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

21 tracks! CD

One of our favorites by King Crimson – and a record with a lot more jazz than some of their others! Players include Mel Collins on lots of flutes and saxes – plus guests Keith Tippett on piano, Mark Charig on cornet, and Harry Miller on bass! LP, Vinyl record album

Includes "Dancing Queen", "Summer Night City", "Take A Chance On Me", "Knowing Me Knowing You", and more! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

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". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

Laura Branigan gets some help here on arrangements from Harold Faltermeyer – who makes things a bit funkier than you might expect – although still very much in the kind of poppy style he used famously on some big 80s soundtracks! The mode works well for Laura – whose approach is always on the soulful side of pop, but still filled here with all the sense of drama that made Branigan huge on the charts at the time. Titles include "Heart", "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", "The Lucky One", "Self Control", and "Satisfaction". Titles include "The Lucky One (John Robie mix)", "The Lucky One (Jack White mix)", "Self Control (12" version)", and "Satisfaction (special dance mix)". LP, Vinyl record album

Laura Branigan gets some help here on arrangements from Harold Faltermeyer – who makes things a bit funkier than you might expect – although still very much in the kind of poppy style he used famously on some big 80s soundtracks! The mode works well for Laura – whose approach is always on the soulful side of pop, but still filled here with all the sense of drama that made Branigan huge on the charts at the time. Titles include "Heart", "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", "The Lucky One", "Self Control", and "Satisfaction". This 2CD version features the main album on CD1 – and CD2 features rare material that includes "Hot Night", "Self Control (ext)", "Self Control (classic summer mix 1982)", "The Lucky One (Jack White mix)", "Satisfaction (special dance mix)", "When (single)", "Lucky One (John Robie mix)", and "Self Control (117 bmp club 1992)". CD

... CD

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore", "One More Night", "I Don't Wanna Know", "Long Long Way To Go", "Inside Out", "Take Me Home", and "Don't Lose My Number". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

Titles include "Carry On", "Teach Your Children", "Helpless", "Almost Cut My Hair", and "Country Girl". LP, Vinyl record album

A great document of all this famous harmony trio/quartet were able to achieve during their first few years – a masterful reworking of vocal group modes from earlier rock and soul styles, taken forward towards the 70s with a spirit that's still as powerful today as it was back at the time! These tracks saw so much circulation over the years, it's easy to forget how revolutionary they were – especially when coming from artists who had roots in more familiar rock modes, but who somehow really seemed to rise together in the company of each other. Titles include "Deja Vu", "Suite Judy Blue Eyes", "Ohio", "Teach Your Children", "Our House", "Helplessly Hoping", "Wooden Ships", "Woodstock", "Helpless", "Guinnevere", and "Find The Cost Of Freedom". LP, Vinyl record album

The only album ever issued by this very groovy group – a quartet who wandered from Philly to San Francisco in the late 60s – where they clearly picked up the right sort of energy to let their freak flag fly! Yet these guys aren't totally Bay Area, either – as they've got more of the east coast roots that echo their start in the Philly scene a few years before – almost that mix of tightness and hipness that graced some of the best Long Island groups who were finding their way into New York during the same generation. There's plenty going on here – especially some nice songwriting, and a way of appreciating influences from blues and soul music – yet never coming across as a blues rock band at all. Titles include "Baby Leroy", "Over The Hill", "Ship Of The Future", "West Wind", "Royal Fool", "Lebanese Packhorse", and "Smokehouse". CD

Titles include "Sympathy For The Devil", "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall", "Piece Of My Heart", "These Foolish Things", and "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... CD

