Cool LP that brings together Duke singles by Bobby Blue Bland and Junior Parker, in a "double feature" set that devotes a side apiece to material by each of them. The sound is hard bluesy soul, with tracks like "Next Time You See Me", "Wondering", "It's My Life, Baby", "I Smell Trouble", and "Farther Up The Road". LP, Vinyl record album

Only an EP, but one that packs plenty of punch – thanks to strong production from Blockhead on most of the tracks, with help from El-P and Aesop Rock himself! The set begins with the iconic "Daylight", followed by the counterpart "Night Light" – then runs through a no-skit, all-tight set of tracks that more than makes up for the shortness of the set. Vast Aire guest on "Nickel Plated Pockets" – and other cuts include "Bracket Basher", "Forest Crunk", "Alchemy", and "Maintenance". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic bit of Afro funky soul – one of a few albums recorded by the legendary Lafayette Afro Rock Band! The set has an incredible blend of American funk, African rhythms, and European production – recorded in the heady cross-cultural scene of early 70s Paris – with a sound that's often imitated, but never duplicated! Funky guitar snakes through electric piano riffing, rolling basslines, and some really heavy percussion – occasionally supporting a bit of chorus vocals, but mostly going for a hard-grooving instrumental sound overall! The set includes the massive break track "Darkest Light", sampled by PE and others – plus the tracks "Baba Hya", "Djungi", "Raff", "Conga", "Avi-Vo", and "Malik". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing Afro Funk from one of the greatest groups of the genre – The Lafayette Afro Rock Band, a funky ensemble recording in Paris in the early 70s! The group were working in a hotbed of cross-cultural styles – and brought American funk rhythms firmly into play with African influences – creating grooves that were even heavier and harder than the work at the time by Fela Kuti, and which have stood for years as some of our favorite funk records! This album's one of their best – named after the title cut, their great take on Manu Dibango's "Soul Makossa" (done here even funkier than the original!), and featuring other great tracks, like "Voodounon", "Azeta", and "Hihache" – all of them filled with heavy bass, tight drums, and fuzzy guitar – plus the cuts "Nicky" and "Oglenon". LP, Vinyl record album

Killer work from Junior Parker – an artist who was already great in his early Duke Records years – but one who really seemed to take off even more as the 60s moved on! On records like this, Parker picks up a strong undercurrent of funky soul – a groove that's a perfect fit for Mercury's Blue Rock label – which often did a great job of merging the worlds of blues and soul – especially in the music of Junior Wells. Production has lots of nice Chicago soul touches, and at times Junior's vocals move into a territory that's almost a bit like the groove of Tyrone Davis at the time. Great stuff throughout – and titles include "I Got Money", "Lovin Man On Your Hands", "Easy Lovin", and "I'm So Satisfied". LP, Vinyl record album

Rare material from early sessions in Nashville and Hollywood! LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet set of vintage American blue eyed soul from the 70s & early 80s – a diverse and deep set of it, too – featuring sunny and soulful numbers by Breakaway, 1619 Bad Ass Band, Society Of Seven, Lil' Albert, Jay P Morgan, Life Force and more! There's a pretty broad range styles, but the set flows consistently – with numbers that for the most part share a penchant for laidback, simmering grooves and excellently layered productions. But from there, the styles roll from soft rock arrangements with soul-based vocals, to some sly bits of funk, groovy strings and other sweeter touches. We're hoping to see a Vol 2 after this one! 16 tracks in all: "I Love Music" by Babadu, "Lving Off The Love" by Eric Tagg, "Just For You" by 1619 Bad Ass Band, "SLow Dancer" by Life Force, "Never Gonna Leave You" by Evans Pyramid, "Who Was It This Time", "Coast To Coast" by Tender Leaf, "My Girl Friday" by Lil'Albert, "Thought You Ought To Know" by Jesse McFall & The Funk Elegant Orchestra and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A real enigma from the late 70s southern scene in the US – a surprisingly soulful set cut by a group who should have been a rock or country combo, but who come off here with a really deep sound – a groove that feels a lot more like some of the work from the Bay Area on Fantasy Records, or some of the groovier groups out of Austin! Vocals have a definite blue-eyed soul feel – and the instrumentation is sharp and jazzy – played at a level that's really professional for such a small label release, with production to match – yet all with a sound that's never commercial at all, and which really keeps a spontaneous, organic, and personal feel to the music. Titles include "I Don't Want To Lose You", "When Did You Lose Your Love For Me", "Puerto Rican Hotel", "When I Call Your Name", "Trip On Your Lip", and "Time Stops". LP, Vinyl record album

