"Anti-Love Movement" features Talib Kweli & Total, "Live & Direct" features Lord Tariq & Royce Da 5'9, and"Open" features Pete Rock & Caron Wheeler. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Cool 60s rock from the Lone Star State – raw garage rock and melodic gems, too from the mid 60s McAllen, TX scene in the Rio Grande Valley – featuring numbers by The Cavaliers, The Headstones, Christopher And The Souls, The Playboys Of Edinburg, Jeanne Hatfield and Brother And Sister! Most of the groups can handle both a raw, but melodic style and a much more fuzzed out, organ-drenched and propellant groove, but there's some diverse, moody twists and turns. Includes "Symbols Of Sin", "Congregation For Anti-Flirts Inc" and more by Cavaliers, "My Kind Of Girl" and "Wish She Were Mine" by The Headstones, "Diamonds, Rats And Gum" by Christopher And The Souls, "Understand Me" by Playboys Of Edinburg, "That Hurts", "Seaweed" and more by Cavaliers, "My Babe" by Jeanne Hatfield, "The Answer" by Brother And Sister and more. CD

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Packaged in a cool oversized book type case. CD

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Deluxe edition with bound 94 page booklet. CD

Betty Davis was one of the nastiest ladies in 70s soul – and this is one of her greatest albums – a killer batch of funky tracks all the way through! Betty has a sound like nobody else – and she takes heavy drums, throbbing bass, and ripping guitars – all as a hard and funky backing for raunchy, raspy vocals that are belted out with a slinky, sexy sort of sound! Davis' vocals are unlike anyone else we can think of – easily some of the most badass work you'll ever find on record – and the tracks are a mix of hip themes about sex, gal power, and struttin your stuff – all delivered by a righteous woman who can definitely do just that! The album features the classic break tracks "If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up" and "Steppin in Her I Miller Shoes", but every cut is a funky monster – including "Ooh Yea", "In The Meantime", "Your Man My Man", and "Anti Love Song". A great one if you dig hard female soul, heavy funky guitars, or both at the same time! LP, Vinyl record album

A mad return to form for Tom Ze – the legendary Brazilian musician who's been one of the few artists to keep the flag of Tropicalia flying over the years! The set features Tom in a number of styles – rocky, quirky, folksy, electric, and always with that mad sense of humor that makes his work so enjoyable. A few of the tunes on the set were recorded live, and there's a pronounced political nature to much of the material – a fact that's immediately apparent on the anti-war track "Companheiro Bush", but which bubbles nicely through most of the album as well. Titles include "DesenRock-se", "Dona Divergencia", "Sem Saia Sem Cera Censura", "Urgente Pela Paz", "Bate Boca", "Voce E O Mel", "Sao Sao Paulo", "Lingua Brasileira", "Vaia De Bebado Nao Vale", and "Interlagos F1". CD

Beautiful late work from Lee Morgan! The last five years of Lee's life saw him really stretching out to do some fantastic writing, playing, and leading – and this record stands today as one of the best examples of that period – a pure act of genius, with a sound that really takes off from Lee's earlier Blue Note albums. The styles are a unique blend of soulful hardbop and the more stretched-out spiritualism that would later emerge in the early 70s soul jazz scene – and players include the lesser-known Frank Mitchell on tenor, plus Jackie McLean on alto, Cedar Walton on piano, Victor Sproles on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – the last of whom provides an amazingly lyrical approach to rhythm, the sort that was key to some of Lee Morgan's best work of the time! Titles include "Afreaka", "Short Count", "The Cry Of My People", "Anti Climax", and "Psychedelic". Plus, this CD reissue also features 3 unissued bonus cuts – "Extemporaneous", "Mickey's Tune", and "Leebop"! Very nice! CD

