The era that catapulted cult heroes Devo into pop culture history – with bubblier synths, catchier hooks, and crazier multimedia shenanigans than ever before from these pioneers of the video era – and time capsule pop angle aside, it's still one of the best and most innovate albums of its time! It's pretty hard to imagine the early 80s without Devo, but the group and this record is just as amazing decades later, since there was never anyone else like them! Includes "Girl U Want", "It's Not Right", "Whip It", "Freedom Of Coice", "Cold War", "Don't You Know", "Gates Of Steel" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A great one from Devo – capping off their classic era when they could hardly do wrong! By 1981, the gentlemen Devo had been up to their collective arse in irony since the early 70s, and having made a sizable fortune for the Brothers' Warner with the ultra-ironic "Whip It" the previous year, they took a sharp right turn into cranky sincerity. They did so on a wave of new wave synth funk, of course, resulting in the all-time great singles "Beautiful World", "Through Being Cool" and a few more gems. Mtv and a lot of the fans couldn't understand why 5 guys with plastic hair and outerspace uniforms were no longer playing it for laughs and thus killed the prospect of Devo as hitmakers for the rest of the decade! A worthy effort from one of the most innovative pop groups ever! Other tracks include "Pity You", "Soft Things","Going Under", "Race Of Doom", "Love Without Anger" and "Enough Said". LP, Vinyl record album

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An early Warner Brothers classic from the Grateful Dead – a set that has them stretching out in maybe a more collaborative way than usual – using a few key guests to expand their freewheeling sound! Titles include "Cosmic Charlie", "China Cat Sunflower", "Doin That Rag", "Mountains Of The Moon", and "Dupree's Diamond Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Really great material from Tony Joe White – a never-issued live album recorded during his early 70s stretch at Warner Brothers – done with a raw, stripped-down vibe that offers up an even grittier take on the territory of his early albums for Monument Records! The group is pretty small on the set, and Tony's mostly playing acoustic guitar – and singing in a way that's every bit as earthy and swampy as before, but much more personal too – kind of like we're getting a chance to see a side of his personality that he'd sometimes keep hidden. Titles include "Mississippi River", "Rainy Night In Georgia", "Roosevelt & Ira Lee", "That On The Road Look", "My Kind Of Woman", "Willie & Laura Mae Jones", and a 10 minute take on "Polk Salad Annie". LP, Vinyl record album

A massive package of work from the legendary Factory Records label – that important Manchester home to Joy Division, New Order, and a host of other important UK groups in the post-punk years – a company that got plenty of our pocket change when we were young! Factory was always a cut above the rest – a company that let its artists be freely creative and always adventurous – as they recorded music that went on to have a huge impact on the shape and sound of modern music on both sides of the Atlantic, with a legacy that lasted long after the label closed its doors in the early 90s. This huge 8LP set brings together lots of magic moments from Factory – not just hits, but some great underground gems – titles that include "Deaf" by Crispy Ambulance, "Watching The Hydroplanes" by Tunnelvision, "Time Goes By So Slow" by The Distractions, "Digital" by Joy Division, "Brighter" by Railway Children, "Tasty Fish" by The Other Two, "Kinky Afro" by Happy Mondays, "Compressor" by Biting Tongues, "All At Once" by Stockholm Monsters, "Trickery" by Kalima, "Yashar (John Robie mix)" by Cabaret Voltaire, "Talk About The Past" by The Wake, "Cool As Ice" by 52nd Street, "Taste What's Rhythm" by Swamp Children, "Art On 45" by Royal Family & The Poor, "Knife Slits Water (LP version)" by A Certain Ratio, "Temptation" by New Order, "Messidor" by Durutti Column, "Love Tempo" by Quando Quango, "It's Hard To Be An Egg" by John Dowie, "Dirty Disco" by Section 25, "Nightshift" by The Names, "English Black Boys" by X O Dus, "Shack Up" by A Certain Ratio, "Eletricity (Factory version)" by OMD, and "Dolphin's Spurt" by Minny Pops. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the heaviest albums to ever come from Japan – a wicked batch of tripped-out, fuzzy tunes to rival the hardest rock from the UK at the time! Flower Travellin Band have a basic approach that's build on pounding drums and rumbling basslines – and although the guitars are fierce too, they're often used with some slight exotic phrasings at times – styles that have a slight Eastern flavor that really adds to the record. The vocals are really wailing too – banshee-styled, but also with some bluesy undertones – and the album is essentially one long track, broken up into different sections with a different feel. LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible album from the Japanese scene at the start of the 70s – served up by a group with a name that might be clunky, but which also belies one of that nation's heaviest combos of the time! The approach here is a bit like some of the tripped-out blues-influenced rock of the Led Zep generation in the UK – but as with some of this band's contemporaries in Japan, there's also a wilder, wiggier vibe going on too – more freewheeling, especially on the fuzz – and driven by tremendous drums that make for some great changes in some of the more hard-rocking numbers. Titles include "Mr Walking Drugstore Man", "Stoned Out Of My Mind", "Big Headed Woman", and "Ode To The Bad People" – plus the experimental "M Glue", and the acoustic "Sometime We'll All Fall Down". LP, Vinyl record album

