A beautiful late chapter in the jazz journey of Rahsaan Roland Kirk – and an album of subtle genius that's really opened up to us over the years! The setting here isn't as "hit you over the head" as on some of Kirk's Atlantic Records – because at one level, the tunes are mostly straight, and free of gimmicks – yet also still manage to conjure up the warmth, spirit, and soul that Roland brought to his best work. There's a slightly electric vibe running through some of the tunes, thanks to keyboards from Hilton Ruiz – and the album also benefits from organ work by Trudy Pitts and guitar from Billy Butler – both of whom are wonderfully restrained, in a way that matches the subtlety of the entire conception of the set. Titles include "Theme For The Eulipions", which features a great recitation from Betty Neals, plus cool chorus vocals – and other titles include "Goodbye Porkpie Hat", "Giant Steps", "Loving You", and "I'll Be Seeing You". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the greatest album ever from Van Morrison – and a set that broke into a whole new side of his talents! Van's producing himself on the record – not really in the conventional role as a producer, but in a way that has him really writing most of the album as he goes along in the studio – using core ideas for tunes, and fleshing them out in a relatively spontaneous way with the musicians involved – at a level that also shows some of the most jazzy elements of Morrison's music to date! That approach is heard to key effect in the sublime title cut "Moondance" – but it also echoes over the course of the whole album's stellar set list – tracks that include "Caravan", "Into The Mystic", "Come Running", "Glad Tidings", and "And It Stoned Me". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A weird and wonderful collection from Warner Brothers – with tracks that include "War Song" by Neil Young with Graham Nash, "Strutter" by Kiss, "Vegetables" by The Beach Boys, "The 68 Nixon" by Denver Boise & Johnson, "Sweet Revenge" by Ted Nugent, "Cosmic Debris" by Frank Zappa, "A 200" by Deep Purple, "Atlantic Liner" by Chunky Novi & Ernie, "We've Been Waiting" by Graham Central Station, and "Dr Horowitz" by Terry Melcher. LP, Vinyl record album

Later work from Brian Auger's Oblivion Express group – really pushing the envelope from previous work with a soaring blend of fusion and soul! The keyboards are still very firmly at the front of the sound – stretching out a lot from Brian's original work on organ – and the group features Lenny White on drums, kicking things up a bit nicely, with that outerspace groove he was laying down on some of his own records at the time. Alex Lingenwood sings vocals on a few cuts, and titles include "Spice Island", "Gimme A Funky Break", "Back Street Bible Class", "Got To Be Born Again", and "Never Gonna Come Down". LP, Vinyl record album

A super huge hit for George Benson – and the record that took him from being a funky jazz guitarist into an R&B superstar – opening up sides of his talent that first emerged on his 50s R&B recordings as Little George Benson, but taken here into some very hip 70s territory! The album features George both playing and singing over arrangements by Claus Ogerman – some of Ogerman's best of the 70s, work that mixes together his trademark pillow of sound with a slightly funky bounce that's perfect for Benson's groove. The result is incredible – and the album is filled with loads of great songs – including George's excellent version of Bobby Womack's "Breezin", the hit version of "This Masquerade", and the cuts "So This Is Love", "Six To Four", and "Affirmation". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer collection of the early greatness of prime era Sabbath – great tracks from the first handful of albums of the Ozzy years! If there's a problem with We Sold Our Souls For Rock & Roll, it's that there was too much greatness on the early albums for them to put compilation out that could make everyone happy – but you get "Paranoid", "War Pigs", "Iron Man", "Fairies Wear Boots", "Sweet Leaf", "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", "Snow Blind", "NIB". "The Wizard" and more. 17 tracks on 2LPs. LP, Vinyl record album

A hell of a record from the LA scene of the mid 70s – recorded by a quartet of musicians who'd gotten their start during the early bop years of the city, and who kept the flame burning brightly with great records like this! The set's noteworthy not just for a rare appearance as a leader by tight drummer Frank Butler, but also for some tremendous tenor from Jack Montrose – a musician who sounds even more powerful and expressive here than on his records from the 50s – with an open tone, and plenty of space to display a sense of imagination on his solos that he never had before! The great Dolo Coker helps keep things swinging on piano, and Monty Budwig turns out some very powerful work on bass – on titles that include the long title track "The Stepper", plus "Au Prive", "Urbane", and "Captain Kidd". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice collaboration between Miles and Marcus Miller from the latter part of Miles career. As much of the recording here is overdubbed, with many multiple instruments played by Miller, it doesn't have the improvised vibe of Miles' classic performances, but the songwriting and arrangements are head and shoulders above much of the contemporary jazz being recorded at the time, Miles is in great form, and the glossy production sits better with us now than ever before. Paulinho DaCosta, George Duke, Michael Urbaniak and Bernard Wright all make guest appearances. 8 tracks in all: "Tutu", "Tomaas", "Portia", "Splatch", "Backyard Ritual", "Perfect Way", Don't Lose Your Mind" and "Full Nelson". LP, Vinyl record album

