A gem of an album from Randy Newman – a masterpiece of understated with from the mid 70s, and one of his most fully-conceived records for Warner Brothers! The album offers up a vision of the south, past and present, through Newman's eyes – eyes that are partially clouded by the distance of the scene seen from the vantage point of smoggy LA, but which still manage to pull out various strands of life with surprising poignancy. It's easy to write this one off as some sort of slap against the face of the backward south in the 70s, but Newman actually approaches his subjects with some sort of subtle tenderness – not nearly as mean as you might think on first listen, as evidenced by the beautiful orchestrations he penned for the sessions. Titles include "Birmingham", "Marie", "Rednecks", "Louisiana 1927", "Rollin", "Back On My Feet Again", and "Wedding In Cherokee County". CD features a bonus demo version of "Marie" – and a great set of notes! Bonus disc is titled Johnny Cutler's Birthday, and includes 13 tracks! CD

A superb second album from modern Brit folk combo Starless & Bible Black – starry, atmospheric elements that build into insistent, unshakable songs – fronted beautifully by vocalist Helene Gautier. We were caught of guard by how addictive the melodies are on this album – and the overall sound is textured, deep and anything but simple. Voice and guitars at the center of most insistent moments, but a lot more tripped out elements in the mix, acoustic and electric. It's hard to imagine we'll hear a more rewarding modern folk rock oriented album than this one for quite a while. Titles include "Say Donny Day", "Your Majesty Man", "Hanging On The Vine", "Radio Blues" (with a wonderful choral arrangement in the middle that's a real knockout moment), "Les Furies", "County Heir", "Popty Ping" and "Year Of Dalmations". LP, Vinyl record album

The great early double album from Tom Waits! This is peak Asylum era Waits, getting into that charismatic, drunken bluesy poet mode – essentially working live in the studio with a small audience , giving it a genuine sounding latenight cabaret vibe, and embracing his wit and style as brilliantly as he'd done to this point. Brilliant vintage Waits and a loose, yet nicely rhythmic backing combo. Titles include "Better Off Without A Wife", "Emotional Weather Report", "On A Foggy Night", "Eggs & Sausage", "Spare Parts", "Big Joe & Phantom 309", and "Putnam County". CD

A haunting selection of UK folk tunes – recorded right after the newly-created county of Cumbria! LP, Vinyl record album

A great little set – despite our initial fears about the package – and a really wonderful pairing of the talents of Count Basie and Benny Carter! We'll admit that we're the first ones to shy away from anything that says "Kansas City" in the title – as we expect a lot of hoke – but this album's a surprisingly great batch of tunes, original numbers written by Benny Carter in honor of the KC of days past, but arranged and performed by the Basie group in a swinging style that's got the best touches of their Roulette years, plus a bit of Ellingtonish ambition in the horn charts. Titles include "Katy Do", "Miss Missouri", "Jackson County Jubilee", "Sunset Glow", "Meetin Time", and "The Wiggle Walk". LP, Vinyl record album

Studio Ghibli's never sounded so cool and contemporary – as Grey October Sound serve up a second great assortment of famous themes from animated features – all done with the definite lo-fi approach promised in the title! The tunes are familiar, but the approach is nicely different than the originals – more hip-hop oriented, with nice use of beats and other elements – on songs from films that include Porco Rosso, Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, and Nausicaa. Titles include "County Road", "Rouge No Dengon", "Tonari No Totor", "Sheeta's Decision", "Arrietty's Song", "Promise Of The World", and "Once In A While Talk Of The Old Days". CD

A pretty great record from one of the coolest school teachers you could ever hope to have – the lovely Miss Rita Abrams, a hippie who was teaching in Marin County at the start of the 70s! The set's a project done by Abrams with her fourth grade class – a set that mostly features original tunes penned by Rita, filled with joy, hope, and the sort of optimism that characterized the Marin County scene of the post-Haight years – and performed with a cool blend of acoustic instrumentation next to Abrams keyboards – with some larger arrangements from Ed Bogas, who'd later work on hip soundtracks for Fantasy Records, across the Bay. There's nothing hokey about the set at all – as the tunes are great, and the kid-quality of the vocals is really kept to a minimum – more used to underscore the warmth in Rita's lead, and surprisingly never cloying at all – a lot like some of the best singer/songwriter projects on Reprise at the time, especially given Rita's cool electric keyboards. Titles include the cool single "Mill Valley" – plus "Floating Away", "Wonder", "Building A Heaven On Earth", "Running In The Green Grass", "Sweet Summertime", and "I Never Asked". CD includes 3 bonus tracks: "Sad Night", "Happiest Day Of My Life" and "America, Let's Get Started Again". CD

