Really mad music from the French scene at the end of the 60s – work that's even weirder and more wild than some of the big names of the time – as if someone locked up Pierre Henry, Serge Gainsbourg, and Areski in the studio – and told them to come up with something new and unique! Evariste is a singer who's got a great understanding of modernism, but also often sings with a very primal sort of energy – not afraid to scream and shout when he wants, and very tuned towards the fuzzy guitar, heavy drums, and moody organ on his tunes – some of which was played by the great Eddy Louiss! Michel Colombier helped with some of the arrangements, and the music here also bears hallmarks of his genius in the studio – which makes the whole thing a great overlooked chapter in French music, and one that really ties together so many different stands from the scene. Titles include "Ma Mie", "Les Pommes De Lune", "La Faute A Nanterre", "Evariste Aux Fans", "Je Ne Pense Qu'A Ca", "Je Chante Pour Vous Faire Marcher", and "Dans La Lune". (French, Rock) CD

Really mad music from the French scene at the end of the 60s – work that's even weirder and more wild than some of the big names of the time – as if someone locked up Pierre Henry, Serge Gainsbourg, and Areski in the studio – and told them to come up with something new and unique! Evariste is a singer who's got a great understanding of modernism, but also often sings with a very primal sort of energy – not afraid to scream and shout when he wants, and very tuned towards the fuzzy guitar, heavy drums, and moody organ on his tunes – some of which was played by the great Eddy Louiss! Michel Colombier helped with some of the arrangements, and the music here also bears hallmarks of his genius in the studio – which makes the whole thing a great overlooked chapter in French music, and one that really ties together so many different stands from the scene. Titles include "Ma Mie", "Les Pommes De Lune", "La Faute A Nanterre", "Evariste Aux Fans", "Je Ne Pense Qu'A Ca", "Je Chante Pour Vous Faire Marcher", and "Dans La Lune". (French, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Run Through The Jungle", "Proud Mary", "Bad Moon Rising", "Suzie Q", "Fortunate Son", "Hey Tonight", "Born On The Bayou", and many more! LP, Vinyl record album

The complete Woodstock performance by Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969 – brought together here as an official album for the first time ever! CCR were a very important part of that legendary rock festival, but didn't get placement on the original record in a way that lived up to their presence at the concert – a fact that's nicely corrected here, with a double-length album that brings together every song they played that night in 1969! The set features a very long jamming take on "Suzie Q" – plus "Green River", "Born On The Bayou", "Proud Mary", "Bad Moon Rising", "I Put A Spell On You", "Night Time Is The Right Time", "Keep On Chooglin", "Commotion", and "Bootleg". CD

Ellen McIlwaine before she went solo! Titles include "Crawling Kingsnake", "The Letter", "Mossy Dream", "Billy Gene", "Born Under A Bad Sign", and "Bow'd Up". LP, Vinyl record album

Three rare albums from The Foundations – plus a heck of a lot of bonus material too, including solo work by singer Clem Curtis! First up is the From The Foundations album, in both mono and stereo – fantastic early work from this UK group – one who have a wonderful way of blending together elements from soul and rock, in a soaring style that made them a hit on both sides of the Atlantic! Lead singer Clem Curtis is fantastic – with this raspy charm that wins us over right out of the box – a very human, honest quality that brings a hell of a lot of life to the catchy tunes of the group! Titles include "Baby Now That I've Found You", "Hold Me Just A Little While Longer", "Mr Personality Man", "Show Me", "Jerking The Dog", "Writings On The Wall", and "Love Is A Five Letter Word". Next is the album Digging The Foundations – great second album, and one that's got the group working with a really strong batch of unusual material, and sounding every bit as great as before with their new lead singer Colin Young! At times, there's maybe even more of a soul vibe than before – and Young's got this really appealing style that works well with the stepping groove of the group – almost a maturation of the sorts of soul rhythms that were playing big on the Carolina scene, taken into headier territory! Titles include "Solomon Grundy", "That Same Old Feeling", "In The Bad Bad Old Days", "Till Night Brought Day", "Waiting On The Shores Of Nowhere", and "A Walk Through The Trees". Next is the live album Rocking The Foundations – a set that was never fully issued in the US, as only a few of the tracks were thrown on a Uni album. All 12 tracks are here – including "Stop Her On Sight", "Back On My Feet Again", "Love Is All Right", "Harlem Shuffle", "We Are Happy People", "Am I Grooving You", and "Tomorrow". PLUS, 3CD set features lots more bonus tracks – singles that include "Build Me Up Buttercup", "Harlem Shuffle", "Born To Live Born To Die", "Who Am I", "Take A Girl Like You", "In The Beginning", "We Are Happy People", "A New Direction", "It's All Right", "Why Did You Cry", and "Where The Fire Burns". Also features more live material, plus 5 solo tracks by Clem Curtis – and 2 tracks by Colin Young with The New Foundations! 75 tracks in all – and filled with notes on the group and lots of cool vintage images. (Soul, Rock) CD

