A pair of albums from Rain Parade – back to back on a single set! First up is Emergency Rail Power Trip – an undisputed treasure from the early 80s west coast scene – a trippy little record that was one of the shining jewels in the new psych underground – quite a shift from the LA hardcore sound of a few years before! Yet unlike some of their contemporaries, Rain Parade were hardly copping any sort of easy retro modes – as their approach here is leaner, maybe a bit colder, and almost influenced by post-punk styles in the same way that some of the better UK bands were at the time – almost as if there was a synchronous explosion of fuzzy energy between the group and the Creation Records generation to come. The whole thing holds up wonderfully over the years – maybe even more so, given the passage of time, and the legions of other groups who never made the music this well. Titles include "Talking In My Sleep", "I Look Around", "This Can't Be Today", "Look At Merri", "Saturday's Asylum", and "Kaleidoscope". Explosions In The Glass Palace is fuzzy magic from The Rain Parade – an EP, but one that's every bit as important to their catalog as their full length debut! In fact, the record might be an even purer distillation of their sound – recorded by a four member lineup, with a nice focus on the more subtle elements of their songwriting skills, and sometimes augmented by just a bit of light strings, in a really nice way. Titles include "Broken Horse", "Prisoners", "You Are My Friend", "Blue", and "No Easy Way Down". CD

Prince in a grand groove – really hitting a new level of funk with a razor-sharp edge – and even blowing away some of his work on previous records! The record's a soundtrack for a film – Under The Cherry Moon – and although that movie never had the success of Purple Rain, we actually think it left behind an even stronger musical legacy – one that has Prince finding even more of a funky voice than before, with so many wonderfully freaky twists and turns! The music never got the showcase it might have deserved, because of the failure of the film – but it's one of our favorite Prince albums ever, and includes the massively funky "Kiss", the closest Prince ever got to James Brown, The whole album's got some great sweeping, pop psyche orchestral arrangements by Clare Fischer – and titles include "Christopher Tracey's Parade", "I Wonder U", "Under The Cherry Moon", "Girls & Boys", and "Anotherloverholenyohead". CD

Excellent material from Sonny Criss' late 60's comeback period! By this point, Criss had a sound, style, and maturity that was unmatched by any of his LA contemporaries – a way of blowing the alto that was neither boppish, nor cliched in R&B modes – and instead burst forth with a sense of soulful sophistication that was quite unique! Sonny's sound here is incredible throughout – a clear, clean approach to his instrument that is quite different than his style of a few years before – and he's set up in a great little combo that includes Hampton Hawes on piano, Monty Budwig on bass, and Shelly Mann on drums. Titles include the killer "California Screamin" – plus "I'll Catch The Sun", "Blue Sunset", "Cry Me A River", and "Don't Rain On My Parade". CD

The fourth Prince soundtrack in less than a decade – and a record that follows nicely after Purple Rain, Batman, and Parade, but with a slightly different spirit too – thanks to an ever-expanding Paisley Park family that included George Clinton, Morris Day, and Mavis Staples! The older funk acts are fine, and add to the spice – but it's clear that the main attraction here is Prince, although The Time are pretty darn welcome too! The set features vocal performances from Tevin Campbell, George Clinton, Mavis Staples, TC Ellis, and Robin Power – and titles include "New Power Generation", "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got", "Love Machine", "Tick Tick Bang", "Shake", "Thieves In The Temple", "Still Would Stand All Time", "Graffiti Bridge", and "The Latest Fashion". 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

The crowning achievement of the legendary Keith Hudson – a landmark album of instrumental dub that started out in very small circulation, but soon grew to become one of the most important albums of the genre! The sound here is spare, stark, and simple – but in the best way possible – as Hudson takes the music right down to its core, yet seems to create even more powerful flow in the process – revising the 60s Jamaican love of American soul into a more cosmic mode for the next decade – but all with a raw approach that makes each element come across with a great deal of focus. Titles include "Black Heart", "Pick A Dub", "Don't Move", "Blood Brother", "Michael Talbot Affair", "In The Rain", and "Satia". Also comes with the bonus related Pick A Vocal album – with vocals by Agustus Pablo, Horace Andy, and Delroy Wilson – alongside some more instrumental tunes. Tracks include "Still Water", "Addis Ababa", "Fight On Fight On", "I'm All Right", "Depth Charge", and "Don't Think About Me". CD

A fantastic early demonstration of the solo powers of Diana Ross – a live date from Vegas, and one that has her commanding the stage not just as a singer of soul music, but as a female star ready to rival the talents of any of her contemporaries in the mainstream! Ross shines here with a brilliant brightness right from the start – working with a large ensemble that echoes all her best Motown roots, but which also pushes things out in fuller, more vibrant modes too – as Diana runs through tracks that include old soul favorites, jazz standards, and even some surprising choices from the charts – at a level that's filled with poise, class, and soul throughout. Titles include a great "Supremes Medley", plus "Don't Rain On My Parade", "Corner Of The Sky", "I Love You Porgy", "My Man", "The Lady Is A Tramp", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", and a "Lady Sings The Blues Medley" with titles from the Billie Holiday songbook. CD

