An excellent album of hard-rolling piano – part R&B, part blues, and part jazz, some of the incredible work of pianist Lloyd Glenn, a heavy handed groover from the 50s. We're not sure, but we think the album may include work that Glenn recorded for Aladdin, issued here under an Imperial label. The tracks are all short, with a rolling piano groove that's part Texas, part New Orleans. Titles include "Glenn's Guide", "Shadow Land", "Chocolate Drop", "Chica Boo", "Tiddley Winks", "Nite Flite", and "Still Water". CD

A record that forever changed the role of the DJ and turntable when it was dropped on the world – certainly not the first record to feature an artist building sound out of a mixture of old records and his own creation, but definitely one of the most hyped and most exposed over the years! For some reason, Shadow was able to find a way to take all the skills that hip hop DJs had been developing for 20 years, mixing them with some of the darkness of the European production scene – and then getting a wider audience to really appreciate both his own talents, and all the other inspirations that drove him – something that still seems to resonate all these many years later, as Shadow opened the door for many others to appreciate all the sounds that we'd been loving in the underground! And despite all his later work, this classic full length set might still be his best – a well-deserved classic, with titles that include "Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt", "The Number Song", "Changeling", "What Does Your Soul Look Like (pts 1 & 4)", "Mutual Slump", "Organ Donor", and "Midnight In A Perfect World". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that forever changed the role of the DJ and turntable when it was dropped on the world – certainly not the first record to feature an artist building sound out of a mixture of old records and his own creation, but definitely one of the most hyped and most exposed over the years! For some reason, Shadow was able to find a way to take all the skills that hip hop DJs had been developing for 20 years, mixing them with some of the darkness of the European production scene – and then getting a wider audience to really appreciate both his own talents, and all the other inspirations that drove him – something that still seems to resonate all these many years later, as Shadow opened the door for many others to appreciate all the sounds that we'd been loving in the underground! And despite all his later work, this classic full length set might still be his best – a well-deserved classic, with titles that include "Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt", "The Number Song", "Changeling", "What Does Your Soul Look Like (pts 1 & 4)", "Mutual Slump", "Organ Donor", and "Midnight In A Perfect World". LP, Vinyl record album

Funky niceness from Quannum all stars Gift Of Gab & Lateef, plus producer Headnotic of Crown City Rockers – working with team Def Jux – and a stellar roster of guests including MF Doom, Lyrics Born, Casual, Mr Lif, Akrobatic, the Marleys and others. The record reaches for the glory days of the Quannum label, with easygoing spacey beatcraft, and rhymes solid rhymes to match. Tracks include "Monster", "Hands In The Air", "So Sad" feat Julien & Damien Marley, "Gunfight" feat MF Doom, "Ill Vacation" feat Lyrics Born, "Laughing At You" feat Casual, "Escape" feat Mr Lif & Akrobatik, "Folks", "UFC" (rmx) feat DJ Shadow, "WarWalk" feat Chali 2na, Raashan Ahmad, Tash & Zion, "Victorious" and more. CD

Sparkling piano from Bruce Barth – set up nicely in a group that also features Steve Nelson on vibes and Terell Stafford on trumpet and flugelhorn! Both players bring in some darker edges that round out the sound nicely – mixing with Barth's lyrical lines on keys, which dance magically to rhythmic accompaniment from Vincente Archer on bass and Montez Coleman on drums. Nelson's especially expressive here – and although he drops out for three of the album's ten tracks, he still really helps shape the overall vibe of the record. Titles include "Vamonos", "Moon Shadows", "Brasilia", "Daybreak", "Triste", "Tuesday's Blues", and "In The Still Of The Night". CD

The early roots of The Guess Who – served up here in a double-length collection of material that's overflowing with great cuts before their famous years on RCA! The group's sound is already pretty strongly formed here – thanks to vocals and piano from Burton Cummings, and guitar work from Randy Bachman – maybe in more familiar garage territory on a number of cuts, but definitely finding that special sort of approach by the middle of the set – especially once Cummings discovers the more soulful, expressive side of his vocals. The set's got 28 tracks in all – put together by Bachman himself – and titles include "Friends Of Mine", "Maple Fudge", "Of A Dropping Pin", "We're Coming To Dinner", "Sitar Saga", "Miss Felicity Grey", "There's No Getting Away From You", "Croyez Moi", and "Shadows Cross The Shadows". CD

