... LP, Vinyl record album

With Randy Royston on drums. CD

The best yet from Flying Lotus – who we keep allowing ourselves to believe has hit an insurmountable peak with each new record – but he just keeps getting better! Where the preceding Cosmogramma upped the stranger, spacier and more abstract textures, Until The Quiet Comes is a bit more inviting – and to his credit, Flying Lotus keeps things as innovative as ever, while still giving this one just a bit more immediately appealing atmosphere. There's nearly always a compelling beat, whether it's abstract boom bap or bubbly and synthy, with heavy bass and thick waves of sound floating over. An incredible roster of guests contribute, too – including string-arranger Miguel Atwood Ferguson, vocalists Erykah Badu, Laura Darlington and Radiohead's Thom Yorke, keyboardist Dorian Concept, and others – but there's little doubt that this is purely the Flying Lotus show. Greatness! Titles include "All In", "Sultan's Request", "See Thru To U" with Erykah Badu, "DMT Song" with Thundercat, "The Nightcaller", "Only If You Wanna", "Electric Candyman" with Thom Yorke, "Hunger" with Niki Randa, "Phantasm" with Laura Darlington, "Dream To Me" and more. CD

Overlooked 70s work from Jimmy Giuffre – a hip trio session that has all the free elements of his earlier recordings, but possibly an even greater focus on tone! Jimmy plays a range of reeds here – tenor, clarinet, and flute – and he works with bass and drum accompaniment, but often in a really gentle way that allows his own solo energy to dictate the tunes – coming out in space that's boldly soulful on the tenor, yet more fragile and intimate on the flute – kind of a cross between more expressive avant work and some of the more spiritual tones of the time. The tenor tunes are especially great – kind of opening a new chapter for Giuffre's career – and the group features Kiyoshi Tokunaga on bass and Randy Kaye on percussion. Titles include "The Bird", "Mosquito Dance", "The Chanting", "The Butterfly", "Dervish", "Phoenix", and "Night Dance". CD

Overlooked 70s work from Jimmy Giuffre – a hip trio session that has all the free elements of his earlier recordings, but possibly an even greater focus on tone! Jimmy plays a range of reeds here – tenor, clarinet, and flute – and he works with bass and drum accompaniment, but often in a really gentle way that allows his own solo energy to dictate the tunes – coming out in space that's boldly soulful on the tenor, yet more fragile and intimate on the flute – kind of a cross between more expressive avant work and some of the more spiritual tones of the time. The tenor tunes are especially great – kind of opening a new chapter for Giuffre's career – and the group features Kiyoshi Tokunaga on bass and Randy Kaye on percussion. Titles include "The Bird", "Mosquito Dance", "The Chanting", "The Butterfly", "Dervish", "Phoenix", and "Night Dance". LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of charmers from legendary producer Lloyd Charmers – served up here with lots of bonus tracks too! First up is the classic Sweet Bitter Love from Marcia Griffiths – a set that helped cement her reputation as one of the most soulful female singers in Jamaican music at the time – and one that really helps bridge worlds by serving up some great reggae-styled takes on American soul music! Marcia serves up sublime takes on tunes by Curtis Mayfield, Al Green, Roberta Flack, and others – completely reworked by Charmers' instrumentation – which also includes some wonderful keyboards! Titles include "Play Me", "Gypsy Man", "Sweet Bitter Love", "Green Grasshopper", "Just Don't Want To Be Lonely", and "Everything I Own". Far & Distant features wicked guitar work from Willie Lindo – spun out here over an all-instrumental set that almost feels more like Jamaican records of the late 60s than you'd guess from the mid 70s date of the album! The grooves are definitely more 70s – certainly with a strong reggae current – but the spare, stripped-down manner of presentation takes us back more to some of the instrumental rocksteady records – especially in the way the production allows for lots of focus on the core musician – which means you really get to hear all the wicked, trippy currents of Lindo's instrument – used in a heady style that almost makes him come across like the Phil Upchurch of the Jamaican scene! Lloyd Charmers produced, and also plays piano and organ – and titles include "Drum Song", "Darker Shade Of Black", "Midnight train To Georgia", "Samba Pati", "Chopper", "Hear I Am Baby", "Charmers Mood", "Mystic Mood", "Breezing", and "Holly Holy". 2CD edition features 20 more bonus tracks – 17 of which are new to CD – a full alternate mix of the Marcia Griffiths album, the tune "Midnight & You" by Willie Lindo, and more Lloyd Charmer productions from rare 7" singles – work by Big Youth, Drifting Blenders, Bob Andy, BB Seaton, Errol Thomas, and others. CD

The groovier side of the mod scene in 60s London – music that's not just rock, but which mixes together jazzy instrumentals, soulful stompers, and other wild sounds – all created by British groups who were bursting with new ideas at the time! The music is as bursting with color as the image on the front cover – and the collection is way different than other mod mixes on the market – with no American soul, less British blues, and plenty of unfamiliar cuts that makes the whole thing a treasure trove in groovy music from the English scene at the time! The package comes with a hefty booklet of notes, tracking the groups and the tunes – a stack of 93 great cuts, with work from Basil Kirchin, Mood Mosaic, The Troggs, Creation, London Studio Group, Kiki Dee, The End, Mike Cotton Sound, The Knack, Des James, Twinkle, Artwoods, Easybeats, Carl Douglas & The Big Stampede, Georgie Fame, Moon's Train, Richard Kent Style, Wynder K Frog, The Syn, Dana Gillespie, Miki Dallon, The Mickey Finn, Stan Butcher, Miss X, Mandy Rice-Davies, The Hi-Fis, Electric Banana, and dozens of others! CD