A hipster vocal jazz classic – a full length Prestige album that brings together all of Mose Allison's vocal numbers from his initial run a the label! Mose started out as a pianist, but quickly won even greater attention with his down home, New Orleans-influenced way of singing – a mode that would be copped by many other singers in both rock and soul for years to come – but which still sounds best, here at the source! The recordings feature Mose on piano alongside his vocals – with only bass and drum accompaniment on all numbers – and titles include the mod classics "Parchman Farm" and "Seventh Son", plus "I've Got A Right To Cry", "Young Man's Blues", "Eyesight To The Blind", "If You Live", "One Room Country Shack", and "That's Alright". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark in southern rock! Titles include "Les Brers In A Minor", "Melissa", "Mountain Jam", "One Way Out", "Trouble No More", "Little Martha", and "Blue Sky". LP, Vinyl record album

A striking title – and a strong set of grooves, even if the tracks were pulled from a variety of different sessions, and not recorded as a unified album. Jug plays tenor on all cuts – working in formats that range from a Mal Waldron led trio to larger honking groups with horn players like Henderson Chambers, Cecil Payne, Nate Woodward, and Gene Easton. Tracks are short, and most are pretty rocking – with titles that include "Blue Coolade", "Short Stop", "Scam", "Sock", "What I Say", and "Rock Roll". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent bit of UK Afro-Funk – recorded at the beginning of the 70s by a group that included members of the legendary South African jazz combo The Blue Notes – Dudu Pukwana on reeds, Mongezi Feza on trumpet, and Louis Moholo on drums! The record's quite different than you'd guess from those players – thanks to some kickass help from the rest of the group – who really push things into a tripped-out version of Afro Funk – a bit in the mode of Demon Fuzz at the time – a group who also lent a member to this project! There's some great horn work on the record – with the kind of "out" soloing you might expect from the group, laid out over heavy drums and good bass-heavy funk – on titles that include "Hey Jude", "Irin Ajolaway", "Akasa", "Telephone Girl", "Beka", and "Cocoa". LP, Vinyl record album

A British art rock jam session, more or less, pulled together by Soft Machine bassist Kevin Ayers, who recruited Eno, John Cale and Nico, former bandmate Robert Wyatt, the enigmatic Rabbit (John Bundrick) on keyboards – more well known for his work with the Who – plus Mike Oldfield on guitar and a number of other guests and co-conspirators. A nice document of the scene a the time, with concise performances and a much tighter feel than you might imagine given the circumstances of the recording. 9 numbers in all, including "Driving Me Backwards", "Baby's On Fire", "Heartbreak Hotel", "The End", "May I?", "Shouting IN A Bucket Blues", "Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes", "Everybody's Sometime And Some People's All The Time Blues" and "Two Goes Into Four". LP, Vinyl record album

Badfinger's early 70s win streak continues on Straight Up – a straight up classic set of tuneful 70s rock with big emotions and catchy songs – one that keeps just enough grit underneath those killer melodies! Titles include "Take It All", "Bably Blue", "Name Of The Game", "Perfection", "It's Over", "Sometimes" and more. This might be the group's most consistent batch of songs to date, and it's essential early 70s rock for sure. LP, Vinyl record album

Two of the coolest trumpeters from the LA scene of the 50s – reunited here in a never-issued album from the start of the 70s! At the time of the set, Jack Sheldon was the real star of the date – big on TV, and a very confident, cool player – as well as a singer with a wonderfully distinct sound (which some folks might remember from Schoolhouse Rock or The Merv Griffin Show!) Jack started out in the mellow modes shared by Chet Baker during his early years – but by the time of this set, he was a nicely different player – which makes the pairing with Baker so great – especially as this was a time when Chet was really laying low, and hardly recording at all. The rest of the group features Jack Marshall on guitar, Dave Frishberg on piano, Joe Mondragon on bass, and Nick Ceroli on drums – a very sprightly combo who add a lot to the record – and both Chet and Jack sing on the record, in addition to serving up trumpet solos too. The record is an especially great one for Sheldon – very confident vocally, and really at the height of his powers here as both a singer and instrumentalist – with that wry approach that we love so much. Titles include "Evil Blues", "You Fascinate Me", "Once I Loved", "Too Blue", "Just Friends", "But Not For Me", "I Cried For You", and "Historia De Un Amor". LP, Vinyl record album

