This is the third full length from the group that brings you politically scathing, party bangin, conscious hip hop for your urban revolution fun time. There's a lot of live instrumentation funky sloppiness for your neck and body to get loose to. The Coup also pull off the feat of managing to rhyme charged and intelligently about a very dark reality, while simultaneously still keeping your body bouncin constantly. Tracks include the smart "5 Million Ways To Kill A C.E.O.", "Ghetto Manifesto", "Get Up" featuring Dead Prez, "Lazy Muthaf*cka", "Ride The Fence", "Everythang", "Wear Clean Draws", "Pork And Beef", "Thought About It 2", "Tight", "Nowalaters", and "Heven Tonite". CD

Maxi single with 3 different mixes plus a CD Video track. CD

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Sensitive scoring by Philippe Sarde – one of his soundtracks for director Bernard Tavernier, for a film based on the Jim Thompson novel Pop 1280! One track features a vocal by Stephane Audran – another by the lovely Isabelle Huppert! LP, Vinyl record album

Scott Neumann on druns, David Berkman on keys, Sam Newsome on sax, and Don Falzone on bass. CD

A crossover classic from Level 42 – a set that catapulted the soulful British group into international stardom! The tunes are catchy, filled with electro bits, and produced with some great bubbling touches from Wally Badarou – whose hand in the studio really keeps things from ever getting too cheesy, despite the commercial fame of the set. There's a balance here that's hard to describe, but it's one that's allowed the record to hold up well over the years – almost waiting to be rediscovered by a younger generation who'd appreciate whole other aspects in the music. Titles include "World Machine", "Physical Presence", "It's Not The Same For Us", "Lying Still", "Coup D'Etat", "Dream Crazy", and "Good Man In A Storm". CD

A crossover classic from Level 42 – a set that catapulted the soulful British group into international stardom! The tunes are catchy, filled with electro bits, and produced with some great bubbling touches from Wally Badarou – whose hand in the studio really keeps things from ever getting too cheesy, despite the commercial fame of the set. There's a balance here that's hard to describe, but it's one that's allowed the record to hold up well over the years – almost waiting to be rediscovered by a younger generation who'd appreciate whole other aspects in the music. Titles include "World Machine", "Physical Presence", "It's Not The Same For Us", "Lying Still", "Coup D'Etat", "Dream Crazy", and "Good Man In A Storm". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible early album from the LA scene – very different than the hardcore and the new wave that was dominating the city at the time – and done in a style that's much more UK post-punk overall – almost with a feel that's like some of the best early releases on Factory Records! The album was reportedly recorded in a parking garage, and definitely has a dark sound to match – a moody blend of tribal percussion, brooding bass, edgey guitar, and these raw, stark lyrics that really get to the point right away! The set was the first in the longer legacy of Independent Project, and is maybe still the best – with titles that include "Attempted Coup Madagascar", "The Ivory Coast", "Next To Nothing", "Zulu Zulu", "Real Men", and "When All Else Fails". Great reissue pressing – with a full disc of material that represents the early recordings by the group before the label – 11 more tracks, recorded in various parking garages at UCLA! The package also features very detailed notes – finally getting past the mystery of the original release. CD

The resurgence of one of the most groundbreaking periods in recent groove history – the almost-forgotten post-punk years in England, a time of incredible musical convergence! In the heady days of the early 80s – a time when much music was being lost under a gloss of big hair, tinny keyboards, and wispy vocals – a small underground of British musicians were bringing together bits of funk, punk, disco, reggae, and 70s electronica – crafting dark and funky little tunes the likes of which we've barely heard since! A number of these groups went onto do much larger (and weaker) recordings – but this package brilliantly documents the edgy brilliance at the beginning of the post punk years: a nihilistic horizon on the other end of punk – no longer angry, caustic, and shouting, on one hand with the wind knocked out of its apparent sails, on the other, slowly fomenting in secret places, coming up with music far more powerful than punk ever was. And for some strange reason, much of it was pretty darn funky – thanks to a heavy use of simple electric bass, scattershot (sometimes primitive) drum parts, and nice electronic touches, almost in an inverse to American electro. The music more than speaks for itself – and the set's as classic a batch of tunes from the time as we'd ever heard. Titles include "Shack Up" and "Knife Slits Water" by A Certain Ratio, "In The Beginning There Was Rhythm" by The Slits, "20 Jazz Funk Greats" by Throbbing Gristle, "Vegas El Bandito" and "Coup" by 23 Skidoo, "She Is Beyond Good & Evil" by The Pop Group, "Being Boiled" by The Human League, "To Hell With Poverty" by Gang Of Four, and "24 Track Loop" by This Heat. LP, Vinyl record album

