One of the grooviest racing soundtracks we've ever heard – a set that's a lot more funky than some of the better-known racetrack film scores that were coming into the racks during the late 60s! The vibe here is almost a bit like some of the sound library material of Alessandro Alessandroni – lots of great melodic elements, wrapped around rhythms that are nice and slinky on the slower moments, and downright funky on the faster ones – mostly instrumental, but with just a bit of vocals at points from I Cantori Moderni – that very cool harmony group that Alessandroni used on many recordings. The instrumentation is never too complex, and the focus feels more small combo than some of the larger orchestrations on Italian scores at the time – served up here in an assortment of 17 tracks from the film! LP, Vinyl record album

The sound of industry, circa 1969 Italy – which means that everything sounds a heck of a lot groovier than you might expect! Soundtrack genius Alessandro Alessandroni handled the album – and it's completely fantastic right from the very first note – nothing like an industrial album, nor even some of the peppier "industry themed" sound library sets of the European postwar theme – and instead, the music is full of jazzy elements and cool wordless vocals – especially those scatting styles you'd know from Alessandroni's work with I Cantori Modern! Tremendous throughout – and quite possibly one of the grooviest albums the composer has ever given us. Titles include "Moto Blues", "Dialogando", "Circolazione", "Basso Regime", "Vie Motrici", "Escursione", and "Numero Uno". CD

An amazing little soundtrack – written in mid 60s Peru by jazz pianist Jaime Delgado Aparicio, but easily on a par with some of the best American or Italian scores from the time! The music's got a really wonderful feel throughout – jazz at the core, but with touches of spy soundtrack scoring and some of the lighter, more comedic modes of the Italian scene. Delgado uses a core combo with heavy piano, percussion, and some great trumpet and tenor – almost with the tightness of the Basso-Valdambrini group – but he also expands the sound with bits of strings and some fuller orchestrations, used to shade in some amazing colors that roll, dip, and turn with the beautiful grooves penned for the set. The whole thing's tremendous, with equally great production that creates some odd twists and turns that further keep things interesting as the album rolls on. Titles include "Elm Embajador Y Yo", "Sexy Surf", "Llegando A La Capital", "Isometria", "Todo El Mundo Me Persigue", "Lucha En El Mar", and "La Arana". Added to the soundtrack is Jamie's 1964 album – Jaime Delgado Aparicio Y Su Trio – a crackling bit of piano jazz from the Peruvian scene of the 60s – and a record that's somewhere between the best of Horace Silver on Blue Note, and some of the Brazilian bossa trios of the time! There's a strong sense of rhythm throughout – round, rolling basslines punctuated by great work on the drum kit – all topped by beautifully lyrical lines from Delgado Aparicio on piano – filled with color, light, and life throughout – and soloing with a depth that's rare for such a young player! Titles include a great version of Horace Silver's "Sayonara Blues", plus "The Climate", "Autumn Leaves", "Walkin", and "Blue Daniel". CD

The first we're hearing from Steven Bamidele, but we're guessing it won't be the last – as this debut has a wonderfully well-crafted vibe from the start, which comes from both Steven's great ear for production, and his snakily sensual vocals! There's a laidback quality to his singing that's offset by a nice crackle in the rhythms – never too fast or in any sort of clubby territory, but with lots of midtempo breaks that are augmented by warmly jazzy work on keyboards, tenor, and piano! The approach is great – intimate and personal, but with a cosmic sensibility as well – on titles that include "Pathways", "Head Down", "Kaleidoscope", "Misunderstood", "Sitting In The Dark", and "Dark Sense Of Humor". LP, Vinyl record album

The amazing debut of Be Bop Deluxe – a record that's made up of all sorts of familiar parts, yet somehow really manages to set itself apart as a whole! The young Bill Nelson is at the top of his game here – a hell of a guitarist, which we sometimes forget in his later work – and a vocalist with a sinister edge that gives the record a sense of darkness that matches the compressed production and overall moody vibe – a child of the Bowie/Bolan generation, but one that's a real black sheep of the family too! The strength of the record is impossible to sum up in easy words – but it's there for the hearing, right from the very first note – on titles that include "Jet Silver & The Dolls Of Venus", "Axe Victim", "Love Is Swift Arrows", "No Trains To Heaven", "Jets At Dawn", "Rocket Cathedrals", and "Third Floor Heaven". LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal sounds from Be Bop Deluxe – a massive package that features all five of their albums for Harvest in the mid 70s – plus loads of bonus tracks too! The Be Bop Deluxe sound is a bit hard to peg, especially over the evolution enclosed here – but they've definitely got a cool compressed approach to music that's a bit like ELO – or at least like some of the best Brit work of the period that was using that studio style of mixing the vocals and guitars all up in the same sonic space, then fusing the whole thing to a tight level of production, yet all without ever sounding too slick at all. Be Bop Deluxe never had many hits on this side of the Atlantic – which may well be a testament to the inventiveness going on here – especially as things stretch out towards the end of the group, and seem to echo the imminent solo career of Bill Nelson. 5CD set features the full albums Axe Victim, Futurama, Sunburst Finish, Modern Music, and Drastic Plastic – plus loads more bonus tracks, singles, and demos – a massive 82 tracks in all! CD