The first album ever cut by George Benson as a leader – a cooker of a soul jazz set, recorded back when George was the guitarist in Jack McDuff's classic 60s quartet! The album's almost a McDuff Quartet one – since Jack's on Hammond and Red Holloway is on tenor – but the group's slightly different too, with the surprising additions of Montego Joe on drums, and Ronnie Boykins on bass! Benson's guitar is amazing throughout – sharp-edged and played with a tightness that's quite different than most of his later work – and titles include "Shadow Dancers", "The Sweet Alice Blues", "Just Another Sunday", "Easy Living", and "Rock A Bye". LP, Vinyl record album

A mid 60s album by Berry, and unlike a lot of other Chess full lengths at the time, this set features more new tunes than those pulled from 45s. 12 tracks in all, including "It Wasn't Me", "Run, Joe", "Every Day We Rock & Roll", "One For My Baby (And One For The Road)", "Welcome Back, Pretty Baby", "It's My Own Business", "Right Off Rampart Street", "Vaya Con Dios", "Merrily We Rock & Roll", "My Mustang Ford", "Ain't That Just Like A Woman" and "Wee Hour Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

An unmitigated blast of punk, worthy of setting the stage for the American hard core movement! While punk rock had been firmly established by the time this album came out, no one was prepared for the next level that Black Flag would take things to with this brutal, nihilistic, stripped down assault on the status quo! A classic that will stand up for ages, wit fist in the air anthems like "Rise Above", "Six Pack", "What I See", "TV Party", "Police Story", "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie", "Thirsty & Miserable", "Depression", "Padded Cell", "Damaged I", "Damaged II", "Life Of Pain", "Room 103" and "No More". LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal work from Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers – recorded at a time when that group was really coming together! After a slightly wayward year of 1957, when the Messengers had a different lineup away from Blue Note, Art re-forged the group for the end of the 50s with a rock-solid array of players – including a young Lee Morgan on trumpet and Bobby Timmons on piano, plus Benny Golson on tenor, with a sense of arrangement that really helps give the group some focus – while still letting the solos open up in a live setting like this! All tracks are long, and played with lots of fire – and the kind of amazing open-ended solos that the group could cook up whenever they were working in a live environment. Titles on this first volume include "Politely", "Whisper Not", "Now's The Time", and "The First Theme". LP, Vinyl record album

