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One of the greatest albums to come from the New York underground of the early 80s – even if it was a relatively big "hit" on a major label! Laurie Anderson is in perfect form here – drawing on a strong tradition of avant garde performance, but without any of the indulgences that would mire down performance art in years to come. Instead, she's got a clean, clear style that's simply amazing – spoken passages that are poetic and pointed, but which also have a slight undercurrent of wit – a charming quality that never takes itself too seriously, even when the sounds and styles are somewhat dark. Instrumentation includes some great rhythm passages from David Van Tieghem, plus surprising performances from Rufus Harley on bagpipes and George Lewis on trombone. Titles include "From The Air", "Big Science", "O Superman", "Born Never Asked", "Walking & Falling", "Example #22", "Let X = X", and "It Tango". CD

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An amazing little record from Joe Byrd – an artist with roots in serious music, but who's serving things up here with a wild hippie aesthetic that makes the whole thing come across more like a "happening" than the usual sort of studio album – but in ways that also echo an earlier generation of Americanist composition too. The process of the record mimics some of Byrd's famous work in New York – and has a very collaborative feel overall, with elements of electronics, acoustics, and vocals coming together beautifully! There's some great tabla, harpsichord, moog, and organ on the record – plus more serious woodwinds and brass – and vocals from Victoria Bond, Susan De Lange, Christie Thompson, and Ernie Anderson – plus Joe himself. Titles include "Kalyani", "Moonsong Pelog", "You Can't Ever Come Down", "Gospel Music", "Nightmare Train", "Leisure World", and "The Elephant At The Door". CD

One of the great lost groups of the UK scene of the 60s – not lost to UK audiences, or to hipsters over the generations – but still an act that never made the impact on these shores that they should! The Creation are step in step right up there with early material by The Who or Small Faces – and share a similar groundbreaking re-fusion of American roots into a new London groove – all with searing guitars, clever wordplay, and a cutting-edge spirit that may well have kept them off our charts – but which makes them so great to discover all these many years later. You might have caught a few of their songs over the years – thanks to soundtrack placement from directors like Wes Anderson, or covers by many of their bigger fans. This 2CD set features 46 tracks in all, with remastering overseen by original producer Shel Talmy – and the set includes early sides by The Mark Four, some alternate takes, and even new mixes – plus an 80 page hardcover book with scores of photos, other images, session and discographical details, and a new essay too. CD

The album that really broke Jethro Tull out of the prog rock underground and into the mainstream – and a set that showed that the group weren't just a combo with creative use of flute, but a band that could really rock off their ass when they wanted to! Previous records were all pretty great, but there's definitely something special in the air with this one – an extra-amped version of the group that even seems to have Ian Anderson's flute blowing out all stops, and his vocals sounding even more menacing than before! Martin Barre's maybe the real master, though – searing on guitar, and punctuating all of Anderson's efforts with his own mad energy – on titles that include the classic "Aqualung", plus "Wondering Aloud", "Cheap Day Return", "Cross Eyed Mary", "My God", "Slipstream", "Locomotive Breath", "Wind Up", and "Mother Goose". CD

A sprawling set of rare singles in a variety of genres – and a set that's maybe one of the most essential in the "state" series from the Be! Records label! Previous entries have included Michigan, Texas, and other states with a well-known recorded legacy – but this time around, the package focuses on cuts from a range of scenes in Virginia and West Virginia – really rare music on a variety of very small labels – done in modes that run the gamut from rockabilly to garage, to country and a bit of pop as well! As with other volumes, the package is as magnificent as the music – as the set comes with a huge 12" square hardcover book – 120 pages of information, session details, label scans, and more – in support of a wealth of music from tiny labels that include Dominion, Cozy, Fernwood, Mart, Nu-Kat, Tip Top, and other long-gone record companies from the glory days of the indie 7" single. The set features 145 tracks in all – music from Johnny Gravely, Big Al Walker, The Reactors, Butch Lester, Paul Young & The Versatones, George Curtus, Johnny Boni, Bob Varney, Dusty Owens, Hasil Atkins, Keith Anderson, Dorse Lewis, Jeanette & Hubert, Buddy Watson, and countless others! CD

A record that some might call the last truly great Peter Gabriel album – and a key cap to his excellent initial solo run! The album's got a deeper feel than before – slightly richer colors, more spiritual themes, and arguably more of a sense of majesty – almost an echo of some of the Native American modes explored by Laurie Anderson, who was then a recent collaborator of Gabriel! Instrumentation builds a bit more than before – with less guitars in parts, more percussive bits, and some funkier elements at the bottom that aren't exactly funky – more just a punch in force from the ground up. Gabriel's definitely feeling a sense of power here – and titles include "Lay Your Hands On Me", "Shock The Monkey", "San Jacinto", "I Have The Touch", "The Family & The Fishing Net", and "The Rhythm Of The Heat". CD

Colin Stetson on alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass saxophone, and French horn – with vocals by Laurie Anderson and Shara Worden. (Jazz, Rock) CD

A great record for prog fans – a cool evolution of the early 70s mode into the more compressed style that Yes would hit with Trevor Horn, or Asia would unfurl in the 80s! The group features Terry Thomas on guitars and vocals, John Anderson on bass and vocals – often nicely doubled in a Jon Anderson way – with more guitars from Martin Smith, keyboards from Julian Colbeck, and drums from Steve Gadd – not the famous jazz drummer, but equally nice! There's a nice sense of compression in the production – almost 10CC – but the quirkiness of the songs also resonates with some of the Phil Manzanera solo work of the time. CD

