Seminal sounds from The Residents – a record that's purportedly inspired by the ceremonial music of the Eskimo – but it's very a much a Residents album, and one that follows their own absurdist adventuresome impulses! There's often this cold, drifting wave of sound in the background that's as chilly as you'd expect – and on top of the sound effects and all around trippy electronic atmosphere, they're supposedly playing instruments made of the guts and bones of arctic wildlife! Titles include "The Walrus Hunt", "Birth", "Arctic Hysteria", "The Angry Angakok", "A Spirit Steals A Child", and "The Festival Of Death". CD

Seminal sounds from The Residents – a record that's purportedly inspired by the ceremonial music of the Eskimo – but it's very a much a Residents album, and one that follows their own absurdist adventuresome impulses! There's often this cold, drifting wave of sound in the background that's as chilly as you'd expect – and on top of the sound effects and all around trippy electronic atmosphere, they're supposedly playing instruments made of the guts and bones of arctic wildlife! Titles include "The Walrus Hunt", "Birth", "Arctic Hysteria", "The Angry Angakok", "A Spirit Steals A Child", and "The Festival Of Death". LP, Vinyl record album

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Always-enigmatic sounds from The Residents – a bit more fully-formed than some of their earliest recordings, but still sprawled out nicely over the space of the full album! There's almost an Eraserhead feel to the music at times – dreamy, yet creepy – and other moments bring in some avant jazz tones, yet played without any jazz chops at all – more as sonic textures that nestle down nicely in the mix of noise and surprising melodic moments. Titles include "Edweena", "The Making Of A Soul", and "Ship's A Going Down". LP, Vinyl record album

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Anonymous experimentalists The Residents cover, satirize and stage an arty assault on the classic rock and pop regime! The group dispenses with all subtlety here, mocking the heck out of a couple decades worth of American pop culture soundtrack fodder. Anything that could be construed as "the sound of an era" gets skewered mercilessly – drag strip rockers become car crashes, pop songs are recast as creepy noise and other clearly satirical waves rush in throughout the 2 long pieces, but other movements are less obviously sarcastic, and even more innovative. It'd be smug if it wasn't so damn good! CD

Prime weirdness from The Residents! It's fair to consider Fingerprince as a transitional effort from the group, though it's not a dismissible one – it's out there, exciting and may be easier to get all the way through than some of the more anti-pop experiments they delivered in the mid-to-late 70s. It's probably not as confrontational as Meet The Residents and Third Reich 'N Roll – or perhaps it just seems less vicious because the cover art isn't as confrontational. Side one has shorter pieces, which seem to be informed by vintage exotica and field recordings, though it sounds like nothing but the Residents. Side 2 is a single long suite. Titles include "You Yesyesyes", "Home Age Conversation", "Godsong", "March De La Winni", "Bossy", "Boo Who?", "Tournequit Of Roses" and the the 17+ minute, side-long "Six Things To A Cycle". CD

Always-enigmatic sounds from The Residents – a bit more fully-formed than some of their earliest recordings, but still sprawled out nicely over the space of the full album! There's almost an Eraserhead feel to the music at times – dreamy, yet creepy – and other moments bring in some avant jazz tones, yet played without any jazz chops at all – more as sonic textures that nestle down nicely in the mix of noise and surprising melodic moments. Titles include "Edweena", "The Making Of A Soul", and "Ship's A Going Down". Includes 6 bonus tracks. CD

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An album that originally started out as the Duck Stab EP, but was expanded with the addition of Buster & Glen songs – hence the unusual title! The material here is spooky early Residents at their best – almost without comparison to any of their contemporaries, which is saying a lot in this period before so many others were even beginning to approach their weirdness! Instrumentation is often spare, stark, and electronic – almost a precursor to the use of analogue elements that would soon make the German new wave so great, but handled here in murkier modes often combined with distorted vocals and other processing – mostly quite tuneful, but from behind a dark curtain – similar to the way the group always hid their own identity. Titles include "Krafty Cheese", "The Booker Tease", "Constantinople", "Sinister Exaggerator", "Elvis & His Boss", "The Electrocutioner", "Hello Skinny", and "Lizard Lady". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest records ever by this hip jazz ensemble – and one of their most unique! The record has the band grooving hard through two incredible suites of Latin music – Gary McFarland's "Latin Kaleidoscope" and Francy Boland's "Cuban Fever" – each of which takes up a side of the record, both driving the band to new solo heights with a very hip edge! Players include the usual cream of the crop of European jazz residents – like Sahib Shihab, Dusko Goykovich, Jimmy Deuchar, Phil Woods, Tony Coe, and Benny Bailey – and the tracks include "Uno Graso De Areia", "A Rosa Negra", "Olhos Negros", "Cara Bruja", and "Fiebre Cuban". Wonderful all the way through – and always a treasure! One of the shining jewels in the crown of MPS – and a Gilles P classic all the way through! CD