The great early double album from Tom Waits! This is peak Asylum era Waits, getting into that charismatic, drunken bluesy poet mode – essentially working live in the studio with a small audience , giving it a genuine sounding latenight cabaret vibe, and embracing his wit and style as brilliantly as he'd done to this point. Brilliant vintage Waits and a loose, yet nicely rhythmic backing combo. Titles include "Better Off Without A Wife", "Emotional Weather Report", "On A Foggy Night", "Eggs & Sausage", "Spare Parts", "Big Joe & Phantom 309", and "Putnam County". LP, Vinyl record album

Rare work from Muddy Waters – a set of tracks all recorded overseas, at the famous Montreux Jazz Festival – but during that strong 70s moment when Muddy had really focused his sound, and was reaching out to cross global boundaries and touch a whole new generation with his sound! The Montreux vibe is always one that's very faithful to the artist – audiences at that festival aren't the sort to be given watered-down, commercial pap – and that's definitely the vibe here, as the material resonates with any of Waters' best 70s live material for other labels, with a really great sound, even from the stage. The set features performances from Muddy Waters appearances in 1972, 1974, and 1977 – and titles include "Same Thing", "Howlin Wolf", "Still A Fool", "Trouble No More", "Rock Me Baby", "Long Distance Call", "Mannish Boy", "Nobody Knows Chicago Like I Do", "County Jail", "I'm Ready", "Electric Man", and "Can't Get No Grindin". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes selections by Johnny Powers, Harry Hepcat, Bill Davenport, The Dazzlers, Morris Brothers, Art Adams, Carl E Tyndall, County GJs, Ray Campbell, Billy Tidwell, and Bob Vidone. LP, Vinyl record album

Lux and Ivy have given us plenty of great music in plenty of great styles – but the duo are probably closest to the raw spirit of the early rockabilly years – a sound that was instrumental in their music as The Cramps! Here, the duo dig through some of their favorite rare singles from way way back – the kind of obscure cuts that even go past some of the better-done European compilations in recent decades – and which remind us that Lux and Ivy were out in the field digging for rare records back in the early 70s – when some of these impossible-to-find numbers might still have been around. As with other titles in this series, the scope of subject matter is great, and the tunes are plenty wild – 52 tracks that include "Date On The Corner" by Don Feger, "Bip Bop Boom" by Mickey Hawks, "Sweet Rockin Mama" by The Hi Tombs, "Don't Bug Me Baby" by Milton Allen, "Did We Have A Party" by Billy Brown, "Chicken Rock" by Fat Daddy Holmes, "Blast Off" by Alden Holloway, "Lonely" by Bobby McDowell, "Here Kitty Kitty" by Jimmy Murphy, "I'm A Madman" by Willie Ward & The Warblers, and "Woodpecker Rock" by Nat County & The Braves. CD

With selections by The Spooney Five, Moatsville String Ticklers, Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers, Scottsdale String Band, Hackberry Ramblers, Allen Brothers, Mississippi Mud Steppers, Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers, Grayson & Whitter, Hershel Brown & His Washboard Band, Arthur Smith Trio, Joseph Falcon, and Roane County Ramblers. LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by Dr Humphrey Bate & His Possum Hunters, Caplingers Cumberland Mt Entertainers, Alex Hood & His Railroad Boys, Aiken County String Band, The Fox Chasers, Roanoke Jug Band, Floyd County Ramblers, and others. LP, Vinyl record album

