... LP, Vinyl record album

The first full-length set from The Who – a blistering batch of rough-edged tunes that run the gamut from bluesy soul to sweeter pop to guitar-driven grinders that show an incredible amount of power – even at this early point! The album's somewhat all over the map, but in a good way – in that it already displays the rich talent the group had for many styles of music – that hard-to-peg quality that made The Who so undeniably Who-like over the years. Titles include original mono mixes of the classics "The Kids Are Alright" and "My Generation" – plus "Instant Party", "A Legal Matter", "Out In The Street", "The Good's Gone", "La La La Lies", and "It's Not True" – plus bonus tracks and demos! LP, Vinyl record album

A record we'd never part with – and easily our favorite album ever from The Who! Quadrophenia represents the group at its peak from all perspectives – songwriting, performance, and even studio presence – as the album's got a sonic sensibility that few other albums of the time can match! The set's a concept record – a story, like Tommy – yet it remains incredibly lean, without any overcluttered rock opera feel – so much so that most tunes stand mightily on their own, but also have a dense sense of texture when taken together as part of the double-length album. And we'll also say that the record's one of the few extended sets we always end up breezing through from start to finish – almost surprised by the time it comes to a close – and often hitting repeat to hear the whole thing over again! Titles include "I Am The Sea", "The Real Me", "Cut My Hair", "The Punk & The Godfather", "Sea & Sand", "5:15", "Bell Boy", "Love Rein O'Er Me", and "Is It In My Head". LP, Vinyl record album

A key American live set from The Who – a guitar-smashing performance that really established the group on our side of the Atlantic! This set marks the first time the live material has ever appeared on vinyl – at least legally – and the whole thing is searing genius from the group in their early days, with titles that include "Substitute", "A Quick One", "Happy Jack", "My Generation", "Pictures Of Lily", and "Summertime Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing moment from The Who – and from the UK rock scene in general – as Tommy is one of the most fully-conceived concept albums ever recorded – a masterful effort that's still pretty hard to match all these many years later! Pete Townshend really knocked it out of the park with this one – and pushed the group way way past the simpler songs the were recording just a year before – into this deeply introspective territory, spun out both in the album's words and music. The Tommy tale's been well told many times over the years – so we won't bother with the full narrative – but just let us say that it's hard to go wrong with this one, an essential item in any collection of adventurous rock – classic or otherwise. Titles include "The Acid Queen", "It's A Boy", "Sally Simpson", "Miracle Cure", "Pinball Wizard", "Do You Think It's Alright", "Cousin Kevin", "Christmas", "Tommy's Holiday Camp", "I'm Free", and "We're Not Gonna Take It". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic comeback for the group – with renewed tightness, but still all the edge of the start of the 70s! Titles include "New Song", "Sister Disco", "Music Must Change", "Trick Of The Light", "Guitar & Pen", and the classic "Who Are You". LP, Vinyl record album

A treasure trove of rare and unreleased work from The Who – mostly from their best raw early mod years! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

The first full-length set from The Who – a blistering batch of rough-edged tunes that run the gamut from bluesy soul to sweeter pop to guitar-driven grinders that show an incredible amount of power – even at this early point! The album's somewhat all over the map, but in a good way – in that it already displays the rich talent the group had for many styles of music – that hard-to-peg quality that made The Who so undeniably Who-like over the years. Titles include the classics "The Kids Are Alright" and "My Generation" – plus "Instant Party", "A Legal Matter", "Out In The Street", "The Good's Gone", "La La La Lies", and "It's Not True". LP, Vinyl record album

A cool compilation of earlier material – some nice lost bits, pulled together in one sweet little set! Titles include "Now I'm A Farmer", "Little Billy", "Glow Girl", "Put The Money Down", "Pure & Easy", "Long Live Rock", "Naked Eye", and "I'm The Face". LP, Vinyl record album

