32 nuggets from the farther reaches of the British scene in the early years of punk rock – music that goes past some of the bigger names of the time, and which presents an especially English take on the raw sounds that were shaking things up on both sides of the Atlantic as an antidote to the disco and AOR generations! The Cherry Red label was born during these times, and always had a great ear for some of the more unusual, offbeat work – including cuts by artists who were important, but who quickly disappeared from the scene – presented here in both classic 45rpm singles, and some even much more obscure and rare tracks too! The whole thing's got a short, sharp punch throughout – and titles include "Mucky Pup" by Puncture, "Hungry" by The Zeros, "Outside View" by Eater, "Peudo Punk" by O Level, "Chelsea 77" by Maniacs, "Speed Freak" by V2, "Safety Pin Stuck In My Heart" by Patrik Fitzgerald, "Teenage Treats" by The Wasps, "I Don't Want My Heart To Rule My Head" by Social Security, "Murder Of Liddle Towers" by Angelic Upstarts, "Just Another Teenage Rebel" by The Outcasts, "ACAB" by The Rowdies, "19 & Mad" by Leyton Buzzards, "King Of Kings" by The Pack, "Where's Captain Kirk" by Spizzenergi, "These Boots Are Made For Walking" by Pure Hell, and "Jilly" by The Pranhas. LP, Vinyl record album

Great R&B work from a range of Savoy singers – Big Maybelle, Little Esther, Albinia Jones, Miss Rhapsody, and Linda Hopkins – all 78rpm material, packaged here with great notes! LP, Vinyl record album

You might not know Les Cousins, but back in the city it was a very important club on the London scene – a crossroads of blues, folk, and other styles – with an influence that was every bit important in England as the Greenwich Village clubs were in the US! This massive 3CD set does a great job of documenting the sounds that passed through its stage – not via live recordings, but over a well-chosen array of cuts that demonstrate just how hip British work of the time could be – folk-plus material, of the sort you'd hear on the best albums on Island Records or Transatlantic, all very much of the generation of Nick Drake and Fairport Convention! The 3CD set does a really great job of showing the wide range of acts from this moment – including many we haven't had on other reissues in recent years – in a great box that features 72 tracks, and very detailed notes on the material. Includes work from The Levee Brothers, Roy Harper, Dr Strangely Strange, Strawbs, Owen Hand, Dave Evans, Anne Briggs, Tom Yates, Duffy Power, Ron Geesin, Jackson C Frank, Martin Carthy, Dando Shaft, Shelagh McDonald, Al Jones, Sweeney's Men, Sam Mitchell, Tir Na Nog, Beverly, Michael Chapman, and many others. CD

Brilliant funky instrumentals from the UK Cavendish Sound Library – a company who could sometimes recorded more staid music, although that certainly wasn't the case with the gems on this collection! The music is by a handful of British studio talents of the time – most of whom come from the jazz scene in earlier years – and provide a great update of their earlier talents with some very sweet electric touches! Many of these tunes have some really great keyboards – Fender Rhodes or even moogier elements – and many also have wicked basslines next to the funky drums, which really make things kick throughout. These tunes are vastly undiscovered – at least in comparison to better-known sound library funk from companies like KPM or DeWolfe – but we'd put these grooves right up there with the best of that bunch too. This second volume is full of wonderful tracks that go even farther past the first volume – funky, but jazzy too – with a lot of work by Dennis Farnon, including the cuts "Night Walk", "Soul Type Blues", "Shanghai Caper", "Cocoanut Cocktail", "Bass Bits", "Chameleon", "Crazy Legs", "Blues For Boo", "Baltic Caper", "Test Drive", and "Nuremberg Ring" – plus "Funk" and "Rock" by Chris Barron, "Equation" and "Mad Mendoza" by Trevor Duncan, "Leagueliner" by Ray Davies, "Diraffe" by Bob Adams, and "Self Deception" by Tany Turens. LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite volumes in the London Is The Place For Me collection – and a brilliant batch of work that criss-crosses West African, West Indian, and postwar jazz styles! Most of the recordings here were done under the leadership of Ambrose Adekoya Campbell – a transplant to London from Lagos in the postwar year, and an artist who had a huge influence on the changing rhythms of his scene. Campbell mixed styles of his roots with those of the larger London community around him – in a way that let in more Latin and Caribbean influences to more traditional African styles – often using guitar in a high-life styled way, but also bringing in some key jazz phrasings as well. As usual with Honest Jons' reissues, the notes are quite detailed, but ultimately a bit unspecific about the actual recordings in the set – although we can say that Campbell's on nearly all of these, and they were all done as 50s 78rpm singles for the Melodisc label. Titles include "We Have It In Africa", "Iku Koni Payin", "I Am A Stranger", "Lagos Mambo", "Ela Da Awa", "and "Calabar-O" by West African Rhythm Brothers; "The Wind In A Frolic" and "Unity" by Nigerian Union Rhythm Group; "Ibikunle Alakija" by Ayinde Bakare & His Meranda Orchestra; and "Late Ojo Davies" and "Geneva Conference" by West African Rhythm Stars. LP, Vinyl record album

