... CD

... CD

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A really fantastic set from this Swedish nine piece ensemble – a record that's overflowing with brash performance and unbridled energy – adventurous, but never totally free – and always given the right sort of focus to make things come across with a tremendous amount of power! The feel is almost like a Moserobie Records take on a Charles Mingus style – and the lineup features Martin Kuchen on alto and tenor – who also composed the album's five long tracks – plus Magnus Broo on trumpet, Matthias Stahl on vibes, Goran Kajfes on cornet, Mats Aleklint on trombone, Eirik Hegdal on baritone, Alexander Zethson on piano, Johan Berthling on bass, and Andreas Werliin on drums. If you know any of those players at all, you can imagine the greatness of the group – on titles that include "Adror", "Equality & Death", "Pacemaker", "Disappeared Behind The Sun", and "Love Flee Thy House". CD

The first album from Bedhead – a 1994 record that helped usher in something of a quiet revolution in 90s indie rock – paving the way for lusher, moodier and slower soundscapes, soon be dubbed slowcore! Bedhead is as much a breath of fresh air a couple decades later, delivering a timeless, moody sound that takes some cues from the vibe of the Velvet Underground at their mellowest, and more recent trailblazers like Spaceman 3 – but ultimately deliver their own distinctive, and now oft-imitated sound. Includes "Liferaft", "Haywire", "Bedside Table", "The Unpredictable", "Landlord", "Crushing", "Unfinished", "Powder", "Foaming Love", "To The Ground", "Living Well" and "Wind Down". CD

Seminal work by one of our favorite soul singers of all time! Jerry first came to fame with The Impressions and on his own in the early 60s – singing dark moody easy tunes that well earned him the nickname of "Iceman". In the late 60s, though, he moved onto Mercury where he broke through even bigger with some excellent early production by Gamble & Huff, which took Jerry to a whole new level, and which gave his work a swinging soul groove that worked great with his vocals. This set compiles some of the best moments of the Mercury years – including "Never Give You Up", "Lost", "Moody Woman", "Mr Dream Merchant", "Hey Western Union Man", and "Only The Strong Survive". LP, Vinyl record album

Mid 60s surf grooves from Jerry Cole – blazing guitar-led instrumentals, though this is not a simple, quickie cash-in on the surf trend – it's a actually a top notch taste of expert LA studio genius! Cole is a brilliant guitarist, and the Spaceman he assembled for the Surf Age record features the creme of the crop of LA studio geniuses from the period – including Hal Blaine, Earl Palmer, Steve Douglas and others. The mix of searing guitars with a raw rhythms with virtuoso musicianship really puts this record above and beyond most others! Includes "Surf Age", "Martian Surf", "Night Rumble", "Night Rumble", "Power Surf", "Bronze Surfer", "Jerry's Jump", "Deep Surf", "Racing Waves", "One Color Blues", "Ride-Um!" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Betty Everett and Jerry Butler certainly are delicious together – and the pair have more than enough great energy to hold on strong throughout this entire album of duets! Although Motown is probably best remembered as the home of the male/female duet mode of the 60s – Vee Jay certainly helped get things started with this great album – one that matches Jerry's Iceman vocals with Betty's warmer, younger approach – a pairing that comes off surprisingly well on the album's variety of numbers! Johnny Pate arranged, and titles include "Let It Be Me", "I Can't Stand It", "Fever", "Just Be True", "It's All Right", "Ain't That Loving You Baby", "The Way You Do The Things You Do", and "Our Day Will Come". LP, Vinyl record album

Although Roy's probably better known as a very qualified soul arranger/composer, this album features him in the lead as a vocalist – singing over his own backing, in a style that's part mellow iceman soul, and part 60s pop soul. Roy's vocals aren't the best we've ever heard on a soul album, but his feel for the material is very strong – and since he's handling all the arrangements, he's got a good sense of how to make things work best. Titles include "Back To My Old Home Town", "I Feel Fine", "The Feeling's Mu-tu-oo-al", "Baby, I Could Be So Good At Loving You", and "Love, That's In My Heart". LP, Vinyl record album