A hell of a record from a Japanese band who answered to nobody else – a combo who could come on with the ferocity of James Gang or some of their contemporaries, but also hit some even wilder, more experimental moments too – something they definitely do here in the space of the double-length of the album – which mixes full-on jammers full of fuzz and bluesy riffs with some of the weirder moments you might find on the farther reaches of The Beatles' White Album! Vocals are all in English, and given that the album was issued on Atlantic, we're not sure why they never tried to push these guys bigger in the states – as they're better than most of the rest of the period. Titles include "Sniffin & Snortin", "Run And Hide", "Bad Woman", "Red Doll", "Flat Fret Swing", "Calm Down", "Search For Love", "Wanna Take You You", and "Song For An Angel". LP, Vinyl record album

Devo live in San Francisco in the summer of 1980. LP, Vinyl record album

An early moment of genius from The Electric Prunes – and exactly the kind of record that shows why they were a cut above their contemporaries, and why Warner really backed them strongly right from the start! There's a depth here that rivals some of the group's Sunset Strip contemporaries – and although David Axelrod's not working with them on the record, there's still lots of dark corners and sharp edges – really thoughtful sounds that are spun out wonderfully on fuzzy guitars and organ, with some nicely subtle drums in the rear. Tracks include "I Has Too Much To Dream (Last Night)", "Try Me On For Size", "Get Me To the World On Time", "About A Quarter To Nine", and "Luvin". LP, Vinyl record album

The title's a mouthful, but it's also a key calling card for the legendary Stereolab – a group who effortlessly compressed the space between the 60s and 90s with this major label debut – and set a course for mainstream music well into the 21st Century! After the space of many years, the set still blows us away – and really lasts a lot longer than most of the supposed classics by their contemporaries – proof that the group were always using the past to see far far into the future! And although they got their start in the indie world, they really used the platform of Elektra to refine and focus their message – instead of being swallowed in the maw of Warner Brothers, Stereolab take up the challenges of greater professionalism – and hone their skills to an impeccable edge, crafting beautiful little tunes that are every bit as compelling as the promise of the album's title makes them out to be! Titles include "Tone Burst", "Golden Ball", "Pack Yr Romantic Mind", "Paus", "Jenny Ondioline", and "Analogue Rock". Fantastic version – with new remastering, and a full bonus disc of demos and alternates! LP, Vinyl record album

A raw mix of early rock and hard-edged R&B – and a set that also augments a few of the cuts with slightly different mixes exclusive to the collection! As with other titles from the Stag O Lee label, this one's from a time when the 45rpm single was really in its heyday – churned out in an endless array of musical modes – which means that there was plenty of space for groups to get groovy and try out all sorts of wild, weird, and wonderful sounds! You'll hear plenty of those within – a hard-romping batch of tunes that include "Rock Hoquet" by Henry Cording, "Rock A Chicka" by Warner Mack, "Crazy Lover" by Richard Berry, "Thunder" by Bob Taylor & The Counts, "Bassy Boogaloo" by Hoochie Krew, "Snacky De Odorou" by Hajime Kaidou, and "Le Nabout Twist" by Claude Francois. LP, Vinyl record album