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A surprisingly soulful mix of disco grooves and Afro Funk influences – performed by this Italian group who were one of the better exports of that country's often-trashy disco scene. The tracks have mixed male and female vocals, with plenty of percussion and keyboards wrapped up in a slick club-heavy mix. Titles include "Wishbone", "The Hills Of Katmandu", "Top Shot", "Mother Africa", and "Su Ku Leu". LP, Vinyl record album

A whole new flavor of Brazilian jazz – served up by pianist Amaro Freitas, whose work on the Pernambuco scene is a great cross-crossing of modes! Freitas has all the fluid, modern elements of some of the better-known Brazilian pianists from Rio and Sao Paulo – but he also mixes in some rootsier elements to his music – still using conventional jazz instrumentation, but with lots of complexity in the rhythms – so much so, it's really hard to put an sort of easy label on his approach! The work of bassist Jean Elton and drummer Hugo Medeiros is equally great – and the trio cascade together in a way that we can't imagine any other group matching at all. A few tracks feature sax and flute from Henrique Albino – but the core trio dominates in a mighty nice way – on titles that include "Aurora", "Mantra", "Rasif", "Afrocatu", "Vitrais", "Dona Eni", and "Trupe". CD

A wonderful double-length live set from Gong – working here with a crucial lineup that features Daevid Allen on vocals and guitar – with added voice (including "space whisper") from Gilli Smyth, saxes and flute from Didier Malherbe, electronics from Tim Blake, guitar from Steve Hillage, and drums from Pierre Moerlin – a prog dream lineup all the way through! Tracks are nice and long – with that mix of sharp skills and whimsey that made this period of Gong so unique – and titles include the "Crystal Gnome" and "Radio – Gnome I & II" suites, plus "Mister Pyxie", "Deep In The Sky", "You Can't Kill Me", and "Titicaca". LP, Vinyl record album

We really love the music of Theo Hill more and more with each new record – and here, the pianist is working in a quartet with Joel Ross on vibe – a player who makes a perfect partner for his music! Both Hill and Ross have this open sense of sound and timing – often using the spaces between the notes as much as the notes themselves – even when things are moving at a more full-on level, which they do often – thanks to contributions from Rashaan Carter on bass and Mark Whitfield on drums! Yet it's the sonic interplay between the vibes and keys that really blow us away – maybe especially at the few points when Theo picks up Fender Rhodes, and balances out the record with even more warmth next to his acoustic tracks. Titles include a version of the Stevie Wonder classic "Superwoman" – plus originals "Guardians Of Light", "Afrofuturism", "Scene Changes", "Mantra", "Swell", and "Song Of The Wind". CD

Slow-building magic from tenorist Dustin Laurenzi – a musician who's got a sound that's especially resonant with the guitar in his quartet, handled here by Jeff Swanson – in a group that also includes Mike Harmon on bass and Charles Rumback on drums. The tunes have a slow-stepping sense of melody – elements fitting together carefully at the start, then progressing gently over time – almost like musical petals of a flower opening up in the warmth of each others' company as the recording moves on. Titles include "Albert", "Ridgeway", "Blocks", "Slate", and "Mantra". CD

Maybe the crowning achievement of drummer Makaya McCraven so far – a double-length set that stands as a huge testimony to all the many waves he's been making in jazz for the past few years! The album features four slices of live performance – recorded in New York, Chicago, LA, and London – and as with every one of his different projects, Makaya seems to bring a different voice to each live track here – recording with Brandee Younger on harp and Joel Ross on vibes in New York, Shabaka Hutchings on tenor in Chicago; Nubya Garcia on tenor and Ashley Henry on Rhodes in London; and Josh Johnson on alto, Jeff Parker on guitar, Carlos Nino on percussion, and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson on violin in LA! The rhythms are as amazing as the contributions from the different soloists – and the sound of the record is maybe something we'd call post-spiritual – moving past that Coltrane-inspired mode that's been revived so well in the 21st Century, while still holding onto its best sense of energy. The whole thing is fantastic – and titles include "The Count Off", "Brighter Days Beginning", "Universal Beings", "Mantra", "Young Genius", "Holy Lands", "Wise Man Wiser Woman", "Prosperity's Fear", "Atlantic Black", "Flipped Out", "Voila", and "Suite Hans". CD

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A fantastic bit of "Eastern" tinged jazz – and a real musical Journey To Bliss on its own! Vibist Emil Richards has always been totally groovy in our book – but he really outdoes himself here – working in an exotic mode that features lots of weird percussion over choppy modal grooves from keyboards, guitar, and drums – all in a wild blend of rhythms and grooves played by Richards and his Microtonal Blues Band. Players include Tom Tedesco and Dennis Budimir on guitar, Dave MacKay on keyboards, and Joe Porcaro on drums – but all players handle a variety of instruments, as does Richards, who must play dozens of different percussion elements on the set! Side one of the album features some great short groovers – like "Maharimba", "Bliss", "Mantra", and "Enjoy Enjoy" – all of which are in a tripped-out LA guru hippy mode that's simply wonderful! Side two features the extended "Journey To Bliss" suite, which has some spoken bits and a much wilder sound – but also the same sort of groovy pop-Eastern sound as side one! LP, Vinyl record album