Formica may seem like an everyday surface to some – but at the time of its creation, it was a pretty revolutionary development – one that allowed household and business spaces to step free from longer-term care – giving the workers and residents lots more time to pursue their hopes and dreams! That bright promise of Formica is presented beautifully here – in a lovely history of the product, complete with dozens of vintage images that range from magazine ads to promotional flyers – to some higher-end projects in Formica from the art world! The book's beautiful – as stylish as an interior design magazine from the 60s – with a special color by color section in the middle, including writings by John Updike, Margarate Atwood, and others – on pages that are also perforated and can be folded! The first half of the book is in English, and awash with these images and text – and the second half offers more images, and text in six other languages. 408 pages, softcover, and beautiful color throughout! Book

A massive look at the huge legacy of North American punk in the late 70s – culled together from scenes in New York, Ohio, Boston, and LA – plus other surprising spots around the country – as artists were working separately, but together, to completely reinvent both the sound of the nation, and the way that records were made! Because of the geographic range of the scenes, US and Canadian acts had a great sense of variety – the sometime wit of LA, the noisier experimentation of Ohio, oddball creations of San Francisco, and searing artistic side of New York – all brought together here with a range of other styles too. The package is great, and includes so many artists we'd forgotten about, next to giants of the field who are still completely crucial today – brought together in a book-style package with 130 tracks and very detailed notes – in support of work from groups who include X, Adolescents, Flesh Eaters, Lyres, The Jetsons, Slickee Boys, Feelies, Bush Tetras, Suburban Lawns, Mission Of Burma, The Bizarros, Nervous Rex, The Dickies, Pagans, The Last, Mars, Devo, Destroy All Monsters, Avengers, Residents, Pere Ubu, Suicide, and dozens of others! CD

Music from Bill Frisell, Devo, Sugar Minott, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, Schoolly D, Jimi Hendrix, the Residents, and others. CD

We're not normally ones to rave about electric blues albums, but this one's a lot nicer than you might think – recorded with plenty of deep soul touches, and even a dose of funk in the right places! We hate to admit it, but a big part of the credit here goes to Eric Clapton – who produced most of the record and gives Buddy and Junior a tightness that's missing from some of their other records of the time. There's almost a post-Cream sort of groove to the record – that "hipper than rock" sensibility that colored many of Clapton's old group members' projects for Atlantic in the years after Cream disbanded. But of course, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells are the real stars of the set – and the record's good enough to make even jaded Chicago residents like us appreciate their talents here! Titles include "A Poor Man's Plea", "My Baby She Left Me", "A Man Of Many Words", "I Don't Know", and "This Old Fool". LP, Vinyl record album

We're not normally ones to rave about electric blues albums, but this one's a lot nicer than you might think – recorded with plenty of deep soul touches, and even a dose of funk in the right places! We hate to admit it, but a big part of the credit here goes to Eric Clapton – who produced most of the record and gives Buddy and Junior a tightness that's missing from some of their other records of the time. There's almost a post-Cream sort of groove to the record – that "hipper than rock" sensibility that colored many of Clapton's old group members' projects for Atlantic in the years after Cream disbanded. But of course, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells are the real stars of the set – and the record's good enough to make even jaded Chicago residents like us appreciate their talents here! Titles include "A Poor Man's Plea", "My Baby She Left Me", "A Man Of Many Words", "I Don't Know", and "This Old Fool". CD