A windy city hero – the amazing Garland Green, a singer who makes us mighty proud we hail from Chicago! Garland's got an incredible style that few others can touch – partly schooled in the 60s iceman modes of Jerry Butler and Walter Jackson, with all the sophistication that might imply – but also often given a raspier twist, with slightly southern echoes that make Garland's music feel even more deeply personal! And while most folks know Green's big hits for the Uni label, this package shows a rich legacy that goes much father than that – work recorded for labels that include Cotillion, Spring, RCA, Ocean Front, and Revue – in addition to some key Uni tracks. This trans-label set really does a wonderful job of showing the full range of Garland's mighty talents – a sublime set of soul cuts that run from the start of the 70s right up to the early 80s modern years – packaged with detailed notes too. Titles include "Since You've Been Gone", "These Arms", "Just Loving You", "Just My Way Of Loving You", "He Didn't Know", "Don't Think That I'm A Violent Guy", "Love's Calling", "Just What The Doctor Ordered", "Sweet Loving Woman", "Ask Me What You Want", "You Played On A Player", "Don't Let Love Walk Out On Us", and "Sending My Best Wishes". CD

Trumpeter Keyon Harrold starts out this album with an inspirational message from his mother taken from his voicemail – then draws from that message to create one of his most amazing albums to date! Harrold's already been part of a strong underground scene for years – but here, he's clearly ready to burst forth and win over everyone else's ears – mixing his strong solo talents with a more spacious vision of presentation that sometimes uses larger strings, sometimes brings in a bit of vocals, and sometimes returns to the core energy of a combo! Harrold produced the record himself, and was clearly given a lot of space to get things right – something that's not often the case in the jazz industry these days, unless you're Robert Glasper – and he welcomes some great creative talents to the project – including Bilal , Georgia Anne Muldrow, Pharoahe Monch, Josh David Barrett, and even Glasper himself. Titles include "Ethereal Souls", "Her Beauty Through My Eyes", "Stay This Way", "When Will It Stop", "MB Lament", "The Mugician", "Bubba Rides Again", "Circus Show", and "Broken News". CD

Trumpeter Keyon Harrold starts out this album with an inspirational message from his mother taken from his voicemail – then draws from that message to create one of his most amazing albums to date! Harrold's already been part of a strong underground scene for years – but here, he's clearly ready to burst forth and win over everyone else's ears – mixing his strong solo talents with a more spacious vision of presentation that sometimes uses larger strings, sometimes brings in a bit of vocals, and sometimes returns to the core energy of a combo! Harrold produced the record himself, and was clearly given a lot of space to get things right – something that's not often the case in the jazz industry these days, unless you're Robert Glasper – and he welcomes some great creative talents to the project – including Bilal , Georgia Anne Muldrow, Pharoahe Monch, Josh David Barrett, and even Glasper himself. Titles include "Ethereal Souls", "Her Beauty Through My Eyes", "Stay This Way", "When Will It Stop", "MB Lament", "The Mugician", "Bubba Rides Again", "Circus Show", and "Broken News". LP, Vinyl record album