Earth, Wind & Fire's first album – recorded at a time when the group recently had ties to the Chicago soul and jazz scenes, and a range of experience that ran the gamut from work with Sun Ra, the Artistic Heritage Ensemble, The Pharoahs, Ramsey Lewis, and countless other influential groups. Headed up by Maurice White on drums and percussion, the group forged an amazing blend of all these influences, creating a future soul sound that pushed black music to the next level – taking a wealth of previously underground modes of expression, and fusing them into a soaring sound that would soon put them at the top of the charts. This album's a lot looser and freer than their Columbia albums – with plenty of raw funk and some nice off-beat jazz soling. Includes the classic break track "C'Mon Children", plus "Fan The Fire", "Bad Tune", and "Moment Of Truth". LP, Vinyl record album

Van's debut album for Warner Brothers and a pretty radical departure from anything he'd done before – breaking all kinds of new ground for his own most creative work and helping pave the way for all kinds of hauntingly poetic rock, folk rock, and singer-songwriter records to come! It doesn't take more than a few seconds of opening title track, with Morrison's rawly passionate voice and spiritually yearning lyrics, to know this is a pretty remarkable creative leap from pop leaning sound of "Brown Eyed Girl" and other preceding efforts – , and it gets even more far out from there both lyrically and instrumentally! It's almost folk jazz, arrangements wise, with flute and largely acoustic instrumentation, a really spontaneous feel to the sessions, and always hypnotic, seemingly stream of consciousness vocals by Van. As loose and spacious as the sound is, the emotional resonance is pretty heavy, and sequenced as a cycle: part one In The Beginning on side 1 and part two Afterwards on side 2. A stunner! Titles include "Astral Weeks", "Beside You", "Cyprus Avenue", "Sweet Thing", "Slim Slow Slider", and "Madame George". LP, Vinyl record album

Features Link Davis Jr on saxes, piano, and organ – and titles include "Just Groove Me", "Girls Today", "Groover's Paradise", "Houston Chicks", "Beautiful Texas Sunshine", and "Her Dream Man Never Came". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A pivotal album for Black Sabbath – a set that further expanded the instrumental palette of their previous work, but all without losing an edge at all – for a record that forever helped cement their role in both the classic and hard rock canons of the 70s! Ozzy is great throughout, and both he and Tony Iommi bring in a bit of keyboard work, but in just the right way – almost adding a more sinister edge to the guitars – echoed by some especially nice acoustic piano at times, particularly on the instrumental cut "Fluff". Titles include the seminal title track "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" – plus "A National Acrobat", "Sabbra Cadabra", "Spiral Architect", "Looking For Today", and "Killing Yourself To Live". LP, Vinyl record album

Black Sabbath going strong – very much in their own space by this point in their career, setting a sound that countless others would try to follow – but never match for fierceness like this! The fuzz is definitely turned up to 11, the rhythms move at a breakneck speed, and Ozzy's vocals have all the mean, sinister sounds that set a generation on fire – plenty of energy to fill up long tracks that include "Megalomania", "Hole In The Sky", "Symptom Of The Universe", "Supertzar", "Am I Going Insane", and "The Writ". LP, Vinyl record album

Their double-live classic from the 70s – with "Smoke On The Water", "The Mule", "Child In Time", "Strange Kind Of Woman", "Lazy", and the jamming "Space Truckin". LP, Vinyl record album

A great set of archival DJ Shadow instros from the early-to-mid 90s – from back when his primary means of production was the Akai MPC sampler – along with his endless arsenal of vinyl and limitless creative inspiration! This is formative, but essential material for fans of classic Shadow. It's a superior follow up to the 4 Track Era compilation, and a solid blueprint for his very best work to come! This is all previously unreleased, and it was produced from 1992 to 1996 – which is the period that beat heads and leftfield hip hop production historians outta know culminated in the release of the classic Endtroducing album. That said, this is not a set of Endtroducing leftovers – it's strong, original and legacy-building instrumental work from a crucial period – assembled by the man himself! 22 tracks on the 2LP version. Includes "Intropy (Original Version)", "Vee In Detroit", "Alright", "Don't Try It", "Falling Up", "Aye", "Britty But Magic", "Atmospheric Disturbances", "Quickstep", "Freddi's Popcorn", "From The Old School", "Mystical With Solo", "Fast Rap Fanfare" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Soloists include Quentin Jackson and Tyree Glenn on trombone, Paul Gonsalves on tenor, Ray Nance and Harold Baker on trumpets, and Johnny Hodges on alto. Lil Greewood sings on one track – and titles include "B Sharp Boston", "Cop Out", "Suburban Beauty", "Boogie Bop Blues", and "Snibor". LP, Vinyl record album

