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A trio of albums from one of the most unique groups on the west coast scene! First up is Where's The Money – a classic live album from Dan Hicks and this mighty cool west coast combo – a set that's all stripped-down, and provides a great showcase for their amazing vocal and acoustic instrumental interplay! Dan's got two two female singers along for the performance – Maryann Price and Naomi Ruth Eisenberg – both of whom do way more than provide backup, as they work with plenty of percussion, and harmonize along with Dan's lead on most tracks – in that cool blend of acoustic roots and jazzy inflections that made the group so unique. The lineup also includes violin, mandolin, and bass – plus guitar from Dan – on titles that include "News From Up The Street", "Shorty Falls In Love", "The Buzzard Was Their Friend", "Is This My Happy Home", "Dig A Little Deeper", "Reelin Down", and "Caught In The Rain". Striking It Rich features the great Dan Hicks at the height of his powers – working in a sublime acoustic mode that weaves together strands of gypsy swing, American roots, harmony vocals, and plenty more too – all in a mode that's lean and timeless, and which was one of the hipper new sounds on the west coast scene of his generation! Dan works with great support from vocalists Maryann Price and Naomi Ruth Eisenberg – alongside instrumentation that includes guitar, bass, violin, mandolin, and plenty of percussion – all wrapped up with a sublime sound that has all the elements resonating together wonderfully! Titles include a great remake of his earlier gem "I Scare Myself" – plus "You Got To Believe", "O'Reilly At The Bar", "Moody Richard", "The Laughing Song", "Canned Music", "Skippy's Farewell", "Fujiyama", "Woe The Luck", and "I'm An Old Cowhand". Last Train To Hicksville is completely charming work from the great Dan Hicks – one of the few cats who could make us like music like this so much! Dan sings and plays rhythm guitar – and the group also features vocals from Maryann Price and Naomi Eisenberg – that lovely pair whose harmonies with Hicks really helped the group find their sound! As before, instrumentation is all acoustic, but used in these jazzy ways that are very unique – not folk, not string band, nor swing – but something very unique, and a real breath of fresh air in the 70s scene! Titles include "Long Come A Viper", "It's Not My Time To Go", "My Old Timey Baby", "Lonely Madman", "Cowboy's Dream No 19", and "Payday Blues". CD

A pivotal record in the sound of the US scene at the end of the 60s – and a record that seems to trace an entire evolution in rock during the space of just one album! Touch have roots that go back to The Kingsmen and Don & The Goodtimes – and you can definitely hear garage elements in the organ and guitars – but they're also stretching out freely in all the heady freedoms of the late 60s – with a soaring approach that definitely lives up to the cover image! There's a blend of rough and rootsy with confident and cosmic going on – a really powerful approach that's made the album a standout for years, even if the group never hit some of the fame of their bigger contemporaries. Titles include "We Feel Fine", "Friendly Birds", "Down At Circe's Place", "The Spiritual Death Of Howard Greer", and "Seventy Five". CD features some great bonus tracks – rare demo versions fo "We Finally Met Today", "Alesha & Others", and "The Spiritual Death Of Howard Greer" – plus film music for "The Second Coming Of Suzanne", and the cut "Blue Feeling". CD

A great tribute to the songwriting skills of Laura Nyro – presented here in a package that features key covers from some of Nyro's contemporaries, and which also includes a surprising amount of soul music too! Laura's one of those key 60s talents who started writing for others, then got the chance to spread her wings on her own – and while her own recordings have really continued to reach new audiences over the decades, it's great to have a package like this to remind us of Nyro's songwriting roots! The set's mostly heavy on material from the late 60s and early 70s – with a fair bit of female soul tunes in the mix – and it also includes a few more contemporary numbers that come as a nice surprise. Like others in Ace's "songwriter" series, the production and packaging is great – and titles include "Stoney End" by The Blossoms, "Time & Love" by The Supremes, "Wedding Bell Blues" by Bobby Gentry, "Captain St Lucifer" by Melba Moore, "Save The Country" by Thelma Houston, "Lazy Susan" by Liane Carroll, "He's A Runner" by Mama Cass, "Buy & Sell" by Nnena Freelon, "Lonely Women" by Linda Hoyle, "Eli's Coming" by Friends Of Distinction, and "Stoned Soul Picnic" by Staple Singers. CD

The final album in the initial run of genius from Felt – a set that marks a short step from Creation Records over to El at Cherry Red – where they receive some nicely expanded handling on the production! Adrian Borland produced, and the tunefulness of the songs really comes to the forefront – all while still providing a perfect showcase for the lyrical and vocal talents of Lawrence, set up beautifully amidst the swirling Hammond lines that made their Creation material so distinct! There's definitely some new ideas bubbling up here – which Lawrence would explore more freely in later work – and titles include "I Can't Make Love To You Anymore", "Budgie Jacket", "Down An August Path", and "Get Out of My Mirror". CD

A mighty impressive box set of previously unreleased Can – incredible stuff captured throughout their groundbreaking run from the late 60s to mid 70s – culled from hours and hours of tapes of the sessions that could have just as easily wound up on any of their classic records of the period! We figured that this would almost certainly be a solid companion piece to their initial run of classic albums – but the best thing about it is that out stands up really well on its own. Can pretty famously let the tapes run while they worked things out and let the magic happen spontaneously, so it stands to reason a lot of brilliant stuff was left on those tapes! We're surprised it took so long to pour through it and assemble some of the best of the "lost" material, but better late than never! Since it covers the full late 60s & early 70s periods, it's got bits with Mooney and Suzuki, hypnotic live takes, slow-building tension, moody lulls and violent bursts of sound – it's Can, alright! 30 tracks sequenced brilliantly over 3CDs – and it comes a reel-to-reel style box with a 10-inch booklet. Titles include "Millionenspiel", "Waiting For The Street Car", "Evening All Day", "Deadly Doris", "Bubble Rap", "Your Friendly Neighborhood Whore", "Bilnd Mirror Sur", "Bubble Rap", "Godzilla Fragment", "Barnacles", "The Agreement", "The Loop", "A Swan Is Born" and more. CD

A seminal punk-funk classic from the end of the 70s – one that's as brilliantly abrasive and brashly fresh today as it was when it was released! The group are working here in equal parts dub, funk, and lots of scratchy guitars and heady bass – with a style that would later be picked up more strongly by On-U in the 80s, but which is executed here with a much clearer vision that's free of any of the cliches that would later overcome the genre. Even the politics are surprisingly pointed – and Paul Stewart's vocalizations of most of the tunes is really dead on the money! Titles include "Thief Of Fire", "Snowgirl", "Blood Money", "We Are Time", "Don't Sell Your Dreams", "Words Disobey Me", and "Don't Call Me Pain". CD2 features lots of bonus tracks – some from an unreleased album – including "She Is Beyond Good & Evil", "Kiss The Book", "Thief Of Fire (bass addict)", "Words Disobey Me (Dennis the Menace mix)", "Don't Sell Your Dreams (a mix)", "3:38", "Boys From Brazil (ridge reels)", and "Blood Money (slow thief)". CD3 is Y Live – an unreleased live set with 9 more tracks! CD