Recorded By Colin Turnbull and Francis S Chapman. CD

A set of merengue tracks, but from a very focused source – as the package features all numbers recorded in the Dominican Republic during the 60s and 70s – often with a groove that sets them apart from the rest! The rhythms here are often blindingly fast – so much so, you might be tempted to make sure you're not playing the album at 45rpm – which makes for an even more amazing discovery once you realize that live musicians are moving at such speed with such dexterity – in a way that also creates all this weird tension in the vocals and other instrumentation too! As with other Bongo Joe sets, the track list is great – and titles include "La Negra" by Bilo Y Sus Tipicos, "Me Gustan Las Pegajosas" by Trio Ramirez, "Que Mala Suerte" by Rafaelito Roman, "La Mecha" by Victor Suriel Y Trio Rio Verde, "La Pasion De Cristo" by Trio Royecell, "Por La Manaita" by Negrito Figueroa, "Cana Brava" by Fefita La Grande, and "Los Lanbones" by Aristides Ramirez. CD

A set of merengue tracks, but from a very focused source – as the package features all numbers recorded in the Dominican Republic during the 60s and 70s – often with a groove that sets them apart from the rest! The rhythms here are often blindingly fast – so much so, you might be tempted to make sure you're not playing the album at 45rpm – which makes for an even more amazing discovery once you realize that live musicians are moving at such speed with such dexterity – in a way that also creates all this weird tension in the vocals and other instrumentation too! As with other Bongo Joe sets, the track list is great – and titles include "La Negra" by Bilo Y Sus Tipicos, "Me Gustan Las Pegajosas" by Trio Ramirez, "Que Mala Suerte" by Rafaelito Roman, "La Mecha" by Victor Suriel Y Trio Rio Verde, "La Pasion De Cristo" by Trio Royecell, "Por La Manaita" by Negrito Figueroa, "Cana Brava" by Fefita La Grande, and "Los Lanbones" by Aristides Ramirez. LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent collection of rare female soul from the 60s – a set that not only features overlooked 45rpm singles from Warner Brothers at the time – but also some great gems from their famous Loma Records imprint too! If you think you know this territory, think again – as there's a huge amount of tracks here that are completely fresh to our ears – the kind of material that a label as big as Warner was able to cut with their ample staff and studio time, then never did a think to promote the singles at all – leaving a space of decades before all these 7" gems were finally able to get exposure on a set like this! The package moves between catchy group soul and deeper-burning solo material – and the whole thing's done with the usual high quality we love from Ace, from the sound quality right down to the notes in the book. Titles include "There He Goes" by The Royalettes, "We Can Find That Love" by Vickie Baines, "He's Good" by Barbara Jackson, "Contact" by Three Degrees, "Wounded" by The Cookies, "My Soul Concerto" by The Apollas, "I Taught Him (part 1)" by Gloria Scott & The Tonettes, "All Because I Love Somebody" by Barbara English, "Don't Come A Knockin" by Mary Lee Whitney, "Here I Come" by Joyce Alexander, "Jive Jimmy" by The Socialites, "The Reason Why" by The Dolls, "Bright Lights" by Delilah Kennebreuw, and "Oh Eddy My Baby" by Brenda Hall. CD