Totally cool, totally amazing music from the enigmatic Francis Bebey – a contemporary on the early 80s African scene of William Onyeabor, and an equally experimental artists! Bebey used a fair bit of electronics, but often with sounds that had acoustic roots – in this case, the ultra cool sansa, which is a similar thumb piano to the kalimba – amplified here in really great ways, and mixed with some moody, dark elements throughout! The music has much more of a 70s vintage than you'd guess from the dates on the record – thanks partly to the raw percussion, and very offbeat production – which sometimes is mellow, sometimes bursts out in these shocking waves of sound. Titles include "Sanza Tristesse", "Forest Nativity", "Sunny Crypt", "Ngoma Likembe", "Guinee", "Di Saegi", and "Binta Madiallo". LP, Vinyl record album

Black Milk's excellent Tronic – representing Detroit proudly, and succeeding as well as any producer/MC from those parts since Dilla left us! The way Black Milk captures a drum sound continues to slay us – it was the first element of his work that pulled us in, and continues to be our favorite – but he's also excellent at quality control – busily dropping filler free, tight records for himself and as a hired gun producer. Tronic features guests including Royce da 5'9, Fat Ray, Pharoahe Monch, Sean Price & DJ Premier. Titles include "Long Story Short", "Bounce", "Without You" feat Colin Munroe, "Hold It Down", "Losing Out" feat Royce, "Overdose", "The Matrix" feat Premier, Pharoahe & Sean Price, "Try", "Tronic Summer", "Bond 4 Life" feat Melanie Rutherford and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A really burning live set from Argentine tenorist Chivo Borraro – a set that features very extended performances that capture Borraro and his group at their most modern! Chivo burns here in a way you don't always hear on other sessions – very relaxed and opening up in the comfortable confines of the Cricket night club in Buenos Aries – with help from Fernando Gelbard on piano, Jorge Lopez Luis on bass, and Pocho Lapouble on drums – keeping things swinging, but in a loose way that really lets the leader go where he wants! The extended format and bold energy put the record in territory that's similar to, but more avant than, some of the Dexter Gordon live sets coming from the European scene of the time – and titles include "Africa", "Minor Key", "Blues Con Amague" and "Lover Man". CD

Vinicius Cantuaria sounds as wonderful here as ever – lean, sharp, and with his trademark style of mixing all the charm of older Brazilian music with more contemporary presentation – not in a way that's commercial or overdone, but just with this sensibility that really keeps all the urgency of the best MPB work firmly in place! The vocals are great, with a warmth that only seems to get better with age – and the group is a small one, with mostly just bass and drums next to Cantuaria's guitar – plus some occasional percussion. Yet the production also has a way of widening out these core elements nicely – this wash of sound that echoes some of the great Brazilian production modes of the past. Titles include "Berlin", "Uirapuru", "Rio Negro", "E Preciso Perdoar", "Verde Mata", "Humanos", and "Nossa Estrada". CD

Easily our favorite album by Baikida Carroll – a wonderfully spiritual session cut in Paris, and done with this open-ended, spacious sound that seems to bring AACM improvisation into play with some of the global currents that were happening overseas at the time! As on an AACM date, most players handle a fair bit of instruments – Carroll on trumpet, flugelhorn, seal horn, and percussion; Oliver Lake on soprano, alto, tenor, flute, and percussion too; and the great Nana Vasconcelos on lots more percussion – including cuica, tablas, timbales, bells, and more as well! Manuel Villardel plays both acoustic and electric piano – and the tunes build through these great improvisations between the horns and percussion, often with long, cyclical styles that are completely hypnotic! Titles include the modal groover "Forest Scorpion" – plus "Orange Fish Tears", "Rue Roger", and "Porte D'Orleans". LP, Vinyl record album

The one-and-only album by upstate New York's wonderfully trippy psych-folk Chrysalis – a buried rock treasure from 1968. Definition is a strange title for the record, as the group refuses to be bound to any one – mixing laidback, trippy psychedelia, oddball folk, and meandering strains of free and old timey jazz influences! Led by rhythm guitarist J Spider Barbour, the group featured vocals by Nancy Nairn and standard psych rock arrangements, plus leftfield acoustic instrumentation and trippy keyboards! The main album includes the tracks "That Will Be The Morning", "Lacewing", "Lake Hope", "Piece Of Sun" and "Dr. Roots Garden". LP, Vinyl record album

Key 60s material from the great John Coltrane – even if the set wasn't ever released until the late 70s! The album's kind of a "prequel" to the later Meditations record, and it stands as a key bridge between Coltrane's modal years and his more spiritual sounds – delivered here by a core quartet, without the larger accompaniment that graced the later version! The classic quartet is at their best – McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – and the sound is slightly more inside than later, but no less filled with searching and yearning! CD version contains a 12 minute extended alternate take of "Joy", the centerpiece of the composition. CD

A seminal set from Country Joe & The Fish – one of those albums that brought the new psychedelic sound strongly into the mainstream – but all without softening up or commercializing it at all! There's still a very sharp edge to the record – mean organ lines, fuzzy guitar, and lots of cool production that makes the sounds weirder and more watery than before – even the vocals, which have this edge that nobody would ever refer to as Sunshine Pop! In a way, the whole set's as sinister as any of the most groundbreaking albums on Elektra from the time – and definitely shows that both Vanguard and the group were at the forefront of the new psych recording scene. Titles include "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine", "Super Bird", "Death Sound", "Sad And Lonely Times", "The Masked Marauder", "Grace", and "Bass Strings". LP, Vinyl record album