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

The last Columbia album from the team of Chad Stuart & Jeremy Clyde – and a record that's even more baroquely brilliant than their previous set, Of Cabbages & Kings! Chad & Jeremy have really gone over the top here – reaching into fuller orchestrations and deeper social themes that rival their most complex contemporaries – sitting in a special space somewhere between The Zombies and The Moody Blues, and working at a level that haunts the most heavenly corners of both of those influences! As on Cabbages, Gary Usher produced – and really manages to make Chad's arrangements sound great – using the cellos and woodwinds without any overdone qualities, and really keeping the acoustic guitar high enough in the mix to maintain a sense of sincerity in the tunes. Titles include "The Raven", "Pipe Dream", "Transatlantic Trauma 1966", "Sidewalk Requiem Los Angeles June 5th & 6th", "Paxton Quigley's Had The Curse", "Pantheistic Study For Guitar & Large Bird", "The Emancipation Of Mr X", "The Ark", and "Painted Dayglow Smile". CD also features 3 bonus tracks – "Letter To A London Girl", "Pipe Dream", and "The Song Of The Love Child (Tobey's Song)". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic album from this legendary British group – a bluesy rock combo who grew up in the same space as Fleetwood Mac and Savoy Brown, but who never fully got their due on this side of the Atlantic! The group here is a unique lineup that only recorded this one album – a trio with John Glascock on bass and Paul Hancox on drums – two players who give leader Stan Webb plenty of space in the spotlight, which means a very strong emphasis on his mindblowing work on guitar! Webb's a musician with the chops of contemporaries Eric Clapton and Peter Green, and you can definitely hear that here – and, like his contemporaries, Stan is also really taking the music way past its bluesy inspirations – using the trio to maybe bring in more of a hard rock vibe, yet never going too far in that direction either. Titles include "Daughter Of The Hillside", "Crying Won't Help You Now", "The Loser", "Telling Your Fortune", and "Poor Boy". CD features bonus tracks – single versions of "Poor Boy" and "Telling Your Fortune". CD

A great little group, and one that we only know from this one early 70s album on Atlantic – an unusual set that's kind of a mix of rootsy modes with more baroque elements – often with strongly harmonized vocals, ala America – but a very different sound overall! The production is great – full and rich, but never commercial or slick – just the right balance of vocals, guitars, and all the subtle elements that shift in and out of the mix – all with a quality that makes us wonder why these guys never went on to much bigger fame, and a longer string of records. Titles include "Just A Thought", "Cross Country", "A Ball Song", "Tastes So Good To Me", "Extended Wings", "Things With Wings", and "Today". CD

An incredible late album from Bobby Darin – and a real treasure! The record was cut after Darin's mid 60s fascination with the work of Tim Hardin, most of which he re-recorded for Atlantic during that time – but it's got a similar style to the Hardin years, yet features some stunning original compositions by Darin. After the confidence of his early show days, it's amazing to hear Bobby D singing songs like this – filled with sadness, insecurity, and kind of a mind-numbing inability to cope with the times. Of course, part of this has to do with Darin's increasingly poor health conditions (he was predicted to live a very short life at an early age) – and the raw honest experimental quality of the album's a real testament to Darin's perpetual struggle to combine a strong professional bent to be a crossover entertainer with an increasing (and surprising) desire to emerge as a creative force on his own. Includes the sublime "I Can See The Wind", plus "Change", "Sunday", "Questions", and "The Proper Gander". (Vocalists, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

This CD takes the full content of their second album, and adds in some rare extra material, like tracks from a live set at The Players Theater in 1967 and songs from "Thrown Off Atlantic". 15 tracks, with "Group Grope", "Skin Flowers", "Virgin Forest", "Nameless Voices Crying For Kindness", "Carpe Diem", and "Mutant Stomp". Great notes, and loads of rare stuff by them! CD

A pair of early albums from the great Gordon Giltrap – both released by Transatlantic Records when Gordon was a very young fellow! The self-titled Gordon Giltrap is a gem from 1968 – a record that has Gordon stepping out as a hell of a guitarist, and a very dark-tinged songwriter – certainly of the generation that was budding with John Renbourn and Bert Jansch – but with a distinct quality that really set Giltrap apart from the rest, maybe making him as much of an individualist as Davy Graham! Although just 18, Giltrap's acoustic guitar work is fantastic– and his vocals are much more biting than some of his contemporaries – almost mean at times. Titles include "Window Pattern", "Blythe Hill", "Won't You Stay Awhile Suzanne", "Don't You Feel Good", "Birth Of Spring", "Don't You Hear Your Mother's Voice", and "Ives Horizon". Portrait is an amazing record – at one level filled with mastery of the 12 string guitar has has Gordon Giltrap matching the best of the Takoma generation in the US – but also graced with vocals that are very distinct, very pointed, and which make the tunes with lyrics such a contrast to the instrumentals! The whole thing is fantastic – a true testament to the legend that has grown up around Giltrap over the years – with titles that include "Thoughts In The Rain", "Never Ending Solitude", "Young Love", "Lucifer's Cage", "Portrait", "Tuxedo", and "Hands Of Fate". CD