Most folks know The Foundations for one big crossover hit that still gets a lot of oldies radio play – but the group have a heck of a lot more to offer than that, as you'll hear in this wonderful collection that not only features all their 7" single releases from the UK, but also includes later solo material from the group's lead singer, Clem Curtis! The group were initially a bunch of British lads inspired by the sound of Motown, and they hooked up with Curtis, a singer from Trinidad – who really gave them the sound they wanted in the lead, and helped further the important identity of the group as a mixed-race act. Their sound is wonderfully tight – kind of a small group take on the larger studio majesty of Detroit soul – but with some nice British touches too, and a great sense of songwriting that gave the group plenty of original material along the way – a good deal of which you'll hear on this set. The 2CD package features 39 single tracks by The Foundations – including "Back On My Feet Again", "Come On Back To Me", "I Can Take Or Leave Your Loving", "Am I Grooving You", "New Direction", "Jerking The Dog", "Baby Now That I've Found You", "In The Bad Bad Old Days", "Born To Live Born To Die", "Solomon Grundy", "Till Night Brought Day", "Waiting On The Shores Of Nowhere", and "Build Me Up Buttercup". Also includes mid 70s solo work by Clem Curtis – five more tracks that include "Point Of No Return", "Time Alone Will Tell", "Mountain Over The Hill", and "I've Never Found A Girl". (Soul, Rock) CD

Most folks know The Foundations for one big crossover hit that still gets a lot of oldies radio play – but the group have a heck of a lot more to offer than that, as you'll hear in this wonderful collection that not only features all their 7" single releases from the UK, but also includes later solo material from the group's lead singer, Clem Curtis! The group were initially a bunch of British lads inspired by the sound of Motown, and they hooked up with Curtis, a singer from Trinidad – who really gave them the sound they wanted in the lead, and helped further the important identity of the group as a mixed-race act. Their sound is wonderfully tight – kind of a small group take on the larger studio majesty of Detroit soul – but with some nice British touches too, and a great sense of songwriting that gave the group plenty of original material along the way – a good deal of which you'll hear on this set. The 2CD package features 39 single tracks by The Foundations – including "Back On My Feet Again", "Come On Back To Me", "I Can Take Or Leave Your Loving", "Am I Grooving You", "New Direction", "Jerking The Dog", "Baby Now That I've Found You", "In The Bad Bad Old Days", "Born To Live Born To Die", "Solomon Grundy", "Till Night Brought Day", "Waiting On The Shores Of Nowhere", and "Build Me Up Buttercup". Also includes mid 70s solo work by Clem Curtis – five more tracks that include "Point Of No Return", "Time Alone Will Tell", "Mountain Over The Hill", and "I've Never Found A Girl". (Soul, Rock) CD

The brilliant bluesy side of Hendrix – great stuff recorded from '66-'70 – including his most blues based originals and incredible covers! Bluesy it is, but it's also Jimi – with the soaring, loose and massively influential lead guitar grooves and many of which went unreleased until the 90s – and remains among the most essential of posthumous Hendrix releases. Includes "Hear My Train A Comin'" (acoustic and electric versions), "Born Under A Bad Sign", "Catfish Blues", "Red House", "Voodoo Chile Blues", "Mannish Boy", "Once I Had A Woman", "Jam 292" and "Electric Church Red House". LP, Vinyl record album