They don't call Jimmy Dawkins "fast fingers" for nothing – and the first few minutes of the record are definitely testament to his mighty power on the guitar! The instrument is electric, and recorded with this sense of powerful echo that easily has Dawkins blowing away some of the UK blues rockers who were starting to get into the game at the time – as do his vocals, which we'd put head to head with some of the giants who took this mode and ran with it through the arena rock scene of the 70s! Yet throughout, it's the guitar that's especially amazing – completely confident and masterful, even though this was Jimmy's first album – with nice lean support from Eddie Shaw on tenor, Lafayette Leake on piano and organ, and Mighty Joe Young on second guitar. Titles include "Little Angel Child", "Night Rock", "Triple Trebles", "It Serves Me Right To Suffer", "Breaking Down", "I Don't Know What Love Is", and "I Wonder Why". CD features two bonus tracks – "Sad & Blues" and "Back Home Blues". CD

A huge collection of later work from these two Italian maestros – material done long after their fame in film during the 60s and 70s, but with a richness that really matches those classic recordings! The work here is much more obscure than some of their famous film scores, and served up in a massive 7CD box that really fills in the gaps during these later years – bringing together work that we never would have heard otherwise, and in modes that update some of the instrumentation of previous decades, but which also reflects some greater care with orchestrations over leaner modes. The set features many tracks from each show – programs that include Tomorrow, Nel Gorgo Del Peccato, A Big Man, Passi D'Amore, Il Cielo Non Cade Mai, Quando Ancora Non C'Erano I Beatles, La Storia Spezzata, Il Ragazzo Dal Kimono D'Oro, Uomo Contro Uomo, Cinque Ragazze A Parigi, Ti Ho Adottato Per Simpatia, La Moglie Nella Cornice, Un Amore Rubato, Il Prezzo Della Vita, Vite A Termine, La Storia Di Chara, Mia Per Sempre, Addio E Ritorno, Dove Comincia Il Sole, and Sotto Il Cielo Dell'Africa. CD

A score that's perhaps a bit more in a Hollywood mode than later work from Italian maestro Francesco De Masi – done in a mood that really fits the image of the cowboy on the cover! Fuller orchestrations are mixed with isolated elements on harmonica and guitar – and there's a very Americanist spirit to some of the music, with uplifting themes and a hopeful spirit of action that's different than the moodier styles of the spaghetti western generation! CD is the first time the full music has been presented like this – expanded out to a total of 25 tracks, many of which appear here for the first time ever! CD

A really beautiful soundtrack from the great Georges Delerue – one that maybe has a bit more staying power than the unusual film for which it was scored! Delerue brings a richness to the music that's wonderful right from the start – sliding sentimental strings at some point, right as if they're lifted from one of his French cinematic classics – blended with more dramatic action points, both stark and more driving – mixed with occasional watery moments that are maybe the best on the soundtrack. Titles include the great main theme – plus "Whirlpool", "Dolphin Hunt", "Nocturne", "The Chase", "Dummy Mine", and "Finding The Flag". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice little Georges Delerue score to this quirky and sentimental film from the mid 60s. The tunes are all relatively short – and a mixture of Delerue's usual French-tinged themes with other tracks that have a bit more of a regal composure, in keeping with the performance of Alan Bates in the lead. Titles include "The Rest", "The Pavane", "The Twirling Waltz", "The Return To The Church Theme", and "The Bicycles". LP, Vinyl record album

Melina Mercouri and director Jules Dassin team up once again for this early 70s dramatic film. Music is by Georges Delerue, handled in the typical style of his more serious work at the time – with plenty of dreamy touches and more dramatic moments. The soundtrack also sports a strange vocal number called "I'm Greek", with arrangements by Alan Gourager and vocals by Melina. Instrumental numbers include "Romain's First Love", "The Friend's Farewell", "Various Professions", "Promise At Dawn", and "The Arrival In France". LP, Vinyl record album

More than a usual greatest hits comp – this LP brings together a very tasty batch of Dells tracks from the late 60s, a number of which were either not on LP, or are very tough to find on wax. Titles include "Hallways Of My Mind", "O-O, I Love You", "There Is", "Wear It On Our Face", "The Change We Go Through (For Love)", "Does Anybody Know I'm Here", and lots lots more! And in case you didn't know, the great Charles Stepney handled most of the arrangements! LP, Vinyl record album

Forget Dionne Warwick, and think Burt Bacharach – because on this sublime little set, The Dells are singing some of Burt's greatest tunes ever – all set to impeccable arrangements by the legendary Charles Stepney! The album's more wonderful than you might even expect – a true high point in the career of all parties involved – and a tremendous recasting of Bacharach's original brilliance – taking his key compositions into the most sophisticated styles of the Chicago soul scene in the 70s! There's a sense of timing and phrasing here that's quite unique – hardly simple covers of Dionne Warwick's approach to these hits – and Stepney's backings feature his own Fender Rhodes, guitar from Phil Upchurch, percussion from members of The Pharoahs, and some fuller horns, harp, and strings. The Dells are equally great too – and serve up some of the best vocals of their career – really magnificent harmonies, and soaring solo parts that seem to even go beyond their best-known hits. Titles include "Walk On By", "Trains & Boats & Planes", "I Say A Little Prayer", "Wives & Lovers", "Close To You", "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself", "This Guy's In Love With You", "Raindrops Keep Fallin On My Head", and "A House Is Not A Home". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic work from Delta 5 – one of our favorite groups from the UK post-punk years, and a group whose funky, dubby approach to punk rivals the best work by groups like The Slits or Gang Of Four! Like both groups, they have smart songs with interesting lyrics – but focused down right into the groove, with lots of heavy interplay between bass and guitar – captured with a razor-sharp sound, and that inherent sense of darkness we love in so many productions from the time! Female singer Ros Allen is in the lead, really belting out the tunes with a great sort of edge – and the set includes the group's three rare singles on Rough Trade, plus BBC sessions and live material – making for an overdue full length collection from these years. Titles include their classic "Mind Your Own Business" – plus "Now That You've Gone", "Try", "Colour", "Make Up", "Triangle", "Innocenti", "Train Song", "Anticipation", "Final Scene", "Shadow", "Circuit", and "Journey". LP, Vinyl record album

