A pretty astonishing creative leap for Wire – a record that still holds all the short, sharp, energy of their Pink Flag debut – but which also opens up the group to all these weird elements they'd explore in later years and solo work too! The record is almost the group's equivalent of work by Swell Maps – still very punk in construction, but already getting experimental too – a mix that instantly set the group apart, and has kept them in territory that nobody else has ever been able to touch. Titles include "Heartbeat", "Practice Makes Perfect", "Being Sucked In Again", "I Am The Fly", "Outdoor Miner", "Sand In My Joints", "I Feel Mysterious Today", "Marooned", "French Film Blurred", "Mercy" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Leonard Cohen's first live album, featuring material captured in London, Brussels, Paris and Berlin in 1972, plus a couple of recordings from 1970 – including Cohen's legendary appearance at Isle Of Wight! Live Songs never really got its due respect in its day, but it's pretty much an essential document of Cohen's transition from poet turned recording artist into a poet turned guitar wielding troubadour – and excellent stuff even without the slow building cultural relevance. Essential Cohen! Titles include "Passing Thru", "Bird On The Wire", "Nancy", "Improvisation", "Story Of Isaac", "Please Don't Pass Me By", "Tonight Will Be Fine", "Queen Victoria" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Kind of a reprise of earlier days – one that reunites Krupa with Anita O'Day and Roy Eldridge, as the group runs through some material from earlier years. Arrangements are by Quincy Jones, Billy Byers, and Nat Pierce – and the set actually swings more cleanly than some of Krupa's material from the 40s. Titles include "Drummin Man", "Drum Boogie", "Slow Down", "Wire Brush Stomp", "That's What You Think", "Rockin Chair", and "Opus 1". LP, Vinyl record album

A heavy load of funk from one of the greatest funk groups of all time! The set brings together original early Sansu/Josie recordings by The Meters – from that magical point when they were redefining the sound of instrumental soul with these lean, mighty killers from the New Orleans scene! Titles include "Funky Miracle", "Look A Py Py", "Tippi Toes", "Cissy Strut", "Chicken Strut", "Live Wire", "Here Comes The Metermen", "Message From The Meters", "Ride Your Pony", and lots more! LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Suzanne", "Sisters Of Mercy", "So Long, Marianne", "Bird On The Wire", "Lady Midnight", "Partisan", "Famous Blue Raincoat", "Last Year's Man", "Chelsea Hotel", "Who By Fire", "Take This Longing", "Cover", and "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye. LP, Vinyl record album

Peter Gabriel at the top of his solo game – tight, focused, and coming across with a nice sort of edge – one that really sits nicely in the same late 70s generation that includes Bowie in Berlin, early Talking Heads, and some of the darker-minded work on the left side of the mainstream at the time! The guitars have a nice edge, but never dominate – and Gabriel's vocals are totally great – soaring with majesty, but never overblown, and deeply personal in all the right spots – but without any fake soul modes. Instrumentation is right on the money – processed nicely, but never overproduced – and hell, players on the album even include Brit jazz legend Dick Morrisey on a handful of tracks! Titles include "No Self Control", "I Don't Remember", "Biko", "Intruder", "And Through The Wire", and "Games Without Frontiers". LP, Vinyl record album

Later work by a group fronted by fusion keyboard maestro Bayete – known most to Dusty Groove customers for his two classic albums on Prestige, both of them Herbie-esque soulful explorations. Some of that fusion feel is still here on this set – which is a mixture of smooth soul, rock fusion, and some compressed LA production. The group's a quartet, and Bayete's singing and playing keyboards – and the album's got some really wonderful moments that are a lot more soulful than you'd expect from the album's Krafterk-like cover. Titles include "Here I Am Now", "What's Done", "Give It To Me", "Live Wire", "Y 2 Me", and "So You Wanna Be". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest albums ever in the history of funk – the first album by The Meters, and virtually the blueprint for countless funky records to come! The set marked a key moment when energy from the funky 45 underground of 7" singles was able to step forward into the space of a full LP – yet all without losing any of the intensity of the smaller format at all – with an all-killer, no-filler approach that makes the whole thing burn all the way through! The album's bubbling over with classics – all hard-hitting instrumentals played by the group in an effortlessly tight style, produced to perfection by Allen Toussaint and Marshall Sehorn in their classic 60s New Orleans style. A blinding masterpiece of bass, drums, and scratchy guitar – with tracks that include "Cardova", "Cissy Strut", "Sophisticated Cissy", "Here Comes The Meter Man", "Ease Back", "Ann", "6V6 La", and "Live Wire". LP, Vinyl record album

