A record with a sound that's as swirly as its cover – a record that's loaded to the brim with fuzzy guitar and dreamy organ lines – and served up in a style that makes the whole thing one of the most treasured albums from the short-lived psych years on Mainstream Records! The group hail from Boston, but they've almost got the heady sound of some of the trippiest Texas groups of the period – effortlessly mixing garagey grit with heavier psychedelic elements – on titles that include "Trip To The Zoo", "Please Don't Set Me Free", "The Flight", "Mommy & Daddy", "Symphonic Psychedelia", "Crystalescent Heaven", and "One More Heartache". And heck, even their cover of "Gloria" is pretty darn wild! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

The start of a fantastic chapter for the legendary Arthur Brown – the first album issued with his Kingdom Come group, a combo who were even more insane than his Crazy World project of the late 60s! Brown is the quintessential front man here – singing in this really dynamic, dramatic way that's years ahead of its time – much more upfront than so many of the singers of the psych generation, and even the new hard rock vocalists too – at a level that makes music like this a great inspiration for so man styles to come! The instrumentation is as dynamic as the vocals, too – not prog jamming, but instead this really focused, fused blend of heavy drums, searing guitar, and organ – all sending things way way over the top. Titles include "Internal Messenger", "Night Of The Pigs", "Trouble", "Sunrise", "Brains", the "Galactic Zoo/Space Plucks" medley, "Creep", and "Creation". LP, Vinyl record album

Vintage 70s & 80s recordings from the George-Edwards Group – whose recorded legacy, we thought, was held almost completely by the cosmic psych/synth folk rarity 38:38 LP – but here's more from their personal Archives! Ed and Ray both provide vocals, keyboards and percussion – piano, acoustic and electric bass by Ed and acoustic guitar by Ray. Overall, it's a weird mix of chiming or fuzzed out guitars and squeeling keyboards – but always oddly tuneful! Includes "Once Upon A Moog", "Nevada", "Shattered Heart", "Puppetman", "It's All Right", "The Blowing Wind", "Midnight Asylum" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty wild set from Elephants Memory – one that's as trippy as you'd guess from the group's image on the cover – and equally collaborative too! There's a strong mix of male and female vocals here – over guitar and rhythms that move effortlessly between blues rock and psych – all with a pretty loose, freewheeling sense of production – but enough tightness to make some of the chorus moments snap out nicely! Wes Farrell produced, but seems to really let the band do their thing – and in addition to songs written by group members Stan Bronstein, Michal Shapiro, and Richard Sussman – there also seems to be some song contributions from Tony Visconti too. Titles include "Hot Dog Man", "Talkin A Walk", "RIP", "Jungle Gym At The Zoo", "Don't Put Me On Trial No More", "Crossroads Of The Stepping Stones", "Band Of Love", and "Brief Encounter". LP, Vinyl record album

The crowning achievement of Spirit – a wonderful blend of many musical strands at once – and a set so successful for the group, you probably could have found in any college dorm room in the early 70s! The record's really a cut above for their generation – an expansive effort that hangs together with a bit of a concept, and which interweaves strands of rock, folk, and a bit of jazz – yet also a record that has a lot more polish than other efforts of its type, and which trades a bit of psychedelic indulgence for a tighter focus that really lets the best tunes sparkle wonderfully! Production is great – clear, but trippy at the same time – and Randy California's guitar work has never sounded better. Titles include "Nature's Way", "Animal Zoo", "Love Has Found A Way", "Mr Skin", "Soldier", "Street Worm", and "Space Child". LP, Vinyl record album

As warm and wonderful of a late 60s singer songwriter effort as we can imagine wanting to hear in the late 60s mainstream – so it's fitting that James Taylor was signed with the Beatles' Apple Records for this excellent self-titled album! Even Paul McCartney and George Harrison make a guest appearance! The lyrics chronicle a troubled soul, but man, did James ever making encroaching personal horrors sound sweet at his best. We think he's at his best here, and titles include "Don't Talk Now", "Knocking 'Round The Zoo", "Carolina In My Mind", "Night Owl", "Rainy Day Man", "The Blues Is Just A Bad Dream" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A well-chosen batch of rare garage rock gems from the 60s – rare work from labels that include Stax, Fantasy, Original Sound, and Vanguard – including three never-issued tracks! The choice of material is great, and the whole thing features notes from producer Alec Palao – a name we've really come to trust for sets like this, which go way past the hits and obvious choices. Titles include "Can't Get Enough" by The Pullice, "Attention" by Lonnie Duvall, "Harmonica Man" by The Torquays, "Psychotic Reaction (unedited version)" by Count Five, "She's Gone" by Group B, "Double Whammy" by Jack Bedient & The Chessmen, "In The Night" by The Bittersweets, "Short Haired Fathers" by Circus Maximus, "Anytime Anywhere" by The Squires, "This Calls For A Celebration" by The Fantastic Zoo, "Rat Race" by The Tears, "I Can't Make A Friend" by The Vagrants, "The Animal In Me" by The Orfuns, and "The People In Me (full length version)" by The Music Machine. LP, Vinyl record album