A monster record by Brother Jack McDuff, and one of his best-ever – in our humble opinion! At first glance, the album appears to be just a bunch of jazz covers of standards and pop tracks – like "Tobacco Road", "Shadow Of Your Smile", "This Bitter Earth", and "Teardrops From My Eyes" – but Jack's got some help from JJ Jackson on the arrangements, and the outwardly simple tracks are twisted into these amazing grooves that have Jack wailing away in strange choppy funky ways on the organ! The whole album must be heard to be believed, and the version of "Shadow Of Your Smile", which starts with a nice break, is worth the price of the album alone! Plus, the whole thing's packaged in a very groovy cover, too. LP, Vinyl record album

Earl Klugh's guitar gets plenty of rich colors to work with here – some deeper backdrops from arrangers Don Sebesky and Dave Matthews – each of whom bring a different mood to the set! Sebesky's got those lush, full charts that we love so much from his classic orchestral charts of the 60s and 70s – while Matthews is a bit tighter and more swinging, but still farther from his funky work of the 70s than you might expect. Klugh's guitar hits loads of those classic colorful tones throughout – and titles include "Theme From The Pawnbroker", "The Look Of Love", "Nature Boy", "A Certain Smile", "The Shadow Of Your Smile", and "Stay Gold". LP, Vinyl record album

A nicely electrified set from trumpeter Wallace Roney – working here in a style that has plenty of moody backdrops on Fender Rhodes, plus some really snapping percussion from drummer Eric Allen! There's a sound here that's clearly inspired by 70s Miles, but which also moves through a range of more recent expression, and which often reminds us of work from French trumpeter Erik Truffaz on his first few Blue Note albums. Some of the tracks are more acoustic and straightforward, in the manner of Roney's earlier albums – and players include Adam Holzman on Fender Rhodes, Geri Allen on acoustic keys, Antoine Roney on tenor and soprano saxes, and Matt Garrison on bass. Guest performers include Don Byron on bass clarinet, Clifton Anderson on trombone, and DJ Logic on turntables – and titles include "Cyberspace", "Shadow Dance", "Prototype", "Then & Now", "Secret Identity", and "Three Views Of The Blues". CD

For many folks, this is the first truly great album from Sonic Youth – the first in which the group found any kind of a groove at all! Sonic Youth had been sputtering around the New York art punk scene since the early 80s, but things didn't really come together until this work of aggressively fractured genius hit the streets in '86. New drummer Steve Shelley's arrival brought a solid backdrop to Thurston Moore's and Lee Renaldo's "Sister Ray" worshipping electric squall, and it made a world of difference. The standout is "Expressway To Yr Skull", one of the great underground rock songs of the 80s – one that had the group working what could almost be called a melodic style, albeit one filled with noisy clatter. Arguably the point where Sonic Youth stopped started making some of the most interesting and rewarding indie rock of all time! Other tracks include "Tom Violence", "Shadow Of A Doubt", "Star Power", "Green Light", and "Bubblegum". LP, Vinyl record album

A stone classic from People Under The Stairs – a record that not only stands as some of their strongest work on wax, but which undeniably helped a lot of the west coast find a way forward after too many years stuck in the shadow of thuggish posturing! The set bristles with the kind of inventive production and lyricism that would unfold on the west coast in years to come – upbeat and positive at points, but without ever sounding weak, commercial, or watered down. The balance is key – and is what makes the record endure so strongly as the years go on – and tracks include "The Suite For Beaver parts 1 & 2", "OST(Original Soundtrack)", "Tales Of Kidd Drunkadelic", "Keepin It Live", "Empty Bottles Of Water", "The Outrage", "The Hang Loose", "The Double K Show", "Montego Slay", "8 Is Enuff", "The L.A. Song", "Acid Raindrops", "The Joyride", "The Breakdown", "The Dig", and "The Heat". LP, Vinyl record album