The second album from Incredible String Band – and incredible it is, a UK psychedelic folk gem that finds the group challenging conventions across the board – both artful and inviting, it's wonderful stuff! At this point, Clive Palmer had left, and Mike Heron and Robin Williamson contribute lead vocals with the additional vocalist Licorice also taking lead on a few tunes, the sound is fleshed out with more accompaniment and a rich warmth on a bevy of instruments – guitar, sitar, bowed gimbri, finger cymbals, tamboura, oud, rattles, flute, bass and piano. Includes the lovely and oft-covered "The First Girl I Loved", plus "Chinese White", "No Sleep Blues", "Painting Box", "The Eyes Of Fate", "The Hedgehog's Song", "You Know What I Could Be", "Gently Tender", "Way Back In The 1960s" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic little record – one that's not only important as a key introduction of Middle Eastern sounds to the US market, but one that also fits perfectly with other Vanguard label experimental folk sets from artists like Peter Walker and Sandy Bull! Unlike those musicians, who absorbed global elements, Hamza El Din is the real deal – and both sings and plays the oud here with a wonderfully rich quality – spare and acoustic, but ringing out with the complexity of an essential session on Takoma Records, and with a transcendent sound that grabs the listener instantly. There had been other American recordings with oud before, but the presentation here marks the set as one of the best – with titles that include "The Message Bearer", "Greeting Card", "Fortune Teller", "The Spirits", and "Grandfather's Stories". (Global Grooves, Folk/Country) LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic collection of work from Blind Alfred Reed – a West Virginia singer and fiddle player who's best known for his participation in the 1927 Bristol recordings that helped lay the foundation for generations of country music to come! Reed's style is very individual – that near-lost Appalachian strain that has surprisingly strong ties to modes from the British Isles, but which comes across with a definite American vibe – not just in Alfred's twangy representation of the lyrics, but also in the sprightly phrasing he brings to his instrument. And unlike some of his contemporaries, who often reworked older themes, Reed wrote all his own material – which reflects both the hardship of life in Appalachia at the time, and some of the higher ideals that could support flagging spirits in such a setting. Some of these songs have had greater fame in later remakes, but they still sound best here in Alfred's original recordings – which themselves have been beautifully restored for this lavish package – which also includes a hardcover book with notes on Reed's life, music, and long legacy. Titles include "The Old Fashioned Cottage", "Money Cravin Folks", "There'll Be No Distinction There", "The Prayer Of The Drunkard's Little Girl", "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times & Live", and "Explosion In The Fairmount Mines". CD