CD to benefit the Prison Moratorium Project, dedicated to working against the 'prison-industrial complex'. We're normally suspicious of 'benefit' records but this one works – dope underground production and nice verses, 23 tracks in all, including DJ Shame "Infomercial (Meet The Press)", BKNY "Where Ya At", Sister Asia/Steele/Top Dog "Dedicated", Danny Hoch "Criminal", Vinia Mojica & Last Emperor "Evolution", Apani B-Fly Emcee & LIFE "Outa Site", Hurricane G "No More Prisons", Hedrush/Dead Prez/People's Army "Murda Box", Daddy-O "Voices", Rubberoom "M.O.V.E.", The Coup "Drug Warz", Helixx C Armageddon & Pri The Honey Dark "Lunchbreak", Prof. Cornel West "Inspiration", The Reepz "The Plan", Dead Prez "Behind Enemy Lines", Kool DJ EQ & The Last Poets "More Prisons", Akbar "Battle Cry", El Battalion "Siege", Scientifik El-D/God Wize/L The Head Toucha/K Slaughta "Hold The Key", Chubb Rock/Lil Dap/Edo G/Paw Dukes "The Rich Get Rich", Grandmaster Caz "Too Much", Lyric & Mike Ladd "Let Us Go", Yazeed "Underground Railroad" and Rocker T "The Petition" (bonus track). CD

A really great one in the early catalog of Nat Adderley – a set that has Cannonball's brother stepping out as a leader with bold tenor sax work from Johnny Griffin, and rhythm work by Gene Harris and the original Three Sounds trio! The set's got a couple of originals – "Sister Caroline" and "Branching Out" – plus versions of "Well You Needn't" and "I've Got Plenty Of Nothin". Gene Harris & The Three Sounds make for a nice backing, and Johnny Griffin's solos are as sharp as they ever were at this point. LP, Vinyl record album

A couple of solo tracks from AG, both featuring added vocals from the Ghetto Dwellas (who appeared on the Show & AG ep from around the same time). The better track here is the b-side, "Mudslide", produced by Lord Finesse. With a little harder sound than we'd normally expect from Finesse or AG, but there's still some nice verses that work with the dark strings in the background. 12-inch, Vinyl record

An incredible compilation of classic era dub work from King Tubby's – played by producer Bunny Lee's legendary Aggrovators band and showcasing the mixing skills of Tubby, Prince Jammy, Scientist and others! This is prime era hypnotic dub of the finest caliber – originally issued on Jamaican 45s, and hard-to-find for decades! The great Blood & Fire label did the dub digging community a major solid by issuing the material on some wonderful compilations, but even those had been out of print for a couple decades before this much needed, sprawling VP/17th North Parade assemblage. Includes "A Bag Of Wire Dub", "Dub Of Rights", "A Heavy Dub", "A Living Version", "How Long Dub", "Breaking Up Dub", "Poor Barber", "Sub To The Rescue", "King Tubby's In Fine Style", "Horn For I", "Jah Love Rocker's Dub", "Stealing Version", "Fatter Dub", "Satta Dread Dub", "Tubby Get Smart", "Beat Them In Dub", "Version Of Class", "Peace And Love In The Dub", "Thunder Rock", "Channel Is A Joker", "Peace And Love In The Dub", "Step It Up In Dub", "Chapter Of Money" and more. 44 tracks on 2CDs! CD

One of the few recorded meetings of alto saxophonist Charlie Mariano and pianist Toshiko Akioshi in the studio – quite strange given that they were a couple at the time! The session's easily one of the last great American sessions by either player – a work that shows Mariano's alto really building on the strengths of his work in the 50s, and Akioshi's piano shedding some of its early bop influences, and going for the richly-toned sound that would serve her greatly in the 70s. The long tracks here offer plenty of space for Charlie's sharp tone to really do its thing – and that raspy warmth of the 50s is even more deeply soulful at this point – and augmented by a new sense of composition that gives the record some of its best tracks. There's almost a nascent sense of spiritualism here – quite unusual for the time – and titles include "When You Meet Her", "Toshiko's Elegy", "Deep River", and "Little T". CD

