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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 rare groover from the team of Ray Brown and Quincy Jones – a smoking little set that completely revises the music for The Adventurers! The original score for the film featured tunes by Antonio Carlos Jobim, played by Deodato – a great combination at the time, but completely different than the heavy funk laid out here by Ray and Quincy! The pair really cook things up strongly here – hitting some of the best funky vibes you'd hear on Quincy Jones scores from the late 60s and early 70s – or some of Ray Brown's funkiest jazz sessions of the time. Brown leads the band, and the set's produced by Quincy – who also arranged some tracks – with help from JJ Johnson, Tom Scott, and Jimmy Jones too. Titles include "Fat Cat Strut", "Polo Pony", "El Lobo's Marc", "Wishful Thinking", "Love Theme From The Adventurers", and "Go Down Dying".

The first-ever issue of music from a really weird John Phillips side-project of the 70s – a space-themed musical produced by Andy Warhol and directed by Paul Morrisey – with performances by Phillips, Dennh Doherty, and members of Warhol's Factory! Despite a loopy story, the tunes have a fair bit of homegrown charm – at least on the core material here, which is performed by Phillips himself, using just a bit of acoustic guitar, and coming across with a folksy feel that's mighty nice, especially given the date of the recording – almost a childlike simplicity in the themes, which is a nice change from the other Phillips modes of the time. Some other selections feature numbers recorded live at the play – and the set also features some additional studio tracks sung by Genevieve Waite, plus some other out-takes and rehearsal material. 38 tracks in all – with titles that include "Oh Andy My Assistant", "Mission Control", "My Name Is Can", "Star Stepping Stranger/Convent", "Penthouse Of Your Mind", "Starburst", "Handcuffs", "Close Your Eyes", "Love Is Coming Back", and "The Last Of The Unnatural Acts".

Wonderfully catchy work from the team of Peggy Scott and JoJo Benson – easily one of the grooviest soul duos of the 60s! Peggy and JoJo were kind of the Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell of southern soul – recording for Shelby Singleton's SSS International label in Nashville, with a sound that's a lot deeper than some of the Motown or New York male/female duos – yet with a groove and way with a hook that made them even catchier than most of their contemporaries! JoJo goes deep, and Peggy soars over the top – and the pairing works perfectly on the playful lyrics of the tunes, with a raw quality that's way beyond the simple pop you might imagine. The package features some of the best SSS cuts by the pair, plus a few solo Peggy tunes too – and titles include "We Were Made For Each Other", "Soul Shake", "Lover's Holiday", "Pickin Wild Mountain Berries", "Til The Morning Comes", "Eternally", "Sugarmaker", "Lover's Heaven", and "Let's Spend A Day Out In The Country".

A unique set by the great Ravi Shankar – one of his trippiest albums ever, and originally recorded as a soundtrack for the film Viola! There's plenty of elements that resonate with some of Shankar's other studio work of the 60s – but there's also a much darker feel overall – really heady sounds that are often abstracted or echoed a bit with the production, given a wild sort of light show feel that you'd never hear on any of Ravi's other records! There's some very raw tabla and tambura in the mix, and other odd instruments from Les Structures Sonores – who seem to bring in a bit of electro-acoustic energy to the record at points. Titles include "Madness", "Fantasy", "Anxiety", "Torment", "Submission", "Death", "Transmigration", "Retribution", and "Reflection".

Performed by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra with Richard Mills conducting.

A seminal soundtrack from the legendary John Carpenter – one of those key records that showed the world that he was as great of a composer as he was a director! The album's a Carpenter-esque masterpiece – lots of cool, spare electronics – used in ways that make the whole movie a whole lot scarier than even the images on the screen – a quality you'll definitely appreciate here as you listen to the album on its own! Some of the best sounds are the most subtle – spare use of basslines and keyboards that almost make you feel as if Moebius and Rodelius have gone over to the dark side – and these are mixed with just a few more "action" based moments. Titles include "Up The Wall/Air Force 1", "Everyone's Coming To New York", "The Duke Arrives/The Barricade", "Back To The Pod/The Crazies Come Out", "Police State/Romero & The President", and "Chase Across The 69th Street Bridge". Also features a few previously unreleased bonus tracks too!

One of the greatest spy soundtracks of the 60s – a very groovy batch of tracks written for Stefanie Powers' brief TV show, The Girl From UNCLE! The music here is better than the male version of the UNCLE franchise – hip 60s spy themes, done in a groovy style for the television audience – often a cool blend of swirling strings, jazzy orchestrations, and some very hip rhythms! Dave Grusin penned the music, and Teddy Randazzo arranged – bringing his 60s soul background into the work in a really great way – emphasizing the grooves even more than on other records of this nature, in a way that's made the set very sought after in the crate-digging scene. There's plenty of nice 60s elements – keyboards, wordless vocals, funky flute, and other hip effects – and titles include "Movin On", "Out Of The Frying Pan", "The Girl From UNCLE", "Sneaky Search", "The Countess", and "Bomb Scare".

