A very cool album put out by the Muzak corporation to promote their world-wide takeover of all sonic spaces! It seems strange that Muzak would actually produce a record – but we're happy they did, as the cover has a cool abstract painting, some great notes, and a few photos of Muzak musicians and scientists at work! Tracks include "The Happening" by Sid Bass, "Amy's Theme" by Phil Bodner, "Where's The Melody" by George Siravo, "Sunday Will Never Be The Same" by Charles Grean, and "It Must Be Him" by Dave Terry. Wild! LP, Vinyl record album

Jazzy keyboards from the great Rob Franken – maybe one of the hippest cats on the Dutch scene of the 70s when it came to the Fender Rhodes! Rob's a master of the instrument here – playing it jazzily, but also with this open flow that's really wonderful – and which really makes the best use of the instrument's potential, and doesn't drown it in too much jamming, which could sometimes be the case with other European musicians who handled the instrument! Instead, Franken lets the space between the notes do as much as the notes themselves – which really keeps things soulful throughout – as he works with musicians who include Ferdinand Povel on flute and tenor, Jiggs Whigham on trombone, Joop Scholten on guitar, Jan Huydts on keyboards – plus the great team of John Lee and Gerry Brown on rhythm on one cut – a fantastic remake of their "Her Celestial Body", which they did on one of their 70s albums for Blue Note. Titles include "Por Hermeto", "How'd You Do It Stanley", "Images", "November", "Up The Street Round the Corner Down The Block", "Afro Blue", and "Colours". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing! This is one of the coolest sets we've seen in years – and everything about it is fantastic, from the package right down to the triple-length set of music! The set features rare unreleased recordings from Raymond Scott's legendary Manhattan Research electronic music studios – originally set up in 1946, and home to some of Scott's landmark early work on non-acoustic music during the 50s and 60s. Far from being the sort of turgid, dark knob-twiddling that computer music later became in the academy, Scott's early experiments are filled with a sense of whimsy and joy – exported directly from his early cartoon-based work, and applied in a fantastic way to his evolving musical inventions! The LP edition comes in three separate sleeves, plus a great 8 page booklet of notes, in a brilliant graphic style that complements the package even further! Don't forget the music, though – because it's totally fantastic – and kind of reminds us of bits of Jon Appleton's Syntonic Menagerie, Pierre Henry's early Musique Concrete, and later punk-era DIY electronics. That doesn't even come close to pinning it down, though – and with 3 LPs worth of material, the scope of the work is amazing! (Out Sound, Sound Library) LP, Vinyl record album