A pair of great albums from the overlooked Ars Nova – back to back in a single set! First up is the 1968 self-titled Ars Nova – a wonderful little set of post-folk rock – with lots of lovely baroque touches! Ars Nova were really short-lived group – known for only two rare records – but they've got a sound that perfectly sums up a generation! There's a wonderful LA late 60s sound here – somewhere between Love and The Byrds, with the baroque touches of the former and the best country influences of the latter – all wrapped up in earnest, honest songwriting that makes even the ambitious moments come across with surprising charm. A true lost relic, and the kind of record that should be in any late 60s cannon! Titles include "Album In Your Mind", "Pavan For My Lady", "General Clover Ends A War", "And How Am I To Know", "Fields Of People", "Automatic Love", and "Song To The City". Sunshine & Shadows is the second tripped-out set from Ars Nova – an under-remembered late 60s group who had a great talent for blending together a range of different styles! At some level, Ars Nova share qualities with some of the harder-jamming groups of their time – but they've also got a sound that expands to bring in folk, blues, jazz, and more baroque elements – played by the group with a lineup that includes some nice work on trumpet by Jimmy Owens, who at this point was a core member of the combo. Brooks Arthur handled the overall music direction, with a quality that recalls some of his work on Verve – and the album features the wonderful bossa-styled groover "Walk On The Sand", a romping soul jazz take on Jimmy Owens' "You Had Better Listen", and the cuts "Rubbish", "Please Don't Go Now", "Temporary Serenade", "She Promises Everything", and "Round Once Again". CD

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Sweet and salty psych-soul-rock-funk from Adrian Quesada and Shawn Lee, working together as The Electric Peanut Butter Company! They're a company of just 2, handling every aspect themselves, but if you if ever heard anything by either party, you know this is going to have a huge sound. Lots of fuzzed out psych funk touches on this one – a mix of heady instrumentals and some fun vocal numbers. Shawn handles the singing, and the duo are both multi-instrumentalists and leftfield funk geniuses – managing to work with myriad influences without sounding exactly like anyone but themselves. The drums, guitars and keyboards are masterful here, but there's a lot of cool instrumental and production touches throughout. Vol 1 is actually the duo's second album – the first was Vol 2 (naturally!) – and it delivers on the diverse debut, and then some! Includes "Flexi Funk", "Beer Good", "Spread The Jam", "Stealio", "Tennis Elbow", "Mister Pink", "Austin City Limiter", "Go Go Go", "Damn Skippy", "Jenn Wu", "Fat Budda" and more. (Deep Funk, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Two later Small Faces albums – back to back on a single set, with bonus tracks too! First up is Playmates – a late 70s gem from the revived version of the Small Faces – a group who seem to have gone through the same maturity and richer understanding of their roots as the Faces – but who come across here in an even more sophisticated way! Steve Marriott's at the helm – on guitar and vocals – and has this understated approach that's a great change from the early days – as if he's got nothing to prove, but is completely confident in his way of putting a tune over – which makes the slight twang of most of these numbers wonderfully charming, and surprisingly solid. Titles include "High & Happy", "Saylarvee", "Find It", "Lookin For A Love", "Playmates", "Never Too Late", and "Tonight". 78 In The Shade is from 1978, a year when the reborn Small Faces were still sounding plenty darn great! The album follows nicely from the previous Playmates – with the strong rootsy undercurrents as that one, way more than in the group's earlier music – produced tightly, but still at a level that's free from commercial fluff or any too-easy attempts at a hit. Steve Marriott's presence in the lead is great – the the overall presentation is surprisingly free of hoke, and the album falls somewhere in the territory of the best solo material by Ronnie Laine, Rod Stewart, or Ron Wood. Titles include "Over Too Soon", "Brown Man Do", "Real Sour", "Filthy Rich", "Stand By Me", and "Let Me Down Gently". CD features the bonus tracks "Kayoed By Luv" and "Hungry & Looking". CD