Chuck arrives at the Motown label – and already finds a fresh new sound that's different from his earlier years at Wand Records! Chuck only worked with Motown for a few short years, but his time at the label marked a big shift in his work – a move away from the more staid "Iceman" soul of the Wand recordings, and into a sound that was deeper, more expressive, and nicely mature as well. There's a growing southern soul sensibility to many of these tracks – as Chuck seems to be taking a cue from some of the better singers of the late 60s, and deepening his sound with influences brought north from Memphis and Muscle Shoals. The core sound's still prime Motown, though – with top-shelf arrangements and productions – and in a way, these recordings mark the link between Memphis and Detroit that would be explored a lot more heavily in key 70s recordings by Don Davis and other producers who skirted between the two cities' scenes. Titles include "Lonely Lonely Man Am I", "To See The Sun Again", "Ain't No Sun Since You've Been Gone", "I Can't Go On Sharing Your Love", and "Where You Gonna Run To Now". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful rare single by this great Chicago soul singer! The work is post-Okeh, pre-ChiSound – and it's perfect Iceman soul from Walter on both sides! The tracks are pretty darn obscure, and although the production's not credited on either side, it's in a perfect style for Jackson's rich warm vocals! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Sweet smooth soul from Walter Jackson – recording here in his later years, with a style that's a lot more modern than his classic 60s recordings for Okeh, but still surprisingly nice, and a great evolution of his "Iceman" soul sound! The set features Eugene Record's great title cut, "Tell Me Where It Hurts", plus a version of Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic", a remake of "At Last" – and the tunes "What If I Walked Out On You", "When I See You", and "Living Without You". LP, Vinyl record album

A sublime mix of new tunes and re-imagined standards – and a set that takes Walter Jackson into even more sophisticated soul territory than before! The record is proof that the up and coming soul artists of the 60s had a key place alongside the more established mainstream acts on the other side of the fence – as Walter's working here with arranger Riley Hampton to re-cast a number of familiar tunes in his cool Iceman soul mode – changing the themes, rhythms, and inflections of the tracks for a more contemporary soul market – and also interspersing them with a few great new songs of his own! The approach is amazing – far better than even Jerry Butler or Chuck Jackson's work in a similar idiom – and the album features the sublime hit "Welcome Home", plus the Van McCoy tunes "Suddenly I'm All Alone", "Still At The Mercy Of Your Love", and "The Magic's Gone" – alongside versions of "Moon River", "Let It Be Me", "Imagination", and "My Funny Valentine". LP, Vinyl record album

A stone classic – and one of the wilder, more electronic albums from Sun Ra – a set that has him playing on "two moog synthesizers" – which both sound as if they're going at the same time! The rest of the group is quite small – with only John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, and Danny Davis – so Ra really center stage on the keys, and spends most of the record making some really weird and wonderful sounds on the moog – showing the world that, although the instrument was already gaining popularity in the hands of others, nobody could handle the futuristic sound machine like the spaceman himself! The mix of moog with avant jazz solos is completely sublime – and titles include "Intergalactic II", "To Nature's God", and "The Code Of Interdependence". CD features some great bonus tracks – the 17 minute "Space Probe", plus some alternates and odd takes too! CD

A stone classic – and one of the wilder, more electronic albums from Sun Ra – a set that has him playing on "two moog synthesizers" – which both sound as if they're going at the same time! The rest of the group is quite small – with only John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, and Danny Davis – so Ra really center stage on the keys, and spends most of the record making some really weird and wonderful sounds on the moog – showing the world that, although the instrument was already gaining popularity in the hands of others, nobody could handle the futuristic sound machine like the spaceman himself! The mix of moog with avant jazz solos is completely sublime – and titles include "Intergalactic II", "To Nature's God", "The Code Of Interdependence", "The Perfect Man (complete tracking session)", and the 17 minute "Space Probe"! LP, Vinyl record album

Very dark stuff from Sun Ra – one of his records that received wider circulation than most of the Saturn releases of the 70s, and a set that maintains a pretty sharp edge overall! Ra plays some killer keyboards – moog, spacemaster, and acoustic piano – often with these really eerie tones – and other players include Kwame Hadi on trumpet, Akh Tal Ebah on space dimension mellophone, Ali Hassan on trombone, Marshal Allen and Danny Davis on alto and flute, John Gilmore on tenor, and Pat Patrick on baritone – and the whole group vocalizes at points, joined by other singers who include June Tyson and Art Jenkins. Recorded at the Sun studios in New York in 1970, the album features a number of shorter tracks like "Spectrum", "The Satellites Are Spinning", "Seen III, Took 4", "Adventures Of Bugs Hunter", and the longer tracks "Legend" and "The Realm Of Lightning". LP, Vinyl record album