A landmark record in the west coast jazz scene – not only for the music, but for its understanding of addiction on the scene! The album brings together a set of jazz players currently spending their time at Synanon – the Santa Monica-based program of drug rehabilitation that was working some incredible magic with longtime addicts in the early 60s. Synanon had been a temporary home to more than a few great players over the years, and this set brings together some of its lesser-known residents – one of whom was guitarist Joe Pass, who would rise from the session as a real success, and go onto record heavily after this record. The rest of the group includes Dave Allan on trumpet, Ronald Clark on bass, Arnold Ross on piano, Candy Latson on bongos, Bill Crawford on drums, and Greg Dykes on baritone sax. Tracks are pretty long, and more solo based than the usual Pacific Jazz sides – and titles include "CED", "Aaron's Song", "Projections", "Stay Loose", "Hang Tough", and "Last Call For Coffee". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent set that has the vocal talents of the Swingle Singers backed by the sweet and mellow instrumentation of the Modern Jazz Quartet! Given that John Lewis & Co were essentially local residents in Paris for so many years, it's amazing it took them until 1966 to hook up with Ward Swingle's hip vocal group – but the album's more than worth the wait, as the MJQ really help open things up, and take the Swingles into more complicated territory than before. Milt Jackson's vibes are especially great alongside the groovy vocals – and titles include "Little David's Fugue", "Vendome", "When I Am Laid In Earth", "Air For G String", and "Three Windows". LP, Vinyl record album

Instrumental guitar great William Tyler's second album under his own name, and his first for indie powerhouse Merge Records – and it's an exceptionally beautiful piece of work from a player who's really just getting started! Tyler strikes a youthful presense, but he's actually been playing around a lot behind the scenes – as a studio and/or touring guitarist for Lambchop, Candi Staton, Charlie Louvin and others wise enough to record with producer Mark Nevers – who works on this record, too. Tyler is definitely inspired by finger style folk guitarists from the mid 20th Century onward, but he's also got a hypnotic style that feels like it's inspired by more atmospheric country rock and rustic 70s soundtracks. Here he's mixing it all it into a brilliant style all his own, and it's SO good. Guest musicians include fellow youthful Nashville string genius Chris Scruggs, drummer Scott Martin, steel player Luke Schneider and Roy Agee on trombone. Includes "Country Of Illusion", "The Geography Of Nowhere", "Cadillac Desert", "We Can't Go Home Again", "A Portrait Of Sarah", "Hotel Catatonia", "The Last Residents Of Westfall" and "The World Set Free". CD

An amazing collection – and one that really helped completely revise our understanding of Caribbean music! The collection features a fair bit of artists with roots in the West Indies, but who made a huge impact on London's postwar immigrant population – the new rise of non-native residents who were swelling the ranks of the city in the years after the way – bringing with them new cultures, new sounds, and new traditions – with all the requisite ideas and politics that might imply! The work here often has a subtle social agenda – working through themes important to these new Londoners, yet still echoing modes of the homeland as well – often with great musical backings that's heavy on percussion, jazzy instrumentation, and very upbeat rhythms. Titles include "London Is The Place For Me" by Lord Kitchener, "I Was There" by Young Tiger, "Some Girl Something" by The Lion, "No Carnival In Britain" by Mighty Terror, "Jamaica Hurricane" by Lord Beginner, "Birth Of Ghana" by Lord Kitchener, "Victory Test Match" by Lord Beginner, "Spanish Calypso" by The Lion, "Bulldog Don't Bite Me" by Timothy, "My Landlady" by Lord Kitchener, "If You're Not White You're Black" by Lord Kitchener, and "Aguiti" by Lord Invader. LP, Vinyl record album

London's always been one of the hippest cities in the world – but back during the postwar years, there was an especially wonderful outpouring of music on the scene – a rich array of new sounds and styles pulled from around the globe – as so many residents from crumbling British empire came to live in the UK! Musicians and listeners arrived in London with plenty of cultural baggage on hand – influences from the Caribbean, West Africa, and India too – plus other smaller scenes that once fell under the British banner, all now the fuel for the cultural fire that was happening in England! The title here tells plenty about the music being made in this newly-formed scene – bits of African highlife, Jamaican calypso, American jazz, Cuban Latin, and more – all filtered into the modernism of the 50s, and given a new twist that was decidedly urban as well. The package may well be the most impressive so far in this legendary series – and is certainly the one that moves the farthest past any sort of easy expectations or cultural conventions. Titles include "Women Police In England" by Mighty Terror, "My Sorrow" by West African Swing Stars, "Cricket Umpires" by Lord Kitchener, "Jordhu" by Caribbean Swing Band, "Trumpet Highlife" by Shake Keane, "Calypso Mambo" by George Browne, "Cuban Nightingale" by Buddy Pipp's Highlifers, "Kitch" by The Quavers, "Tabu" by Mona Baptiste, and "King Jimmy Foo Foo" by Tejan Sie with The West African Rhythm Brothers. LP, Vinyl record album

