John Savage offers us a mighty nice look at the years of post-disco, and post-post-punk – served up here in a great mix of music from a time when soulful styles were mixing it up with returning rock on the dancefloor! The work here is from a time when the UK scene was having big global impact with a new sort of sound – often with a fair dose of electric energy, sometimes darker and more industrialized, sometimes lighter and catchy – and a perfect fit for some of the street soul styles happing in the US as well! Most acts here are British, but there's a few key American groups two – blended together in the kind of cuts that made clubs like Danceteria or The Hacienda such a delight back in the day. As usual, the notes are superb – a special Savage touch – and titles include "Techno City (voc)" by Cybotron, "Telephone Operator" by Pete Shelly, "Soweto" by Malcolm McLaren, "All Tomorrow's Parties" by Japan, "Bright Lights" by The Special AKA, "What Presence" by Orange Juice, "No Sell Out" by Malcom X mixed by Keith LeBlanc, "I Want You" by Cabaret Voltaire, "Think Fast" by Pamela Joy, "Looking From A Hilltop" by Section 25, "Why" by Bronski Beat, "Sunspots" by Julian Cope, "Never Understand" by Jesus & Mary Chain, "Heat" by Soft Cell, "The Rock Steady Grew" by Rock Steady Crew, "Disappearing Act" by Shalamar, "Lined Up" by Shriekback, and "Life's A Scream" by A Certain Ratio. CD

Features music from New Order, Ministry, Meat Puppets, Depeche Mode, Killing Johke, Dinosaur Jr, Aztec Camera, Japan, Minor Threat, Hoodoo Gurus, Bauhaus, Julian Cope, Sisters Of Mercy, Faith No More, PIL, Minutemen, Rain Parade, and so much more – 82 tracks in all, plus rare photos and notes on each of the artists! CD

Crucial postpunk neo-psyche from Julian Cope and The Teardrop Explodes – a pretty incredible mix of pop eccentricity, with some of catchiest songs of Cope's wild ouvre, but still wholly unique – a creative high point for early 80s rock! Tight, insistent rhythms clearly inform the 80s indie scene to come, particularly with the drenching washes of keyboards and spindly guitar – with Cope's vocals as fun and charismatic as ever. Titles include "Ha Ha I'm Drowning", "Sleeping Gas", "Treason", "Second Hand", "Brave Boys Keep Their Promises", "Bouncing Babies", "Books", "When I Dream" and more. CD

A rare and long unavailable performance of the Kenny Dorham-Barry Harris Quartet captured in action in NYC in 1964! Dorham's trumpet is full and very strongly in the lead in this set – with Barry Harris's piano work provide a loose swagger underneath – reminding us quite a bit of Bud Powell! Julian Ewell is on bass with Albert "Tootie" Heath at the kit. Titles include "Confirmation", "Ma, He's Makin' Eyes At Me", Monk's "Around Midnight", "The Theme", "Tin Tin Deo" plus the bonus tracks "Scandia Skies", and "Manha De Carnaval" – featuring Dorham's quartet recorded live in Copenhagen in December of '63 with Tete Montoliu on piano, Neils-Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass and Alex Riel on drums. CD

Few players have the scope and depth of Charles Lloyd over the space of so many decades – and here, once again, Lloyd reminds us that his longevity in jazz has everything to do with the continued growth of his music – and not just the fact that he's stuck around for so long! The sound is wonderful – this 21st Century extrapolation of spiritual currents that Lloyd first unleashed in his early solo years, and which hit a very focused, clear vibe here in a quintet lineup that includes Julian Lage on guitar, Gerald Clayton on paino, Reuben Rogers on bass, and Eric Harland on drums. Lage's solos are as searing as Lloyd's, but in a very different way – and the mix of his tones and the sharper reeds is beautiful, and spun out over very long tracks that include "Dream Weaver", "Requiem", "La Llorna", and "Part 5 – Ruminations". CD