A great set of tracks by the Kinks – originally written as the soundtrack for a film that barely saw the light of day – yet presented here as a classic late 60s album that's up there with the other gems from the same period as Arthur and Village Green! A few tunes are instrumental – as you might expect from a soundtrack, and the songs hold together well with similar themes – and those cuts are mixed with some wonderful vocal numbers that have Ray Davies working at the top of his game – that picture postcard way of putting over a scene or a story – served up in titles that include the excellent "God's Children", an instrumental version of "Lola", and the cuts "Animals In The Zoo", "Whip Lady", "Dreams", "Helga", and "Willesden Green". LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by The Higsons, The Farmers Boys, Animal Magic, Popular Voice, Maximum Joy, Vital Excursions, Dislocation Dance, Design For Living, and Pinski Zoo. LP, Vinyl record album

An album that has Frank Zappa really continuing to push the instrumental complexity of his music – showing the world that he's not just another long-haired casualty from the 60s, and instead an artist who just kept on getting deeper and deeper into his own really unique groove! The record's overflowing with instrumental tracks that some might argue had a huge impact on jazz fusion – especially that mid 70s moment when the door opened in jazz to some more rock-like solos and rhythms – and that link is maybe no surprise, given that the lineup includes work from older jazzmen who include Billy Byers on trombone and the great Fred Jackson on saxes – plus George Duke on keyboards and Ernie Watts on c-melody sax. As always, the drums of Aynsley Dunbar are superb – and titles include "The Grand Wazoo", "Eat That Question", "Blessed Relief", "For Calvin & His Next Two Hitch-Hikers", and "Cleatus Awreetus-Awrightus". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful departure for Kevin Ayers – an album that's a lot lighter and more whimsical than his original fame with Soft Machine! The tunes are extremely playful, and often quite catchy – almost a Donovan-esque blend of folksy roots and jazz inflections – but tuned a bit more towards trippier ends, thanks to instrumentation that includes celeste, electronics, flute, oboe, kazoo, cello, organ, and a wide range of different guitars! David Bedford handled arrangements, and other players on the session include some ex-Soft Machine comrades – like Hugh Hopper and Robert Wyatt! Ayers' vocals are produced with a nicely compressed quality that squeezes them in alongside the instrumentation – and titles include "Joy Of A Toy Continued", "The Lady Rachel", "All This Crazy Gift Of Time", "Eleanor's Cake", and "Girl On A Swing". LP, Vinyl record album

A set that's maybe a bit more standard song-based than some of the Captain's other records, but an album that's still filled with all the special magic that makes Beefheart so great! The magic band includes work from Zoot Horn Rollo on some wonderful glass finger guitar, plus keyboards from Mark Marcellino, bass from Rockett Morton, and plenty of vocals and harmonica from the Captain. Titles include "Upon The My-O-My", "Sugar Bowl", "New Electric Ride", "Magic Be", "Full Moon, Hot Sun" and "This Is The Day". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal moment in leftfield music – maybe the crowning achievement of Captain Beefheart, and a landmark collaboration with Frank Zappa as well! Zappa produced, and gave the group plenty of room to stretch out on this double-length set done for his Bizarre Records imprint – which allowed the Captain the kind of freedom that Frank was getting at the time – which meant there was no need for a hit, no need to tone things down, and plenty of patience for all the record's amazing instrumental twists and turns, and Beefheart's madcap sense of humor as well! The Cap sings, and plays saxes and bass clarinet – and the record's got some really incredible guitar work from Zoot Horn Rollo and Antennae Jimmy Semens – really setting the stage for countless other guitarists in years to come. Tracks include "Dachau Blues", "Hair Pie", "Moonlight On Vermont", "Sweet Sweet Bulbs", "China Pig", "My Human Gets Me Blues", and "Dali's Car". LP, Vinyl record album

A really fantastic solo album from guitar genius Peter Green – recorded right after he'd departed Fleetwood Mac, the band he helped found – and done in a freewheeling trippy style that's unlike anything recorded by that other group! Green's guitar is still unbelievably strong, but cast here as much in psychedelic modes as bluesy ones – and set up in this all-instrumental lineup that features Zoot Money on piano, Godfrey Maclean on percussion, Alex Dmochowski on bass, and Nick Buck on electric piano and organ! The album is very experimental – long instrumental tracks with lots of creative twists and turns – and titles include "Descending Scale", "The End Of The Game", "Burnt Foot", "Hidden Depth", and "Bottoms Up". LP, Vinyl record album