Dusty Springfield on Atlantic Records – a match made in heaven, and one that's presented here perfectly in a batch of two dozen tracks that are all served up in their original mono mixes for 45rpm seven inch singles! Dusty had already been one of the most soulful singers on the UK scene in the 60s – and her Philips recordings are real favorites of ours – but when she moved to Atlantic, the label gave her some key soul-based backings – in Memphis, Philly, and Muscle Shoals – plus some great New York sessions too. Only eight of these mono versions have ever been on CD before – and the whole thing's presented with great sound and notes on this key period in Dusty's career – alongside tracks that include "Silly Silly Fool", "Brand New Me", "Bad Case Of The Blues", "That Old Sweet Roll", "Willie & Laura Mae Jones", "Haunted", "What Do You Do When Love Dies", "Son Of A Preacher Man", "Just A Little Lovin", "Breakfast In Bed", "I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore", "So Much Love", "What Good Is I Love You", and "Nothing Is Forever". (Vocalists, Rock) CD

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Titles include the classic "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" – plus "Big Balls", "Problem Child", "Ride On", "Squealer", "There's Gonna Be Some Rockin", "Love At First Feel", "Rocker", and "Ain't No Fun Waiting Round To Be A Millionaire". LP, Vinyl record album

Filled with classics – including "Girls Got Rhythm", "Highway To Hell", "Shot Down In Flames", "Touch Too Much", and "If You Want Blood". CD

Filled with classics – including "Girls Got Rhythm", "Highway To Hell", "Shot Down In Flames", "Touch Too Much", and "If You Want Blood". LP, Vinyl record album

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That's a Texas image on the cover, which is pretty fitting for the sound of Alamo – as they've got a really heady brew of psych, hard rock, and southern elements – all forged together with a sound that would have been right at home on early 70s Capricorn Records! The group are part of that wave of artists who grew up in the shaggier side of the garage and psych undergrounds of the late 60s, then moved forward with a fuller, more carefully conceived sound – captured here beautifully in sessions recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, which really illuminate all their great work on guitar and organ, while still keeping things very lean overall. Ken Woodley handles the vocals and keys, Larry Raspberry the guitar – and titles include "Get The Feelin", "Question Raised", "The World We Seek", "Soft & Gentle", "Got To Find Another Way", and "Happiness Is Free". CD

A really beautiful solo album from Jon Anderson – best known as the lead singer of Yes, stepping out here with a set that matches the solo projects of Chris Squire and Steve Howe from the same time! Yet unlike those efforts, this one is truly a solo recording – as Anderson not only sings, but handles all the instruments himself – keyboards, guitars, and everything else – folded together in a sound that's very faithful, thanks to work from Mike Dunne, who'd handled a lot of the sound for recordings by Yes! Given that Anderson's not an instrumental virtuoso, like some of his bandmates, the record is a nice change from some of the side-long power jams of mid 70s Yes – tunes that together tell a story, but which have a lyrical, personal vibe that also really suits the charms of Jon's vocals. The set feels nicely like a mid 70s side-chapter of Yes – in ways that are different than the solo records by Howe and Squire – and titles include "Ocean Song", "To The Runner", "Flight Of The Moorglade", "Solid Space", "Dance Of Rampart/Olias", and "Meeting/Sound Out The Galleon". 2CD edition features a bonus DVD – with a new 5.1 Surround Sound upmix, and a High Resolution stereo mix! CD

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One of those 70s rock albums that seems to turn up in a fair bit of collections of hip soul and jazz – a bit like the work of Harvey Mandel, and with a similar blend of blues rock currents with farther-reaching ideals! Roy Buchanan is spectacular on the guitar here – the kind of player who almost could have fronted a bigger arena rock group, given his chops – but who choses instead to keep things close to the chest, with the more down to earth vibe of his look on the cover – even though his playing here is pretty outta sight. Roy's got some great help on the album – including some of the MGs on a version of "Green Onions" – plus more guitar from Steve Cropper on other tracks, plus piano from Jan Hammer, bass from Stanley Clarke, and drums from Narada Michael Walden. Other titles include "Judy", "Your Love", "Done Your Daddy Dirty", "The Circle", and "Hidden". LP, Vinyl record album