The Drawbars definitely work here with more than just one finger – and they deliver a really great groove, with a style that's a nice change from some of their contemporaries! Part of the trio's uniqueness lies in the vintage keyboards handled by Chris Haertel – who has a way of going for tones that are nicely less familiar, and sometimes delivered with a spacious approach that's a cool change from just jamming work on organ or piano! The rhythms are often equally laidback, yet still tight and funky – served up with bass from David Nesselhauf and drums from Julian Gutjahr – on titles that include "Art Form", "Shout", "Two Face", "Cat Call", "One Finger Only", "Let's Do It Again", "Skyline", and "One Twenty Five". LP, Vinyl record album

An action score from Jerry Fielding, but one that's done in a great mix of modes – definitely with some of the driving numbers you might expect, but also with these mellower, moodier tracks that are perfect for a film starring Alain Delon – and which really do a great job of linking it to some of his famous French cinematic efforts! Fielding's got his roots in American jazz, and always does a great job with action – but we're even more impressed here as he gets into some more deeply introspective passages, mixed with moments of subtle tension – served up with orchestrations that are completely sublime – and which rival those of 70s soundtrack contemporary Jerry Goldsmith. Jazz artists Lennie Niehaus and Greg McRitchie conducted the orchestrations, which might explain some of their strength – and titles include "The Imperial Vaults", "On The Plane From Paris", "The Russian Wags His Tail", "All Fall Down", "Hide & Seek Underground", and "The Parisian Connection". CD version features 24 tracks in all! CD

The late 60s comeback album for the Fireballs and vocalist Jimmy Gilmer – a record that found the driving early rock rhythms fitting in very well with the light sunshine and psychedelic pop of the late 60s! The sound on this record has little in common with the early rock instrumentals that the Fireballs made their name burning through. This set is more of a catchy jangly sunshine rock record, with the tight Fireball rhythm section, plus some Stax-influenced horns, easy garage organ and keys, and groovy vocals by Gilmer. Tracks include "3 Minutes' Time", "Ain't That Rain", "Where Can We Be Found?", "Bottle Of Wine", "Mason Street", "Groovy Motions", "Goin' Away", "Barbara White", "A Girl As Perfect As You" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe one of the most amazing debut records of all time – not only the record that first exposed the world to Roberta Flack, but a set that heralded so many changes to come in the following decade! Flack's genius here is almost impossible to put into words – part jazz, part soul, and completely righteous from the very first note – possessed of a sense of pride and power that belie both her understated image on the front cover, and her relatively young age – and delivered with a timelessness that still makes the record as vital today as it was so many years back. The set features Flack playing piano and singing with her trio – sometimes augmented by larger arrangements by the very hip William S Fischer, but often in a setting that's very spare yet incredibly moving – instantly putting Roberta at the same level as Nina Simone, and maybe even past the territory of Aretha Franklin at the time. Titles include her seminal reading of "Compared To What" – an instant anthem for the time – plus the tracks "Angelitos Negros", "Our Ages Or Our Hearts", and "Tryin Times". LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent work from this hard-blowing St Louis tenorist – a figure who started in more R&B-styled material, but also helped open the door for soul jazz modes in the 60s! The work here predates Jimmy's well-remembered records for Prestige – as the package features early material cut for United Records during the early 50s – tracks that have that amazing tenor sound of Forrest alongside work from Chauncey Locke on trumpet, Bart Dabney on trombone, and either Bunky Parker or Charles Fox on piano. A number of tracks have nice use of congas, making for a mambo jazz mode at times – and titles include Jimmy's classic version of "Night Train" – plus "Calling Dr Jazz", "Mister Goodbeat", "Bolo Blues", "Hey Mrs Jones", and "Coach 13". CD features a number of unissued bonus tracks too! LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool album from The Fugs – one that almost comes across as more of a multimedia effort than their earlier records – yet still delivers all the wit and politics of those gems too! The set was recorded at the Fillmore East, and features a few spoken parts in between some songs – the group are clearly enjoying that freedom that Warner was giving groups on record – mixed with some great raw numbers that equal their ESP material, plus some augmented elements put together by Warren Smith, which include guest organ from Richard Tee! Titles include "Supergirl", "Nothing", "Slum Goddes", "Saran Wrap", "CCD", and "I Couldn't Get High". LP, Vinyl record album