Nick Waterhouse keeps winning us over again and again with his music – which seems to get better and better with each new release! This album might be Nick's most compelling so far – a nicely gritty set that almost takes us back to that hip London stretch in the 60s, when British singers were effortlessly blending together American styles from soul, jazz, and blues – into a hip-stepping mode that was completely outta sight! Not that Nick's a retro artist trying for an old-styled sound – just that he's one of the few in decades who can get such a clear, focused groove out of all the right elements – and all without making it sound forced at all. A record you can easily file next to classics by Bobby Scott, George Fame, and Zoot Money – with titles that include "Stanyan Street", "The Old Place", "Katchi", "Tracy", "LA Turnaround", "It's Time", and "I Had Some Money". (Deep Funk, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful departure for Kevin Ayers – an album that's a lot lighter and more whimsical than his original fame with Soft Machine! The tunes are extremely playful, and often quite catchy – almost a Donovan-esque blend of folksy roots and jazz inflections – but tuned a bit more towards trippier ends, thanks to instrumentation that includes celeste, electronics, flute, oboe, kazoo, cello, organ, and a wide range of different guitars! David Bedford handled arrangements, and other players on the session include some ex-Soft Machine comrades – like Hugh Hopper and Robert Wyatt! Ayers' vocals are produced with a nicely compressed quality that squeezes them in alongside the instrumentation – and titles include "Joy Of A Toy Continued", "The Lady Rachel", "All This Crazy Gift Of Time", "Eleanor's Cake", and "Girl On A Swing". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent album of party grooves from The Hombres – a bit sunshine pop, a bit folk rock, but with some nice earthy touches that almost bring in a bit of a beat group feel to the set! The group's got a nice Hammond organ undercurrent – spinning out in the style that you'd hear underneath work by Zoot Money or Georgie Fame from the time – although The Hombres' vocal approach is often a bit sweeter at times, with a really nice jingle-jangle feel! The album's worth it alone for the stellar title cut "Let It Out", which is a fantastic bit of blue-eyed funk that never gets old – but the whole thing's pretty great, and other tracks include "Am I High", "So Sad", "Little 2 + 2", "It's A Gas",a nd "Hey Little Girl". LP, Vinyl record album

The last true masterpiece by the greatest rock band to ever come out of the late 70s and early 80s L.A. scene. More Fun In The New World serves in a lot of ways as X's upright middle finger to the early years of the Reagan era, with the anthemic opener "The New World", and the ballad "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts", perfectly encapsulating the fear and loathing brought about by the ridiculous politics that infected the entire decade. The album is very much a sequel to the amazing Under The Big Black Sun, full of razor pop anthems, Billy Zoom's punkabilly guitar acrobatics, and amazing depth thanks to John and Exene's sensitive and perceptive song writing. Awesome! Other tracks include "True Love", "We're Having Much More Fun", "Poor Girl", "Make The Music Go Bang", "Devil Doll", "Painting The Town Blue", "Hot House", "Drunk In My Past", "I See Red", and "True Love Part 2". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic double-length set from The Animals – recorded in LA in the late 60s, and with plenty of great Sunset Strip influences in the mix! The band here is different than before – with Zoot Money handling both organ and piano, plus a bit of vocals, and Andy Summers joining in on guitar – and production is by the group itself, who shake off some of the trippier styles of previous records, and almost go for a "live in studio" sort of sound! There's a confluence of styles here that's really great – some of the blues of the group's roots, bits of Eric Burdon's growing love of soul, and some fuzzier touches as well. Some tracks are quite long jams, and titles include "Gemini", "Madman", "As The Years Go Passing By", "To Love Somebody", and "I'm An Animal". LP, Vinyl record album

The debut album of The Fallen Angels – one of those great late 60s psych groups who were signed up in a big mid-decade frenzy, got a chance to record some superb work, then were almost completely ignored by their record label! The group have a vibe that's right on the same cusp that the LA scene was hitting at the time – clearly band members with earlier garage, blues, and maybe even a bit of folk experience – coming together in headier territory with plenty of fuzz on the guitar, mixed with all sorts of other weird touches along the way – including sitar, vibes, celeste, kazoo, and even a bit of soft shoe! There's clearly a nice sense of wit in the proceedings – and even though mostly-pop Roulette Records didn't do a thing with the record, it's gone on to become a well-deserved underground treasure over the years. Titles include "Painted Bird", "Introspective Looking Glass", "Your Mother's Homesick Too", "You Have Changed", "No Way Out", "Room At The top", and "Your Friends Here In Dunderville". LP, Vinyl record album