One of the few recorded meetings of alto saxophonist Charlie Mariano and pianist Toshiko Akioshi in the studio – quite strange given that they were a couple at the time! The session's easily one of the last great American sessions by either player – a work that shows Mariano's alto really building on the strengths of his work in the 50s, and Akioshi's piano shedding some of its early bop influences, and going for the richly-toned sound that would serve her greatly in the 70s. The long tracks here offer plenty of space for Charlie's sharp tone to really do its thing – and that raspy warmth of the 50s is even more deeply soulful at this point – and augmented by a new sense of composition that gives the record some of its best tracks. There's almost a nascent sense of spiritualism here – quite unusual for the time – and titles include "When You Meet Her", "Toshiko's Elegy", "Deep River", and "Little T". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few recorded meetings of alto saxophonist Charlie Mariano and pianist Toshiko Akioshi in the studio – quite strange given that they were a couple at the time! The session's easily one of the last great American sessions by either player – a work that shows Mariano's alto really building on the strengths of his work in the 50s, and Akioshi's piano shedding some of its early bop influences, and going for the richly-toned sound that would serve her greatly in the 70s. The long tracks here offer plenty of space for Charlie's sharp tone to really do its thing – and that raspy warmth of the 50s is even more deeply soulful at this point – and augmented by a new sense of composition that gives the record some of its best tracks. There's almost a nascent sense of spiritualism here – quite unusual for the time – and titles include "When You Meet Her", "Toshiko's Elegy", "Deep River", and "Little T". LP, Vinyl record album

Rare early solo material from Dutch jazz rock guitar eclecticist/genius Jan Akkerman – a late 60s album released in the Netherlands on Imperial after Akkerman's time in The Hunters and before his work with Brainbox and Focus! It's an early indication of his far reaching tastes and talent – playing in trio format for the most part, with couple bluesy psych jazz gems composed by Jan plus takes on diverse bag of covers including "Bag's Groove", "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", "Ode To Billy Joe" and "Green Onions". Original numbers include "Revival Of The Cat" and "Moonbeam". LP, Vinyl record album

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A real landmark from the west coast scene – served with straight up, stripped down beats from E Swift and King Tee – plus a couple of very early Madlib tracks as well! And although the album's got more rhymes about booze than we could have imagined in rap, then or now, it transcends the motif big time – never too sloshed to raise the bar – maybe making that move from politics to party that Black Flag did the decade before. Titles include "Lik Wit", "Only When I'm Drunk", "Last Call", "Can't Tell Me Sh*t", "Turn Tha Party Out", "Bullsh*t", "Soda Pop", "Make Room", "Mary Jane", and "Who Dem Ni****". LP, Vinyl record album

Ain't no party like a Alkoholik party – and year after year, this debut album still stands as one of the group's strongest moments! The album's a real landmark from the west coast scene – served with straight up, stripped down beats from E Swift and King Tee – plus a couple of very early Madlib tracks as well! And although the album's got more rhymes about booze than we could have imagined in rap, then or now, it transcends the motif big time – never too sloshed to raise the bar – maybe making that move from politics to party that Black Flag did the decade before. Titles include "Lik Wit", "Only When I'm Drunk", "Last Call", "Can't Tell Me Sh*t", "Turn Tha Party Out", "Bullsh*t", "Soda Pop", "Make Room", "Mary Jane", and "Who Dem Ni**as". LP, Vinyl record album

15 cuts, plus a handful of skits, guest appearances by Xzibit, Whoridas, Nas, King Tee, ODB, Keith Murray, LL, and Loot Pack. Madlib produced a couple of tracks, too. Includes "Likwidation", "Off the Wall" & "Hip Hop Drunkies". LP, Vinyl record album

Two later album's from Allison's stay at Prestige, Ramblin' With Mose and Autumn Song – before he moved over to Atlantic to go on to greater success – collected in one package. Unlike his later, more well-known sets, this is mostly instrumental, but there are a couple of nice vocal tracks, with the roots to his bluesy hipster approach in evidence: "I Got A Right To Cry", "Eyesight To The Blind", "That's All Right" and "Do Nothing Till You Here From Me". The remaining piano trio sides have a great rollicking almost boogie feel to them, with Addison Farmer and Ronnie Free rounding out the group, and include "Old Devil Moon", "Stranger In Paradise", "Kissin' Bug", "Ramble", "Old Man John", "Ingenue", "Promenade", "It's Crazy", "Strange", "Autumn Song" and "Groovin High". LP, Vinyl record album

A batch of eclectic postmodern soul that's as original and instantly gratifying as anything we've heard on Stones Throw! Aloe Blacc more than lives up to the expectations we had for him after hearing his first couple of Stones Throw singles. His previous work in the adventurous hip hop outfit Emanon really only hints at his solo work – and it's even more bold in its idiosyncratic approach to an appealing groove! The almost entirely self-produced Shine Through (Oh No and Madlib produce one track each) is rife with an electronic sheen, touching on a bubbling psychedelic soul vibe we've never really heard before. A couple of tracks have guitar, bass, and keys that bring a more organic, but still kind of otherworldly groove – even touching on a cosmic Latin vibe on a couple of tunes! Tracks include "Whole World", a totally re-imagined take on Sam Cooke's "Long Time Coming" (produced by Oh No), "Are You Ready", "Busking", "Bailar", "Nascimento", "Dance For Life", "Patria Mia", "Shine Through", "Caged Birdsong", "Arrive", "Want Me", "One Inna" (produced by Madlib) and "I'm Beautiful". CD