The classic sound of Funkadelic, reworked by a key selection of contemporary talents from the Detroit scene – but never in a way that wrecks the originals at all! Unlike other remix projects, which might break up the music to a point that you can hardly recognize the original grooves – this set does a wonderful job of maintaining all the integrity of the famous funky recordings by the group, while also letting some artists from the group's hometown also include a few of their own contributions too – all in ways that really expand the original vision of the music, while keeping things in a funky soul vein all the way through! Given all the greateness of Detroit grooves in recent years – from that city's very fertile underground of producers and musicians – the sound here is still even more amazing than we expected, and the album's a very fitting one to be issued on the Westbound label. The set's double-length, and for good reason too – and titles include "Music 4 My Mother (Underground Resistance mix)", "Sexy Ways (Recloose disco flip)", "Get Your Ass Off & Jam (Marcellus Pittman rmx)", "You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure (Alton Miller mix)", "Super Stupid (Dirtbombs version)", "Music For My Mother (Andres Wo Ahh Ay voc mix)", "Cosmic Slop (Moodymann mix)", "Be My Beach (Mophono & Tom Thump)", "Let's Make It Last (Kenny Dixon Jr edit)", "Let's Take It To The Stage (Amp Fiddler @Ya mix)", "Undisco Kidd (Gay Marvine edit)", "Looking Back At You (Ectomorph stripped & dubbed)", and "Standing On The Verge (Anthony Shake Shakir & T Dancer rmx)". CD

Amazing stuff – and arguably the greatest early Funkadelic album ever! The set moves past the simple fuzzy style of the group's debut, and the overly-stoned sound of Free Your Mind – and rockets into a heady funk style that's filled with sly social commentary and an incredibly dark vision of the future! The centerpiece of the album is the mindblowing "Maggot Brain" title track – a tune that begins with a chilling spoken intro, then slowly builds amidst washes and washes of post-Hendrix guitar. That cut then rolls into some shorter, funkier numbers that rank with some of the group's best ever – using the device of party-hearty energy to convey a sense of alienation and horror at the world. The whole thing's brilliant throughout – and apart from being a soul classic, the set should also rank as one of the greatest rock albums of all time! Titles include "Maggot Brain", "Super Stupid", "Back in Our Minds", "Can You Get to That", and "Wars of Armageddon". Features two bonus tracks – "Maggot Brain (live 1971)" and "Maggot Brain (BMG dub)". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing stuff – and arguably the greatest early Funkadelic album ever! The set moves past the simple fuzzy style of the group's debut, and the overly-stoned sound of Free Your Mind – and rockets into a heady funk style that's filled with sly social commentary and an incredibly dark vision of the future! The centerpiece of the album is the mindblowing "Maggot Brain" title track – a tune that begins with a chilling spoken intro, then slowly builds amidst washes and washes of post-Hendrix guitar. That cut then rolls into some shorter, funkier numbers that rank with some of the group's best ever – using the device of party-hearty energy to convey a sense of alienation and horror at the world. The whole thing's brilliant throughout – and apart from being a soul classic, the set should also rank as one of the greatest rock albums of all time! Titles include "Maggot Brain", "Super Stupid", "Back in Our Minds", "Can You Get to That", and "Wars of Armageddon". Features a great bonus single with two bonus tracks – "Maggot Brain (live 1971)" and "Maggot Brain (BMG dub)". LP, Vinyl record album

Essential 2 CD set that brings together 33 rare funky 45s from this classic Detroit group! There's loads of great stuff that you won't find that easily – and all tracks are the original 45 mixes, some of them quite different from the LP ones! Titles include "Stuffs & Things", "Fish, Chips, & Sweat", "Biological Speculation", "Jimmy's Got A Little Bit Of Bitch In Him", "Hit It & Quit It", "Joyful Process", "Cosmic Slop", "If You Don't Like The Effects", "Vital Juices", "I'll Bet You", and lots lots more! CD

A real lost treasure from the legendary Michael Garrick – a set that stands strongly with all of his classic albums of the late 60s, but which is issued here for the first time ever! As the title implies, the recording is a bit of a prelude to the Heart Is A Lotus album – as it shares a few compositions and a few group members with that wonderful set – but the overall feel is different, too – in that the album's all instrumental, and stretches out with really wonderful solos over modal rhythms – a bit more like some of Garrick's mid 60s recordings! Michael himself plays piano, harpsichord, and celeste – and the album features sublime solos from Don Rendell on soprano sax, alto, and flute, plus trumpet from Ian Carr – over wonderful rhythms from Coleridge Goode on bass and Trevor Tomkins on drums and percussion. This is hardly demo material at all – as the recording quality is totally top-shelf – and beautifully remastered here. Titles include "Song By The Sea", "Temple Dancer", "Sweet & Sugary Candy", "Heart Is A Lotus", and "Little Girl". CD

A real lost treasure from the legendary Michael Garrick – a set that stands strongly with all of his classic albums of the late 60s, but which is issued here for the first time ever! As the title implies, the recording is a bit of a prelude to the Heart Is A Lotus album – as it shares a few compositions and a few group members with that wonderful set – but the overall feel is different, too – in that the album's all instrumental, and stretches out with really wonderful solos over modal rhythms – a bit more like some of Garrick's mid 60s recordings! Michael himself plays piano, harpsichord, and celeste – and the album features sublime solos from Don Rendell on soprano sax, alto, and flute, plus trumpet from Ian Carr – over wonderful rhythms from Coleridge Goode on bass and Trevor Tomkins on drums and percussion. This is hardly demo material at all – as the recording quality is totally top-shelf – and beautifully remastered here. Titles include "Song By The Sea", "Temple Dancer", "Sweet & Sugary Candy", "Heart Is A Lotus", and "Little Girl". LP, Vinyl record album

