A wonderful large format recording from bassist Barry Guy – working here at the head of the Blue Shroud Band, an improvising ensemble that echoes some of his earlier work with the London Jazz Composers Orchestra! The extended work is an expansion of an earlier piece that Guy recorded with pianist Marilyn Crispell – her Three Poems For Cecil Taylor – stretched out here with a more embellished sense of imagination, but still using some of the core texts created by Crispell for the original work! The piece spans five long CDs – with sections broken down and notated to reflect the work of the many great improvisers in the set – a lineup that includes Michel Godard on serpent and tuba, Agusti Fernandez on piano, Torben Snekkestad on soprano and tenor, Jurg Wickihalder on soprano and alto, Percy Pursglove on trumpet, Julius Gabriel on baritone and soprano, Maya Homburger on violin, Fanny Paccoud on viola, Ben Dwyer on guitar, and both Ramon Lopez and Lucas Niggli on percussion. Savina Yannatou provides voice on the poetic passages, Guy plays bass and leads – and the whole thing is beautifully packaged! CD

Orgone's second full length for Ubiquity and it's a monster – taking a rough, rugged, and uber soulful live funk vibe into a deeper and even livelier realm! The group's sound is more finely honed from a couple of years of hard touring – and it's paid off wonderfully. The sound is more sharply focused, but with swagger to spare on both the funky instrumental workouts and showpieces for soulful singer Fanny Franklin. From sun toasted Cali funk & soul to strains of classic Afrobeat, boogaloo and and funk rock (the guitar sound is terrific on this one) – they nail everything their shooting for, and pull it all together in tight package that's ultimately all their own. A total win for Orgone and Ubiquity Records. Titles include "The Last Fool", "Crazy Queen", "Give It Up", "Cali Fever", "Overtime", "Mantana", "The Only One", "Doing Me Wrong", "The Cleaner", "It's Time Tonight" and "Sandstorm". CD

A fascinating look at the farther reaches of the Apple Records empire during its ill-fated run – not the familiar records by non-Beatle artists, like Badfinger or Billy Preston – but instead a wide range of really surprising artists, who all had relationships to the Apple empire in very different ways! CD1 features Lost Sessions & Singles – material recorded during the earliest days of the Apple imprint, but which never saw the light of day at the time – some overlooked gems by Brute Force, Grapefruit, Timon, Contact, Mortimer, and Drew & Dy. CDs 2 and 3 are maybe some fo the best known parts of the pie – singles and other cuts that were issued at the time, but which are still pretty darn obscure – work by Danny Kalb & Stefan Grossman, The Misunderstood, Turquoise, Joker, Coconut, Gallagher & Lyle, The Perishers, Rawlings & Huckstep, The Cups, Coconut Mushroom, The U, Focal Point, and others too! CD4 features work recorded at the upgraded Apple studios in the early 70s – tracks by Linda Lewis, Pagliaro, Tim Hardin, Fanny, Contact, Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Stealers Wheel, Badfinger, John Howard, Tony Hazzard, and Mike McGear. And CD5 features The Ghosts Of Baker Street – some of the material recorded as demos in the very early Apple studio – cuts by Barry Alexander, Robert & Miles Priestley, Focal Point, Jackie Lomax, Drew & Dry, Jack Hollingshead, and George Alexander. CD comes with a huge booklet of notes to open up these very lost recordings – and the whole thing features a massive 107 tracks in all! CD

One of the coolest collections to ever bear the name of Lux and Ivy in the title – a really great genre-busting collection of odd, offbeat, and unusual tracks from the vintage 45 underground – very much served up in the mix of modes the duo explored in The Cramps! There's a real love of the 7" single that informs the collection – that special sense of surprise and anticipation when dropping the needle on a vintage 45 – delivered nicely here as the package steps through a whopping 50 tracks over the course of 2CDs! Titles include "Kiss Me Goodnight" by Tony Castle, "I'm Gonna Murder My Baby" by Pat Hare, "The Chinese Rock N Roll" by The Flock Rocker, Annie Miss Fanny" by Mel Dorsey, "Story Of Susie" by Billy Woods with Kim Fowley, "Frustration" by The Zanies, "Too Big For Her Bikini" by Gerry Granahan, "Fallout Filly" by Chris Cerf & The Harvard Lampoon Tabernacle Choir, "No More" by The Uptones, "Tarzan" by Artie Wilson, "Zimba Lulu" by The Rays, "You Tarzan Me Jane" by Glenn Willings, "Choo Choo Train" by Ritchie Hart, "Little Lil" by Mel Dorsey & the Heartbeats, "Fallout" by Aston Martin & The Moon Discs, "Kalani Honey" by John Paul Jones, "The Switch" by Slim Marbles, "Miss Froggie" by Warren Smith, and lots lots more! CD

Todd Rundgren's known to most as a hell of a songwriter, and a singer with surprising charms – but he's also a genius in the studio, with talents that were first demonstrated on all of his early self-produced classics – then shared with some key acts in the 70s and 80s! As with his own music, Rundgren really has a way with making a tune come together – a special ear for getting everything to sound right, but at a level that's simple and understated – so that all the best qualities of a song come out perfectly, but without making you feel like you're being hit over the head by the process behind the music! That quality is on great display here – in a set of 22 numbers that feature Rundgren at the helm, with details that are extrapolated more fully in the detailed notes within – but which come through loud and clear on tunes that include "Baby Blue" by Badfinger, "Long Times Gone" by Felix Cavaliere, "You're Much Too Soon" by Hall & Oates, "Frederick" by Patti Smith, Heaven's Falling" by Cheap Trick, "Jet Boy" by New York Dolls, "One Night Stand" by Janis Joplin, "L5" by New England, "We're An American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad, "Dear God" by XTC, "Something Warm" by Rick Derringer, "Long Road Home" by Fanny, "Fa La Fa Lee" by Sparks, "Piece By Piece" by The Tubes, "Love Is The Answer" by Utopia, "Goodbye" by The Psychedelic Furs, and "She's So Young" by The Pursuit Of Happiness. CD

Music from Popular Computer, Joakim, The Mogs, Post No Bills, Chikinki, Volga Select, Simian Mobile Disco, DJ Assault, Fannypack, Captain Comatose vs Stereo Total, Manhead, and Hot Chip. CD