... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

Killer Southern California garage grooves from The Rumbers – seedy, surf & drag rock influenced instrumentals and gonzo vocals alike – great sings cut for Downey, Highland and Uptown Records. The boys were cleanly coiffed and sharply dressed, but their style of proto trash rock and hard grooving R&B influences is a genuine blueprint for seedy rock to come. Often lumped in with the surf rock scene, which isn't a terribly wrong classification,there's much more of a garage R&B vibe and an all around sharper edge. Awesome stuff whatever ya want to call it! 28 tracks in all: "Boss"," Tootnanny", "Bugged" (we're thinking Lux Interior must have adored this track), "Wild Weekend", "Wiggle Wobble", "Rumble", "Stomping Time", "Night Scene", "All Night Long", "Night Train", "Boss Soul", "Riot In Cell Block #9", "Strawboss", "Why Did You Make Me Cry", "Angry Sea" and many more. CD

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Piano duo of Mark Knobel and Mike Gerber, with Dan Gottlieb on drums, Mark Egan on bass, Manolo Badrena on percussion, and Pedro Aznar on guitar; plus special guests Andy Snitzer on alto, Robert Thomas Jr on hand drums, Yogi Horton on drums, and Eddie Gomez on acoustic bass. LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked gem from Finnish hard rock powerhouse Kalavala – renamed here as an Orchestra, but still working with the lean, sharp sound of their previous two albums! There's a nice evolution here from the earlier sound of the Scandia scene – maybe a bit of northern inspiration thrown into the music, which seems to elevate things to a new level – as does the subtle but sophisticated production! Titles include "Panamanian Red", "Playground", "Highland Temple", "Brown'll Suit You", "Forever Train", "Silver Fish", and "Lighthouse". LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool setting for the sharp-edged tenor sax of Mark Turner – a set of surprisingly beautiful duets with guitarist Mikkel Ploug, who seems to bring out more of lyrical side in Turner's music than usual! The tunes have this beautifully flowing vibe – with cascading notes from Ploug on both acoustic and electric guitar, followed by snakey solos from Turner that are extremely evocative – and which make for an especially unusual mix on the tracks with acoustic guitar, of which there are many! Titles include "Sea Minor", "Safari", "Warmth", "Sailing", "Highland", "The Red Album", "Faroe", and "Neukolln". CD

Long hair, jazzy riffing, and all the best hope that the early years of prog had to offer – all coming together on a record that's years ahead of its time! It's really hard to put a label on Pete Brown's sounds with Piblokto – music that's maybe more poetic than most of its contemporaries, but also has more of a bite, too – definitely that wit of Brown's that never dimmed at all, and instrumentation that's super-sharp, and super-smart – but never too full of itself to be overly indulgent. The songs are longer than on the previous Piblokto record, but in ways that only flesh out the ideas even more fully – on titles that include "Highland Song", "Aeroplane Head Woman", "Got A Letter From A Computer", "Thousands On A Raft", and "Station Song Platform Two". LP, Vinyl record album

Really wonderful work from the great Elmer Bernstein – from a relatively unlikely source as well! The music here was all composed for the General Electric Theater TV show – a regular anthology program hosted by Ronald Reagan, with a shifting dramatic cast – but one that's scored by Bernstein with all the richness of his best film work of the time – orchestrations that are even more amazing when you consider they were only meant to be heard from the small speaker of a television, and usually just for one time only! The album brings together some of the best Bernstein compositions from a variety of different programs – but there's a surprisingly unified feel throughout, and titles include "Enchante", "Passionelle", "Lavender Waltz", "The Highland Lovers", "David's Love Song", "Progress", "Mariachi", and "L'Amour Tristesse". LP, Vinyl record album

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A beautiful collection of rare 78 rpm material – the complete 1929 recordings of Charlie Poole & The Highlanders – some of the smokingest string band music you'll ever find from the time! The set was lovingly remastered from vintage 78s cut for Paramount and Brunswick – and titles include "A Trip To New York (parts 1, 2, 3, & 4)", "Flop Eared Mule", "Under The Double Eagle", "Tennessee Blues", "Lynchburg Town", "San Antonio", "What Is Home Without Babies" and "Richmond Square". CD

Features selections by Alan Jabbour, Charles Hawks, Thomas Holland, Terry Baucom, Buck Mountain Band, Leake Caudle, Smokey Ridge Boys, Mole Hill Highlanders, and more! LP, Vinyl record album

A critical comeback album for Dylan – who never really went away, he was just floundering a bit commercially and critically for a number of years – one that set him up to ride high again for years to come! This is his second album working with producer Daniel Lanois, who helmed the pretty excellent Oh Mercy a few years earlier. Lanois's trademark haze and mood hover over Dylan and his band's wonderful take on timeless folk-blues-roots rock and some of best, most forthright lyricism since Blood On The Tracks. Wrestling with mortality, Dylan delivers a late career classic. Includes "Love Sick", "Dirt Road Blues", "Standing In The Doorway", "Million Miles", "Trying To Get To Heaven", "Til I Fell In Love With You", "Not Dark Yet", "Cold Irons Bound", "Can't Wait", "Make You Feel My Live" and the seemingly improvised, old school Dylan-styled (if more meandering) "Highlands". CD