Jazzy samba from the Far Out label – the soundtrack the film Garrincha!! – Estrela Solitaria (The Lonely Star) – featuring a groovy mix of samba sounds, sultry & steamy jazz funk, percussion madness, more darkly cinematic grooves! The film is about the legendary Brazilian footballer of the 50s & 60s, and the sounds are truly evocative of the times and well beyond. Musical director and composer Leo Gandelman is on saxes, flutes and more, backed feverish percussion & drums, trumpet, flugelhorn, bass, guitar, piano and cello. Titles include "Abertura", "Chile", "Samba Authentico", "Na Florsta", "Iraci", "Samba Latino", "DribleDe Cadeira", "Bota Jazz" and more. CD

A really beautiful follow-up to the previous set of duets from these two west coast musicians – and a record that's maybe even more sublime than the first! We're not sure what it is – maybe it's the passage of a few years that has deepened the sound, or maybe just the warmth that both players have for each other – yet whatever the case, the combination of the saxophones of Sam Gendel and the bass of Sam Wilkes flows out with all these tones and textures that go way past the obvious – definitely in some of the "beyond jazz" modes of the LA scene in recent years, but still with enough solo strengths to please fans of more conventional instrumentation too. There's great sonic touches to many tracks – almost an International Anthem vibe, but not in a remix/cutup way – and titles include "Greetings To Idris More Songs", "Flametop Green", "Welcome Vibe", "Theem Prototype", "SG's Prius", "Streetlevel", and a nice version of "Caroline No". CD

Later work by General Crook – very different than his funkier sides of the 60s, but still pretty darn great! "Best Years Of My Life" is a wonderful ballad cut – strings gently gliding as Crook's rich vocals come into deliver a sweet and sad lyric. "Testification" is more electric – with funky clavinet at the beginning, and a flanged-out approach on the vocals. 7-inch, Vinyl record

Includes performances with the orchestras of Earl Hines, Billy Eckstine, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and Louis Bellson. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best-ever documents of the young genius of tenorist Wardell Gray – exactly the kind of music that shows why he was one of the biggest and best of the bop saxophonists – before he was taken away from us all too soon! The material here was originally issued on 78s or 45s, and comes together as a great full length representation of Gray at his best – and on this first volume, Wardell plays tenor in one group with Al Haig on piano and Roy Haynes on drums – on titles that include "Easy Living", "Twisted", and "Southside". Another combo features Phil Hill on piano – on "Treadin", "Grayhound", and "Blue Gray". And the last combo is Teddy Charles' West Coasters – with Charles on vibes, Frank Morgan on alto, and Sonny Clark on piano – the last two of whom make their debut on the record! CD

A really cool take on the sounds of Studio Ghibli – one that brings classic melodies from the famous animated features into play with the production talents of Grey October Sounds – who delivers the goods with all the low-fi elements promised by the title! The approach is instrumental hip hop, but with a very different approach than usual – as the sweetness and spirit of the originals really grace the whole record in a really wonderful way – so that there's a sense of warmth and redemption that you'd not normally find in a record of beats, keyboards, and samples! Includes tunes from Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle In The Sky, and other Ghibli films – 10 tracks in all. CD

Almost from the start of his career, tenorist Johnny Griffin was heading overseas, delivering searing live performances like this – working as a solo horn player with a pickup group, at a level that was often even more powerful than some of his studio work back home! And here, the combo is hardly just a pickup group – as British modernist Stan Tracey is on piano, working alongside frequent musical partners Malcolm Cecil on bass and Jackie Dougan on drums – a great engine to drive the tenor of Griffin on to new heights – as Johnny blows here with a really raw edge that's amazing, and non-stop imagination that makes for very powerful solos that never seem to let up at all! The set features a smoking 22 minute take on "Indiana", plus long takes on "Blues In Twos" and "The Girl Next Door", both around the 15 minute mark – which means that Tracey also gets in plenty of solo space too. LP, Vinyl record album

A real treasure from the Detroit scene of the 70s – a never-issued Tribe Records album by Wendell Harrison, and one that's got a bit more of a soul/funk vibe than some of the other sessions on the label! The album's a key missing piece of the puzzle in Harrison's career – not as avant as some of his earlier recordings, but still a bit less polished than his later work too – with a strongly spiritual group that also features Ron English on guitar, Harold McKinney on keyboards and moog, and the great Phil Ranelin on trombone! Tracks are long, and overflowing with soul and spirit – and titles include "Tons & Tons Of BS", "Farewell To The Welfare", "Heavenese", "He's The One We All Know", and "Where Am I". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful return to acoustic soul jazz work for Wendell Harrison – after a string of more electrified albums in the 80s. Wendell's working here on tenor sax and clarinet – the latter of which he plays in these spiraling long lines that use the instrument in a searching, soprano sax-like manner – getting a sound that's really fantastic, and a depth of soul that really links the record back to the tradition of Wendell's work of the 70s. The group is great too – with players that include Kirk Lightsey and Pamela Wise on piano, Cecil McBee & Jaribu Shahid on bass, Doug Hammond on drums, and Robert Pipho on vibes – all working with Harrison on some creatively inventive tunes that sparkle with soulful energy! Titles include "Changing The Scene", "Merciful", "Fly By Night", "In Your Own Sweet Way", "Spank", and "Tons & Tons Of BS". CD