Charles Mingus caught live is a totally different experience from Mingus in the studio – as this crack album from 1964 will testify! The album features a stripped-down quartet that includes Clifford Jordan on tenor, Jane Getz on piano, and Dannie Richmond on drums – plus a guest appearance by altoist John Handy on one of the album's two tracks. Although you'll recognize the titles – "New Fables" and "Meditations (For A Pair Of Wire Cutters)" – as two of Mingus' more famous compositions, the versions here are extremely long (over 20 minutes), and show the less-composed side of Mingus' playing – one in which he allowed soloists to have much freer rein than usual, and really stretch out with their sound! Jordan and Handy take more than ample use of this space, and wail away mightily in some of their best recorded work from the time. Nice stuff, and one of the best mid-60's Mingus albums! LP, Vinyl record album

Martha and the girls' entry into Motown's well-done series of 70s multi-LP collections – this one only a double-length set, but still filled with plenty of great bits by the group! The set features a solid decade's worth of work – material from the trio's 1962 start at Motown, up to some of their even better albums for the label in the early 70s. Titles include "Bless You", "Honey Love", "Love Makes Me Do Foolish Things", "My Baby Loves Me", "Honey Chile", "Jimmy Mack", "I Promise To Wait My Love", "Benjamin", "Tear It On Down", "In & Out Of My Life", "Live Wire", "Wild One", "Motoring", "Nowhere To Run", "Quicksand", "Love Is Like A Heat Wave", and "I'll Have To Let Him Go". LP, Vinyl record album

Late 80s garage-psych-punk from Dead Moon – their first album ever and a record that fuses decades of trashy rock into a unique frenzy that's beloved to the privileged and relative few who know it and love it! It's important to consider what underground music sounded like in the late 80s in general to fully appreciate the prescience of Dead Moon and the past history of the players – who are more akin the late 60s TX psych than most things bubbling under the surface in the 80s. Includes "Graveyard", "Out On A Wire", "Where Did I Go Wrong", "I Hate The Blues", "Don't Burn The Fires" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

One of those really cool rock albums that snuck under the wire at ABC – at a time when the company was taking a lot of chances on underground acts that were hardly likely to score them a hit – especially as the group were formerly underground giants Bubble Puppy! Demian have this great blend of hard rock and some rootsier moments – maybe blues-influenced, but already in their own territory – and served up with a great sense of variety on the tunes! LP, Vinyl record album

A really unique album for Chaka Khan – one in which she teams up with a host of jazz artists to craft a classic-styled set of vocals! Given that Chaka was at the height of her 80s groove solo career at the time of this one, the move is a surprising one – but also a great chance for Chaka to show that she has a lot more to offer than just pop chops, as she sounds pretty darn great scatting on these classic jazz numbers. And as proof that the set was definitely a serious jazz effort, Chaka's got a great lineup on the album – a group that includes Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Joe Henderson on tenor, Chick Corea on piano, and Lenny White on drums. Titles include "Them There Eyes", "All Of Me", "Take The A Train", "Hire Wire", "The Aerialist", and "I Hear Music". LP, Vinyl record album

Island compilation of some of the Meter's best sides for the Josie label, including such rare funk goodies as "Tippi Toes", "Live Wire", "Chicken Strut", "Ride Your Pony", "Cissy Strut", "Funky Miracle", "Sophisticated Cissy", and more! Groovy textured cover, and a great batch of tracks from the old days! LP, Vinyl record album