The first, independent, Roots LP with so many classics that never made it to their later import and major label releases. What more can we say... Tracks include "The Roots Is Comin", "Pass The Popcorn", "The Anti-Circle", "Writers Block", "Good Music", "Grits", "Leonard I-V", "I'm Out Deah", "Essawhamah? (Live At The Soulshack)", "Popcorn Revisited", "Common Dust", "The Session (Longest Posse Cut In History)", "Carryin' On", "Peace", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A really excellent collection of rocksteady work on Trojan Records – material that's much more expansive than some of the more hit-based sets of this type on the market – in a way that really draws a firm line between the roots of ska and the early days of reggae! There's a lot of tracks here that aren't easy to find otherwise, mixed with others from some of the key Jamaican singers of the moment – served up in two dozen tracks that include "Revival" by Leslie Butler & The Originals Orchestra, "Right On Time" by The Sensations, "She Said She Loves Me" by The Sealmates, "Can't See You" by Ken Boothe, "Reborn" by The Maytals, "Over Again" by Stranger & Gladdy, "Be Mine" by The Rulers, "One Scotch One Bourbon One Beer" by Alfred Brown, "Miss Anti Social" by Austin Fairchild & The Hippies, "Give Me That Love" by Nehmiah Reid, "The Shadow Of Your Smile" by Tommy McCook & The Supersonics, "You've Got Something" by Ewan & Jerry, and "So Nice Like Rice" by Charley Kelly. LP, Vinyl record album

A truly incredible overview of 70s Indonesian funk, rock and psychedelia infused recordings – and it's beautifully put together, to boot – one of the very best compilations yet from Stones Throw's Now Again branch! There's an undercurrent of funk to most of this material, but it's always topped off with prog & psych rhythmic heaviness and dexterity, and usually done with passionate, feverish vocals. The story of Indonesian underground music of the time is a complicated one, and one that's been hard to come by outside of the region, given the difficult political circumstances of the time. This amazing set does a tremendous service for this music. Essential! Includes "Haai" by Panbers, "Anti Gandja" by The Brims, "Bad News" by Rollies, "People" by Super Kid", "Evil War" by Shark Move, "Shake Me" by Aja, "The Promise" by Rhythm Kids, "Uang" by Duo Kribo, "Pantun Lama" by Murry Lama, "Hear Me" by Golden Wing, "Candle Light" by Beny Soebardja And Lizard and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The mighty drummer Elvin Jones is working here with a very hip group – in a mode that's maybe a nice extension of his Blue Note material at the start of the 70s, in a style that shows that he definitely still has all of his groove! As with those records, there's a key reedman in place here – the young Steve Grossman, whose sharp lines are balanced with round basswork from David Williams, and excellent guitar from Roland Prince – who almost sets these chromatic fires along the way! There's also plenty of strong guest help – reeds from Frank Foster, Joe Farrell, and Azar Lawrence, piano from Kenny Barron, and percussion from the great Candido. Titles include "Haresah", "Someone's Rocking My Jazzboat", "Agenda", "Anti Calypso", and "My Lover". CD

The great Joe Tex is celebrated with a career overview and an extremely extensive critical discography of his original LPs and reissues. The issue also features interviews with the Subsonics, the Registrators, and Alfonso Cafrey, the legendary Disco/Funk session bass player who was in the failed Village People-esque All Sports Band. Also featured: articles on Disco Demolition Day (an anti disco riot at a White Sox game), the Chipmunks, Simply Saucer, illustrated obituaries of Claude Trenier, Erik Braunn, Paul Burlison, Dewey Terry (Don & Dewey) and more. Plus over 20 pages of music comix by the best underground cartoonists in the world. Magazine

The brilliant 3rd album from Mike Westbrook – a sharp-edged, two volume set with a scathing anti-war theme! The work is Westbrook's first total-concept album, and it's still one of his best – written with an edge that's free from some of the more whimsical touches that showed up in Mike's later years, and played by a core group of British avant soloists with searing intensity! You've never heard large group scoring like this – bold, ambitious, and quite different than most of what's come before. And although the whole thing sounds as if it's going to fall apart at any moment, it always snaps back into a sharp focus just in the nick of time – with brilliant results that bring the same sense of surprise that you might get from, say, a classic album from Charles Mingus or Archie Shepp! Players include Kenny Wheeler and Henry Lowther on trumpets, Mike Gibbs and Paul Rutherford on trombones, John Surman on baritone and soprano sax, Mike Osborne on alto and clarinet, Alan Skidmore on tenor and flute, Brian Smith on tenor, and Harry Miller and Barre Phillips on bass. Titles on this first volume include "Landscape", "Hooray", "Other World", and "Marching Song". LP, Vinyl record album