A great little album from Diana Ross – maybe one of her lesser-known efforts with The Supremes, and a set that really points the way towards the solo years to come! One of the reasons for that is that the set really just features Diana out in the lead, with different backing singers behind – all the great songs from the show, but recast with these sophisticated soul arrangements by Gil Askey – very groovy, very Motown, but also with a lot stronger focus on Ross upfront than usual! In a way, the shift is a fantastic nod to Diana's growing role as a star – really claiming her as the black Streisand, a position that she's clearly confident with, and maybe even beats Barbara on the vocal tip too. Titles include "Funny Girl", "The Music That Makes Me Dance", "Don't Rain On My Parade", "People", "Cornet Man", "His Love Makes Me Beautiful", "Sadie Sadie", and "I'm The Greatest Star" – the last of which would make a nice theme song for Diana's 70s years! This expanded version not only marks the first time the record has been on CD – it also features both the stereo and the mono mixes of the record – plus the original recording of the album, with Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong – the real Supremes recording of the set! There's also five more bonus tracks – "Cornet Man (alt)", "His Love Makes Me Beautiful (alt)", "Sadie Sadie (alt)", "I'm The Greatest Star (live TCB outtake)", and "My Man (live)". CD

Disco grooves from a source you might not expect – the Japanese scene of the 70s, which was home to a surprisingly strong array of records that were perfect for the clubs! In retrospect, maybe the music's not such a surprise – given that 70s Japan was also a hotbed of electric fusion, and the kind of sharp instrumentation that provides the core to most of these tunes – wicked basslines, sweet keyboards, and funky drums that propel these tracks along in a wonderful way – even if you can't understand some of the Japanese lyrics over the top! In fact, many of these numbers are even more in the fusion or funk-inspired side of disco – less the crossover cuts with strings and big production, and more like the kind of American club tracks you might hear from Kudu Records or some of the other fusion labels. The package is proof that great sounds can be truly universal – and comes with detailed notes on the artists and scene at the time. Titles include "By By Session Band" by Lily, "Summer Champion" by Yuko Asano, "Dancin" by Junko Ohashi, "Rainbow Parade" by Masayoshi Takanaka, "Uragiri" by Mari Natuski, "Maboroshi No Hito" by Miyako Chaki, "Banana" by Kay Ishiguro, "Yashow Macashow" by Ebonee Webb, "Lovin Mighty Fire" by Nayoya Matsuko & Minako Yoshida, "Sentimental Hotel" by Rie Nkahara, and "Barato Yajuu" by Haruomi Hosono. CD

Mos Def brings a veering diversity to New Danger – his first album in five years – a record that hits on tried-and-true Rawkus flavored beats and rhyme schemes, slow-rolling, smoked out soul & blues, and Quickness era Bad Brains-esque arena rock! Of course our favorite cuts are the straight up hip hop tracks, produced by Minnesota with a percolating, synth-layered sound that works really well – giving the backdrop kind of a pulpy, cinematic sweep. Other tracks feature Mos and his soul/rock/blues outfit Black Jack Johnson. Mos clearly refuses to be roped in by anyone's expectations at this point – a quality that reminds us of Common's Electric Circus – in spirit, if not in the actual sound. Tracks include "Boogie Man Song", "Ghetto Rock", "Zimzallabim", "The Rape Over", "Blue Black Jack" featuring some straight electric blues guitar work by the one-and-only Shuggie Otis, "Bedstuy Parade & Funeral March", "Sex, Love & Money", "Sunshine", "Grown Man Business", "Modern Marvel", "Life Is Real", "War" (produced by Beatnut Psycho Les) and more. CD

Wonderful sounds from the films of Jacques Tati – a set that overflows with the kind of warmly wistful tunes that really help define the images on the screen! Music is by Francis Lemarque, Francois Rauber, Charles Dumont, and others – and overall, the music is mostly in a small combo mode – with instrumentation that includes piano, vibes, guitar, and accordion – used in very whimsical ways throughout, with a quality that's almost as visual as the images on the screen – almost little cartoons in music, but with that warmer, more sentimental quality that made Tati's films so much more than slapstick. The collection runs much further in time than previous Tati collections – material from films that include Traffic, Play Time, Jour De Fete, Mon Oncle, Parade, and Les Vacances De Monseuir Hulot. Titles include "Paris Circus", "Super Market", "Play It In Time", "Musette", "Tournez Les Maneges", "Bereceuse", "Theme Oriental", "Take My Hand", "La Cours D'Auto", "Tournee Rapide", "Chanson Des Forains", "Voitures Ballet", "Mon Oncle", and "Pianissimo". CD