One of the great lost groups of the UK scene of the 60s – not lost to UK audiences, or to hipsters over the generations – but still an act that never made the impact on these shores that they should! The Creation are step in step right up there with early material by The Who or Small Faces – and share a similar groundbreaking re-fusion of American roots into a new London groove – all with searing guitars, clever wordplay, and a cutting-edge spirit that may well have kept them off our charts – but which makes them so great to discover all these many years later. You might have caught a few of their songs over the years – thanks to soundtrack placement from directors like Wes Anderson, or covers by many of their bigger fans. This 2CD set features 46 tracks in all, with remastering overseen by original producer Shel Talmy – and the set includes early sides by The Mark Four, some alternate takes, and even new mixes – plus an 80 page hardcover book with scores of photos, other images, session and discographical details, and a new essay too. CD

An incredible chapter in the Arthur Russell story – and one that's not nearly as well-known as his club singles and art rock work of the 80s! The 2CD package presents some long-lost longer form work by Russell – instrumental pieces composed and recorded in the 70s and early 80s, most of which have a decidedly minimalist feel! In addition to being a dancefloor artist in the post-disco years, Russell was also music director of The Kitchen, and had ties to the more experimental side of the New York scene – and worked in a world that included Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Rhys Chatham, and many others from time. There's echoes of all 3 on this collection, and a large number of tracks that recall the brighter, more optimistic years of modern music – the almost DIY style that hit composition and performance in the stretch after early minimalism, conveyed beautifully on these recordings done for smaller ensembles, often in a mix of electric and acoustic instrumentation. A number of the titles here have never been released at all, and even those that did see the light of day did so only briefly – and often not under optimal conditions. The 2CD package features full notes on the music, and titles that include "Instrumentals Vol 1", "Instrumentals Vol 2", "Reach One – With Two Fender Rhodes (1973)", "Tower Of Meaning", and "Sketch For The Face Of Helen". CD

The Vaqueros created music hundreds of miles from the ocean – working in the Twin Cities in the 60s – but that didn't stop them from creating some mighty nice surf numbers at the time, which were then mixed with more rocking numbers that sported a very cool female singer in the lead! That singer is Linda Anderson, who's almost got a rockabilly inspiration, but a few years too late – a style that makes for a really unique combination with the excellent surf-styled guitar work of the group – who shine equally well on their own when Linda's not in the lead! The tracks here were all unearthed from the Kay Bank archives – and titles include "Growing Pains", "69", "Don't You Dare", "80 Foot Wave", "Space Journey Ranger 7", "Birds & The Bees", "Island In Paradise", and "Soft Summer Rain". CD

An album of surprising brilliance – recorded late in the career of Yes, but one of the group's biggest hits ever! And while we've always been fans of Anderson, Squire, & Co, we're also ready to admit that the real star here is Trevor Horn – who produced the album and put the whole thing together with the kind of choppy feel as his best early productions for ZTT, especially work by Art Of Noise. The album's "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" still has a great resonance to our ears as a street-grooving number from the electro years – even despite its chart and radio fame at the time – and other tracks on the album follow in a nicely similar groove. Other titles include "Hold On", "It Can Happen", "Cinema", "Leave It", "Our Song", "City of Love", and "Hearts". CD

The monumental first album from Yes – a group who were already onto something amazing with this set, and would only get better and better in years to come! The members had backgrounds in straighter, more conventional rock acts – but here, together, they unleash work with a wonderfully fresh sense of timing and structure – tunes that are still a bit shorter in comparison to later albums, but already full of the kind of complicated shifts and changes that instantly set Yes apart from the rest! And yet there's also a simple, honest approach too – not complexity for its own sake, as the group never find themselves in blind alleys or dead ends – and maintain this magical mix of elements that soars from track to track. The early lineup here features trademark vocals from Jon Anderson, alongside the bass of Chris Squire, guitars of Peter Banks, organ and piano of Tony Kaye, and drums of Bill Bruford – on titles that include "Harold Land", "Beyond & Before", "I See You", "Looking Around", "Sweetness", "Survival", and "Every Little Thing". CD

Music from Christie, Lynn Anderson, Ray Price, Sammi Smith, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Wadsworth Mansion, Brewer & Shipley, Ocean, the Bells, Matthews' Southern Comfort, Mark Lindsay & the Glass Bottles. CD

A record that's as beautiful and ethereal as the image on its cover – a collaboration between singer Dorothy Moskowitz and composer Francesco Paolo Paladino – served up in a mode that almost mixes the darker corners of Nico's solo work with some of the spacier tones of the early new age underground, and maybe a touch of Laurie Anderson performativity as well! Moskowitz was originally part of the famous United States Of America group of the late 60s with Joseph Byrd – but she's clearly transformed a lot as an artist here, and works with lyrics by Luca Chino Ferrari, but often in ways that are less word-based than you might expect. Instrumentation includes keyboards, harp, and bells from Paladino, plus light strings, guitar, electronics, and guitar – all in a spacey blend that comes off especially well on the 23 minute "Under An Endless Sky", and still sounds great on shorter cuts that include "My Doomsday Serenade", "The Disappearance Of Fireflies", "Cut The Roots", and "Unknown To Ourselves". CD