Easily one of our favorite albums by Tim Buckley – and a record that really opens up with some key jazzy touches! Buckley's still got his roots in folk here, and his vocals are yet to hit the extremes of Starsailor or Lorca – but there's also a new sense of inflection to the way he puts over the lyrics, shaded in by use of vibes, kalimba, harmonium, and harpsichord – the latter two of which are played on the session by Don Randi! Tracks are relatively short, but high in concept – and include the protest song "No Man Can Find The War", plus "Hallucinations", "Phantasmagoria In Two", "Carnival Song", "Pleasant Street", "Morning Glory", and "Goodbye & Hello". (Rock, Folk/Country) LP, Vinyl record album

An exceptional early release from the tragic Tim Buckley – done with a really unique sound that mixes late 60s folk rock with some subtly jazzy overtones! The record features beautiful string arrangements from the legendary Jack Nitzsche, and some beautiful work on piano, harpsichord, and celeste by Van Dyke Parks! But Buckley's the main star of the set – crooning beautifully with his sad-tinged voice, on wonderful tracks that include "Wings", "Aren't You the Girl", "She Is", and "Understand Your Man". (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

Prepare to discover your new favorite artist – a tremendously hip cat who never got his due – and who should be held as high on these shores as British talents like Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, or John Martyn! Like all of those three, Davy Graham is a complete original – a guy with an acoustic guitar, but light years beyond familiar folk – often using all these jazzy changes in his style, and mixing his own music with songs by Dylan, The Beatles, Muddy Waters, and even Art Blakey – but all in ways that are completely transformative, and which maybe use the familiar songs just as a way for Graham to show us how individual he can be – because even a song we know sounds nothing like the original. His guitar work is superb – full of all the fresh ideas, unusual phrasings, and special sounds that the best of his generation were bringing to acoustic music – and titles include "Lotus Blossom", "Down Along The Cove", "Stan's Guitar", "Bulgarian Dance", "Buhaina Chant", "I'm Ready", "Getting Better", "Hornpipe For Harpsichord Played Upon Guitar", and "Pretty Polly". 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". (Rock, Folk/Country) LP, Vinyl record album

The Incredible String Band are paired down to the core duo of Mike Heron & Robin Williamson for their third and possibly best album – the truly incredible Hangman's Beautiful Daughter – using the studio as a most impressive adjunct member of the group at this point! This is an extremely talented pair – each playing myriad instruments – sitar, organ, guitar, hammer dulcimer, harpsichord, gimbri, whistle, pipe, oud, mandolin, mouth harps and more. Previous vocal collaborator Licorice sings on one song, and Dolly Collins and David Snell contribute flute organ, piano and harp – but the main duos incredible way of layering their magic with multitracking in the studio the real masterstroke of the effort. Titles include "Koeoaddi There", "Witch's Hat", "The Water Song", "Swift As The Wind", "Nightfall", "Waltz Of The New Moon", "Three Is A Green Crown" and more. CD

The Incredible String Band are paired down to the core duo of Mike Heron & Robin Williamson for their third and possibly best album – the truly incredible Hangman's Beautiful Daughter – using the studio as a most impressive adjunct member of the group at this point! This is an extremely talented pair – each playing myriad instruments – sitar, organ, guitar, hammer dulcimer, harpsichord, gimbri, whistle, pipe, oud, mandolin, mouth harps and more. Previous vocal collaborator Licorice sings on one song, and Dolly Collins and David Snell contribute flute organ, piano and harp – but the main duos incredible way of layering their magic with multitracking in the studio the real masterstroke of the effort. Titles include "Koeoaddi There", "Witch's Hat", "The Water Song", "Swift As The Wind", "Nightfall", "Waltz Of The New Moon", "Three Is A Green Crown" and more. CD

The Incredible String Band are paired down to the core duo of Mike Heron & Robin Williamson for their third and possibly best album – the truly incredible Hangman's Beautiful Daughter – using the studio as a most impressive adjunct member of the group at this point! This is an extremely talented pair – each playing myriad instruments – sitar, organ, guitar, hammer dulcimer, harpsichord, gimbri, whistle, pipe, oud, mandolin, mouth harps and more. Previous vocal collaborator Licorice sings on one song, and Dolly Collins and David Snell contribute flute organ, piano and harp – but the main duos incredible way of layering their magic with multitracking in the studio the real masterstroke of the effort. Titles include "Koeoaddi There", "Witch's Hat", "The Water Song", "Swift As The Wind", "Nightfall", "Waltz Of The New Moon", "Three Is A Green Crown" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Trippy and melodic psychedelic folk with a mystical bent from Ireland's Mellow Candle – with truly beautiful and soaring female vocals – instrumentation given a sense of drama by harpsichord and some subtly dexterous guitar playing, and arch melodies that really dig deeply! Swaddling Songs is an apt titles in that the tunes sweep you up and pull you close, and often build upon their melodic sensibility in interesting ways. Titles include "Heaven Heath", "Sheep Season", "The Poet & The Witch", "Messenger Birds", "Reverend Sisters", "Buy Or Beware", "Vile Excesses", "Lonely Man", "Boulders On My Grave", Feeling High" and more. (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

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A totally hip instrumental album from Peter Walker – a Vanguard Records treasure that we'd rank right up there with the label's classics from Sandy Bull! Like Bull, Walker has a way of taking older folk instrumentation into richly psychedelic territory – working here on both the Indian sarod, and on acoustic guitar – both played in these long, modal styles – and mixed with light instrumentation from Jim Pepper on flute, John Blair on violin, and Jim Hotep on tabla. The songs are very spare, and very freewheeling – still with a rhythmic core, but also floating free to find their own energy too – but at a level that's not nearly as hippy-dippy as we make that sound! Walker's got these amazing sonic sensibilities – just like Bull – and titles include "Second Song", "Tear", "Southwind", "Barefoot", "Mixture", "Socco Chico", and "Circus Day". CD