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New Music Consort is John Cage, Lou Harrison, Henry Cowell and Ruth Crawford Seeger.

A stunner of dramatic orchestrations from the earlyish part of the past millenium – bookended by a couple of the most mindblowingly influential pieces from the great Edgard Varese in the late 20s & early 30s – plus exceptional orchestrations by Carlos Chavez, Silvestre Revueltas, Oliver Messaen and Lou Harrison. The compilation opens with Varese's triumphant 17+ minute, dramatic and exciting "Arcana" from 1927, conducted by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and closes with his Varese's revelatory "Ionisation", conducted by Paul Price with the American Percussion society, opening with a cry as chilling as an emergency siren, and full of riveting percussion. Other pieces in this packed compilation of pioneering compositions is Carlos Chavez's "Toccata For Percussion" from 1942, "Sensemaya" by Silverstre Revueltas from 1937, Olivier Messiaen's "Vingt Regards Sur L'Enfant Jesus" from '44, plus his "Preludes For Piano" from the late 20s, and Lou Harrison's "Canticle No 3" from 1942.

A charming batch of mid 60s popular tunes done in loungey, sort of boozy arrangements in some places and uptempo mod in others from Noel Harrison – who went on to have a few hits as well as a successful acting career – tackling Dylan, Lennon/McCartney, and more with a really swinging aplomb! Moddish touches abound, with some rocking soul & pop backing in the rolling drums, trippy organ washes, horn punctuation and girl backing vocals! Really cheeky stuff and good fun! "It's All Over Now Baby Blue", "God Bless The Child", "She's A Woman", "Mr Tamborine Man", "A Young Girl (Of Sixteen)", "All Blues", "Like Stranger", "Tomorrow Is My Turn" and more.

One of the best funky compilations ever! The folks at Stones Throw Records – home of some of the most funk-inspired hip hop of the past decade – have dug through the crates to come up with this incredible batch of 19 tunes, all well-researched, nicely remastered, and offered up here on a 100% legit basis! But even more than that, the selection of music is incredible – killer funky tunes of the sort that you'd shell out plenty for on 45, moving way past the standard loud funk mode, into a hip realm of jazz-tinged expression, complicated enough for today's beatheads, yet straightforward enough to keep the groove going! Titles include "Fish Head" by Slim & The Soulful Saints, "The Dump" by Soul Vibrations, "What About You" by Co Real Artists, "The Kick" by The Rhythm Machine, "Kashmere" by Kashmere Stage Band, "Tighten Up Tighter" by Billy Ball & The Upsetters, "Beautiful Day" by Spider Harrison, "Southside Funk" by Soul Seven, "In The Rain" by The Wooden Glass with Billy Wooten, and "Go To Work" by Revolution Compared To What.