The brilliant 3rd album from Mike Westbrook – a sharp-edged, two volume set with a scathing anti-war theme! The work is Westbrook's first total-concept album, and it's still one of his best – written with an edge that's free from some of the more whimsical touches that showed up in Mike's later years, and played by a core group of British avant soloists with searing intensity! You've never heard large group scoring like this – bold, ambitious, and quite different than most of what's come before. And although the whole thing sounds as if it's going to fall apart at any moment, it always snaps back into a sharp focus just in the nick of time – with brilliant results that bring the same sense of surprise that you might get from, say, a classic album from Charles Mingus or Archie Shepp! Players include Kenny Wheeler and Henry Lowther on trumpets, Mike Gibbs and Paul Rutherford on trombones, John Surman on baritone and soprano sax, Mike Osborne on alto and clarinet, Alan Skidmore on tenor and flute, Brian Smith on tenor, and Harry Miller and Barre Phillips on bass. Titles on this second volume include "Transition", "Rosie", "Tension", "Ballad", "Conflict", and "Requiem". LP, Vinyl record album

A few years before the hip hop scene opened wide, abstract beatmaker DJ Vadim got together with abstract rhymers Beans and Priest of Anti Pop for this collaboration. CD

Maybe the most searing album we've ever heard from Antibalas – a set that's completely on fire from the very first note, both musically and politically – and which burns with an intensity that seems to blow away all their previous music! Make no mistake, we've always loved these guys – but this time around, there's an urgency that really grabs us – maybe because of the political climate in which the set was recorded, or maybe just because these guys always keep growing and maturing, where so many other similar combos are just content to stick in the same territory. The lead vocals by Duke Amayo are incredible – with a righteous power that demands to be heard – and the horns are more creative and colorful than ever, with some fantastic solos on the album's very long tracks. And of course, the grooves are great – that blend of riffing guitars and percussion that Antibalas have updated from 70s Afro Funk – on titles that include the three-part "Tombstown" suite, plus "Hook & Crook" and "Gold Rush". LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of great albums from the overlooked Ars Nova – back to back in a single set! First up is the 1968 self-titled Ars Nova – a wonderful little set of post-folk rock – with lots of lovely baroque touches! Ars Nova were really short-lived group – known for only two rare records – but they've got a sound that perfectly sums up a generation! There's a wonderful LA late 60s sound here – somewhere between Love and The Byrds, with the baroque touches of the former and the best country influences of the latter – all wrapped up in earnest, honest songwriting that makes even the ambitious moments come across with surprising charm. A true lost relic, and the kind of record that should be in any late 60s cannon! Titles include "Album In Your Mind", "Pavan For My Lady", "General Clover Ends A War", "And How Am I To Know", "Fields Of People", "Automatic Love", and "Song To The City". Sunshine & Shadows is the second tripped-out set from Ars Nova – an under-remembered late 60s group who had a great talent for blending together a range of different styles! At some level, Ars Nova share qualities with some of the harder-jamming groups of their time – but they've also got a sound that expands to bring in folk, blues, jazz, and more baroque elements – played by the group with a lineup that includes some nice work on trumpet by Jimmy Owens, who at this point was a core member of the combo. Brooks Arthur handled the overall music direction, with a quality that recalls some of his work on Verve – and the album features the wonderful bossa-styled groover "Walk On The Sand", a romping soul jazz take on Jimmy Owens' "You Had Better Listen", and the cuts "Rubbish", "Please Don't Go Now", "Temporary Serenade", "She Promises Everything", and "Round Once Again". CD

A groovy little classic from Atlantic Starr – and a great example of the group's wonderfully catchy way of hitting a groove! The music's never pop, but has some captivating hooks all the way through – sweet little bits mixed in with the funky soul approach of the ensemble – made even better by the great way the vocals get traded back and forth! There's a careful approach to the whole set – a way of putting things together with a good degree of class – and definitely avoiding most of the cliches that would make a similar project sound a lot more clunky. Great stuff throughout – and titles include "Who Could Love You Better", "Second To None", "Touch A Four Leaf Clover", "Tryin", and "Island Dream". CD

