Hilarious! This is the soundtrack to a goofy late 60s shocker film about the time when hippies and young folks would take over America. Les Baxter handled the musical score for the film, but the real treat is the schlocky rock tracks – written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, with arrangements by Mike Curb in that fuzzy Tower/AIP mode! The lyrics are hysterical, but also oddly catchy, even though they're trying to make fun of 60s rock. Titles include "Psychedelic Senate", "Fourteen Or Fight", "Wild In The Streets", "Sally LeRoy", and "Free Lovin". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful b-movie sleaze from Mike Curb and his usual host of studio rock freakout groups! The sound is pure Tower – a bit kitsch and a bit garagey – kind of a blend of the gritty sound of the late 60s underground, mixed with soundtrack modes that offer up a cool fantasy of that scene as well! There's plenty of unusual groups here – and tunes include "Mondo Hollywood" by the Mugwump Establishment, "Magic Night" by Mike Clifford, "Last Wave Of The Day" by The Riptides, "Great God Pan" by God Pan, "Magic Night March" by 18th Century Concepts, and "Moonfire" by the great Davie Allan & The Arrows! Also features the "Mondo Hollywood Freakout" by the Mugwump Establishment – a freaked-out instrumental that's worth the price of the record alone! LP, Vinyl record album

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Songs by Bobby Caldwell, Ashford & Simpson, Marcy Levy, Debbie Lyton, and Larry Hart – plus the instrumental theme by Alan Silvestri. CD

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Typical biker movie fare – but this time around played by some more famous groups! The album was put together by Mike Curb – the guy who crafted so many knock-off groups for Tower and Sidewalk biker soundtracks – and truthfully, Mike doesn't produce the work on the album by the big stars. Cream do a nicely gentle jazzy number called "Anyone For Tennis", and the fuzzy instrumental "Desert Ride" – and Iron Butterfly perform "Iron Butterfly Theme" and "Unconscious Power", plus some other instrumentals that are more in keeping with work on other Curb soundtracks. Barbara Kelly & The Morning Good do the rest of the album – very much in that instrumental rock vein that you'd get on other Curb scores – running through a pretty nice mix of instrumental tunes that includes "Savage Struggle", "The Medal", "Here Comes The Fuzz", and "Shacktown Revenge". LP, Vinyl record album

Four rare soundtracks from Italian composer Franco Bixio – appearing here on CD for the first time ever! First up is Deserto Di Fuoco – a score that begins with a dreamy wordless vocal theme, but then quickly moves into tenser moments – a kind of low-end, brooding approach to the music which is occasionally cut with some sweeter strings, yet still in a way that preserves the moody vibe of the other cuts! There's one "momento sexy" in the mix, but most of the tunes stay in this formation – kind of a mix of drama with slight currents of Italian warmth. Instantanea Per Un Delitto is a standout score right from the start – especially since the whole thing begins with a tune titled "I Want To Die" – a vocal number that's followed by a fair bit of other vocal tunes too – rockish numbers that almost feel like they were lifted from some Mike Curb/AIP soundtrack in the US – with titles that include "Back To My Baby", "My Sleeping Lady", "Pro9mise", "A Trip Around The World", and "Woman Pig". The soundtrack Diario Segreto Un Carcere Femminile follows – a mix of shorter tunes and warmer themes – sometimes in a lightly erotic mode, but also balanced with a bit of action too – and nice use of spare guitar and piano to evoke some nicely moody moments. There's a few tunes with fuller woodwinds and strings – a nice touch, and much more sensitive than usual for Bixio! Last up is the score for Il Tuo Piacere E'Il Mio – music that's filled with all sorts of weird touches – from spare recorder or harpsichord lines, to some offbeat churchy vocals – used on short tunes that end up with a pretty spooky vibe overall! The 2CD set features 63 tracks in all – done in the great quality we've really come to appreciate from the Quartet label. CD

Meshell Ndegeocello has been delivering one masterful set of astral soul, funk and avant groove gems after another since her commercial peak in the 90s – and Devil's Halo is as excellent, if not better than all of the others! If there's one thing we absolutely love more than any other fascinating element of Meshell's career, it's that we don't know what the next song will sound like on any release, and it's all good. Slow building, moody and soulful, and bursting with energy in turns, she rolls from folk soul, to electro funk and funk rock, to cosmic jazz flourishes with equal success – and the passionate vocals always cut deep. Has any artist gotten more surprising, artful mileage after a couple of big hits in the past couple decades than Meshell Ndegeocello? Titles include "Slaughter", "Tie One On", "Lola", "Hair Of The Dog", "White Girl", "Devil's Halo", "Blood On The Curb", "Crying In Your Beer", "Thank You" and more. CD