Two early Who albums in a single package – both of them filled with weird songs and unusual moments! LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Includes "Slip Kid", "Squeeze Box", "Imagine A Man", and the amazing "Blue Red And Grey", among others. LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible album – and one of the most revolutionary rock albums of the late 60s! The Who recorded this one as a tribute to mainstream radio at the time – linking together some solid stand alone tunes with shorter, wittier tracks that were recorded as commercials for products that included baked beans, acne cream, and deodorant – as well as cool announcer bits too! The end result is one of the most sonically complex records issued by a mainstream rock act of the time – sort of like The Who said "yeah, everyone's trying to copy Sgt Peppers with big arrangements, but we'll take this concept album thing in a whole new direction!" Brilliant all the way through, and with tracks that include "Armenia City In The Sky", "Heinz Baked Beans", "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand", "I Can See For Miles", "I Can't Reach You", "Rale", "Sunrise", and "Silas Stingy". LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Titles include the classics "American Woman", "No Time", and "No Sugar Tonight" – plus "Humpty's Blues", "Proper Stranger", and "When Friends Fall Out". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Produced by DJ Premier and The Alchemist. 12-inch, Vinyl record

A powerful and righteous album from Brother Moves On – as you might guess from the title – a group led by singer Siyabonga Mthembu, who's worked with Shabaka & The Ancestors – in a lineup that also features some contributions from Shabaka Hutchings as well! The group span their South African roots with some of the contemporary London vibe – mixing jazz elements with vocals and other production elements – in a lineup that also features work from Mthunzi Mvubu on alto and Muhammad Dawjee on tenor. Shabaka Hutchings adds in some flute and clarinet to the group's songs – and titles include "Bayakhala", "Sphila", "Puleng (ext version)", "Sweetie Love Oh", "Mazel", "Ta Tom", "Itumeleng Revisited", and "Hamba The Reprise". LP, Vinyl record album

Another hot single from Mountain Bros. DJ Chops terrific Virtuosity LP. "What's F**kin'. . ." features Raekwon. 12-inch, Vinyl record

A fantastic bit of UK soul from the early 90s – a set that was initially only issued as a white label promo, but which has a classic sound that takes us back to the days of Omar and Soul II Soul! The production is nice and lean – a bit in the homegrown style used on Omar's debut – and the rhythms have that nicely chunky quality that the UK was putting forth at the time, in a way that's nicely different than mainstream US R&B, especially of the new jack generation – all a perfect fit for the way that Rick Clarke can sweetly deliver a lyric in collaboration with guests who include Gina Foster, Imaani, Easton, Jill Francis, and others. The guests really help give the record that upbeat vibe from the UK soundsystem mode of the time – often way more collaborative than US soul – and titles include "Share My Love", "Do What We Gotta Do", "Fantasy", "Love Don't Strike Twice", "I Like To Party", and "Gonna Make You Happy". LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

An obscure later track from the Detroit scene – done by Motor City maestro Dave Hamilton in a mellow, midtempo groove that seems perfect for the slinky vocal approach of Jackie Dee! Jackie's got a slightly breathy style that seems influenced a bit by Sylvia – as does her sexy approach – and the flipside is an instrumental by Dave, done even funkier than the vocal cut – with a cool flanged guitar layered down into the mix! 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Great RCA comp of Dizzy's earlier bop sides for the label, many of which came out first only as singles! Titles include "Anthropology", "Jumpin With Symphony Sid", "Ool Ya Koo", "Duff Capers", "I'll Be Boppin Too", and "Guarachi Guaro" – the precursor to "Soul Sauce"! LP, Vinyl record album

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

The genius second album from The Housemartins – still as tight, sharp, and political as the first! Titles include "The World's On Fire", "You Better Be Doubtful", "We're Not Going Back", "The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death", "Me & The Farmer", "Build", "Bow Down", and "Pirate Aggro". LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A really goofy little record – one that has the great Spike Jones taking on the hi-fi generation – demonstrating the qualities of your system with a huge amount of sound effects mixed with music! LP, Vinyl record album

Classic 70s work from KC & The Sunshine Band – a record that's not as hit-heavy as previous efforts, but still a plenty great set that's filled with catchy dancefloor funk! KC's clearly feeling the heat of the disco fire he helped to ignite a few years before – and there's definitely an ear hear towards tracks that would boom out nicely on a heavier sound system – kind of a deepening of the sometimes bargain basement production the group got on earlier TK records. That approach doesn't dampen the groove, though, and there's still a nice mix here of soul, funk, club, and tropical modes – sometimes a bit off the mark, but still a heck of a lot better than most of the group's contemporaries! Titles include a remake of "It's The Same Old Song", plus "Who Do Ya Love", "How About A Little Love", "Sho-Nuff'" and "Come To My Island". LP, Vinyl record album

"Dance To The Drummer's Beat" was real stormer in the South Bronx back in the day, and a great bit of uptempo funk with congas – the break and chorus are both great, and the single's like finding a page in the history of hip hop book! 12-inch, Vinyl record