Carla Bley plays organ and keyboards – with work from the great Larry Willis on acoustic and electric piano, plus Hiram Bullock on guitar, Steve Swallow on bass, Victor Lewis on drums, and Manolo Badrena on percussion! The set also features guest work from Paul McCandless on reeds and Randy Brecker on trumpet. LP, Vinyl record album

A bold statement from former members of the Charles Mingus group – working here together as a unit after the passing of Mingus, in a set that has some of the best fire and energy of Charles' later years! The tracks here are all Mingus compositions – performed in longish takes that allow for some great solo work from John Handy on alto, Joe Farrell on tenor, Jimmy Owens on trumpet, and Jimmy Knepper on trombone – and rhythm on the session is by the trio of Don Pullen on piano, Charlie Haden on bass, and Dannie Richmond on drums. Titles include "Goodbye Porkpie Hat", "Boogie Stop Shuffle", "My Jelly Roll Soul", and "Sweet Sucker Dance". LP, Vinyl record album

Carla Bley on piano, Steve Swallow on bass, Billy Drummond on drums, Andy Sheppard on soprano and tenor saxophone, and Paolo Fresu on trumpet and flugelhorn. CD

Music from Jones-Smith Incorporated, Gene Krupa's Swing Band, Art Tatum, Teddy Hill And His NBC Orchestra, Jay McShann And His Orchestra, Cab Calloway And His Orchestra, Clark Monroe's Band, Minton's Playhouse Band, Andy Kirk And His Twelve Clouds Of Joy, Lucky Millinder And His Orchestra, Cootie Williams Sextet, Coleman Hawkins, and more. CD

Danny Elfman really hits new heights on his score for this twisted Tim Burton holiday classic – bringing back some of his strong ear for lyrics, forged during his Oingo Boingo years – and making for a record that's filled with catchy tunes that have really helped keep the film alive over the years! There's some nice instrumentals thrown into the mix too, of the sort that had been helping Elfman rise as a soundtrack star from the late 80s onward – and tracks include "This Is Halloween", "Town Meeting Song", "What Is This", "Sally's Song", "Poor Jack", "Kidnap The Sandy Claws", "Jack's Lament", and "Nabbed". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful, simply beautiful! The set features 23 tracks from a range of western-themed movies and TV shows – not really spaghetti westerns, but the sort of popular American work of the 50s and 60s, which often starred bigger names in show business, and which features popular vocal themes interpreted by chart stars of the time. The approach is quite different than most of our other soundtrack selections – a wealth of groovy pop vocal tunes united through western themes, and compiled together in a fantastic package with images from the films. Titles include "Fury" by The Prarie Chiefs, "The Man From Laramie" by Al Martino, "The Ballad Of Cat Ballou" by Nat King Cole & Stubby Kaye, "The Lonely Man" by Tennesse Ernie Ford, "Man With True Grit" by Glen Campbell, "Buttons & Bows" by Bob Hope, "The Wind The Wind" by Dean Martin, "Old Turkey Buzzard" by Jose Feliciano, "Marmalade Molasses & Honey" by Andy Williams, "The Legend Of Wyatt Earp" by Shorty Long, "Stagecoach To Cheyenne" by Wayne Newton, and "Bronco" by Johnny Gregory. CD

A brilliant series of creative performances pulled from Option – a weekly music salon hosted organized by Chicago avant jazz talents Ken Vandermark, Tim Daisy, and Andrew Clinkman – featuring contributions from some of their greatest contemporaries, and a few older legends too! Most of the material here is free improvisation, but the scope is also nicely wide – with a mix of elements that really keeps things interesting, and which also makes for a hell of a double-length record, even if you don't care at all about the weekly event! The set features performances by Susan Alcorn on steel guitar, Wayne Horvitz on piano with Sara Schoenbeck on bassoon, Ladonna Smith on violin and vocals, Havard Wilk on piano, Gerry Hemingway on percussion and electronics, Lou Mallozzi on electronics and turntables with Douglas Ewart on reeds and percussion, Greg Kelly on trumpet, Bonnie Jones on electronics, Ingrid Laubrock on tenor, Kris Davis on piano, Sandy Ewen on guitar, Louise Dam Eckerdt Jensen on alto and Kent Kessler on bass, and the trio of Booker Stardrum on percussion, Beth McDonald on tuba, and Dave Rempis on alto. CD

A beautiful tribute to the genius of trombonist/arranger Melba Liston – and a set that doesn't just copy her music, but really opens up a whole new spirit from its inspiration! Reedman Geof Bradfield composed all the tracks in the set, and puts things together with a spirit that's not unlike some of Melba's best arrangements for middle-sized groups – that way she had of making things tight, and rhythmically soulful – yet still allowing plenty of room for improvisation and individuality amidst the fuller picture of the tunes. Bradfield gets in plenty of great moments on tenor, soprano sax, and bass clarinet – and the rest of the group features Victor Garcia on trumpet and flugelhorn, Joel Adams on trombone, Jeff Parker on guitar, Ryan Cohan on piano, Clark Sommers on bass, and George Fludas on drums. Titles include "Central Avenue", "Dizzy Gillespie", "Detroit/Kingston", "Randy Weston", and "Homecoming" – and the set ends with vocals by Maggie Burrell on the tune "Let Me Not Lose My Dream". CD