That's Band X, not Brand X – and they're a damn funky jazz combo from the 70s – one whose work is filled with plenty of sharp changes and wonderfully chromatic moments! Rhythms are at the core of the set – lots of choppy drum parts that are mighty nice, bumped along by sweet compressed basslines too – and other instrumentation includes lots of vibes, reeds, and a bit of keyboards from time to time – used in really creative ways! If we had to come up with a comparison, we might say these guys sound a bit like some of the best work by Steve Grossman and the PM Records crew in the 70s – but they've definitely got their own vibe too. Titles include "Home", "Black Hole", "Rip Van Winkle", "Red Cloud", "Trullion Alastor", "Afterthought", and "Picking Mushrooms With Rabbit". (Jazz, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal sounds from Be Bop Deluxe – a massive package that features all five of their albums for Harvest in the mid 70s – plus loads of bonus tracks too! The Be Bop Deluxe sound is a bit hard to peg, especially over the evolution enclosed here – but they've definitely got a cool compressed approach to music that's a bit like ELO – or at least like some of the best Brit work of the period that was using that studio style of mixing the vocals and guitars all up in the same sonic space, then fusing the whole thing to a tight level of production, yet all without ever sounding too slick at all. Be Bop Deluxe never had many hits on this side of the Atlantic – which may well be a testament to the inventiveness going on here – especially as things stretch out towards the end of the group, and seem to echo the imminent solo career of Bill Nelson. 5CD set features the full albums Axe Victim, Futurama, Sunburst Finish, Modern Music, and Drastic Plastic – plus loads more bonus tracks, singles, and demos – a massive 82 tracks in all! CD

Current Rage were one of the more obscure groups to come out of the Athens, GA scene in the early 80s – but they've also got all the instantly creative energy that made that short-lived world of music every bit as exciting as some of the best New York sounds at the time! There's a nicely choppy approach to the rhythms going on here, and plenty of strong guitar play too – deft music that's somewhere in the territory of Pylon, and like that group, maybe a warmer US answer to British post-punk sounds of the same time. Titles include "Right Side Of The Brain", "Bitte Schoen", "Sweet Torture", "My Dog Sam", "Looking Through Gels", and "Scream In The Dark". Expanded version features bonus tracks that include "Adventures In America", "Punch A Clock", "The Theme", "Constant Hiss (demo)", and live tracks "My Dog Sam", "AF", "Tequila", and "The Book Pressed Flowers". LP, Vinyl record album

Current Rage were one of the more obscure groups to come out of the Athens, GA scene in the early 80s – but they've also got all the instantly creative energy that made that short-lived world of music every bit as exciting as some of the best New York sounds at the time! There's a nicely choppy approach to the rhythms going on here, and plenty of strong guitar play too – deft music that's somewhere in the territory of Pylon, and like that group, maybe a warmer US answer to British post-punk sounds of the same time. Titles include "Right Side Of The Brain", "Bitte Schoen", "Sweet Torture", "My Dog Sam", "Looking Through Gels", and "Scream In The Dark". Expanded version features bonus tracks that include "Adventures In America", "Punch A Clock", "The Theme", "Constant Hiss", and live tracks "My Dog Sam", "AF", "Tequila", and "The Book Pressed Flowers". LP, Vinyl record album

An insane package of work from this wonderful British group – a studio pop creation who stormed the charts with one huge hit, but also recorded some really great overlooked material! The style of First Class is a brilliant extension of the sound of American harmony pop of the 60s – and one that blends it together with a good deal of 70s soft rock as well – but always with a super-catchy style that's completely wonderful! The group is the brainchild of Brit studio legend John Carter – and they're kind of a recast take on the sound of the Beach Boys in later years – filtered through a nicely compressed UK mid 70s pop approach that brings in some sweeter, softer modes, but which also has some of that "bump" of glam-era pop as well. The group's best known for their massive 70s hit "Beach Baby" – but they've got a great sound that's more than worth rediscovering all these years later – which you will definitely do when digging through this massive set. The 3CD package features 82 tracks in all the group's two full albums and singles, plus unreleased tracks – and, even cooler, a whole host of rare jingles they recorded – for Right Guard deodorant, Eveready batteries, Singer sewing machines, and many other products. The jingles alone are worth the price of admission – and the whole thing is super groovy, all the way through! CD