A tremendous overview of some really important years in British music – a period that sometimes gets overlooked, due to the huge explosion of psych, prog, and other styles – but one that's equally creative in its own sort of way! First off, forget the term "folk rock" – because although that's what this music might be, it's also very different than the pop folk modes that were big on the US scene in the mid 60s – as this folk rock scene instead represented a host of British musicians really retrenching, and finding their own sort of styles – sometimes borrowing bits from the ancient past of England, other times bringing forth a contemporary way of putting over a tune – at a level that might have gotten commercial and overproduced if these guys were working on the American west coast, but which instead has a nicely unadorned quality here. At a time when most American labels (and listeners) were really leaving folk music behind, these artists were able to often work free from the needs of a big commercial hit – and make genius music that's gone on to transform many minds over the decades. The set moves way past the obvious – and features a whopping 60 tracks in all, with lots of notes in the package – and even includes a few never-issued tracks as well. Includes work by Harvey Andrews, Jade, Michael Chapman, Andy Roberts, Mr Fox, Pentangle, Shirley Collins, Prelude, Heron, Mike Cooper, Paul Brett's Sage, Lifeblood, Dando Shaft, Canticle, Jeremy Harmer, Bridget St John, Al Jones, Bill Fay, Fairport Convention, The Woods Band, Matthew's Southern Comfort, The Johnstons, Beau, Richmond, Chimera, Spirogyra, and many others! CD

The third installment in one of the greatest doo wop series we've ever heard – a really wonderful collection of material recorded for Vee Jay Records in Chicago – but one that goes way past the hits, to include a flurry of rare 78 and 45rpm singles that were among some of the label's best R&B group material! This well-annotated 25 track set is overflowing with goodies – and titles include "Ozeta" and "Rosebud" by The Magnificents, "Be Mine" by Preston Jackson & The Rhythm Aces, "Sugar Girl" by The Orioles, "The Convention" and "I'm Gonna Be Glad" by The Delegates, "Time Makes You Change" and "Dance Dance Dance" by The Dells, "I Pray For Your Love" by Danny Cobb with the Magnificents, "A Rose For My Darling" by The Eldorados, "I Wonder Why" and "That's My Sugar" by The Rhythm Aces, "I'll Pray For You" by The Midnighters, and "My Only Love" and "Stop" by The Lyrics & The Falcons. CD

Music from Mister T, ES-K, Sixfingerz, Loopmaffia, Green Street, and others. CD

A nice little collection, and one that definitely fits the sunny Cali look on the cover – as the set mixes together vintage jazz and AOR from the 70s, but also includes some cuts from the present as well – all with a timeless vibe that almost creates a new sort of genre unto itself! Acoustic and electric elements share the sound equally, as do vocal and instrumental modes – and there's a style to the set that's maybe as if you've come into the SoCal scene during the height of the big label recordings of the 70s – but maybe stumbled on some smaller studios down the road apiece where more personal, interesting music is taking place. Titles include "Let Love Flow" by Monica Rypma, "You Never Sang This Song" by Guy Maxwell, "Sunday Morning" by Pixie Lauer, "Ride That Train" by Guy Schwartz, "Make Believe" by Jim Lamarche, "Land Of Wonder" by Maria Fant, "Misterios" by Diana Pequeno, "Marie" by Airbone, "Summer Days/Golden Haze" by White Feature, and "Phone Home" by Michael Welch. CD