A fascinating look at musical modes in London during the big years of postwar immigration – a time when former residents of the crumbling British Empire were flooding to London for jobs and a better way of life – often bringing along a huge amount of cultural experience in the process! This set follows wonderfully in the spirit of previous volumes of the series – bringing together a range of different sonic styles that were originally recorded in London as 78rpm singles – where a new wave of Caribbean and West African immigrants were fusing older styles with a newly modern sensibility, and often a fair bit of jazz as well! The set list is wonderful – a great array of well-chosen material – and titles include "Wa Sise" by Willie Payne & The Starlite Tempos, "The Emperor Of Africa" by The Mighty Terror, "Royal Wedding" by The Lion, "Modern Telephone" by Dai Dai Simba, "Sons & Daughters Of Africa" by Lord Beginner, "Caroline" by Trinidad Steel Band, "Ema Foju Ana Woku" by West African Rhythm Brothers, "Kana Kana" by Billy Sholanke, "Boul Ve Se" by Calypso Rhythm Kings, and "My Handy Man" by Marie Bryant. LP, Vinyl record album

The first two volumes in this legendary series – back to back in one set! Volume 1 is an amazing collection – and one that really helped completely revise our understanding of Caribbean music! The collection features a fair bit of artists with roots in the West Indies, but who made a huge impact on London's postwar immigrant population – the new rise of non-native residents who were swelling the ranks of the city in the years after the way – bringing with them new cultures, new sounds, and new traditions – with all the requisite ideas and politics that might imply! The work here often has a subtle social agenda – working through themes important to these new Londoners, yet still echoing modes of the homeland as well – often with great musical backings that's heavy on percussion, jazzy instrumentation, and very upbeat rhythms. Titles include "London Is The Place For Me" by Lord Kitchener, "I Was There" by Young Tiger, "Some Girl Something" by The Lion, "No Carnival In Britain" by Mighty Terror, "Jamaica Hurricane" by Lord Beginner, "Birth Of Ghana" by Lord Kitchener, "Victory Test Match" by Lord Beginner, "Spanish Calypso" by The Lion, "Bulldog Don't Bite Me" by Timothy, "My Landlady" by Lord Kitchener, "If You're Not White You're Black" by Lord Kitchener, and "Aguiti" by Lord Invader. Volume 2 compiles the stylistically varied music coming from the emergent West Indian and African communities of 50s and 60s London – far more than just the topical, and often quite whimsical calypso tunes of the era! Calypso is well represented, but the set includes strains of jazz, percussive instrumentals that veer towards native Trinidad and Nigeria, and loads of Caribbean grooves! It's all exceptionally bright – with some lovingly, and knowingly, naive vocals that are as sweet as they are wise. A truly wonderful compilation. Essential! 20 tracks in all: "Calypso Be" by Young Tiger, "Yolanda" by Ambrose Campbell, "Calypso Blues" by Mona Baptiste, "My Wife's Nightie" by Lord Kitchener, "Ominara" by West African Rhythm Brothers, "Gerrard Street" by King Timothy, "ET Mensah's Rolling Ball" by West African Swing Stars, "West Indian Drums" by Russ Henderson, "Gbonimawo" by Rans Boi's Ghana Highlife Band and more! CD

A vocal group classic from back in the day – the one and only full length set issued by The Presidents – one of those east coast groups who really knew how to knock it out of the park! Van McCoy handles the production, and wrote and arranged most of the tracks too – and the record's got that careful approach he brought to all of his best late 60s indie work, but touched with some great 70s currents that really echo nicely with the generation of the Stylistics, Moments, and Delfonics! The set includes the big title cut "Years Of Love" – plus "Gotta Keep Movin", "For You", "Sweet Magic", "This Is My Dream World", and "How Can You Say You're Leavin". LP, Vinyl record album

