A double-stuffed collection of work from the legendary War – one of the hippest soul groups on the Cali scene of the 70s, and one who just kept on making great music as the years went on! This expanded collection is a great testament to the group's genius – and the way they started out mixing together jazz, Latin, and funk elements with a special Los Angeles spin – then successfully brought in some clubbier elements in the late 70s, but all without ever falling into the disco cliches of so many of their contemporaries! Throughout the years, War remained a group with impeccable musicianship and a deep sense of soul – as you'll hear here on a set of gems that includes "Me & Baby Brother", "The World Is A Ghetto", "Get Down", "Spill The Wine", "Slippin Into Darkness", "All Day Music", "Gypsy Man", "Why Can't We Be Friends", "Cisco Kid", "LA Sunshine", "Low Rider", "Galaxy", "Outlaw", "You Got The Power", "Cinco De Mayo", "Smile Happy", "So", "Summer", "Don't Let No One Get You Down", and "Tobacco Road". LP, Vinyl record album

A great follow-up to War's first Music Band album – and proof that the group was still plenty darn funky at the end of the 70s! Although different from their original Chicano funk groove, the style here is still totally great – long, drawn-out funk that's filled with plenty of sharp edges, stepping basslines, sweet keyboards, and riffing guitars – sometimes a bit warmer than before, but in a way that's still plenty darn soulful. There's almost a bit more of an instrumental focus here than before – especially on the album's 13 minute remake of "The World Is A Ghetto". Other tracks include "Don't Take It Away", "I'll Take Care Of You", "Night People", and "The Music Band 2". LP, Vinyl record album

Badu is back with some of the deepest, funkiest and best music of her career – a mindblowing treatise for a New Amerykah – and what we'll consider an instant classic whether the world at large catches on or not! Erykah steps up this time with a set that balances the wilder impulses of her criminally underappreciated Worldwide Underground and more of a hip hop based, righteously grooving style – but still bursts with a freshness that's unrivaled to say the least. From free spirited soul, to sparse hip hop funk this record is both blunt and beautiful – with a slow-building emotional resonance that'll reach the most jaded souls. Modern soul music of the first order that gives us goosebumps from the first spin to the last beat! The album kicks off with Erykah riffing on and remixing Ramp's "American Promise" as an intro – and it just gets deeper from there. Producers/collaborators include Madlib, Sa-Ra, Karriem Riggins, James Poyser and ?uestlove. Amazing!!! Titles include "The Healer", "Me", "My People", "Soldier", "The Cell", "Twinkle", "Master Teacher", "The Hump" and "Telephone". LP, Vinyl record album

Late 60s psyche pop on Atco from Bo Grumpus – a Boston group who only ever cut this one LP that we know of – and it's a groovy one! The sound has kind of tight pop combo groove with catchy melodies – fleshed out into trippier territory with some keys, trumpet, and overall bigger arrangements – some of which was done by Felix Pappalardi, who would go onto to bigger things with Mountain! Titles include "Sparrow Tune", "Think Twice", "Yesterday's Street", "The Breath O'Love", "A Knowing Young Touch", "Ragtimey Love", "Travelin In The Dark", "Brooklyn", "The Moon Will Rise" and "If I Came To You". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the last recordings ever made by the genius trumpeter Jaimie Branch – and a set that shows the bold new direction she was going in, right before she left our planet all too soon! The music here leaps forward from any of Branch's earlier recordings – with harder rhythms, more focus in the driving quality of the music, and even some lyrical passages that are quite stunning – vocals that add a lot to the music, and which could have had Jaimie finding an audience in a world far past just jazz! The core group is incredible – the drums of Chad Taylor have never been so powerful, urged on by the bass work of Jason Ajemian – and folded beautifully with the cello, voice, marimba, and keyboards of Lester St Louis. Branch herself also plays keyboards and percussion – and Daniel Villareal guests on some additional percussion too – and the whole thing comes together with an incredible sense of energy and vision, at a level that has us missing Jaimie's presence on the planet even more than before. Titles include "Aurora Rising", "Take Over The World", "Baba Louie", "Burning Grey", "The Mountain", and "Borealis Dancing". LP, Vinyl record album