A huge leap forward for the mighty Bert Jansch – and a record that's somehow even more amazing than the ones that came before! Bert's maybe even more introspective here, but also on a personal journey that takes him down musical paths that seem broader than before – almost echoing a wider range of influences on his guitar performance, yet in a way that still comes across with a uniquely pointed vibe. There's some occasional shift in the instrumentation, too – as Jansch plays banjo on the leadoff track, but with the same chilling currents as his sublime acoustic guitar – and John Renbourn joins on second guitar for a number of tracks, prefacing the pair's collaboration to come. And as with all of Jansch's genius material at this point, there's a quality that's both ancient and modern, timeless and uniquely tied to its moment – flowering beautifully on tunes that include "Jack Orion", "The Waggoner's Lad", "Nottamun Town", "Black Water Side", "Pretty Polly", and "The Gardner". (Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A rare early American release of some of Bert Jansch's sublime recordings for the UK Transatlantic label – with tracks that include "Angie", "I Have No Time", "Needle Of Death", "Casbah", "Ring A Ding Bird", and "The Wheel". (Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A hell of a collaboration between British legends Bert Jansch and John Renbourn – both working here together to completely redefine the sound of their music for the generation to come! This one album may well hold all the sense of subtle power and possibility that was about to flower in the Brit movement often known as "acid folk" – that reworking of older aesthetics with modern conceptions, and doing so mostly with their work on acoustic guitar – quite a feat, given the stripped-down instrumentation of the set! Bert sings a bit – in that incredible style of his – but the real attraction here is the guitar interplay, which is always fresh, never hokey, neither familiar American folk nor forced singer-songwriter backup material. Titles include a wonderful reworking of Charles Mingus' "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" – plus "Red's Favourite", "Orlando", "Soho", "Piano Tune", "East Wind", "After The Dance", and "The Time Has Come". (Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

The complete recordings of Kursaal Flyers – one of the sharper, wittier groups of the UK pub rock generation – although one that never made the leap to our side of the Atlantic! There's a really special vibe going on here – the kind of group who were clearly raised on the roots of rock and roll, but who have a wit and talent that allows them to push things forward with all these little twists and turns, almost as if they're making a commentary on contemporary rock while serving up a pretty good entry in the genre! The group recorded for the same UK label that issued the early material by 10CC – and there's a similar balance going on here, right down to some really inventive production that makes the whole thing come together nicely. The package features four full albums by the group – Chocs Away, Great Artiste, Golden Mile, Five Live Kursaals, and A Former Tour De Force Is Forced To Tour – plus 17 more bonus tracks, and a big booklet of notes! CD

British blues meets LA's Laurel Canyon – a trans-Atlantic (or is it Pacific?) blend that makes for one of John Mayall's most compelling albums of the 60s! The album was recorded after the breakup of the Blues Breakers group – but it still features strong support from Mick Taylor on guitar – a key factor in the previous combo's sound, given almost even more space here to stand out front with Mayall. Other instrumentation includes bass and drums, plus a bit of tablas – and the overall approach is a lot more spare than other Blues Breakers sets – still bluesy in approach, but with some definite freer-thinking moments too, picked up from a trip to Laurel Canyon that was Mayall's inspiration for the set. Titles include "Walking On Sunset", "Vacation", "Ready To Ride", "Medicine Man", "Miss James", "The Bear", "First Time Alone", and "Fly Tomorrow". CD

British blues meets LA's Laurel Canyon – a trans-Atlantic (or is it Pacific?) blend that makes for one of John Mayall's most compelling albums of the 60s! The album was recorded after the breakup of the Blues Breakers group – but it still features strong support from Mick Taylor on guitar – a key factor in the previous combo's sound, given almost even more space here to stand out front with Mayall. Other instrumentation includes bass and drums, plus a bit of tablas – and the overall approach is a lot more spare than other Blues Breakers sets – still bluesy in approach, but with some definite freer-thinking moments too, picked up from a trip to Laurel Canyon that was Mayall's inspiration for the set. Titles include "Walking On Sunset", "Vacation", "Ready To Ride", "Medicine Man", "Miss James", "The Bear", "First Time Alone", and "Fly Tomorrow". LP, Vinyl record album

(Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A classic bit of mainstream prog from Nektar – a group who were a big part of the German underground of the early 70s, but who also managed to make some waves on this side of the Atlantic as well! Nektar aren't as full-on or focused as some of the prog acts who cracked the charts at the time, but they do have a tightness that rivals some of the best of the up-and-coming groups to secure a major label contract – particularly deft musicianship that really stands out in its complexity, at a level that might draw some comparisons with Gentle Giant – although probably not as arty or obtuse, given that these guys could be a bit more straightforward. The set's got some especially great mellotron next to other keyboards and guitar – and titles include "Countenance", "Death Of The Mind", "Pupil Of The Eye", "The Dream Nebula", and "Warp Oversight". LP, Vinyl record album

An album of understated brilliance from the great John Renbourn – a set that mostly just features John on vocals and guitar, working through tunes of a traditional nature – yet delivering a record that's full of tremendously powerful moments! There's none of the hoke here that you might have gotten from a folk revival record from a decade before – and instead, Renbourn's bringing all the amazing new discoveries he and his contemporaries have unlocked in the acoustic guitar, as a way of opening up some of the darker corners and spookier elements of the tunes – none of which should be that strong on their own, but which work together here beautifully. Renbourn gets a bit of help from time to time – vocals from Dorris Henderson, harmonica from Pete Dyer, and drums from Terry Cox – but most of the set is just vocals and guitar, even more timeless in 1971 than it might have been before John plays a bit of sitar and harmonica, too – and titles include "Kokomo Blues", "Little Sadie", "Shake Shake Mama", 'The Cuckoo","Willy O Winsbury", "Faro Annie", and "Come On In My Kitchen". (Folk/Country, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Really cool work from the duo of David Teegarden and Skip "Van Winkle" Knape – a pair who work here with just drums from one member, organ from the other – and some mighty nice harmonized vocals! The approach is almost like a Fillmore crowd take on the modes of Sam & Dave – nicely stripped-down and surprisingly soulful, without any other instrumentation in the mix at all – save for the bass pedals of the organ, which help enforce a nice groove with the drums! The album was originally issued on an indie label, then picked up by Atlantic – and it's got all the heaviness of some of that label's early hard rock gems by acts like Iron Butterfly or Vanilla Fudge, but a very different vibe overall. Titles include "Today I Left For The Big City", "Alright Mama", "Bring It On Home (parts 1 & 2)", "Woman Child", "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love", and "Scarborough Fair/Canticle". CD

The second album from Trapeze – stripped down to a trio here, and coming across with a quality that really showcases the hard rock directions that lead singer Glenn Hughes would have in years to come! The drums are great – thanks to work from Dave Holland – and the guitars burst in with just the right searing moments, as Hughes sings with more soul than before, and maybe a quality that sounds a bit like Paul Rodgers on some of the more hard-rocking tunes. The album's probably the group's best-remembered – and the one that got the most circulation over here on this side of the Atlantic – an overlooked hard rock classic, with very strong vocals in the lead! Titles include "Seafull", "Black Cloud", "Jury", "Your Love Is Alright", "Makes You Wanna Cry", and "Medusa". This edition features loads of bonus tracks – with mono and stereo edits of "Black Cloud" on CD2, plus live material from a Pop Workshop and Flushing, NY performance – and CD3 features five more tracks recorded live in 1971! CD

Great late 60s work from Ronnie Von – an under-appreciated Brazilian rocker, and one with a sound that sits nicely between the Jovem Guarda generation and some of the headier groups to come in the 70s! There's a nice array of psychedelic influences at play here – strong echoes of British work of the time, but used in much more sophisticated ways than any Jovem Guarda acts – never a simple copycat approach, but also never as arty as some of the Tropicalia recordings of the time either. Ronnie's voice has a depth that allows some nice changes in mood from track to track – lightly lyrical one moment, a bit darker and more tripped-out the next – bringing a sense of variety to the record that almost recalls Caetano Veloso during the time, but a bit more rockish overall. Titles include "Atlantica", "Dindi", "De Como Meu Heroi Flash Gordon", "Foi Bom", "Rose Ann", "Comeci Uma Brincadeira", and "Mares De Areia". CD features 4 bonus tracks – earlier singles that include "Meu Bem", "Paraiso", "O Pequeno Principe", and "Meu Mundo Parou". (Brazil, Rock) CD