A bluesy classic from Roy Buchanan – and a record that states his mighty guitar powers right from the very first note! In fact, although Roy sings on the record, it's the guitar that's probably the main attraction here – and the instrument often comes off first on most tunes, setting a rich current that's complemented by the vocals in ways that sometimes remind us of swamp rock modes from the late 60s – and at others which have the changes that were shifting in blues rock during the mid 70s. titles include "If Six Was Nine", "Running Out", "Man On The Floor", "Keep What You Got", "Caruso", "Okay", and "Guitar Cadenza". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal collection of work from Buffalo Springfield – a group with a short-lived existence on the LA scene, but an impact that shaped the sound of mainstream rock for many years to come! That effect is no surprise – given that the lineup features a young Neil Young, Stephen Stills, and Richie Furay – moving from folk influences into trippier, headier territory – and paving the way for both classic and country rock to come! Here at the start, things are nice and lean – well-penned tunes that pack a heck of a lot into a very short space – given key production help from Jack Nitzsche, Brian Stone, Jim Messina, and even Neil Young himself. Titles include "For What It's Worth", "Mr Soul", "Broken Arrow", "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Win", "Expecting To Fly", "Go & Say Goodbye", "On The Way Home", "Sit Down I Think I Love You", and "Kind Woman". LP, Vinyl record album

Features the smash hit "In the Air Tonight" – plus "I'm Not Moving", "Tomorrow Never Knows", "Hand In Hand", "Behind The Lines", "I Missed Again", and more! LP, Vinyl record album

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A record that might have been a step into cliche for Alice Cooper – but one that still stands surprisingly strong after all these many years! Sure, the Coop as spook-master is very firmly stated on the cover and title – and yes, the record does feature an appearance from Vincent Price – but all the searing intensity of the group at the start is still firmly in place – produced with groundbreaking genius by Bob Erzin, who almost seems to be laying down a blueprint for later generations that run the gamut from metal to goth to post-punk. Titles include "Black Widow", "Welcome To My Nightmare", "Devil's Food", "Department Of Youth", "Cold Ethyl", "Years Ago", "Escape", and "Only Women Bleed". CD

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One of the stranger albums on Atlantic at the start of the 70s – but a surprising hit as well! The group are a batch of Philly studio players who serve up instrumental versions of late 60s rock numbers, plus some of their own bits – all recording at the Sigma Sound studios, with arrangements from Richard Rome and Tom Sellers! It's our guess that some of the players are names we'd recognize from later 70s Philly soul – but here, they're working in a unique space that's partly fuzz instrumental, partly a bit more sensitive too – renditions that go way past the usual "let's remake the hits" style of other records, thanks to the arrangements. Titles include "Overture From Tommy", "Ohio", "Where The Woodbine Twineth", "Woodstock", "Mr Peppercorn", "Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa", and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". (Now Sound, Rock) CD

