A key meeting between 2 important forces in electronic music in the 70s – the increasingly-experimental Brian Eno and the Cluster team of Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius! Unlike the trio's other album, this one's an all-instrumental affair – one that takes the atmospherics of Cluster, and gives them a darker Eno edge – in a way that gives the record an incredibly moody feel, and predates endless electronic work to come in the 90s. There's a spare brilliance here that's almost indescribable – songs that are hardly songs, sounds that slide back into silence – but somehow the whole thing's got a power that's far beyond the sum of its very small parts. Titles include "Wehrmut", "Fur Luise", "One", and "Die Bunge". CD

A deep dive into the genius of Faust – material recorded by the groundbreaking experimental collective at their home base during the early 70s, none of issued at the time! The work here stands as a seminal addendum to the too-small catalog of the group's material from these days – and the sounds within really show Faust at their most creative – moving through the kind of sonic territory that you'd know from their records, but presented here as if you've discovered an album that you somehow passed by! Some tracks are spare and moody, others driving and jamming – and throughout the material, Faust show that really unique ear for mixing live instrumentation and studio experimentation – all at a level that was very much their own, even in the heady company of the Krautrock generation. The material was originally part of the expensive Faust box set, but is presented here as a standalone release – and titles on volume one include "Naja", "Flaflas", "Mechankika", "Vorsatz", "Bonne Soupe Au Fromage", "Acouphenes", "Fin De Face", "Weird Sounds Sound Bizarre", and "Es Ist Wieder Da". CD

A deep dive into the genius of Faust – material recorded by the groundbreaking experimental collective at their home base during the early 70s, none of issued at the time! The work here stands as a seminal addendum to the too-small catalog of the group's material from these days – and the sounds within really show Faust at their most creative – moving through the kind of sonic territory that you'd know from their records, but presented here as if you've discovered an album that you somehow passed by! Some tracks are spare and moody, others driving and jamming – and throughout the material, Faust show that really unique ear for mixing live instrumentation and studio experimentation – all at a level that was very much their own, even in the heady company of the Krautrock generation. The material was originally part of the expensive Faust box set, but is presented here as a standalone release – and titles on volume two include "Danach", "Lampe An Tur Zu Leutte Rein", "Wir Wollen Mehr Volumen Kriegen", "Arrampicarsi Sul Vesuvio", "As Tu Vu Mon Ombre", "Ma Trompette", and "Dampf". CD

Great experimental work from Holger Hiller – a set that was issued on the important German new wave label Ata Tak, but which was maybe even more revolutionary than most other records on the imprint at the time! Hiller bridges so many different worlds here – earlier German electronic experimentation at an academic level, some of the spacier sounds of the prog generation, and the really creative exploration of earlier ideas in a more personal level that marked the new wave of the post-punk years – using some elements here that would be right at home on a cold wave recording, but with modes that are sometimes more playful, and almost in territory that Holger Czukay would explore on some of his solo work of the decade. The mix of keyboards, vocals, and analog elements is great – and titles include "Jonny", "Hosen Die Nicht Aneinander Passen", "Mutter Der Frohlichkeit", "Das Feuer", "Ein Hoch Auf Das Bugeln", and "Budapest Bukarest". CD

The brilliant solo debut of Martin Rev – a set that feels like it's peeled away all his best contributions from the first Suicide album, then found a way to serve them up with a slightly different vibe that really sets the album apart! There's lots of analog fuzz and echo – that same spacey style that made Suicide so great – but the keyboards dominate even more than before, as only one tune features vocals – which lets Rev do all these really cool things with the electronics – continuing his way of taking earlier prog, avant, and Krautrock experiments and fusing them into a leaner, meaner style for the punk generation! The album's got a very seminal sound – a key text in the cold wave generation – and titles include "Jomo", "Mari", "Baby O Baby", "Nineteen 86", and "Asia". CD

Rare work from the legendary Martin Rev – tracks that both predate his famous recordings with Alan Vega in Suicide, and which show his continuing experimentation even after that duo's initial album! As the title implies, the cuts here are all from cassettes – experimental recordings on a medium that could sometimes be fragile, but which allowed for plenty of inexpensive recording opportunities – so that Rev was at his most creative on electronics and keyboards, sometimes in modes that are almost little kernels of ideas that would later burst forth with Vega – but which are already pretty great here on their own. Tracks are mostly instrumental, but the electronics "speak" plenty – and titles include "El Barrio", "She's Back", "Rio Grande", "Skateboard", "Dreams", "Around The Corner", "Mari (mix)", and "Lineup". CD

One of those totally cool records from the German new wave – a set that's every bit as cartoony as you might guess from its cover, and which resonates strongly with work at the time from artists like Pyrolator or Der Plan! The music is in the territory of cold wave electronics, but warmer and more playful too – almost like some of the Japanese work that sprung up at the end of the 70s, but with some of the quirkier elements that makes us love the German new wave so much! There's plenty of cool keyboards and processed vocals – and titles include "Butterfly Baccanal", "I Can Sing", "Wutt Wutt", "Bubbles & Smoke", "Shine On Me", and "I See Stars". CD

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An obscure set of German electronic instrumental work from the start of the 80s – and a set that's maybe got some of the darker, colder sounds of the UK scene of the time, especially the sorts of music that was brewing up from the city of Sheffield! Zeus B Held hits harder and goes deeper than some of his German new wave counterparts – none of the playful modes of the Atatak label crew, and instead a more dystopian use of analog electronics that almost makes you feel like you're trapped in a no man's land between East and West Berlin! Titles include "Raise Your Gun", "Daily News", "Transportable Music", "Cowboy On The Beach", "Test", "Didn't I", and "Enfant Terrible". CD

A wonderfully groovy set of Christmas tracks – one done in a style very similar to the Get Easy Snow compilations – as you might guess from the title! The selection here is great – with a few perennial favorites, a few rare gems, and a great middle stretch of wonderful bits from some of the grooviest artists of the 60s and 70s – a great antidote to some of the too-played holiday music you might hear during the 12th month of the year! Titles include "Santa Claus Is Definitely Hear To Stay" by James Brown, "Close Your Mouth It's Christmas" by Free Design, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" by Jimmy McGriff, "Snow" by Claudine Longet, "Black Christmas" by The Emotions, "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" by The Temptations, "Christmas Gift" by Margie Joseph, "Winter Warm" by Bob Crewe Generation, "Snow Flakes" by The Ventures, "Winter Symphony" by The Beach Boys, "This Christmas" by Donny Hathaway, "Children Go Where I Send Thee" by Kenny Burrell, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" by Ray Anthony & His Bookends, "Swinging Christmas" by Helmut Zacharias, and "Jingo Jango" by Bert Kaempfert. CD