A record that maybe didn't make a huge wave when it came out at the time, but a set that serves as a key springboard for the young Jeff Lynne and all the magic he'd later create with ELO! Although Lynne was making music with Roy Wood in The Move around the same time, the record's definitely more in the warmer, compressed territory that Jeff would expand upon a few years later with his massive classics of the 70s – already sitting strongly at the production deck in the studio, and blending the group's core instrumentation with these arrangements that really create a great sort of fullness in the music. In other words, there's maybe not a full "electric orchestra" vibe here, but the set has a great precursor to that mode – on tracks that include "Come With Me", "Sea Of Dreams", "Going Home", "Please No More Sad Songs", "Big Chief Woolly Bosher", "Someone Knocking", "Girl At The Window", "Hurry Up John", and "A Better Life (The Weather Man Knows)". CD

12CD boxset of 10 classic Led Zeppelin albums, all pressed on SHM-CDs in LP style sleeves with individual obis – and even includes alternate jackets! CD

The near-complete work of one of the all-time great but overlooked groups of the UK scene of the late 60s – a group who jumped between a few different labels, mostly issued a handful of singles, yet managed to create a huge amount of magic at the time! You'll not find The Mirage in the history books, but they definitely gave the UK scene a few great singles, enough to get them onto the BBC – where a few of these tracks were recorded – and somehow managed to keep on working on great music, despite record label politics that would have buried most other acts of the generation. There's a tuneful approach to psych that begins some of the material, with maybe the odd freakbeat moment too – a quality that comes out even more strongly as the group morphs through a few later identities, including Yellow Pages, Portebello Explosion, and the really great Jawbone – the last of whom finally got a chance to record a full length album! The 3CD package divides up nicely – CD1 features singles and BBC tracks by The Mirage, plus a few by Portebello Explosion and Yellow Pages; CD2 features some stunning unheard outtakes that are maybe even more amazing than some Mirage singles; and CD3 features the full Jawbone album from 1970, a set that echoes some of the earlier moments, but with even sharper instrumentation and a nicely compressed sense of production. 3CD set features 60 tracks in all, and very detailed notes on the group and their music! CD

The Montanas look like a bunch of groovy 60s cats on the cover – and while they definitely had some great hits during the British Invasion years, they also kept on cutting some very cool material well into the 70s – all of which is included in this overstuffed set! The work begins where you might imagine – tuneful British rock, with great harmonies and catchy hooks – but as the 60s slide into the 70s, the group changes their lineup, and really start taking on some great new material – the tracks here that really make the collection great! Things are still pretty catchy in the 70s, but the pop modes have shifted a lot – bringing influences from psych and other new styles, and opening up a new sort of production style too – maybe a hint at the more compressed modes that UK acts would use in the 7ts generation. If you only ever thought of The Montanas as a group with a few oldies hits, you'll really be surprised here as you make your way through the 42 track selection of cuts that includes "Doctor Nero", "Difference Of Opinion", "Teardrops", "You Got Me Wrong Girl", "Miss Mackenzie", "Sammy", "Mystery", "No Smoke Without Fire", "Henry Ford", "Suzanne", "Love Machine", "Seaport", "Goodbye Little Girl", "Ciao Baby", "You've Got To Be Loved", "I Need To Fly", "Round About", and two versions of "One Thing Or Another" – plus a cover of the Grateful Dead classic "Uncle John's Band". CD

An incredible first album from The Moody Blues – way way different than any of their later high-concept work, and much more in the best soul and R&B-drenched material of the UK mod scene of the time! A number of cuts here are remakes of American soul tracks – including their stellar take on "Go Now" – and like some of the Moodies' best contemporaries, like Manfred Mann, the group really transform the material – and don't just offer up blue-eyed takes on the tunes. Instead, there's a free sense of play with the material – leanings that are definitely rockish on the solos, even though the overall vibe is quite soulful – and done with this tightly compressed style that's perfect for the vocals of the young Denny Laine – with a vibe that's further expanded by some nice use of echo in the production. Surprisingly wonderful – and very different than "Knights In White Satin" – with titles that include "Go Now", "I'll Go Crazy", "True Story", "Can't Nobody Love You", "I've Got A Dream", and "Let Me Go". LP, Vinyl record album

A full on funky set from French maestro Sauveur Mallia – a record that mixes his own work on bass, keyboards, electronics, and samples with some slight touches over the top on trumpet, trombone, and saxophone too! The style is definitely a lot more 80s than some of Mallia's 70s work – plenty of the more compressed elements you'd know from film scores of the time, and electric drum rhythms and basslines – all popping and percolating in different ways from track to track! The set's credited to the group Swing Family, but it's clear that the whole thing is mostly Mallia's own work – on titles that include "Gentleman & Musician", "Film Action", "Episode Double", "Musical Stars", "Music Force", "Mission Africa", and "Greewich Boulevard". (Sound Library, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album