude "Big Bossa Man", "Working Out", "Funky Mama", "Sack O Woe", "Boot Leg", "Harlem Waltz", and "Pig Foots".

Devo brings their classic theory of De-Evolution to the Spuds of Seattle in 1981 – right around the time of the group's popular peak! Devo archivist Michael Pilmer (of Devo-Obsesso, ground zero for all things Devo on the web) purportedly found the tapes in a shoebox full of cassettes in Bob No 2’s home some years ago, which he immediately transferred it to DAT – and now we have this terrific document of Devo on the New Traditionalists tour. The set features a good portion of tracks from that album as well as live favorites from their earlier albums that are amazing to this day! Includes "Going Under", "Through Being Cool", "Jerkin' Back N' Forth", "Soft Things", "Planet Earth", "Whip It", "Super Thing", "Mongoloid", "Jocko Homo", "Smart Patrol/Mr DNA", "Girl You Want", "Gut Feeling", "Gates Of Steel", "Beautiful World", "Working In A Coalmine" and more.

Some of the darkest acoustic work that Dylan ever recorded – and filled with beautiful songs like "With God On Our Side", "North Country Blues", "Only A Pawn In Their Game", "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll", "Boots Of Spanish Leather", and "The Times They Are A-Changin". A real masterpiece from just before he started shaking off everyone's expectations.

A remarkable collection of a half century of writings on James Brown – from a Variety piece way back in 1959 up to a Rolling Stone profile from 2006 – edited by Nelson George & Alan Leeds and featuring work items from trades, newspaper and magazine profiles, select liner notes and much more! It's an impressive presentation with diverse voices, from cultural watchdogs such as Chuck D and Robert Christgau, and an impressive variety of sources all around and throughout the decades. Paperback, 318 pages.

A Sugar Hill party in one sweet little package – 2CDs worth of music that features some of the biggest hits from the Grandmaster Flash generation, plus a few surprising bits from later years too! The package features a whopping 23 tracks in all – one disc that mostly hovers around the early Sugar Hill years, and another that takes off a bit in different directions. Cuts include "Freedom", "New York New York", "Scorpio", "The Message", "It's Nasty", and "Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel" by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five; "Internationally Known", "We Don't Work For Free", and "Beat Street" by Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five; "Showdown" by Furious Five Meets Sugarhill Gang, "Flash To The Beat" by Grandmaster Flash, "Message II" by Melle Mel & Duke Bootee, "White Lines" by Grandmaster & Melle Mel, "World War III" by Melle Mel, "Step Off" by The Furious Five, "Sign Of The Times" and "Vice" by Grandmaster Flash.

A true classic by Jimi with the original Experience lineup – the third of three straight up masterpiece LPs to comeout in just over a year's time by the group! You could call the leftfield astral effects in the mix experimental if you wanted to – innovations in the studio with echo, that hallucinatory backwards sound effect and other stranger bits – but the passionate, naturally expressive playing and singing by Jimi makes it all feel just right. Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell still don't get enough credit for being at the heart of such greatness. A massive 2LP effort that include s"Voodoo Chile", "Crosstown Traffic", "Electric Ladyland", "Little Miss Strange", "Moon Turn The Tides", "Still Raining Still Dreaming" and "All Along The Watchtower".

Jellyfish take off from the Beach Boys' Stack O Tracks concept of an instrumental record – and offer up no-vocal versions of the albums Bellybutton and Spilt Milk! These aren't "stripped off" versions of the records – but complete instrumental readings of the music, recorded at the same time as the original records – issued here for the first time ever! Jellyfish's pair of early 90s albums are almost defiantly in the way they ignore the era's alt-rock boom in favor of classic psych and power pop – which is something they earned our respect for, both then and now – and you get to hear just how intricately-layered their sound is here on the instrumentals. It has the feel of late 60s and 70s rock film scores in a way – and it's really cool stuff – truly worthwhile to have sans vocals! 22 tracks on 2CDs: Bellybutton titles include "The Man I Used To Be", "That Is Why", "I Wanna Stay Home", "She Still Loves Him", "Now She Knows She's Wrong", "Bedspring Kiss", "Calling Sarah" and more – and Spilt Milk titles include "Hush", "Joining A Fan Club", "New Mistake", "The Ghost At Number One", "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late", "Brighter Day".

George Jones in one of his most classic periods – singles he cut with producer Pappy Daily for United Artists from the early-to-mid 60s – and some of the greatest barroom laments and rave up honky tonk treasures ever! Producer Pappy Daily frames the inherent sorrow, boozy slur and sly pug attitude of The Possum's voice with near-perfect backing of solid waltz patterns, laid down by session legends like Pig Robbins, Grady Martin and Billy Strange – along with effective, ghostly choruses by The Jordanaires. Classics and relatively forgotten gems alike – including "The Race Is On", "She Thinks I Still Care", "Magic Valley", "Big Fool Of The Year", "My Tears Are Overdue", "Your Heart Turned Left (And I Was On The Right)", "Brown To Blue", "Wrong Number", "Least Of All", "World's Worst Lover", "A Good Old Fashioned Cry" and many more. 32 in all!

A dozen Aggrovators jams from the golden age of Jamaican music, all with Tubby's expert knob twirling taking them into the next dimension. We aren't entirely certain, we'd hazard a guess that these are all Bunny Lee productions, filled out nicely with fat bass, crisp hi hats and a heavy thumping kick, punctuated nicely by dubby reverb and echoplex. With "King Of The Arena Dub", "No Partial Dub", "Crazy Baldhead Dub", "A Living Dub", "Destroy Dub Style", "Book Of Numbers Dub" and "Natty Roots Man Dub".