Sweet slices of work from a hell of a jazz festival – the 1963 Antibes performances, served up here in some incredibly hip material! The set begins with early work from pianist Dollar Brand – whose trio sounds moody and amazing on "Antibes Jam", then gets joined the great vocalist Sathima Bea Benjamin on a version of "Prelude To A Kiss". Next up is the soulful sound of tenorist Klaus Doldinger, whose group includes Ingfried Hoffmann on piano – on a sensitive reading of "Like Someone In Love", which really shows off Klaus' under-recorded ballad style. The great trombonist Eje Thelin follows – leading a quintet with Ulf Andersson on tenor and Lars Joesten on piano – on the very long "Antibes Jam". A Polish group follows with another long track – a sharp-edged take on "Well You Needn't", led by tenorist Jan Wroblewski in a quartet with Wojciech Karolak on piano. Last up is singer Sarah Vaughan – working with the Kirk Stewart Trio – on the titles "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", "Tenderly", "A Taste Of Honey", and "Bill Bailey". CD

A prime pair of late 70s classics on Atlantic Records from Brides Of Funkenstein – a funky female group from the P-Funk empire – back-to-back with bonus tracks! The Brides are one of George Clinton's few girl-based projects of the 70s, and a group who are markedly more funk-based than Parlet! Vocals are by the duo of Lyn Mabry and Dawn Silva – but the main sound of the set comes from the tightly crafted rhythms served up by a cast of well-known P-Funk regulars – all hitting a spaciously snapping vibe that reminds us a lot of the best energy of late 70s Parliament albums on Casablanca! The tracks on Funk Or Walk, which is on Disc 1 here, are longish, but nicely focused – with less of the disco that you might expect, and more of a slow-stepping groove overall! Titles include "Disco To Go", "War Ship To Touchante", "Just Like You", "When You're Gone", "Amorous", "Nappy", and "Birdie". 2 bonus tracks: single mixes of "Amorous" and "War Ship Touchante". Never Buy Texas From A Cowboy is tremendously soulful session – with plenty of funky Clinton touches in the mix – including rumbling basslines, raspy guitars, and a tightly focused groove that has the singers working equally with the larger group of musicians on the record. Production is by Bootsy Collins and Clinton, with horn arrangements by Fred Wesley – which makes for some great Horny Horns funk touches on most tracks! The title cut – "Never Buy Texas From A Cowboy" – runs on as a long P-Funk groove for about 15 minutes, but other tracks are shorter, and titles include "I'm Holding You Responsible", "Smoke Signals", "Party Up In Here", and "Didn't Mean To Fall In Love". The 2 Part single version of the title track is here as a bonus track. CD

Essential work from the legendary Solomon Burke – one of the greatest singers to record for Atlantic Records during the 60s – and an artist we'd put right up there next to Aretha Franklin or Otis Redding! Like both of those giants, Solomon has a style that's completely his own – almost a blueprint for deep soul, southern soul, and 60s soul all together at once – never captured as well or as perfectly as during the mid 60s years he recorded for Atlantic! There's nobody like Solomon Burke during these Atlantic years – a hard-edged singer who was virtually inventing deep soul at the time – taking currents from earlier R&B years, and folding them with a brash, bold energy that was completely heartfelt – and which drew on the same sort of styles that southern soul singers would make their own a few years later – as you'll see by the dates here, Burke predates work by Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, and Wilson Pickett. The package features 3CDS, and a massive 79 tracks in all – the biggest collection of Burke's work for Atlantic that we've ever seen – with tracks that include "I'm Hanging Up My Heart For You", "Baby", "Gotta Travel On", "Peepin", "Yes I Do", "The Price", "You're Good For Me", "Beautiful Brown Eyes", "When She Touches Me", "Keep Lookin", "Woman How Do You Make Me Love You Like I Do", "Presents For Christmas", "What'd I Say", "Get Out Of My Life Woman", "This Little Ring", "It's All Right", "How Many Times", "Cry To Me", "Hard Ain't It Hard", "Mountain Of Pride", "I Feel A Sin Coming On", and lots lots more! A fantastic set – all 6 of Solomon's albums for Atlantic, plus non-LP cuts recorded for the label. CD

A very cool inner sleeve for CDs – perfect for storing them in LP-styled covers! The clear plastic sleeves are similar to the ones you get in Japanese Paper Sleeve packages – and they're great for using if you lose your sleeves from any of those, or if you've bought LP-styled CD packages from other outlets – and want something to protect the CD inside! Antistatic, and very well constructed. Record Care