Blue eyed southern soul from Bonnie Bramlett – recorded in LA, but with a sound that's much more in keeping with Muscle Shoals! There's no real reason for this sound – no hidden producer or arranger from the southern indie scene who helped make the record hipper than usual – but somehow, the record comes off tremendously well, and a lot better than most other white singers working on the west coast at the time! Bonnie gets Sweet Inspirations-like backing vocals on most tracks – with Gloria Jones helping out in the group – but even on her own, it's clear she'd be great, and most of the record soars with lead vocals that are very much in the best Atlantic soul mode of the time! Titles include "Able Qualified & Ready", "Good Vibrations", "Crazy Bout My Baby", "Got To Get Down", "Celebrate Life", "Rollin", and "How Glad I Am". (Soul, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Four classic albums from Jackie DeShannon – all in a single set! First up is Me About You – sophisticated Jackie at her best – working with great arrangements from Jack Nitzsche and Nick DeCaro – both cats from the California scene we can really trust for "cut-above" pop work like this – music that goes way past the simple sounds of DeShannon's start – into cool adult territory that really makes the album great. Jackie's vocals are surprisingly soulful in the setting – even more so than before – and the tunes include lots of gems, including versions of Van Dyke Parks' "High Coin", John Sebastian's "Didn't Want To Have To Do It", and Tim Hardin's "Baby Close Its Eyes". Also includes "I Keep Wanting You", "Me About You", and "Nicole". Next is Laurel Canyon – heady work from Jackie DeShannon's later years in 60s pop – an album with themes and styles that go way beyond her earlier recordings – as you might guess from the hip Laurel Canyon reference in the title! Jackie's working here in a mode that's much more strongly in a singer-songwriter style than before – with arrangements and backings that are a lot more organic, and less pop-tuned than ever – almost in a Laura Nyro approach on some numbers. As usual, a good portion of the tracks were written by Jackie herself – including "Holly Would", "Come & Stay With Me", "LA", "Too Close", and "Laurel Canyon" – and the album also features a few well chosen tracks by other writers too, like "Bitter Honey" by Paul Williams & Roger Nichols, "I Got My Reason" by Barry White, and "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" by Smokey Robinson. Put A Little Love In Your Heart is quite possibly the last great hit from singer Jackie DeShannon – an album built around the righteous spirit of the title track – filled with really wonderful original tunes penned by Jackie and soul singer Jimmy Holiday! The album may well be the best to explore the space between pop and soul that often characterized Jackie's work – and the overall sound is somewhat similar to some of Dusty Springfield's best pop/soul work from the same stretch. 10 of the album's 12 tracks are originals by Holiday and DeShannon – all set to soaring orchestrations by James Langeford, which often have a pronounced influence from the sound of Atlantic Records in the late 60s! Titles include "Put A Little Love In Your Heart", "You Are The Real Thing", "River Of Love", "Movin", "You Can Come To Me", "You Have A Way With Me", and "I Let Go Completely". To Be Free is an interesting little record – with kind of a crossover California soul feel overall – recorded with Rene Hall arrangements that echo a few rootsy modes at times, mixed in with fuller orchestrations that step a bit back towards Jackie's earlier years on Imperial – a surprisingly nice blend, with a fresh sound for the 70s. The album features a number of great tracks co-written with Jimmy Holiday – a fellow Imperial talent – and titles include "Mediterranean Sky", "Sooner Or Later", "What Was Your Day Like", "Livin On The Easy Side", "Brighton Hill", and "When Morning Comes Again". CD

A record with a Donovan reference in the title, but a much more mod set overall – thanks to searing Hammond work from organist Mick Weaver, who was maybe one of the hippest London cats on his instrument at the time! The tunes draw equally from the Hammond soul jazz of artists like Jimmy Smith or Jimmy McGriff, and from the soul instrumental style of the time – particularly the grooves of Stax and Atlantic Records – and the deft work on the keys of the organ show that you hardly need a singer to make these records groove. Titles include "I Feel So Bad", "Blues For A Frog", "Hold On I'm Coming", "Incense", "Feel It", "Dancin Pain", "Mercy", and "Somebody Help Me". Features four bonus tracks – "Turn On Your Lovelight", "Zooming", "I'm A Man", and "Henry's Panter". (Jazz, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic early work from Chris Hills – an artist you might know most from later work as part of Players Association – but who here is in an equally soulful sort of mode! The guy on the cover might look a bit unlikely as a soul artists – especially given that he's fading away in the photo – but the record's got a rock-solid approach right from the start, very similar to the best of the other funk groups recording for Atlantic at the time! The set is one of the deepest issued on Herbie Mann's Embryo imprint for Atlantic – and although Chris is the main creative talent on vocals, arrangements, and lots of instruments – the set also features strong organ work from Lee Reinoehl, and additional vocals from soul singer Chico Waters. Titles include "Comin Outta The Ghetto", "Sweet Joanne", "Six Of One", "Mean Old Love", "Sure As Shootin", and "Talkin Bout Soul". (Soul, Rock) CD

Important early work from The Incredible String Band – three albums in one great package! First up is the first album from the Incredible String Band – a real treasure from the trio of Clive Palmer, Mike Heron and Robin Williamson – who each sing and write, and bring unique charm to their own material! The sound is very folksy, and really lives up to their name – mostly just music on fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and guitar – served up in a blend that both echoes British traditional styles, yet paves the way for new expressions in the acid folk generation to come – especially on the group's original material. The group are really wonderful at this point – with a sound that drew them wide acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic – and titles include "Maybe Someday", "October Song", "When The Music Starts To Play"", "Schaeffer's Jig", "Womankind", "The Tree", "Whistle Tune", "Dandelion Blues", "Good As Gone", and "Footsteps Of The Heron". Next is 5000 Spirits – 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. On Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, The Incredible String Band are paired down to the core duo of Mike Heron and Robin Williamson – 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. (Folk/Country, Rock) CD