Melodic, barbed postpunk from suburban Chicago's Epicycle – rare material from '79 to '81! Chicago's punk scene was a disparate community back in the day, with very few bands breaking out and finding a broad fanbase. That in mind, it shouldn't be so stunning that Epicycle is underappreciated, but this stuff is different. It's catchy as hell – tuneful in the same way as power pop heroes like The Shoes and early Cheap Trick – but with a rawness and incisive wordplay that's more in the punk wheelhouse. Epicycle's one of those bands we'd heard of over the years, but rarely (if ever) came across one of their rare records. Thanks to Hozac's fantastic archival series, we're finally catching up! Includes "You're Not Gonna Get It", "Hardcore Punk", "Radical Attitude", "Residential Area", "Pull Your Socks Up", "Life Is A Breeze", "Standing On The Corner", "Teenage Suicide" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Of course, this is not the last record album – it's not even the last album by Little Feat – but it's a damn good one! The Last Record Album isn't restless as the previous few albums, with kind of a laidback groove, overall – and we actually really dig Little Feat in a mellow mood! Includes "Romance Dance", "Long Distance Love", "Down Below The Borderline", "Mercenary Territory", "Don't Bogart That Joint", Somebody's Leavin" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A masterpiece from Gerry Mulligan – and one of those key 60s albums that marks such a huge shift in his sound from the 50s! The approach here is very cool and compressed – but not in an LA "cool jazz" way – as the music has a more urbane, sophisticated vibe that's very much in keeping with the cover – as Gerry both blows baritone and plays piano with this spare sensitivity that's perfectly matched by group mates who include Art Farmer on trumpet and flugelhorn, Jim Hall on guitar, and Bob Brookmeyer on trombone! The use of Hall and Farmer is especially key here – as the pair bring in those soulful yet airy sounds they were crafting on their own records – given superb rhythm support from Bill Crow on bass and Dave Bailey on drums. The whole thing is a master class in understated genius – and titles include "Night Lights", "Prelude In E Minor", "Tell Me When", "Festive Minor", and "Morning Of The Carnival". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Stark, simple early work from Siouxsie & The Banshees – a set recorded when the punk scene that birthed them was only a few years old – but which already has them seeking out a great new sound of their own! Some of the songs here have a short, sharp approach – but others have a slower, spookier vibe – a bit like the same shift that John Lydon took when he formed Pil after the Sex Pistols – but with an obviously different pitch! Production is relatively simple and straightforward – leaving most of the energy to come from the fantastic guitars and Siouxsie's lead – on titles that include "Jigsaw Feeling", "Pure", "Carcass", "Helter Skelter", "Mirage", "Nicotine Stain", "Metal Postcard", and "Suburban Relapse". LP, Vinyl record album

Powerful early work from Iannis Xenakis – and possibly the greatest demonstration of the concept of electro-acoustic you could hope to find! The mixture of sounds, shapes, and textures here is pure Xenakis – definitely at a level that's similar to some of his contemporaries on the European electronic scene of the time – but with a raw power, and almost organic sense of disturbance that's gone onto have a huge influence on years of musicians in many different scenes. Titles include "Orient Occident", "Bohar", "Concret PH", and "Diamorphoses". LP, Vinyl record album

Non-stop screamers from the initial Alice Cooper run at Warner Brothers – a hefty set list that includes "School's Out", "Be My Lover", "I'm Eighteen", "No More Mr Nice Guy", "Elected", "Billion Dollar Babies", "Teenage Lament", "Muscle Of Love", "Is It My Body", "Under My Wheels", and "Hello Hooray". LP, Vinyl record album

A gem of a record from vocalist Urszula Dudziak – the closest she ever came to doing a "straight" set of vocals, but still one that lives up to her unique style! The album was produced by Michal Urbaniak with a sweet electric vibe – never too smooth or overproduced, but with just enough American jazz funk to set things right – and make for some wonderful instrumentation that helps Urszula breathe new life into some older tunes! A few tracks on here are originals – like "Midnight Rain", "People Say", and "Cuckoo's Nest" – and the rest are wonderfully reworked versions of older tracks like "Lover", "Night In Tunisia", and "Bluesette". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album