Mid-40s recordings with the classic Ellington Orchestra line-up with Rex Stewart, Taft Jordan, Ray Nance, Lawrence Brown, Al Sears, Sonny Greer, Al Hibbler, and others. LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Some of the most tripped-out music ever from The Holy Modal Rounders – and that's saying a lot, given the nature of the group! This unique early album on ESP features two side-long tracks – both of which are mini-suites of sort, and filled with odd sounds, weird themes, and a strange mixture of hippie instrumentation and sci-fi experimentation! The group for the record is a quartet – with the core combo of Peter Stampfel on violin and vocals and Steve Weber on guitar, augmented by playwright Sam Shephard on drums and Lee Crabtree on piano and organ – plus extra vocals from the trio of Antonia, Barbara, & Wendy. The music is in the best free-thinking style of other rock on the ESP label in the 60s – and titles include "Jimmy & Crash Survey The Universe" and "The Second-Hand Watch". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the most tripped-out music ever from The Holy Modal Rounders – and that's saying a lot, given the nature of the group! This unique early album on ESP features two side-long tracks – both of which are mini-suites of sort, and filled with odd sounds, weird themes, and a strange mixture of hippie instrumentation and sci-fi experimentation! The group for the record is a quartet – with the core combo of Peter Stampfel on violin and vocals and Steve Weber on guitar, augmented by playwright Sam Shephard on drums and Lee Crabtree on piano and organ – plus extra vocals from the trio of Antonia, Barbara, & Wendy. The music is in the best free-thinking style of other rock on the ESP label in the 60s – and titles include "Jimmy & Crash Survey The Universe" and "The Second-Hand Watch". LP2 features Live In 1965 – Some of the earliest music ever from The Holy Modal Rounders – a rare live performance from 1965, recorded at the Chess Mate nightclub in Detroit, and featuring only the duo of Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber! The music here is a bit more folksy and a bit less trippy than some of the Rounders' later recordings, but it still shows a decidedly left-field approach – not just in the subjects of the tunes, but also in the way the guitar, banjo, and fiddle are used – almost as additional voices at times, instead of conventional folk instrumentation. Titles include "Crowley Waltz", "Black Eyed Suzy", "My Mind Capsized", "Fishin Blues", "Rum Mountain", "Random Canyon", "Skin Game", "Indian War Whoop", and "Flop Eared Mule". LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Featuring Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy), Justin Hayward (Moody Blues), Chris Thompson (Manfred Mann), David Essex, and Richard Burton! LP, Vinyl record album

The final album in the "qatsi" trilogy, and one that's got the same sublime Philip Glass scoring as the others – but which also features some beautiful cello solos from Yo Yo Ma too! Given that there's a darker side to this film, the warmth of the cello balances things out nicely – and occasionally creates a nice juxtaposition with a few of the more urgent moments in the larger orchestrations – which are performed by the Philip Glass ensemble. Titles include "Media Weather", "Old World", "Intensive Time", "Primacy Of Number", "The Vivid Unknown", "Point Blank", and "Definition". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes "Handle The Vibe", "It's All Mo Thug", 'Ready 4 War", "Ain't Nothin Changed (Everyday Thang part 2)", "Thug Luv", "Hatin Nation", and "Evil Paradise". 25 tracks in all. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the last recordings ever made by the genius trumpeter Jaimie Branch – and a set that shows the bold new direction she was going in, right before she left our planet all too soon! The music here leaps forward from any of Branch's earlier recordings – with harder rhythms, more focus in the driving quality of the music, and even some lyrical passages that are quite stunning – vocals that add a lot to the music, and which could have had Jaimie finding an audience in a world far past just jazz! The core group is incredible – the drums of Chad Taylor have never been so powerful, urged on by the bass work of Jason Ajemian – and folded beautifully with the cello, voice, marimba, and keyboards of Lester St Louis. Branch herself also plays keyboards and percussion – and Daniel Villareal guests on some additional percussion too – and the whole thing comes together with an incredible sense of energy and vision, at a level that has us missing Jaimie's presence on the planet even more than before. Titles include "Aurora Rising", "Take Over The World", "Baba Louie", "Burning Grey", "The Mountain", and "Borealis Dancing". LP, Vinyl record album