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A fantastic vintage performance from the legendary Ray Charles – his first concert outside the US, spread out over four different nights at the Antibes Festival in France in 1961! This package brings together the full performance for the first time ever – not only including material from all four nights that Ray played the festival, but also bonus tracks that feature Charles on piano with other singers too. The tunes are a nice mix of the jazzier style of the last few Atlantic albums, with some of the more familiar R&B of Ray's 50s singles – and titles include "Lil Darlin", "The Story", "Georgia On My Mind", "What'd I Say", "My Bonnie", "One Mint Julep", "Hornful Soul", "Let The Good Times Roll", "Tell The Truth", "I Wonder", and "With You On My Mind". Bonus tracks feature material with Lula Reed, Joe Turner, Tommy Ridgely, and Guitar Slim – and the 4CD set features 61 tracks in all. CD

Rare 70s work from Don Cherry, and one of the most perfect realizations of his organic music concept – a quartet session recorded for Italian broadcast, with long songs that have a very spun-out, meditative vibe! Cherry's on pocket trumpet, but is way more than a horn player – as his vocalizations and spirit really guide the whole proceedings – played by a quartet that features Nana Vasconcelos on percussion, Gian Piero Pramaggiore on guitar, and Moki on tanpura! As you can imagine from the mix of instruments, there's an earthy, organic vibe to the whole set – really special sounds that come together with a natural beauty that may well make the record one of Don's most spiritual performances of the 70s – and that's really saying a lot. Titles include "Koye", "Flute Song", "Dissolution", "Nana's Solo", "Om Shanti Om", Luna Turca", and "Chenrezig". CD

We'll be honest with you – we love this stuff! Sure, Ornette made some great recordings for a number of other labels – but as a whole, his Atlantic stuff is some of the greatest modern jazz ever recorded, and no other period of an artist is more worth collecting and having in a complete format than this one! The package is unbelievably thorough – and includes not only all the tracks from classic albums like Change Of The Century, This Is Our Music, Free Jazz, Shape Of Jazz To Come, Ornette!, Ornette On Tenor, The Art Of The Improvisors and Twins – but also 6 previously unreleased tracks, and rare material like Ornette's Japanese-only LP To Whom Who Keeps A Record plus 2 selections from Gunther Schuller's Jazz Abstractions featuring Ornette! There's 6CDs in all – packaged in a great case with a well annotated booklet. Titles include "Proof Readers", "Revolving Doors", "Joy Of A Toy", "Cross Breeding", "Variants On A Theme Of Thelonious Monk", "Eos", "Focus On Sanity", "Una Muy Bonita", "Lomely Woman", "Little Symphony", "The Circle With The Hole In The Middle", "Beauty Is A Rare Thing", "Folk Tale", "The Face Of The Bass", "Brings Goodness", "Rise & Shine", and lots and lots more! CD

A nice update on the classic Cuban descarga mode – as each side features a long medley of songs, done in a very spontaneous, collaborative way! LP, Vinyl record album

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Wonderfully freewheeling improvisations between a duo we've never heard before – saxophonist George Davidson and drummer Mitchell King – really pulling out some old school energy in this series of well-done free jazz duets! Davidson sometimes has a deeper current of soul in his horn, which almost evokes an earlier ESP version of avant jazz – and King has this way of building up formations on the drum kit, then setting them off in increasing intensity – which is often well-balanced by the grounded explorations of the tenor! Very nice work by a duo who follow the best sides of their inspirations – on titles that include "In Praise Of Fakirs", "Message To Eden Ango", "Aurora Vibration", "Mixed Elixer", "Madzub's Logic", and "Where Is Dhat". CD

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A seminal early album from Ian Dury – recorded before his funky dancefloor crossover work, and a key link between those sides and his earlier pub rock years. Dury's wonderfully deadpan vocal approach is already very firmly in place – and in fact perhaps sounds even more disaffected next to the heady guitars and stiffly strutting instrumentation of the set. Chaz Jankel's just developing his bassy style at this point – soon to explode more strongly on later work – but the core sound is very firmly in place on the set! Titles include "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll", "My Old Man", "Wake Up & Make Love With Me", "Clever Trevor", "If I Was A Woman", "Sweet Gene Vincent", "Billericay Dickie" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Beijo De Longe", "Maria Elena", "Flor Di Nha Esperanca", "Sorte", "Carnaval De Sao Vincente", "Paraiso Di Atlantico", and "Roma Criola". LP, Vinyl record album

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