A beautiful return to acoustic jazz for Wendell Harrison – after a string of more electrified albums in the 80s! Wendell's working here on tenor sax and clarinet – the latter of which he plays in these spiraling long lines that use the instrument in a searching, soprano sax-like manner – getting a sound that's really fantastic, and a depth of soul that really links the record back to the tradition of Wendell's work of the 70s. The group is great too – with players that include Kirk Lightsey and Pamela Wise on piano, Cecil McBee and Jaribu Shahid on bass, Doug Hammond on drums, and Robert Pipho on vibes – all working with Harrison on some creatively inventive tunes that sparkle with soulful energy! Titles include "Changing The Scene", "Merciful", "Fly By Night", "In Your Own Sweet Way", "Spank", and "Tons & Tons Of BS". LP, Vinyl record album

A weird and wonderful album from Tribe Records giant Wendell Harrison – an obscure electric set from the start of the 80s! There's still a strongly spiritual feel on the record, but Wendell also adds some Fender Rhodes and vocals to his work on tenor and flute – bringing in the same sort of spacey soul vibe you'd find on work from the time by Oneness Of Juju! The overall sound is still quite soulful – a great extension of the early Tribe spirit from Detroit – and some cuts feature a bit more acoustic piano and sweet earthy percussion. Other cuts have more of a soulful bounce – thanks to vocals from Miche Braden and Kathy Simmons – and titles include "The Wok", "Ginseng Love", "Love Juice", "A Green Meadow" and "Peace of Mind". CD

Later work from reedman Wendell Harrison and the Tribe Records scene – a set that's got a slightly tighter feel than some of his earlier work, but still a relatively soulful vibe overall! Harrison leads the group on tenor, flute, and clarinet – but there's definitely a collective vibe to the music – which also features Harold McKinney on piano, Phil Ranelin on trombone, and Ralph Jones on soprano sax – part of a shifting lineup of artists who change from track to track – including Leon Thomas and Pamela Wise, who each sing a bit on the record. Thomas appears on the great tracks "Where Am I" and "Love Dream", both of which have a great mellow soul jazz vibe – and other cuts get a bit more out, and have more of the soaring spiritualism that got the Tribe scene going in the early 70s. Other titles include "Tons & Tons Of BS", "Winter", and "He's The One We All Knew". LP, Vinyl record album

Later work from reedman Wendell Harrison and the Tribe Records scene – a set that's got a slightly tighter feel than some of his earlier work, but still a relatively soulful vibe overall! Harrison leads the group on tenor, flute, and clarinet – but there's definitely a collective vibe to the music – which also features Harold McKinney on piano, Phil Ranelin on trombone, and Ralph Jones on soprano sax – part of a shifting lineup of artists who change from track to track – including Leon Thomas and Pamela Wise, who each sing a bit on the record. Thomas appears on the great tracks "Where Am I" and "Love Dream", both of which have a great mellow soul jazz vibe – and other cuts get a bit more out, and have more of the soaring spiritualism that got the Tribe scene going in the early 70s. Other titles include "Tons & Tons Of BS", "Winter", and "He's The One We All Knew". CD

Genius work from the Detroit underground of the 70s – one of the greatest records ever on the now-famous Tribe Records label, and a masterpiece of soul, jazz, and righteous spirit! The session's headed by tenor player Wendell Harrison – and it's got an all-star Motor City lineup that includes Marcus Belgrave on trumpet, Phil Ranelin on trombone, Jeamel Lee on vocals, Charles Eubanks on electric piano, and Charles Moore on flugelhorn. The tracks have a spacious spiritual approach that recalls some of the later Archie Shepp on Impulse – a blend of soul jazz with slight touches of electric instrumentation, some vocals, and a very progressive spirit overall – stepping proud in the new freedoms of the 70s, yet still swinging and very groovy. Titles include "Angela's Dilemma", "What We Need", "How Do We End All Of This Madness", "Merciful", and "Beneficent". This second version of the album features mixes of the tracks done in 1973. CD