Kind of nutty stuff from this weird Blake Edwards film that starred James Coburn and Dick Shawn. The material's not as jazz-based as some of Mancini's other scores, but it does have a delightfully nutty sound that's in keeping with the kind of mad 60s film it was written for. The postwar memory of the film situates it in Italy, so a fair number of the melodies have slight Italian overtones – including "Sicily Forever", "Gina", "Wine and Women", and "Festa!". LP, Vinyl record album

The Buddah soul stable came out in full force for this soundtrack, including Harvy Fuqua, The New Birth, Barbara Mason, and Horace Ott – as well as the little known group Badder Than Evil! They play on the great instrumental track "Hot Wheels", which is the chase theme in the film, and a great sample track! Also includes "Super Shine #9", sung by Sister Goose & the Ducklings, which is a very groovy, goofy, soulful number – plus the tracks "Child Of Tomorrow", "Harlem Dreams", "Child Of Tomorrow", and "Come On & Dream Some Paradise". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the last recordings ever made by the genius trumpeter Jaimie Branch – and a set that shows the bold new direction she was going in, right before she left our planet all too soon! The music here leaps forward from any of Branch's earlier recordings – with harder rhythms, more focus in the driving quality of the music, and even some lyrical passages that are quite stunning – vocals that add a lot to the music, and which could have had Jaimie finding an audience in a world far past just jazz! The core group is incredible – the drums of Chad Taylor have never been so powerful, urged on by the bass work of Jason Ajemian – and folded beautifully with the cello, voice, marimba, and keyboards of Lester St Louis. Branch herself also plays keyboards and percussion – and Daniel Villareal guests on some additional percussion too – and the whole thing comes together with an incredible sense of energy and vision, at a level that has us missing Jaimie's presence on the planet even more than before. Titles include "Aurora Rising", "Take Over The World", "Baba Louie", "Burning Grey", "The Mountain", and "Borealis Dancing". LP, Vinyl record album

With featured soloists Ray Nance, Johnny Hodges, Lawrence Brown, Taft Jordan, Jimmy Hamiltn, Harry Carney, Junior Raglan, and Joe Nanton. Titles include "Star Spangled Banner", "Take The A Train", "Tea For Two", "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ring Dem Bells", "Black And Tan Fantasy", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Not the first album of spoken word by Dr King to be issued by Motown – but one that came out on their important Black Forum label after King's death – as a message about the Vietnam War, which was still going strong after many years! King's peaceful approach to protest makes for a natural shift to a discussion of the Vietnam War – and as with all his speeches, the timing, tone, and rhetoric is still extremely powerful all these many years later! LP, Vinyl record album

Produced by George Martin and includes the Stevie Wonder duet, "Ebony And Ivory", plus "Take It Away", "Somebody Who Cares", "What's That You're Doing?" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Campy 20s-sounding tunes – penned by Ralston for this all-star World War 1 extravaganza. Most of the material is comedic, and vocals are by Richard Howard, Joanne Brown, Pia Colombo, Corin Redgrave, and others. Titles include "Belgium Put The Kaibosh On The Kaiser", "When This Lousy War Is Over", "I Want To Go Home", "Hush! Here Comes A Whizzbang", "Oh! It's A Lovely War", "Over There", and "Goodbyeee". LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A stone 70s classic in the Island Records catalog – proof that although the label was scoring big with some of their superstar acts, they still had a great ear out for groundbreaking reggae material! The mighty Max Romeo works here with Lee Scratch Perry in the studio – who gives him fantastic support, at a level that opens up really righteous currents in his music – a fantastic blend of the roots reggae spirit of Romeo and the studio genius of Perry! Romeo's soulful inflections matched perfectly to the dark, swampy Black Ark grooves – on titles that include "War Ina Babylon", "Chase The Devil", "Stealin'", "One Step Forward", "Smile Out Of Style", "Uptown Babies", "Tan And See", "Smokey Room", and "Norman". LP, Vinyl record album