A vocal group classic from back in the day – the one and only full length set issued by The Presidents – one of those east coast groups who really knew how to knock it out of the park! Van McCoy handles the production, and wrote and arranged most of the tracks too – and the record's got that careful approach he brought to all of his best late 60s indie work, but touched with some great 70s currents that really echo nicely with the generation of the Stylistics, Moments, and Delfonics! The set includes the big title cut "Years Of Love" – plus "Gotta Keep Movin", "For You", "Sweet Magic", "This Is My Dream World", and "How Can You Say You're Leavin". CD

The second volume of the soundtrack to the film Dead Presidents. Like the first volume, this is a whopping batch of classic 70s soul tracks – including "Right On For The Darkness" and "We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue (Live)" by Curtis Mayfield, "I Got The Feelin" and "Ain't That A Groove" by James Brown, "Smiling Faces Sometimes" by The Undisputed Truth, "Cowboys To Girls" by The Intruders, "Keep On Pushing" and "(Man Oh Man) I Want To Go Back" by The Impressions, "I Was Made To Love Her" by Stevie Wonder, "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" by Sam & Dave, "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Jerry Butler and "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" by The Temptations. CD

Rare funk from one of the greatest labels in the business! King Records is known to many for its classic work with singers like James Brown, Hank Ballard, and Wynonie Harris – but during the later years of the label, they also pressed up a great amount of excellent funky 45s, including many that are some of the rarest you'll ever try to find. This 24 track set is the first to really try to document King's rich funk legacy – and it's got some amazing tracks that blend together raw southern soul, hard northern rhythms, and sweet James Brown-produced grooves. Any one of these tunes would set you back at least $50 on a single – not just because they're rare, but because they're some of the best funk cuts ever recorded. Titles include "Mr Tuff Stuff" by Toby King, "Gold Walk" by The Presidents, "Butter Your Popcorn" by Hank Ballard, "Your Thing Ain't No Good Without My Thing" by Marie Queenie Lyons, "Down Home Girl" by The Coasters, "Don't Get Funky" by Gloria Walker, "Funky Lady (parts 1 & 2)" by Soul East, "From The Back Side (parts 1 & 2)" by The Sons Of Funk, "Camelot Time" by J Hines & The Fellows, and "Papa's Got The Wagon" by Gloria Walker. LP, Vinyl record album

Deep Purple may be asking a lot to knock the faces of the presidents off Mount Rushmore, and put up their own images instead – but given the force of this classic early 70s set, they may well have the musical power on their own to carve up a whole mountainside! The album's a ripper right from the start – a tight barrage of fierce guitars and heavy drums from the legendary lineup that included Roger Glover, Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillian, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice – a group so tight, so tremendous, the only way to proper describe them is to encourage you to drop the needle on a classic gem like this! A non-stop barrage from start to finish – with tracks that include "Speed King", "Bloodsucker", "Child In Time", Into The Fire", "Flight Of The Rat", and "Living Wreck". CD

Rare dancefloor soul on King Records – and another crucial look at a side of the label that's beloved by the most devoted of 60s & 70s soul seekers – but it's deeply overlooked by the mainstream! Volume 3 is the best yet in the series – partly because they're found some stellar proto-funk treasures that work just as strongly with the Northern Soul community – and also because there's some really great stuff here that paves the way for some of our favorite 70s soul! It's heavy with singles released from 1968 to 1971 – by Marva Whitney, Mill Evans, Charles Spurling, Mary Johnson, Royal Flush, The Presidents, Willie Hatcher, The Brownettes and many more! 24 tracks in all: "Unwind Yourself" by Marva Whitney, "Right Now" by Mill Evans, "Popcorn Charlie" by Charles Spurling, "Thunder" by Lord Thunder, "Name In Lights" by Freddie Williams, "You Have My Blessings" by Mary Johnson, "Mama's Baby" by Royal Flush, "Something You Didn't Done" by Mike Williams, "When We Get Together" by Otis Williams & His Charms and many more. CD

Deep Purple may be asking a lot to knock the faces of the presidents off Mount Rushmore, and put up their own images instead – but given the force of this classic early 70s set, they may well have the musical power on their own to carve up a whole mountainside! The album's a ripper right from the start – a tight barrage of fierce guitars and heavy drums from the legendary lineup that included Roger Glover, Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillian, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice – a group so tight, so tremendous, the only way to proper describe them is to encourage you to drop the needle on a classic gem like this! A non-stop barrage from start to finish – with tracks that include "Speed King", "Bloodsucker", "Child In Time", Into The Fire", "Flight Of The Rat", and "Living Wreck". CD