A smoking little set – an album of jazz takes on Curtis Mayfield classics, played by a hip combo that includes a few musicians from Mayfield's old band! The album's a straight jazz effort all the way through – and the interpretations are so soulful and swinging on their own, you might even forget that Curtis provided the inspiration for the tunes – thanks to work from Wallace Roney on trumpet, Ernie Watts on saxes, Phil Upchurch on guitar, Russ Ferrante on piano, Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, and Henry Gibson on congas! The album's one of the last that Gibson ever cut, and his percussion really helps the whole thing find its groove – providing a nice kick to the work of Roney, Watts, and Upchurch over the top. Titles include "Freddie's Dead", "Superfly", "Beautiful Brother Of Mine", "People Get Ready", "Amen", "Gypsy Woman", and "It's All Right".

Mindblowing work from Minnie Riperton – her first solo album, cut at the end of the 60s, after a number of years of work with the group Rotary Connection. The album builds off the now famous sound of Rotary Connection – but takes it to the next level, with arch-baroque production by the great Charles Stepney – who couches Minnie's fantastic vocals in a suite of shimmering soulful tracks that mix strings, horns, jazzy piano, and slight touches of bouncing rhythms. The overall sound is impossible to describe – sort of a cross between Burt Bacharach on A&M, Scott Walker's 3rd album, and the sound of Marvin Gaye's What's Goin' On. The album's pure genius all the way through – one of the highlights of the Chicago scene of the 60s – and proof that Riperton, Stepney, and crew were shooting for the outer limits of soul music! Titles include "Les Fleur", "Only When I'm Dreaming", "Rainy Day In Centerville", "Memory Band", "Expecting", "Whenever Wherever", and "Oh, By The Way".

Small Faces 1968 debut Immediate Records in AmericaTitles include "Itchykoo Park", "Talk To You", "Up The Wooden Hills", "My Way Of Giving", "Tin Soldier", "Here Come The Nice", and "Green Circles".

A dramatic soundtrack to this Douglas Sirk film!

An amazing collection of experimental sounds from the European scene of the postwar years – key electronic and musique concrete recordings from some of the most important composers of the 20th Century! The package is a great introduction to this important stretch in music – and features recordings that are every bit as mindblowing now as they were over 50 years ago – really revolutionary sounds and tones that went onto have an undeniable impact on modern music, yet which still sound even more amazing here in the original source recordings. Includes "Poeme Electronique" by Edgard Varese, "Voile D'Orphee" by Pierre Henre, "Diamorphoses" and "Concret PH" by Iannis Xenakis, "Studie Nr 1" and "Gesang Der Junglinge" by Karlheinz Stockhausen, and "Cinq Etudes De Bruits" by Pierre Schaeffer.

50s futurist sounds from the pioneers – Raymond Scott, Jean Jacque Perrey, Edgard Varese and others – early computer grooves, synthesizer experimentalist eeriness and symphonically styled soundscapes! Sci fi sounds, oddly melodic electronics, gigantic computer sounds and living, breathing orchestral accompaniment! 18 tracks in all: "Sonik Re-Entry" by Tom Dissevelt/Kid Balton, "The Rhythm Modulator" by Raymond Scott, "Ancient Krell Music" by Louis & Bebe Barron, "{arade Des Soldats De Bois" by Jean Jacques Perrey, "Density" by Rene Le Roy", "Noise Study" by the IBM 7090 Computer, "Octandre" by NY Wind Ensemble and more.

50s futurist sounds from the pioneers – Raymond Scott, Jean Jacque Perrey, Edgard Varese and others – early computer grooves, synthesizer experimentalist eeriness and symphonically styled soundscapes! Sci fi sounds, oddly melodic electronics, gigantic computer sounds and living, breathing orchestral accompaniment! 18 tracks in all: "Sonik Re-Entry" by Tom Dissevelt/Kid Balton, "The Rhythm Modulator" by Raymond Scott, "Ancient Krell Music" by Louis & Bebe Barron, "{arade Des Soldats De Bois" by Jean Jacques Perrey, "Density" by Rene Le Roy", "Noise Study" by the IBM 7090 Computer, "Octandre" by NY Wind Ensemble and more.

An amazing little package – and one that really gets past the too-commercial side of so many other carnival recordings! This set is far more ethnographic – a mid 70s effort to document the rich legacy of music from the samba schools in Brazil – put together by the Disco Marcus Pereira label with the same overall feel as some of their other folkloric projects from the time! Each volume in the set focuses on a different samba school – Mangueira, Imperio, Salgueiro,and Portela – each featuring songs the schools made famous over the years, with new recordings that still feature very traditional instrumentation and vocal styles – with help from a variety of singers who include Geraldo Babao, Sam Rodrigues, Cartola, Alcides Lopes, Monarco, Avarese, Jorginho Pecana, Dona Ivone Lara, Paderinho, and many others. The package features four different albums, each reproduced with original cover art – and a total of 48 tracks in all, all music that really shows the best legacy of these famous musical groups!