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A totally cool chapter in the early career of Cabaret Voltaire – a stark soundtrack done for a film that's even more obscure than this record! If you dig the creepy, dark early sound of the Cabs, you'll love this one – as the music's got plenty of moody Sheffield electronics, some spare and pulsing with a basic sense of rhythm, some quite noisy at points! We totally love the extended "Taxi Music" – which shows up for most of the first side, and as a dub on the flip – it's a wicked post-punk electronic number that still blows us away time and time again. Other cuts include "DTs", "Cold Turkey", "The Quarry", and "Title Sequence". CD

A key second chapter in the long and wonderful career of Joni Mitchell – a set that brings together the four albums she recorded for the Asylum label in the mid 70s – a post-Blue period that really had Joni opening up and exploring a lot in her music – including a jazzier side of the spectrum that never showed up as strongly before! First up is For The Roses – a sometimes-overlooked album in the career of Joni Mitchell – but a set that's every bit as great as the two huge hits that bracket it! Joni's really finding a great way forward, sounding more mature, and bringing some jazzier currents into her music – thanks in part to help from reedman Tom Scott and bassist Wilton Felder of The Crusaders – and a style of songwriting that's sometimes more fluid than before, and often a lot more biting too! Titles include "Woman Of Heart & Mind", "You Turn Me On I'm A Radio", "For The Roses", "Barbangrill", "Cold Blue Steel & Sweet Fire", "Let The Wind Carry Me", "Lesson In Survival", and "Judgement Of The Moon & Stars". Court & Spark is a key record in the second chapter of Joni Mitchell on record – a set that has both her vocals and her overall music style flowing with all these amazing touches you might not have heard a few years before – jazzier currents in her music that really set the album apart from earlier work in Joni's career! Mitchell responds to the music with soaring vocals that are completely wonderful, and nicely changed up in character from tune to tune – given backing by a host of great jazz and studio players who include Tom Scott on reeds and Joe Sample on keyboards! Titles include her classic version of "Twisted" – a redone version of the old Annie Ross track – plus the classic hit "Help Me", and "Just Like This Train", "Car On A Hill", "Court & Spark", "Down To You", "Free Man In Paris", and "People's Parties". Miles Of Aisles is the first-ever live album from Joni Mitchell – and a record that sounds a fair bit different than a concert set might have during the Reprise years – as Joni's got plenty of help from Tom Scott & The LA Express, who bring a tight yet intimate vibe to the proceedings! Joni's definitely a superstar at this point – as you might guess from the size of the amphitheater on the cover – but she's also got an even stronger ability to come across with a personal, pointed style – one that's very different than the overblown hype of so many other 70s live albums. The set includes a few tracks not yet on albums, and a nice mix of material – including the live version of "Big Yellow Taxi" that ended up as a hit single – and the cuts"You Turn Me On I'm A Radio", "Blue", "Woman Of Heart & Mind", "Both Sides Now", "Real Good For Free", "Jericho", "Circle Game", "Cactus Tree", "The Last Time I Saw Richard", "People's Parties", and "Woodstock". Hissing Of Summer Lawns is a further step forward in the career of Joni Mitchell – a record that not only continues the jazzier currents she explored in the 70s, but also brings in a whole bunch of different modes as well – so much so, it's almost as if Joni's daring anyone to still call her a folk singer with the album! The themes are wonderfully sophisticated, as is the songwriting – the king of material that would keep Mitchell strong for decades, while so many of her contemporaries faltered – as you'll hear on the tracks "In France They Kiss On Main Street", "Sweet Bird", "Shadows & Light", "The Boho Dance", "Don't Interrupt The Sorrow", "The Jungle Line", and "Edith & The Kingpin". CD

Beautiful sounds from this instrumental group – with the sublime "Music For A Found Harmonium", plus "In The Back Of A Taxi", "More Milk", "Isle Of View", and "Another One From The Colonies". CD

An incredible album – and one of the most revolutionary rock albums of the late 60s! The Who recorded this one as a tribute to mainstream radio at the time – linking together some solid stand alone tunes with shorter, wittier tracks that were recorded as commercials for products that included baked beans, acne cream, and deodorant – as well as cool announcer bits too! The end result is one of the most sonically complex records issued by a mainstream rock act of the time – sort of like The Who said "yeah, everyone's trying to copy Sgt Peppers with big arrangements, but we'll take this concept album thing in a whole new direction!" Brilliant all the way through, and with tracks that include "Armenia City In The Sky", "Heinz Baked Beans", "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand", "I Can See For Miles", "I Can't Reach You", "Rale", "Sunrise", and "Silas Stingy". CD features some great bonus tracks too – including "Glow Girl" and "Early Morning Cold Taxi". CD

An incredible album – and one of the most revolutionary rock albums of the late 60s! The Who recorded this one as a tribute to mainstream radio at the time – linking together some solid stand alone tunes with shorter, wittier tracks that were recorded as commercials for products that included baked beans, acne cream, and deodorant – as well as cool announcer bits too! The end result is one of the most sonically complex records issued by a mainstream rock act of the time – sort of like The Who said "yeah, everyone's trying to copy Sgt Peppers with big arrangements, but we'll take this concept album thing in a whole new direction!" Brilliant all the way through, and with tracks that include "Armenia City In The Sky", "Heinz Baked Beans", "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand", "I Can See For Miles", "I Can't Reach You", "Rale", "Sunrise", and "Silas Stingy". CD features some great bonus tracks too – including "Glow Girl" and "Early Morning Cold Taxi". CD

Groovy gals from 60s France – a power-packed array of Parisian pop nuggets that goes way beyond most other compilations of this nature! Some of the big names are here, but there's way more obscure numbers too – the cool kind of French femmes that made a bit splash during the "yeh yeh" generation, with a mix of the rough and the sweet that few other girl singers could ever hope to touch! There's a really special mod sort of energy here – vocals that push out strongly, yet never succumb to emotional cliches of American and British singers – and backings that are always tight and groovy, but in a jaunty, jerky way that's quite different than straight ahead rock. The mix of modes is completely sublime – just the sort of music that still really sends us after all these years – and titles include "J'Ai Des Problemes Decidement" by Violaine, "Hymne Au Soleil" by Pussy Cat, "Attends Ou Va-T'En" by France Gall, "Tomorrow Is Another Day" by Gillian Hills, "Bravo" by Jacqueline Taieb, "Pas De Taxi" by Annie Philippe, "La Fermeture Eclair" by Delphine, "Les Paillons Noirs" by Michele Arnaud, "Comme Tu Es Jeune" by Liz Brady, "Sous Le Soleil Exactement" by Anna Karina, and "Ecoutez" by Elsa. (French, Rock) CD