The long-overdue release of an unissued Blue Note session from 1959 – one that features a version of the Jazz Messengers right before Wayne Shorter joined the group, with the mighty Hank Mobley on the quintet lineup on tenor! The Messengers in 1959 and 1960 were really at the top of their game – and here feature the fantastic newcomers, Lee Morgan on trumpet and Bobby Timmons on piano, both of whom were helping drummer Blakey to form a new, evolved version of the sound he'd been crafting with other lineups in previous years – aided here by the rock-solid Jymie Merritt on bass! As with some of the other unissued Blue Note dates of this type, the whole thing is fantastic – not an unformed, half-baked session – but the kind of material that could stand right next to Blakey classics of the time, like The Big Beat or Moanin. Titles include "Quick Trick", "M&M", "Just Coolin", "Jimerick", "Close Your Eyes", and "Hipsippy Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album that had one of the best versions of the Jazz Messengers taking a big step forward – thanks to some increased songwriting by the group's young tenor genius – Wayne Shorter! Shorter's tunes take up all of the second half of the record, and all of them have gone onto become classics – "Giantis", "Sleeping Dancer Sleep On", and "Noise In The Attic" – all tunes that hint at the modernism that was to come in Wayne's music, and which especially seem to push his tenor and the trumpet of Lee Morgan into the range of more mature colors and tones that would grace their music as the 60s moved on. Meanwhile, there's a rock-solid rhythm drive at the core – Art Blakey on drums, Jymie Merritt on bass, and the great Bobby Timmons on piano – still making a strong contribution to the group. Lee Morgan wrote the nine minute tune "Johnny's Blue" on side one – which also includes a beautiful version of "Like Someone In Love" – a masterpiece in soulful lyricism! LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal work from Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers – recorded at a time when that group was really coming together! After a slightly wayward year of 1957, when the Messengers had a different lineup away from Blue Note, Art re-forged the group for the end of the 50s with a rock-solid array of players – including a young Lee Morgan on trumpet and Bobby Timmons on piano, plus Benny Golson on tenor, with a sense of arrangement that really helps give the group some focus – while still letting the solos open up in a live setting like this! All tracks are long, and played with lots of fire – and the kind of amazing open-ended solos that the group could cook up whenever they were working in a live environment. Titles on this second volume include "Moanin With Hazel", "Blues March For Europe #1", "Like Someone In Love", and "We Named It Justice". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible record from Bobby Blue Bland – and quite possibly the greatest one he ever made! The set's got an amazing something special that's unlike most other material of the time – a bit blues, but a lot of soul too – still with some echoes of R&B in the jazzier charts used for the backdrop, but presented with a rock-solid style that definitely points the way towards many sounds and styles to come in the 60s. And although Bland recorded many of these tracks as separate singles, there's a way they're put together here that makes the whole thing sound completely marvelous together – a really well-conceived track list that shows that Bobby's an even greater artist in the space of a full record. The arrangements are perfect, and Bobby's rough soulful voice is blended in this amazing way with killer horn arrangements that are far more sophisticated than most stuff that ever came after this, and which never get in the way, but only back up his deep emotion. The album's a motherlode of classics by the man, with gems that include "Two Steps From The Blues", "Cry Cry Cry", "I Don't Want No Woman", "I'm Not Ashamed", "Don't Cry No More", "Lead Me On", and "I Pity The Fool". And hell, even his version of "St James Infirmary" is pretty wonderful – something we never thought we'd say about that song. LP, Vinyl record album

Early work from one of the heaviest hard rock bands of the 60s – presented here on a set of demo tracks that were originally broadcast on San Francisco radio, and helped the group earn their recording contract with Philips Records! Blue Cheer were maybe the first group to think of turning their amps up to 11 – and there's a rawness to this work that may even top the fire of their classic debut, with really mindblowing guitar from Leigh Stephens all the way through! Titles include the 10 minute jammer "Doctor Please", a killer take of "Summertime Blues", and the mighty fierce "Second Time Around". LP, Vinyl record album

Another dose of ridiculous bluesy heaviness from Blue Cheer, without as much bluster as their first couple of albums, but the same bloated appeal. 10 numbers in all, including "Fool", "You're Gonna Need Someone", 'Hello LA, Bye Bye Birmingham", "Saturday Freedom", "Ain't That The Way Love's Supposed To Be", "Rock & Roll Queens", "Better When We Try", "Natural Man", "Lovin' You's Easy" and "The Same Old Story". LP, Vinyl record album

This Blue Cheer record, their first of two in 1969, has a different lineup on each side–with Bruce Stephens on guitar, tortoise shell, & sandblocks, and Burns Kellogg on piano & organ on the somewhat more bluesy & song-oriented Side 1, while Randy Holden takes over guitar & vocals for the much heavier psych-rock approach on Side 2. Titles include "When It All Gets Old", "I Want My Baby Back", "Aces'N'Eights", "Peace Of Mind", "Honey Buter Lover", and the mind-melting "Fruit & Iceburgs". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal criss-crossing of styles from the late 60s Cali scene – served up by a group who were steeped in blues, but a big part of the psychedelic scene at the time – and somehow managed to merge both of their worlds effortlessly, at a level that was even more powerful and effective than most of their contemporaries! Leigh Stephen is a monster on guitar – already using lots more freak and fuzz than the earlier generations who inspired him – and bassist Dick Peterson also sings, almost as if he's channeling his instrument to give him the same soulful depth that would later come from Phil Lynott – all supported by the driving drums of Paul Whaley. The whole thing's got a nice freaky sound, thanks to production from Abe Voco Kesh – and titles include the great long original "Doctor Please", plus takes on "Summertime Blues" and "Parchment Farm" – and the titles "Out Of Focus", "Rock Me Baby", and "Second Time Around". LP, Vinyl record album