Detroit soul magic from Little Ann – a legendary underground singer, and one who works here in famous association with producer Dave Hamilton! "Who Are You Trying To Fool" is a great blend of modes – upbeat, romping Motor City backings – topped with raw, crackling vocals from Ann! "The Smile On Your Face" is a great one too – a groove with vibes in the background that ring out strongly – bringing a mighty nice vibe to the tune while Ann sings the heartbreaking lyric! 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

"Who In The F***" features Eightball & MJG. "Comin' After You Remix" features Ice Cube. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Beautiful sounds from the mighty Jacob Miller – material recorded with Augustus Pablo in the years before Miller went onto greater fame in Inner Circle – and with a rootsy vibe that's still extremely powerful all these many years later! Pablo's at the height of his talents here – able to hit just the best righteous modes, but without ever going over the top – at a level that seems completely effortless, and which really empowers the message in Miller's vocals! The set's overflowing with gems – and titles include "Keep On Knocking", "Each One Teach One", "Who Say Jah No Dread", "False Rasta", "Baby I Love You So", and "Girl Named Pat" – plus the dubs "Knocking Version", "Hungry Town Skank", "King Tubby Meet Rockers Uptown", "Jah Dread", "Each One Teach One Version", and "Girl Named Pat Version". LP, Vinyl record album

Grooves unlike anything else you've ever heard before – the rightly legendary musical legacy of William Onyeabor, one of the most enigmatic talents to come from the African scene of the 70s! The work here is all plenty darn funky, but it's also very different from familiar Afro Funk too – as the instrumentation is heavy on keyboards, handled by William with incredible dexterity – and spun out in these soaring lines that bristle with righteous touches that really support the message of his tunes! The vibe mixes in some electro elements with long-drawn rhythms – and the vocals often step aside for lots of keyboard and rhythm interplay, then come in to send things home at just the right moment. Onyeabor's been a pretty elusive cat over the years, and it's taken Luaka Bop quite some time to put this collection together – amazing work that may well make the album one of the most important to ever come from the label – and the first introduction to the non-African world of Onyeabor's incredible sounds. Titles include "Body & Soul", "Atomic Bomb", "Something You'll Never Forget", "Why Go To War", "Love Is Blind", "Fantastic Man", and "Let's Fall In Love". 3LP set features four bonus tracks not on the CD! LP, Vinyl record album

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

A landmark bit of avant prog psych from the American underground of the late 60s – the astral mindblower that is God Bless The Red Krayola & All Who Sail It! This second album is the group's early masterpiece – a brilliant, jarring psychedelic work of genius! It's got the strangeness of the Parable LP, but Mayo & the boys have a way with strange melody that escaped the earlier album. It's often buried under the astral wierdness and abrasive tendancies, but it nevertheless casts a spooky glow throughout! Tracks inclcude "Ravi Shankar: Parachutist", "Leejol", "Night Song", "Green Of My Pants", "The Jewels Of The Madonna", "Tina's Gone To Have A Baby", "Say Hello To Jamie Jones", and "Coconut Hotel". LP, Vinyl record album

David Ruffin at the height of his solo powers – working in that mature mix of soul and strings that made him one of the more sophisticated Motown talents of the time! The set's produced and arranged by Van McCoy – at a level that's maybe more Philly soul than the Detroit sounds of David's roots – and the singer's vocals open up beautifully as he hits a few upbeat groovers, and some especially nice midtempo tracks that really make the album shine! McCoy also wrote most of the songs, too – and titles include the classic "Walk Away From Love", one of Ruffin's sweetest numbers ever – plus the tracks "Who I Am", "Wild Honey", "Statue Of A Fool", "Heavy Love", "It Takes All Kind Of People To Make A World", "Love Can Be Hazardous To Your Health", and "The Finger Pointers". LP, Vinyl record album

One of those great rare gospel albums from the modern soul generation – a time when the music had some of its strongest secular styles in the grooves – so much so, you might be hard-pressed to imagine these guys singing in a church! In fact, most of these tracks would be right at home in the clubs – as Soul Liberation have this upbeat modern soul approach that's wonderfully groovy – and which is made even better by their righteous lyrics – which often soft-pedal the religious message, but still use its current to give the music a strong sense of spirit – which is then matched by the equally uplifting sense of groove! Titles include "Send Me", "Heavenly Places", "Put On The Whole Armor", "Who Are You", "It Won't Go Away", and "Touch Me Again". LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