Wonderful work from guitarist Oren Ambarchi – a little more expansive than his preceding effort on Drag City, thanks to larger group and a wider range of instrumentation, while building on what loved about it! The style is tough to pin down in the best kind of way, with strains of improvisational jazz and hypnotic minimalism, but a unique melodic drive that's as compelling as it is tough to cleanly categorize. Collaborators this time include returning Swedish jazz bassist Johan Berthling, drummer Joe Talia, a second guitarist in Julia Reidy, Sam Dunscombe on bass clarinet – and for extra otherworldly, yet melodic atmosphere is some synth by Jim O'Rourke and pedal steel by BJ Cole on a couple of tracks. The whole Shebang is a 4 part set – each track running long, to give it a nice amount of space to build up, settle down, and flow into the next – and numbered 1 to 4. CD

Wonderful work from guitarist Oren Ambarchi – a little more expansive than his preceding effort on Drag City, thanks to larger group and a wider range of instrumentation, while building on what loved about it! The style is tough to pin down in the best kind of way, with strains of improvisational jazz and hypnotic minimalism, but a unique melodic drive that's as compelling as it is tough to cleanly categorize. Collaborators this time include returning Swedish jazz bassist Johan Berthling, drummer Joe Talia, a second guitarist in Julia Reidy, Sam Dunscombe on bass clarinet – and for extra otherworldly, yet melodic atmosphere is some synth by Jim O'Rourke and pedal steel by BJ Cole on a couple of tracks. The whole Shebang is a 4 part set – each track running long, to give it a nice amount of space to build up, settle down, and flow into the next – and numbered 1 to 4. LP, Vinyl record album

A masterful set from two legends – Fred Anderson on sax, and Hamid Drake on drums and percussion! It's hard to imagine a more fulfilling 70 minutes of work from these two players than you'll find here. Anderson's sinewy, rolling lines meld beautifully with Drake's propulsive pounding. The boys build a great sound here, too – so much so that's you can scarcely believe that it's was all done in a duet setting. Nice, nice stuff! Tracks include "Leap Forward", "Black Woman", "Back Together Again", "Losel Drolma", "A Ray From The One", "Louisiana Strut", "Know Your Advantage" and more. It comes with a great bonus CD ROM disc with a lot of live studio and documentary footage, a couple of interviews and much more! CD

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Jazzy dancefloor grooves from the legendary Azymuth – with remixes by Theo Parrish and LTJ Xperience – who work some magic on a couple of classic numbers from the Light As Feather record! Both producers are respectful of the original jams – with the spacey soul keys and funky bass on "Avenida Das Mangueiras" in full effect – and a nice club ready beat underneath – courtesy of Theo Parrish. The LTJ Xperience remix of "Partido Alto" is sweet, too – with a thick bassline and overall hazy, tripped out disco feel. 12-inch, Vinyl record

A stunner of a solo acoustic folk guitar record from Daniel Bachman – one that rivals some of the great archival releases on Tompkins Square – though this one was recorded in 2012, and Bachman is a young player just a couple years into his twenties! Raw, string-buzzing immediacy and dexterous playing from young Bachman – and it's incredibly engaging stuff, too! He's also one of the relatively few contemporary folk instrumentalists – along with with Nashville's William Tyler – who truly evoke the spirit of trailblazers like Fahey and Basho for us. Includes "Copperhead", "Seven Pines", "Sun Over Old Rag", "Long Nights I", "Mount Olive Chohoke", "With Signs Following" and '218 To Caledon". CD

Badbadnotgood have always been pretty damn great, actually – and never better than on album IV – a remarkable step forward for the group! As ever, they take inspiration from some of the best prog, jazz, funk (and proggy jazz funk...they blend) of the 70s and beyond, but weave it into fairly distinctive and genuinely fun modern sound. It's built to last, too –we're sure be able to come back to their work in a couple decades and it'll still work! IV finds them with the confidence to trade in some fairly subtle, smoothed out moments between to more boisterous ones, and they're more dexterous in the instrumentation – especially in the horns, keys and percussion – but some great vibes, strings, flute and more when the mood calls. Includes the great vocal track "Time Moves Slow" with Sam Herring of Future Islands, "And That, Too", "Lavender", "IV", "Chompy's Paradise", "Structure No. 3", "Cashmere", "Hyssops Of Love" and more. LP, Vinyl record album