An all-German version of Peter Gabriel's third album! Peter Gabriel at the top of his solo game – tight, focused, and coming across with a nice sort of edge – one that really sits nicely in the same late 70s generation that includes Bowie in Berlin, early Talking Heads, and some of the darker-minded work on the left side of the mainstream at the time! The guitars have a nice edge, but never dominate – and Gabriel's vocals are totally great – soaring with majesty, but never overblown, and deeply personal in all the right spots – but without any fake soul modes. Instrumentation is right on the money – processed nicely, but never overproduced – and hell, players on the album even include Brit jazz legend Dick Morrisey on a handful of tracks! Titles include German versions of "No Self Control", "I Don't Remember", "Biko", "Intruder", "And Through The Wire", and "Games Without Frontiers". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes themes from "To Serve Them All My Days", "Bouquet Of Barbed Wire", "Onedin Line", "The Agatha Christie Hour", "The Deer Hunter", ""Tales Of The Unexpected", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A classic compilation that was a key primer on punk rock and new wave for the mainstream in the US – one that pulls together some of the best late 70s tracks from both sides of the Atlantic, into one package that's overstuffed with great work! Most of these numbers have gone onto be classics, but a few are ones that didn't stand the test of time – and titles include "Subways" by Urban Verbs, "Map Reference 41 N 93 W" by Wire, "Temper" by John Cale, "Social Fools" by Devo, "I'm Straight" by Modern Lovers, "Busy Little B Side" by Pearl Harbor & The Explosions, "Swan Lake" by Public Image, "Anthrax" by Gang Of Four, "No Fun" by Sex Pistols, "Video Killed The Radio Star" by Buggles, and "Nervous Breakdown" by Brian Briggs. LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Blue Wind", "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", "Play With Me", "Love Is Green", "Head For Backstage Pass", and "Come Dancing". LP, Vinyl record album

Another great step forward for the legendary John Mayall – proof that he was never just content to copy American blues modes, and always willing to bring something new to the table! Although steeped in sounds from the delta on up to Chicago, the record's also got a hipper, almost trippier feel at times too – long-winding interplay between the guitar and organ, and some slow-building rhythms that shake off blues stereotypes, and mark Mayall as having an equal ear for forward-thinking 60s rockers. The group here is great – with Mick Taylor on guitar, Henry Lowther on cornet, Chris Mercer on tenor, and Dick Heckstall-Smith on tenor and soprano sax – all playing in a freely creative mode that stands the test of time surprisingly well Titles include "I'm A Stranger", "Harley Quits", "Killing Time", "Sandy", "She's Too Young", and "No Reply". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

An early classic – with "Making Plans For Nigel", plus "Real By Reel", "Millions", "When You're Near My I Have Difficulty", "Scissor Man", "Roads Girdle The Globe", and "Ten Feet Tall". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Europa & The Pirate Twins", "Flying North", "Weightless", "Leipzig", "Windpower", "Commercial Breakup", "Urges", "Airwaves", "Radio Silence" and "Cloudburst At Shingle Street". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet Lucy, and mighty groovy – a wonderful album from Raul De Souza, cut during the height of his fame on the California scene! Like Raul's other work for Capitol, this record really sparkles from tight help from George Duke – who handles production, and some of the arrangements – and really helps De Souza find a tight jazzy groove! The instrumentation is a bit leaner than some of Raul's other records of this nature, which is a nice thing – as you get to hear plenty of keyboards from Patrice Rushen, Fender Rhodes from Dawilli Gonga, trumpet from Freddie Hubbard, and percussion from Airto. There's a bit of chorus vocals at times, but the main focus is on Raul's trombone solos – and cuts include of Joao Donato's "Banana Tree", plus "Sweet Lucy", "New Love", "Wild & Shy", "Bottom Heat", "Wires", and "At Will". LP, Vinyl record album

Gary Numan plays on the Numan-penned song, "I Dream Of Wires". Chris Franz from Talking Heads also makes a guest appearance. LP, Vinyl record album