Charlotte Hug on viola. CD

Charlotte Hug on viola and vocals, with Fred Longberg-Holm on cello. CD

It's Mrs. Garrett from TV's "The Facts Of Life" and "Different Strokes"! LP, Vinyl record album

A stunner from Charlotte Gainsbourg – in keeping with her style of crafting a diverse body of avant pop sounds by working with stellar collaborators – this time with producer/composer Beck, and it's her best to date! A few tunes are sung in French and have a kind of dramatic French pop noir vibe that would made Serge proud, a mix of sweet and sultry, lightness and drama. Others have more of a raw and messed up vibe with heavier percussion and more of a leftfield sound, and still others have kind of a freaky folk funk sound with horns, drums and more. She covers a lot of stylistic terrain with equally successful wins all around. It's the mark of a true talent that Charlotte can invite such hugely impacting collaborators onto her albums – Beck and his stable of amazing studio musicians on this album, and previous collaborators from Jarvis Cocker to Air – yet it's her show all the way. Titles include "Master's Hands", "IRM", "Le Chat Du Cafe Des Artistes", "In The End", "Heaven Can Wait", "Vanities", "Time Of The Assassins", "Trick Pony", "Greenwich Mean Time", "La Collectionneuse" and more. CD

A fantastic document of this important cellist – and a key member of Fluxus too! This box set includes a very cool, very heavy book – and lots of cool inserts that reproduce original artwork and programs! CD

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Yoko shows her Fluxus roots on this album of trippy experimental stuff. Side one is a live piece called "Cambridge 1969", which is performed by John and Yoko, with the help of avant jazzmen John Tchicai and John Stevens. Lots of noisy guitar on that one. Side 2 features a number of spare tracks recorded on a cassette at Queen Charlotte Hospital, in 1968. Cuts include "No Bed For Beatle John" (as pictured on the cover), "Baby's Heartbeat", and "Two Minutes Silence". LP, Vinyl record album

A really fantastic record from Hammond hero Jimmy McGriff – and one that has him opening up his groove a fair bit more than on his early Sue Records sides! Jimmy's sense of rhythm and timing here is great – really changing up and keeping things interesting – still with enough of his strong R&B action on the keys of the organ, but in a very different way that makes the whole album a real standout in his catalog – with a sinister bubbling under funky feel that's just great. Includes the monster cut "Charlotte", which has sort of a rolling, bassy intro that would make a great sample – plus the cuts "Up There, Down Here", "Thing To Come By", and "Down Home On The Moon". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic French femmes from the 60s – and a great illustration of the way that girl power really took over the sound of the Parisian scene at the time! These tunes have a punch that few American or British tracks of the period could ever hope to match – a way of staying sweet, yet really hitting hard with a groove – sometimes with fuzzy guitars or organ, sometimes with a fuller blast of orchestrations – always completely charming and immediately appealing – even if you can't understand the lyrics! Most numbers feature work by some top-shelf arrangers from the tight Parisian scene – including Alain Goraguer, Jacques Denjean, Michel Colombier, and Ivan Julien – and titles include "Le Coeur Au Bout Des Doights" and "Ce Soir Je M'En Vais" by Jacqueline Taieb, "Laisser Tomber Les Filles" and "Le Temps De La Rentree" by France Gall, "Voila" by Francois Hardy, "Caque Nuit" by Les Surfs, "Donne Moi" by Petula Clark, "Un Chagrin A Oublier" by Alice Dona, "Il Suffit D'Un Jour" by Liz Brady, "L'Adorable Femme Des Neiges" by Christie Laume, "Impatiente" by Les Gams, and "Les Filles C'Est Fait Pour Faire L'Amore" by Charlotte Leslie. CD

Incredible female pop from 60s France – not weepy ballads or old school Paris numbers, but the kind of hip-snapping, all-groovy material that made the 60s French scene so great! Loads of these tracks are new to our ears (and we love French grooves a lot!) – and this volume of the series seems to dig even deeper than before – through a range of rare 7" EP material and singles, to come up with some killer tracks that will move way beyond the bigger cuts you might know from Francoise Hardy or Brigitte Bardot. The production and instrumentation is superb throughout – often with these funky currents that make these tracks feel years ahead of their time – and as usual with Ace, the whole presentation is great – from ultra-clear sound through full notes on the music too. Titles include "Rouge Rouge" by Christie Laume, "Pour La Gloire" by Annie Philippe, "Demain" by Zouzou, "Cours Si Tu As Peur" by Fabienne, "A La Fin De La Soiree" by Sheila, "Cette Nuit" by Pussycat, "Angel Of Sin" by Charlotte Walters, "Les Prisons De Sa Majeste" by Delphine, and "Le Nenuphar" by Stone. LP, Vinyl record album

Lots of early classics – "Boys Don't Cry", "Killing An Arab", "Let's Go To Bed", "The Hanging Garden", "Charlotte Sometimes", "Jumping Someone Else's Train", "A Forest", "The Walk", "Lovecats", "In Between Days", and "Close To Me". CD

Includes the songs "Skunk Hollow Blues", "I Know What You Do", "Your Love Has Faded ", "Tired Socks", "Day Dream", "Good Queen Bess", "That's The Blues, Old Man", "Junior Hop", "Squatty Roo", "Passion Flower", "Things Ain't What They Used To Be", "Goin' Out The Back Way", "You're Driving Me Crazy", "Who Struck John?", "It Shouldn't Happen To A Dream", "June's Jumpin'", "Violet Blue", "A Flower Is A Lonesome Thing", "Frisky", "Longhorn Blues", "Far Away Blues", "Searsy's Blues", "A Little Taste", "Charlotte Russe (Lotus Blossom)", and "Let The Zoomers Drool". CD

Moss Freed on electric guitar, Laura Jurd, Charlotte Keeffe and Sam Eastmond on trumpet, Tullis Rennie on trombone, Rachel Musson on tenor saxophone, George Crowley on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Chris Williams on alto saxophone, Rosanna TeronBerg on flute and piccolo, Brice Catherin on cello, Otto Wilberg on double bass, Steve Beresford and Elliot Galvin on piano, Will Glaser and James Maddren on drums, and Pierre Alexandre Tremblay on electronics and electric bass. CD

Fantastic French femmes from the 60s – and a great illustration of the way that girl power really took over the sound of the Parisian scene at the time! These tunes have a punch that few American or British tracks of the period could ever hope to match – a way of staying sweet, yet really hitting hard with a groove – sometimes with fuzzy guitars or organ, sometimes with a fuller blast of orchestrations – always completely charming and immediately appealing – even if you can't understand the lyrics! Most numbers feature work by some top-shelf arrangers from the tight Parisian scene – including Alain Goraguer, Jacques Denjean, Michel Colombier, and Ivan Julien – and titles include "Le Coeur Au Bout Des Doights" by Jacqueline Taieb, "Laisser Tomber Les Filles" by France Gall, "Voila" by Francois Hardy, "Il Suffit D'Un Jour" by Liz Brady, "L'Adorable Femme Des Neiges" by Christie Laume, "Impatiente" by Les Gams, and "Les Filles C'Est Fait Pour Faire L'Amore" by Charlotte Leslie. LP, Vinyl record album