The fourth album from Royal Trux and possibly their first truly great one – scuzzed out, fuzzy riffs and swaggery rock that's probably as strong as anything they'd ever do! Royal Trux turns classic sleazy, Stonesy riffs and debauched blooze rawk cliches upside down on Cats & Dogs, dispensing with irony and all 90s indie mores with relish. This is classic rock to us! Includes "Teeth", "The Flag", "Friends", "The Spectre", "Skywood Greenback Mantra", "Turn Of The Century", "Tight Pants", "Let's Get Lost", "Driving In That Car (With The Eagle On The Hood)" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the crowning achievement of drummer Makaya McCraven so far – a double-length set that stands as a huge testimony to all the many waves he's been making in jazz for the past few years! The album features four slices of live performance – recorded in New York, Chicago, LA, and London – and as with every one of his different projects, Makaya seems to bring a different voice to each live track here – recording with Brandee Younger on harp and Joel Ross on vibes in New York, Shabaka Hutchings on tenor in Chicago; Nubya Garcia on tenor and Ashley Henry on Rhodes in London; and Josh Johnson on alto, Jeff Parker on guitar, Carlos Nino on percussion, and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson on violin in LA! The rhythms are as amazing as the contributions from the different soloists – and the sound of the record is maybe something we'd call post-spiritual – moving past that Coltrane-inspired mode that's been revived so well in the 21st Century, while still holding onto its best sense of energy. The whole thing is fantastic – and titles include "The Count Off", "Brighter Days Beginning", "Universal Beings", "Mantra", "Young Genius", "Holy Lands", "Wise Man Wiser Woman", "Prosperity's Fear", "Atlantic Black", "Flipped Out", "Voila", and "Suite Hans". LP, Vinyl record album

A great live Santana set, recorded in Japan in '73 and never released on vinyl in the US! The band here is at their peak, and this set features a nice large lineup that includes Tom Coster, Richard Kermode, Doug Rauch, Armando Peraza, Jose Chepito Areas and Michael Shreve, plus Leon Thomas on vocals! Some tracks show the clear influence of Miles' electric jazz recordings from the same period, while others have a hardcore Latin percussion base, and as you can imagine there's no shortage of full on guitar pyrotechnics and jamming on all the band members' parts. Most of the group's tracks that have entered classic status are here, but the moments that shine the brightest are the lesser known numbers and extended passages where the group really gets into the groove! Includes "A 1 Funk", "Gypsy Queen", "Oye Como Va", "Yours Is The Light", "Batuka", "Xibaba", 'Waiting", "Free Angela", "Samba De Sausalito", "Mantra", "Kyoto", "Incident At Neshabur" and "Toussaint L'Overture". CD

Euro disco galore – a set that starts in really classic territory, then takes off to included a wealth of obscure cuts from later years! It's no secret that the European scene had a huge influence on disco from the mid 70s onwards – places like Munich, Paris, and Rome were all turning out their own versions of American club rhythms – often changing up the sound a bit in the process, by stretching things out, adding in some electronics, and expressing their own unique fantasies of life on the US dancefloors! And yes, for a while European influence was dismissed as a being less soulful than American work – but over time, the overseas contribution's come to be really appreciated – especially given what a strong influence it had on later house back in the US. This excellent set begins with some important Euro disco singles from the late 70s, but then moves into some great work from the next generation – a wealth of rare tracks from the 80s, a time when the European scene continued to fly the disco flag strongly – long after many Americans had, at least temporarily, given up on the genre. 2CD set features 21 tracks that include "The Hills Of Katmandu" by Tantra, "Carry On Turn Me On (original 12" mix)" by Space, "From East To West (ext album version)" by Voyage, "Love Spell" by Caress, "If You Weren't Afraid" by Giorgio Moroder, "Instant Dub (orig 12" b side dub)" by Sylvia Love, "Don't Ever" by Les Models, "You & Me (orig 12" voc)" by Funny Twins, "Special Agent Man (12" female)" by Gaz Nevada, "In Spirit (12" techno)" by Dilemma, "Walking In The Neon (orig 12")" by Peter Richard, "Remember (orig 12")" by Gino Soccio, "Americano (orig 12" voc)" by Vivien Vee, and "I Love My Radio (US 12" rmx)" by Taffy. CD

A trio of works created by Japanese composer Somei Satoh in the mid 80s – all very much with the meditative qualities you might guess from the title! The songs here all build slowly – with a strongly resonant sonic space that seems to emerge slowly from a keyboard – some of the fascination with building things up in aural air that we loved in his earlier "Echoes", but taken here into more spiritual territory as deep electronic elements are mixed with occasional vocalizations, but all with a very rich, abstract texture – and more than enough organic elements to really set the work apart from clunkier efforts of the time. There's a moodiness here that's almost as if Popol Vuh were recording for 4AD – but with a quality that's better than those references might imply – and titles include "Mandala", "Mantra", and "Tantra". Also features the later piece "Mai", commissioned by the harpist Ayako Shinozaki! LP, Vinyl record album

Iggy Pop's mid-to-late 70s era working David Bowie as a co-writer, producer and incredible creative foil – in a 7CD box set! It includes Iggy's first 2 and to this day all-time great solo albums The Idiot and Lust For Life, neither of which seem to have aged a day since 1977, a full CD of alternate mixes and out-takes, the original classic live album TV Eye – 1977 that compiled soundboard recordings from the '77 tour – and perhaps this box set's deepest dug treasure trove – 3CDs of complete sets from that same 1977 tour at London's Rainbow Theatre, The Agora in Cleveland, and at Mantra Studios in Chicago! While the Idiot and Lust Of Life showed Iggy to be a lot more versatile of a front man and songwriter to anyone who might not have seen past the manic firebrand howling out front for The Stooges, his live material from that era is pretty amazing too, embracing the Stooges catalog with some of the more innovative style of his early solo albums –bigger arrangements, woozy keyboards and soulful back up singers among them without sacrificing any of the...well, we gotta say it...any of the raw power. Nearly as ferocious as ever but with a real sense of style and craft – and there's a wealth of it collected here for the first time ever. Also includes a 40-page hardback book! CD