... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Bedrock beatcraft and DJ mix mastery from Steve Stein – including the hugely important Double Dee & Steinski mixes of the early 80s – paired up with solid later work for this excellent 2CD compilation! The Double Dee & Steinski stuff really couldn't be more important to the turntablist scene of the mid 80s, and its influence stretches up to and beyond the mash up DJs of the 00s. Monumental DJ funk and deftly blended samples. Astounding! Disc 1 is the retrospective material – featuring benchmark Double Dee & Steinski mixes: "The Payoff Mix", "Lesson 2 (James Brown Mix)", "Lesson 3 (History Of Hip Hop)", "Jazz" and "Voice Mail (Sugarhill Mix)" – plus the Steinski tracks "The Motorcade Sped On", "I'm Wild About That Thing", "Ain't No Thing", "Number Three On Flight Eleven" and more. Disc 2 is Nothing To Fear – A Rough Mix By Steinski – done for Solid Steel Productions and BBC London – 28 continuous cuts including "Swingset (10 beautiful girls mix)", "The Id (small world mix)", "By All Means Necessary (Malcolm & Bobby mix)", "I Like It Like That (Scratch It One Time mix)" "Country Grammar (hydro mix)", "Funk Construction (Prodigal Son mix)" and lots more. It's all in the title – it's a rougher set with the scratch & cut effects, bit not as dance club bubbly as other Steinski work. CD

Titles include "Illegal Alien", "Taking It All Too Hard", "It's Gonna Get Better", "Home By The Sea", "That's All", and "Mama". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album from John Prine – his Atlantic debut, done at a time when he was emerging from the second generation of the Chicago folk scene – with a style that set the tone for countless singer/songwriters in years to come! The record has immediate appeal to ears tuned towards hip country, folk, and the more personal side of rock at the time – as Prine sings his material with a wry wit that's simultaneously heartbreaking, with support from the great Reggie Young on guitar and Bobby Emmons on organ – plus work on two tracks from scenemate and soon-to-be-star Steve Goodman on guitar. Titles include the seminal "Hello In There" – a tune that's hard to believe was written by a 24 year old – plus "Six O'Clock News", "Sam Stone", "Donald & Lydia", "Illegal Smile", "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore", and "Far From Me". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album from John Prine – his Atlantic debut, done at a time when he was emerging from the second generation of the Chicago folk scene – with a style that set the tone for countless singer/songwriters in years to come! The record has immediate appeal to ears tuned towards hip country, folk, and the more personal side of rock at the time – as Prine sings his material with a wry wit that's simultaneously heartbreaking, with support from the great Reggie Young on guitar and Bobby Emmons on organ – plus work on two tracks from scenemate and soon-to-be-star Steve Goodman on guitar. Titles include the seminal "Hello In There" – a tune that's hard to believe was written by a 24 year old – plus "Six O'Clock News", "Sam Stone", "Donald & Lydia", "Illegal Smile", "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore", and "Far From Me". LP, Vinyl record album

The compilation that capped off a younger John Prine's early years at Atlantic Records – and if it might have come off as a bit prematurely titled at at time given the treasure trove of "best of" level material Prine would record for decades to come, there's no question after all these years ther is plenty of genuinely prime Prine songs here! John's Atlantic albums still stand as some of the finest folk rock ever put out by the label, hislyrics and vocals that distinctive mix of wit and grit, Arif Mardin's production smart enough to keep things spare and intimate when necessary, and to bring in some lusher touches at times. Includes "Sam Stone", "Saddle In The Rain", "Pease Don't Bury Me", "Grandpa Was A Carpenter", "Donald & Lydia", "Illegal Smile", "Sweet Revenge", "Souvenirs", "Come Back To Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard" and "Hello In There". CD

The compilation that capped off a younger John Prine's early years at Atlantic Records – and if it might have come off as a bit prematurely titled at at time given the treasure trove of "best of" level material Prine would record for decades to come, there's no question after all these years ther is plenty of genuinely prime Prine songs here! John's Atlantic albums still stand as some of the finest folk rock ever put out by the label, hislyrics and vocals that distinctive mix of wit and grit, Arif Mardin's production smart enough to keep things spare and intimate when necessary, and to bring in some lusher touches at times. Includes "Sam Stone", "Saddle In The Rain", "Pease Don't Bury Me", "Grandpa Was A Carpenter", "Donald & Lydia", "Illegal Smile", "Sweet Revenge", "Souvenirs", "Come Back To Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard" and "Hello In There". LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal late 80s righteous hip hop from KRS and Boogie Down Productions! By All Means Necessary shows remarkable change in lyrical style from Criminal Minded, delivering a eavy dose of knowledge at a time when so much hip hop was all about rocking the party. KRS's lyrics here mark a serious turn for political hip hop, and it sets a new standard production-wise, as well. Greatness! Includes "My Philosophy", "Ya Slippin'", "Jimmy", "Illegal Business", "Stop The Violence", "Nervous", "I'm Still #1", "Part Time Suckers", "T'Cha - T'Cha" and 'Necessary". LP, Vinyl record album

Never-issued material from the great John Prine – recorded towards the end of his Atlantic Records years, at a time when the label was clearly going to give the world a demonstration of Prine's many charms in a concert setting! Prine was, above all, the kind of artist who was maybe at his best when able to open up in the warmth of a welcoming audience – the kind that first supported him when he emerged from the Chicago club scene at the start of the 70s – and who are definitely in place here! The album features two full sets, but without any sort of repetition – and Prine delivers these wonderful versions of early Atlantic material, plus other tunes too – sometimes with spoken intros, and with guest help from Steve Goodman on two titles too. Titles include "Great Rain", "Often Is A Word I Seldom Use", "Flashback Blues", "way Down", "Spanish Pipedream", "Middle Man", "Saddle In The Rain", "Everybody", "Hello In There", "The Late John Garfield Blues", "The Accident", "Donald & Lydia", "Sour Grapes", "Common Sense", "The Torch Singer", "Mexican Home", "Illegal Smile", and "Sam Stone". CD

LA bebop jam session material, featuring two long tracks recorded live in the city of angels, probably illegally by Savoy's Herman Lubinsky, who was a noted crook. Who cares, though, as the sides give us a great picture of the kind of lively cutting jam sessions that were ripping through the Central Ave scene of the old days. Players include Dexter Gordon, Sonny Criss, Hampton Hawes, Howard McGhee, and Wardell Gray in the lead – and the two long tracks are "Disorder At The Border" and "The Hunt". CD

A terrific career-spanning anthology from one of Congolese music's most popular and influential figures! Papa Wemba first made his mark in 1969 as a co-founder of Zaiko Langa Langa, one of the great modernizers of Congolese rumba who employed a multiple singer frontline and ditched the horn section in favor of an all-guitar line-up. Wemba carried on this progressive mindset when he formed his own group, Viva La Musica, in 1974. The first CD of this excellent collection covers his early work with the band, where sublimely liquid guitar percolates, glides, and splashes over complex Cuban-flavored grooves. The second CD finds Wemba broadening his appeal as he spread his operations into Europe. While the sound definitely becomes slicker, his vocals remain deeply soulful and strong, the guitars even more crystalline, and the dense polyrhythms sturdier than ever. Wemba has come under fire in recent years, accused of illegally smuggling Africans into Belgium, but this essential document reminds us of his greatest accomplishments. Tracks include "Mere Sperieure", "Amina", "Bukavo Dawa", "M'Balumuna", and "Mi Amor". CD