A wild little soundtrack that's equal parts biker and hot rod – a great rocking rarity that really bridges two sub-genres of rockish sounds in the 60s! The set's one of Mike Curb's great soundtracks for AIP – and like some of the others, it features a set of lesser-known talents coming together in a batch of tracks that works equally well as a rock album or a soundtrack! Some cuts have vocals, other feature fuzzy guitars riffing away instrumentally – a bit more surf/hot rod than psych, but still nice and trippy at times – and the lineup features the great "Theme From Thunder Alley" by Band Without A Name –plus "Pete's Orgy" and "Mud Fight" by The Sidewalk Sounds, "Calahan's Theme" by The Lorraine Singers, "When You Get What You Want" by Annette, and "Riot In Thunder Alley" by Eddie Beram – which is an excellent drum and sitar track that is worth the price of the album alone! LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by Debby Boone, Mike Curb Congregation, Mickey Rooney, Pat Boone, Alice Faye, and James Stewart. LP, Vinyl record album

With Eddie Wilcox, Joe Thomas, Curby Alexander, Omer Simeon, Paul Webster, Savannah Churchill, Elmer Crumbley, and Arnett Sparrow. CD

Two killer albums from Swedish pianist/arranger/composer Nils Lindberg – back to back on a single CD! The first set is the legendary Sax Appeal record – a fantastic set of Swedish modern jazz from the start of the 60s – a group organized by pianist Nils Lindberg, who also did the compositions and arrangements – but one that features killer contributions from saxophonists who include Lars Gullin on baritone, Rolf Billberg on alto, and both Allan Lundstrom and Harry Backlund on tenors! The sound is wonderful – that hip take on American 50s modes the Swedes brought in during the postwar years, then really pushed into even more modern territory – cast here by Lindberg in a range of great voices and tones – cascading together beautifully, but also finding an individual sort of sharpness too. Titles include "Curbits", "Play For Love", Brand New", "Just A Take", "Blues For Bill", "Zodiac" and "Birdland". Next up is the even more amazing Trisection album – a record that was surprisingly issued by Capitol in the US, during a period when they were picking up overseas sides from players like Martial Solal and Joe Harriott. Nils Lindberg plays piano, and leads a large group that includes Eje Thelin on trombone, Idrees Sulieman on trumpet, Bertil Lofdahl on tenor, and Rolf Billberg on alto. The approach of the tunes is almost in a birth of the cool kind of mode – but more freewheeling, like some of the early Saba sides of this nature, with plenty of room for breakout solos that really unfold in the course of the album's long tracks. Titles include "Joker", "Day Dreaming", "Valse", "Preludium", and the extended "Trisection" suite. CD

A richly ambitious work from flautist Nicole Mitchell – an artist who gets better and better with each new album, expanding her vision and growing into a role that clearly makes her one of the most important next-generation members of Chicago's AACM! The album's a suite of tracks for Nicole's expanded Black Earth Ensemble – a group made up of a variety of players from the Chicago scene, augmented by vocals on a number of tracks – for a richly spiritual sound that takes us back to the most ambitious soul jazz recordings of the 70s. There's a wonderful interplay here between gentle moments and bolder statements – and Mitchell's flute and vocals are supported by strong sax work from David Boykin, as well as other instrumentation that includes trumpet, cello, violin, trombone, bass, and the usual wide range of percussion and added instruments you'd expect from an AACM session like this! Titles include "Time For Change", "Wondrous Birth", "Curbside Fantasee", "In The Garden", "Skating", "For Daughters Of Young Love", "Wanna Make You Smile", and "Future's Meditation". CD

One of the coolest soul indies on the east coast in the 60s – and a really important label in helping the music find a new direction for the 70s! Carnival Records was all but gone by the time the 70s rolled around, but they had a superb style and sense of professionalism that really paved the way for so many of the changes to come on the New York and Philly scenes to come – a way of pushing groups into even more sophisticated vocal styles, or letting single singers really find a place of their own – all will still holding onto some of the upbeat, grooving sounds that played big on 60s dancefloors, while sliding in a stronger agenda of their own! The quality here is superb – cuts that will have you wanting to dig even deeper into the Carnival catalog – and as always with Kent, the sound quality and presentation makes the music seem even more special. Titles include "Wishes" by The Metrics, "Forget Him" by Barbara Brown, "She's So Fine" by The Topics, "My Baby's Gone" by The Tren-Teens, "I Say Yeah" by The Pets, "All I Need Is Your Love" by The Manhattans, "I'll Catch You On The Rebound" by Leon & The Metronomes, "I Call It Love" by The Pretenders", "Go Right On" by The Three Reasons, "Nobody Loves Me" by Harry Caldwell, "I'm Gonna Be Missing You" by Rene Bailey, "Come Home To Daddy" by Curby Goggins, "Me Myself & I" by Norma Jenkins, and "I Need A Guy" by The Lovettes. CD

This album is one of the volumes of Spotlite's "Dial Masters" series. The first side features the Tempo Jazzmen who included Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Lucky Thompson on tenor sax, Milt Jackson on vibes, Al Haig on piano, Ray Brown on bass, and Stan Levey on drums. The tracks include "Confirmation", "Diggin for Diz", "When I Grow Too Old To Dream", "Dynamo A", and "Nocturne". The second side features what Spotlite calls The Hermanites who were members of Woody Herman's outfit. They include Sonny Berman on trumpet, Bill Harris on trombone, Serge Chaloff on baritone sax and Flip Phillips on tenor sax. Titles include "Curbstone Shuffle", "Blue Serge", "Woodchopper's Holiday", and "Somebody Loves Me". LP, Vinyl record album