With Black & Wild on "Loyalty" and Cardan and Missy Lou on "No Commitment". Production by Devante, Phat Noize, and Stevie J. 12-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A fantastic first album from Pete Townshend – one that showed the world that he was a hell of a force to be reckoned with, even away from The Who! There's some elements here that link back to Pete's work with the band, but the music here is already showing lots of new ideas brewing in his solo space – some of the greater sensitivity of Townshend's solo voice – which might not always get showcased when Roger Daltrey was taking the lead – and also some different musical strands that might not have been right for The Who. Ronnie Lane takes the lead on "Evolution" – which you'll recognize from the world of The Faces – and other titles include the original acoustic version of "Pure & Easy", plus "Nothing Is Everything (Let's See Action)", "Time Is Passing", "Forever's No Time At All", "There's A Heartache Following Me", "Content", "Parvardigar", and "Sheraton Gibson". LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

The a-side's a familiar classic, but the b-side's our real favorite! "I Turned You On" has a nice slow sexy groove, with the kind of hook and power that made the Isleys so great in the early 70s! Wonderful stuff – and not easy to find on vinyl! 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

The bass of Christian McBride has maybe never sounded this bold and clear before – set up in an album of bass duets with Edgar Meyer, a musician whose style complements McBride's in a mighty nice way! The title's question definitely gets answered on the record – as both players switch back and forth between melody and rhythm – doing a really great job of opening up the sound while still swinging too – with a quality that's really rich and soulful, thanks to a superb job of recording! Each musician plays piano on two different tracks – meaning that four out of fifteen have piano/bass duets – and titles include "Canon", "Philly Slop", "Solar", "Barnyard Disturbance", "Green Slime", "Lullaby For A Ladybug", and "Tennessee Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Mindblowingly baroque funk from Brother Jack McDuff – an album that takes the initial Blue Note tripped-out groove of Moon Rappin, and pushes it to a whole new level! Jack's working here with arranger Ray Draper to come up with some tunes that are miles away from the earlier McDuff albums on Prestige – very far-reaching and free-thinking, and using a blend of rock and soul-inspired rhythms to push McDuff's organ work very firmly into the 1970s! The group on the set's a largeish one – filled with hip players that include Joe Beck on guitar, Mike Manieri on percussion, Randy Brecker and Olu Dara on trumpets, Paul Griffin on piano, and Draper himself on percussion and tuba. The set features the tightly-stepping funky number "Who's Pimpin Who", which features some great vocalizations from Ray and Jack; the tripped-out "Classic Funke", which has McDuff really burning up the keyboard; the down-n-dirty "Wank's Thang", which also has some nice vibes; and the cuts "Y'All Remember Boogie", "Ya Ya Ya Ya Ya", and "Who Knows What Tomorrow's Gonna Bring". LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Young Holt take on the Johnny Taylor classic "Who's Making Love" – sorting it out into a tight instrumental, with lots of sock-hard piano lines upfront! "Just Ain't Got No Love" is more in the group's standard mode – a loping Chi-soul tune, written by Eugene Record, and with organ and piano mixing together on the cut! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A 60s classic from Tony Bennett – a record that sported a huge title hit, but which also stands strongly as a really unified album! Tony's at his maturing best here – still working with core jazz inspiration from the Ralph Sharon Trio, but also getting fuller strings from George Siravo – who colors in the tunes with a sense of adult emotion and sophisticated melancholy that shows that Bennett's way more than just a simple singer of hits. The material here is all pretty darn great – with a strong jazz influence on tunes like "Autumn Leaves", "Waltz For Debby", "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams", and "Got The Gate On The Golden Gate" – and more deeply sensitive style on "Who Can I Turn To", "Listen Little Girl", and "There's A Lull In My Life". LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

The first truly great David Bowie electric guitar album – an all-out, power-driven set of tracks played by a group that included Mick Ronson and Tony Visconti! Bowie's in prime pre-Ziggy mode here – ripping into tunes that blister with dark energy that are some of the first truly dangerous songs he ever recorded – with this strong undercurrent of mania that follows some of the darker whimsy of his earliest records – set to searing sounds that would forever help Bowie cross over to audiences who might previously have thought him an arty wimp. The set includes classics like "Saviour Machine", "The Width Of The Circle", "All The Madmen", "Black Country Rock", "The Supermen", and the title track, "The Man Who Sold The World". LP, Vinyl record album