A real breakout album for Edwin Starr – and the kind of full-on set that really helped give his music a bold new focus! Starr had already scored nicely on some playful tracks from the Motor City scene of the late 60s – but here, he emerges as a singer with a lot more depth than before – not only on the righteous tunes, like the classic title track – but also on some of the warmer ones too, which showcase a new adult style of singing we might not have expected a few years before! Unlike other Motown efforts of this level, there doesn't seem to be any core arranger and producer – which means that Edwin himself did an even greater job of pulling the whole thing together – a great run of tracks that includes the classic "War (What Is It Good For)", a killer version of "California Soul", one of the best Motown-penned tracks from the time – and the tracks "Time", "I Just Wanted To Cry", "All Around The World", "At Last I Found A Love", "I Can't Replace My Old Love", and "She Should Have Been Home". LP, Vinyl record album

Produced by Tosh himself, band includes Keith Sterling, Santa Davison, Fully Fullwood, Sticky thompson, Skully Sims and others. 8 tracks in all, including "No Nuclear War", "Nah Goa Jail", "Fight Apartheid", "Vampire", "In My Song", "Lesson In My Life", "Testify" and "Come Together". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

The breakthrough classic – with titles that include "Two Hearts Beat As One", "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "New Year's Day", "40", "Surrender", "The Refugee", "Red Light", and "Seconds". LP, Vinyl record album

The brilliant 3rd album from Mike Westbrook – a sharp-edged, two volume set with a scathing anti-war theme! The work is Westbrook's first total-concept album, and it's still one of his best – written with an edge that's free from some of the more whimsical touches that showed up in Mike's later years, and played by a core group of British avant soloists with searing intensity! You've never heard large group scoring like this – bold, ambitious, and quite different than most of what's come before. And although the whole thing sounds as if it's going to fall apart at any moment, it always snaps back into a sharp focus just in the nick of time – with brilliant results that bring the same sense of surprise that you might get from, say, a classic album from Charles Mingus or Archie Shepp! Players include Kenny Wheeler and Henry Lowther on trumpets, Mike Gibbs and Paul Rutherford on trombones, John Surman on baritone and soprano sax, Mike Osborne on alto and clarinet, Alan Skidmore on tenor and flute, Brian Smith on tenor, and Harry Miller and Barre Phillips on bass. This set features both volumes of the recording – with titles that include "Landscape", "Hooray", "Other World", "Marching Song", "Transition", "Rosie", "Tension", "Ballad", "Conflict", and "Requiem". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

With The Lox and DMX. 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

A real breakout album for Edwin Starr – and the kind of full-on set that really helped give his music a bold new focus! Starr had already scored nicely on some playful tracks from the Motor City scene of the late 60s – but here, he emerges as a singer with a lot more depth than before – not only on the righteous tunes, like the classic title track – but also on some of the warmer ones too, which showcase a new adult style of singing we might not have expected a few years before! Unlike other Motown efforts of this level, there doesn't seem to be any core arranger and producer – which means that Edwin himself did an even greater job of pulling the whole thing together – a great run of tracks that includes the classic "War (What Is It Good For)", a killer version of "California Soul", one of the best Motown-penned tracks from the time – and the tracks "Time", "I Just Wanted To Cry", "All Around The World", "At Last I Found A Love", "I Can't Replace My Old Love", and "She Should Have Been Home". LP, Vinyl record album

A really wonderful under-discovered performance by Sun Ra & The Arkestra – a complete live set from 1984, presented here with really stunning fidelity! The package is a great antidote to some of the fuzzier Ra live sets on the market – as it's got the care that the Trost label has brought to their reissues of material by Peter Brotzmann and the FMP generation – with sound that's more than sensitive enough to capture some surprisingly great spare piano passages, as well as the full force of the Arkestra when they really get going. Sun Ra is still a tremendous force on the keys at this time – and delivers a lot of solos that are interspersed between larger, more structured songs – played with fire by a lineup that includes John Gilmore on tenor and clarinet, Marshall Allen on alto and flute, James Jackson on bassoon and infinity drum, and Danny Ray Thompson on baritone and flute. Titles include a number of "untitled improvisation" tracks – plus "Big John's Special", "Days Of Wine & Roses", "What's New", "Nuclear War", "East Of The Sun", "Yeah Man", "Mack The Knife", "Day Dream", and "Love In Outer Space". This great 4LP box set includes an insert card with notes and photos. Beautiful! LP, Vinyl record album