Early solo work by Jesse Ed Davis – two albums in a single set! The self-titled Jesse Ed Davis set is one of a few records as a leader ever issued by the guitarist – a player who worked on countless other albums by big names in the late 60s and early 70s – but who has a very special flavor on his own! Davis is maybe best remembered as an important native American musician on the scene at the time – but his work here stands strongly with that of some of his hipper contemporaries – such as Eric Clapton, Leon Russel, and Gram Parsons – all of whom make an appearance here! Titles include the completely sublime "Golden Sun Goddess", worth the price of the album alone – plus "Tulsa County", "Every Night Is Saturday Night", "Crazy Love", "Reno Street Incident", and "Washita Love Child". Ululu has Jesse working with a number of his famous friends – including Leon Russell and Mac (Dr John) Rebennack – both of whose work the album owes a lot to. Jesse's got a down-home approach to his work – and sings a set of original tunes, plus versions of tracks by Merle Haggard, Leon Russell, Levon Helm, and Taj Mahal – which should give you a good idea of his frame of reference. Titles include "White Line Fever", "My Captain", "Sue Me Sue You Blues", "Ululu", "Alcatraz", and "Strawberry Wine". CD

A pair of early 70s albums from Tom Rush – back to back on a single CD! First up is the self-titled Tom Rush album for Columbia – maybe the biggest album ever from Tom Rush – a set that pushes the singer strongly past his more folksy roots, and seems to set him up for a bigger career in the 70s mainstream! And yet the record's not commercial at all – done with a laidback instrumental style that moves into rock from folk, with occasional rootsy elements, but passages of softer phrasing that really work well with Tom's vocals too. Titles include "Old Man Song", "Livin In The Country", "Driving Wheel", "Rainy Day Man", "Drop Down Mama", and a really great take on "These Days". Wrong End Of The Rainbow is an album that lets Tom Rush bring in a lot more of his own songs than his Columbia Records debut – a great reminder of the early years of his career, when Tom gave the world a few songs that were picked up and redone by some of his key contemporaries! The style moves Rush even more past folk than before – still done with an intimate sense of instrumentation, which includes plenty of acoustic elements – but handled with phrasing that's very different than it would have been in the 60s, as Rush and his generation find a new way to move forward with more mature modes and a stronger sense of variety. Titles include "Starlight", "Jazzman", "Rotunda", "Biloxi", "Merrimac County", "Wrong End Of The Rainbow", and "Gnostic Serenade". CD

Maybe one of the most classic albums from Seatrain – and a set that definitely shows their huge progression from roots in The Blues Project, to their transformation into more of a roots rock band on the Marin County scene! In a way, the record's almost a west coast take on territory The Band were hitting at the time – maybe looser and groovier overall, with well-crafted lyrics from Jim Roberts and singer Andy Kulberg – whose raspy style is completely charming. Titles include "Northcoast", "Scratch", "We Are Your Children Too", and "Pack Of Fools" – but we think our favorite might be the excellent instrumental "Flute Thing" – a remake of an Al Kooper tune, performed by the group with a mix of funky flute, organ, and fuzzy guitar – which makes the whole thing a very sweet jazzy groove! LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool set – one that has the urban-into-rural vibe of some of the Marin County music of the time – served up by a group who mix electric and acoustic instruments nicely – a blend of organ, steel guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, dulcimer, piano, and percussion! LP, Vinyl record album

Great live work from Mel Torme – a 14 track set that's done with spare backings from the Al Pellegrini Trio – possibly the most stripped-down Torme recording from these early years, delivered with an intimacy that's quite different than some of Mel's work on Bethlehem! Pellegrini plays mostly piano, but also a bit of clarinet too – given that Torme also handles a bit of piano – and the backings are always somewhat light, so that Mel's voice really dominates the proceedings. Titles include "County Fair", "Goody Goody", "You're Driving Me Crazy", "Jeepers Creepers", "Get Happy", "Get Out Of Town", and "From This Moment On". LP, Vinyl record album

One of those great later RCA albums from Porter Wagoner – filled with obscure material that includes "Jasper County Law", "Can You Tell Me", "Through The Eyes Of A Blind Man", "Lightening The Load", "Stella Dear Sweet Stella", "Treat Her Kind", and "The Truth Or A Lie". LP, Vinyl record album