The "nuggets" in the title is very well placed here – as all the cuts here have every bit as much freak and fuzz as the American garage and pre-punk work chronicled famously on the lengendary Nuggets series! Yet these tracks are all even more obscure, and all come from African sources that never got any exposure over here back in the day – records from Zambia, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe – all brought together in a massive collection that's filled with heavy guitar work, and a fair bit of monstrous basslines too – which gives some of these tracks a slightly funky current at the bottom, even while the guitars and vocals are tripping out up top! The collection's a great complement to some of the Zamrock reissues from Now Again in recent years – and titles include "The Bad Will Die" by Keith Mlevhu, "Can't You Hear Me" by Paul Ngozi, "Black Power" by Peace, "Mad Man" by Born Free, "Breakthrough" by Funkees, "Few Bena Zambia" by Revolutions, "Come Home" by Wells Fargo, "Amanaz" by Amanaz, "Don't Take Me For A Ride" by Founders, "Like A Chicken" by Witch, and "Making Life Out Of Music" by Eye Q. Also includes the reworked "No Time (Pilooski edit)" by Witch. (Global Grooves, Rock) CD

One of the coolest collections of grooves you might ever hope to own – a batch of tracks that come from the unlikely prog underground in the UK – but which are full of heavy basslines, riffing guitars, and funky drums! A few years earlier, the UK scene was in love with American soul and blues – which came through in famous straighter recordings of those modes overseas – but by the time of these tracks, the scene had really found its own vibe – stretching out in ways that were famously filled-out, yet still influenced strongly by more soulful modes in all the right ways! The result is a wonderful blend of soaring instrumentation, sometimes trippy production, and very groovy rhythms – sort of the hybrid that you were getting in America by groups like Chicago or Santana, but served up here by some much more obscure underground acts. The 3CD set is a fantastic overview of this wonderful moment – and features 58 tracks, along with a big booklet of notes. Titles include "The Bitch" by Gasoline Band, "Somethin You Got" by Second Hand, "Home Is Where I Belong" by Quicksand, "He's Gonna Step On You Again" by John Kongos, "Bad Times" by Paladin, "Travelling Like A Gypsy" by Hanson, "I'm A Thief" by Juicy Lucy, "So Many People" by Skin Alley, "3D Mona Lisa" by Paul Brett Sage, "One Way Glass" by Trifle, "Wake Up My Children" by Siren, "The Devil Made Me Do It" by Curtis Knight Zeus, "Drinking My Wine" by Hardin & York, "Little Message" by Jody Grind, "Eyeballs" by Blue Mink, "Celebration" by Chillum, "Weren't Born A Man" by Dana Gillespie, "I Saw An Angel" by Pentangle, "Libel" by Hard Stuff, "Pigs Foot" by Pesky Gee, "I'm A Man" by The Web, and "Indian Rope Man" by Noir. (Funky Compilations, Rock) CD

A great document of a really cool moment in British pop – a time when the music eschwed guitars in favor of strings and larger arrangements – not in the sweet style that American singers were using at the start of the 60s, but a much darker mode that paved the way for even more complex music to come in the 70s! The arrangements here are complex, yet still very tuneful and groovy – and maybe some of the best easy comparisons might be the music of the Left Banke here in the US, or the way that strings were used to great effect in the music of Nick Drake. As always with Ace Records, the presentation is wonderful, with plenty of notes and a superb set list of 22 tracks that include "Please Believe Me" by Nirvana, "Say You Don't Mind" by Colin Blunstone, "Pictures" by Ray Brooks, "Off To Find A New Land" by Lea Nixon, "Alice" by Jon Plum, "When The City Sleeps" by Bombadil, "Mary Jane" by Erasmus Chorum, "Shapes & Shadows" by Tandem, "Forever Autumn" by Virgrass & Osborne, "The Sevent Hour" by Gordon Waller, "Very Well" by Les Payne, "You're Lovely" by Sunchariot, "Coathanger" by Clifford T Ward, and "Lifetime" by The Bliss. CD