A stone smoker from Rare Earth – recorded a a time when they were able to easily handle a groove made up of equal parts funk, rock, and soul! The vibe here is almost like War at times – not for the LA touches in the mix, but for the heady and heavy way these guys roll forward – pulling together all the best elements of the underground at the time, and bringing them into their own smoky groove. Instrumentation is wonderful – and some of the cuts have a really great jamming sort of feel – especially the 11 minute reading of "(I Know) I'm Losing You" – originally done by the Temptations, and produced by Norman Whitfield for the album! Other titles include "Long Time Leavin", "Satisfaction Guaranteed", "Nice Place To Visit", "No 1 Man", and a sweet version of "Eleanor Rigby". LP, Vinyl record album

Modern Muscle Shoals material from The Rose Brothers – a male quartet with one foot in an older harmony soul mode, and the other firmly set into the bigger modes of the 80s! Mellower moments mix with electro elements on this debut album – with a vibe that's almost more east coast than Alabama, but which still retains a bit of a deeper soul vibe on the laidback numbers and ballads. Jimmy Lewis and Rich Cason produced – and Cason handled arrangements – on titles that include "I Get Off On You", "The Edge Of Goodbye", "Burglar", "One More Time", "War Zone", and "Freeky Lover" – and the Rick James-styled groover "Wall To Wall Freaks". LP, Vinyl record album

Sade's second album, and while it's not totally sublime as the first, it's still a damn great set with a smooth jazzy vibe that will have you coming back again and again! Includes the lovely "The Sweetest Taboo", plus "Is It A Crime", "War Of The Hearts", "Mr Wrong", and "Never As Good As The First Time". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most searing, soaring albums ever from Santana – a set that takes all the power of the previous two records, and packs it into one tight little set! There's plenty of Latin influences going on – mixed with heavy fuzz from Carlos, and lots of jazz and funky touches too – way more happening on the rhythm tip than most of Santana's contemporaries – which is why the record continues to find such a wonderfully wide audience over the years. Drop cuts like "Batuka","Toussaint L'Overture", "Jungle Strut", or "Para Los Rumberos" next to tracks by War, Mandrill or Tower Of Power and you'll see what we mean – and titles also include "No One To Depend On","Taboo", "Guajira" and "Everything's Coming Our Way". LP, Vinyl record album

A really weird, really moody sort of record – one that was issued in the mid 80s, but by a guy who seems to think that he's still working in the singer/songwriter generation of the late 70s! For Scott Seskind, punk and new wave never happened – as the songs here are personal, heartfelt, and delivered with this darkly-presented folk style – not the sunny optimism of the early 60s, but more that smoky haze from the second half of the decade – infused with the realization that the revolution wasn't gonna happen, with more focus on personal issues. There's some great moody echo in the production, which really helps set the tone – and titles include "War", "Empty Arms", "Unknown & Disliked", "Bobby Sands", "You're The Reason", "This Is My Country", "Out Of The Blue", "Our Ring", and "Been Waitin". LP, Vinyl record album

Soft Power follow up their previous set with a record that's maybe even more striking overall – a fantastic blend of spiritual jazz and electric elements – served up with some especially nice Fender Rhodes, and plenty more going on as well! The tunes build with a sense of majesty that's great – often really making a lot of the basswork of Iiro Tulkki, whose sense of sound establishes a great core to the record, as do the drums and percussion of Mikael Jurmu – a player who's got a nice edge, and occasionally gets additional percussion help on the set. Staffan Sodergard handles both Fender Rhodes and trumpet – in a lineup that also includes tenor from Esa Umberg, soprano and alto from Antti Vauhkonen, and guitar from Otto Kyrklund – on titles that include "War Setib", "Raw Bites", "Doom", "Riff", "Duke", "Kesam", and "Archie". LP, Vinyl record album

There's nothing slow about this mid 70s album from Steppenwolf – a set that has the group really coming back into the fray, after John Kay had left for a bit and recorded as a solo act! All the raw power of the group is still very much at play here – plenty of searing guitars, at that level that made Steppenwolf such a key precursor to the hard rock sound of the 70s – maybe answered to by the group themselves here, who felt a need to reform and show the younger acts how things were done! But there's also some fuller production at times too – touches of soul inspiration that hit a few of the songs, but without ever knocking the guitars out too much – on titles that include "Get Into The Wind", "Children Of The Night", "Smokey Factory Blues", "Morning Blue", "A Fool's Fantasy", and "Gang War Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A French session from harmonica player Sugar Blue – with titles that include "Shed No Tears", "War Zone", "Pontiac", "My Baby Caught The Train", "Another Man Done Gone", and "Begging The Girl To Go". LP, Vinyl record album

14 new and classic recordings including the heavily bootlegged underground hit "Realist Killaz" with 50 Cent, plus "Ghost", "One Day At A Time" featuring/produced by Eminem, "Death Around The Corner", "Secretz Of War", "Holla If Ya Hear Me", "Running (Dying To Live)" with Notorious BIG, "Starin' Through My Rearview", "Same Song", "Panther Power", "Str8 Ballin'" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The brilliant 3rd album from Mike Westbrook – a sharp-edged, two volume set with a scathing anti-war theme! The work is Westbrook's first total-concept album, and it's still one of his best – written with an edge that's free from some of the more whimsical touches that showed up in Mike's later years, and played by a core group of British avant soloists with searing intensity! You've never heard large group scoring like this – bold, ambitious, and quite different than most of what's come before. And although the whole thing sounds as if it's going to fall apart at any moment, it always snaps back into a sharp focus just in the nick of time – with brilliant results that bring the same sense of surprise that you might get from, say, a classic album from Charles Mingus or Archie Shepp! Players include Kenny Wheeler and Henry Lowther on trumpets, Mike Gibbs and Paul Rutherford on trombones, John Surman on baritone and soprano sax, Mike Osborne on alto and clarinet, Alan Skidmore on tenor and flute, Brian Smith on tenor, and Harry Miller and Barre Phillips on bass. Titles on this first volume include "Landscape", "Hooray", "Other World", and "Marching Song". LP, Vinyl record album

The brilliant 3rd album from Mike Westbrook – a sharp-edged, two volume set with a scathing anti-war theme! The work is Westbrook's first total-concept album, and it's still one of his best – written with an edge that's free from some of the more whimsical touches that showed up in Mike's later years, and played by a core group of British avant soloists with searing intensity! You've never heard large group scoring like this – bold, ambitious, and quite different than most of what's come before. And although the whole thing sounds as if it's going to fall apart at any moment, it always snaps back into a sharp focus just in the nick of time – with brilliant results that bring the same sense of surprise that you might get from, say, a classic album from Charles Mingus or Archie Shepp! Players include Kenny Wheeler and Henry Lowther on trumpets, Mike Gibbs and Paul Rutherford on trombones, John Surman on baritone and soprano sax, Mike Osborne on alto and clarinet, Alan Skidmore on tenor and flute, Brian Smith on tenor, and Harry Miller and Barre Phillips on bass. Titles on this second volume include "Transition", "Rosie", "Tension", "Ballad", "Conflict", and "Requiem". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible album from Amy Winehouse – even way better than her fantastic debut! Although a contemporary soul album, this one's steeped in tradition – soul styles that run the gamut from Detroit down to Kingston, and which are carried off here with a rougher, sharper-edged sound than before! The instrumentation on here is really mindblowing – almost at a Motown level, with isolated instruments really crackling out from the fuller backings – all set to rhythms that snap and bounce, and are almost a bit funky at times. Credit is definitely due to producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi – but Amy's vocals are really tremendous too – classic, but really personal and fresh! Titles include "Rehab", "Just Friends", "Back To Black", "Love Is A Losing Game", "He Can Only Hold Her", "Some Unholy War", and "Me & Mr Jones". LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by Red Fang, Chelsea Grin, Pathology, I Declare War, Jungle Rot, Toxic Holocaust, Trapped Under Ice, Ringworm, Attila, Emmure, and Otep. LP, Vinyl record album

A weird and wonderful collection from Warner Brothers – with tracks that include "War Song" by Neil Young with Graham Nash, "Strutter" by Kiss, "Vegetables" by The Beach Boys, "The 68 Nixon" by Denver Boise & Johnson, "Sweet Revenge" by Ted Nugent, "Cosmic Debris" by Frank Zappa, "A 200" by Deep Purple, "Atlantic Liner" by Chunky Novi & Ernie, "We've Been Waiting" by Graham Central Station, and "Dr Horowitz" by Terry Melcher. LP, Vinyl record album

A second volume of underground disco and unstoppable dancefloor soul from NYC in the late 70s and early 80s – M&M Mixes Vol 2, highlighting rare and previously unreleased mixes by John Morales! It features a roster of legendary names, particularly to diggers of deeper disco tracks, but also some soul stars who worked well in that groove – a batch of tunes mixed & engineered by Morales back in the day at M&M Studios and elsewhere. Great numbers by Brass Construction, Inner Life feat Jocelyn Brown, War and First Choice! The vinyl version comes in 2 separate parts –both 2LPs and featuring all exclusive extended vinyl versions – each each of which fills a whole side! Part A includes "Caught Up (John's Missing M+M Extended 12" Mix)" by Inner Life feat Jocelyn Brown, "Now Is Tomorrow (John's M+M Today Groove Mix)" by Brass Construction, "The Player (John's North Philly M+M Groove Mix)" by First Choice and "Slipping Into Darkness (John's M+M Out Of The Light Mix)" by War. LP, Vinyl record album

The Mr Bongo Record Club just seems to get hipper and hipper as the volumes go on – to a point where this fifth edition in the collection is overflowing with tracks that we might never have heard otherwise! Plus, the scope of sounds here is really great too – a mix of styles from around the globe, but also not a "world music" styled compilation – as the selection handled in a way that more shows that funk and soul are really universal – something we learned from the folks at Mr Bongo many years back! There's even a few Japanese tracks too, and one or two contemporary surprises – in a set list that include "Ready For War" by Eamon, "Duplo Sentido" by Tete Da Bahia, "Romance" by Hiroshi Suzuki, "Nebine" by Malouma, "Sing A Song" by Willy Chirino, "You Are Delicious" by Mave & Dave, "Oooh Baby" by Pamoja, "Tiba Kamo" by Philip Malela, "Rise Up (disco mix)" by Tyrone Evans, "I Hate Telling A Lie" by Stimela, "Let's Be Happy (disco mix)" by Gyedu Blay Ambolley, "Kakashi" by Yasuaki Shimizu, and the original version of "I Believe In Miracles" by Mark Capanni – later made famous by The Jackson Sisters! LP, Vinyl record album

A fairly straight orchestral score by John Barry – written for this early 60s film that starred George Segal, Tom Courneay, and Denholm Elliott. The film's a war one, and the themes are pretty typical for that sort of thing – but they do have some nice instrumental touches that push them past the usual bag, and which show that Barry's younger writing was always a treat, no matter what the setting. Titles include "There Is A Radio In This Hut", "Just As You Were", "Grey's Day", "The Recovery Of Marlowe", "Touch & Go", and "King Rat March". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little James Bond soundtrack – written for one of the lesser-remembered Bond films, but filled with nice moments! There's a darker, moodier feel here than on some of Barry's other Bond scores – lots of stretched out tracks that have a bit more space than usual, and odd instruments punctuating the themes with an eerie, other-worldly edge that almost reminds us of some of the best Italian thriller work from the time. Nancy Sinatra sings a very moody title track – and other tunes include "Takana's World", "The Wedding", "Mountains & Sunsets", "A Drop In The Ocean", "Bond Averts World War Three", and "The Death Of Aki". LP, Vinyl record album

A great live set from the early years of Bob Dylan's long recording career. Titles include "Spanish Harlem Incident", "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall", "Silver Dagger", "With God On Our Side", "Talkin World War III Blues", "Don't Think Twice", "Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll", and lots more! LP, Vinyl record album