An incredible package – one that features all three variations on this legendary album, along with bonus material on other pieces of vinyl – plus complete replicas of all 17 issues of the legendary Tribe Magazine – a key outlet for knowledge and culture in the Detroit scene of the 70s! The package has all three variations of the record in their original artwork – and version 1 comes with a 7" single that includes short versions of "Where Am I" and "How Do We End All Of This Madness". Version 2 comes with a 10" album that features full instrumental versions of "What We Need", "How Do We End All Of This Madness", and "Angela's Dilemma". Version 3 is pressed on 2LPs, which each play at 45rpm! The core album is genius work from the Detroit underground of the 70s – one of the greatest records ever on the now-famous Tribe Records label, and a masterpiece of soul, jazz, and righteous spirit! The session's headed by tenor player Wendell Harrison – and it's got an all-star Motor City lineup that includes Marcus Belgrave on trumpet, Phil Ranelin on trombone, Jeamel Lee on vocals, Charles Eubanks on electric piano, and Charles Moore on flugelhorn. The tracks have a spacious spiritual approach that recalls some of the later Archie Shepp on Impulse – a blend of soul jazz with slight touches of electric instrumentation, some vocals, and a very progressive spirit overall – stepping proud in the new freedoms of the 70s, yet still swinging and very groovy. Titles include "Angela's Dilemma", "What We Need", "How Do We End All Of This Madness", "Merciful", and "Beneficent". But maybe even cooler are the issues of Tribe Magazine – rare treasures from the Detroit underground, reproduced here for the first time ever – and maybe even worth the price of the heavy box set. LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible package – one that features all three variations on this legendary album, along with bonus material on other pieces of vinyl – plus complete replicas of all 17 issues of the legendary Tribe Magazine – a key outlet for knowledge and culture in the Detroit scene of the 70s! The package has all three variations of the record in their original artwork – and version 1 comes with a 7" single that includes short versions of "Where Am I" and "How Do We End All Of This Madness". Version 2 comes with a 10" album that features full instrumental versions of "What We Need", "How Do We End All Of This Madness", and "Angela's Dilemma". Version 3 is pressed on 2LPs, which each play at 45rpm! The core album is genius work from the Detroit underground of the 70s – one of the greatest records ever on the now-famous Tribe Records label, and a masterpiece of soul, jazz, and righteous spirit! The session's headed by tenor player Wendell Harrison – and it's got an all-star Motor City lineup that includes Marcus Belgrave on trumpet, Phil Ranelin on trombone, Jeamel Lee on vocals, Charles Eubanks on electric piano, and Charles Moore on flugelhorn. The tracks have a spacious spiritual approach that recalls some of the later Archie Shepp on Impulse – a blend of soul jazz with slight touches of electric instrumentation, some vocals, and a very progressive spirit overall – stepping proud in the new freedoms of the 70s, yet still swinging and very groovy. Titles include "Angela's Dilemma", "What We Need", "How Do We End All Of This Madness", "Merciful", and "Beneficent". But maybe even cooler are the issues of Tribe Magazine – rare treasures from the Detroit underground, reproduced here for the first time ever – and maybe even worth the price of the heavy box set. LP, Vinyl record album

There was never anyone like Lee Hazlewood – and this album is a true testament to his genius! He's the kind of guy you think you've got figured out when you first look at him – but the more you listen to his music, the more you want to raise him above all of the other hip singer/songwriters he seems to be like (Gram Parsons, Leonard Cohen, etc). At heart, Lee was a Cowboy – much more so than any of those fake LA "desperadoes" of the Sunset rock years – and this album, recorded as part of the enigmatic film A Cowboy In Sweden, is true testament to Lee's incredible ability to be both totally serious about his image, yet still maintain a sense of wit and distance that makes him incredibly hard to pin down, genre-wise. He's the country singer Scott Walker always wanted to be, and he's got a pop genius that Leonard Cohen painfully tried to reach in his later years. Brilliant! Filled with beautiful titles like "Forget Marie", "Pray Them Bars Away", "Easy & Me", "No Train To Stockholm", and "The Night Before" – one that you won't forget for a long time! This rare deluxe version features a bonus album of unreleased tracks – outtakes, demos, and instrumentals! LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic mix of heady sounds and heavy funk from The Heliocentrics – and a record that continues the vibe of their previous set – in which the team of Malcolm Catto and Jake Ferguson were joined by the lovely vocals of Barbora Patkova! Patkova's presence is just what the group needs to really ground their sound – a female singer up front, but one who's as equally comfortable with distortion, fuzz, and echoey spaces as the two instrumentalists – a trio who continue that unique tradition of psychedelic funk that we first loved in Catto's early work on Mo Wax! Titles include "99% Revolution", "Hanging By A Thread", "Nonsense (part 1)", "Light In The Dark", "People Wake Up", "Burning Wooden Ship", and "Elephant Walk". LP, Vinyl record album

An underground set from early 70s Stax Records – the only set cut back in the day by Ernie Hines – a really great singer who works here with a blend of southern soul and sweet harmony modes! The album's got a pretty laidback vibe, which is great – almost in the same space as The Temprees, with an undercurrent of super-dope arrangements, and Ernie's lead vocals right up front in the mix! There's a bit of strings on the set, and most tracks have some sort of harmony support behind Hines' lead – a vibe that's a bit different, and maybe almost more east coast than the usual Stax set. Arrangements are by Wardell Quezquerque, Dale Warren, Lester Snell, and Tom Nixon – and both The Bar Kays and The MGs play on the record. Titles include the sample classic "Our Generation" – plus "Electrified Love", "Sugar Plum", "Change Is Gonna Come", "Your Love (Is All I Need)", and "Come On Y'All". CD

A really fantastic soul record from the post-Motown underground in Detroit – and one that also has ties to the Tribe Records scene of the 70s! William Odell Hughes is a great soul singer, with an ability to stretch out on a long, sensual line – a quality that's a bit in the territory of Marvin Gaye in the early 70s – and he works here with arrangements from reedman Wendell Harrison, who plays tenor and flute on the record, and also a bit of keyboards too – serving up this lean backing that really fits the open, flowing style of William's vocals – on tracks that are all nice and long, and very different than the usual indie soul of the time! There's a wicked blend of deep soul and slinky grooves here – a bit like the best from Mike James Kirkland – and titles include "Waiting", "Where Am I", "Cruisin", "I've Got Love On My Mind", and "Super Funk A Ga La Listic Freak". LP, Vinyl record album

An insane tribute to one of the greatest female soul singers to emerge in the 70s – the magnificent Phyllis Hyman, a vocalist who first began in jazz, then moved to soul music to help chart a whole new sound for the future – a new sort of sophistication that was key to a shift in the way that female soul singers came across – with plenty of pride, maturity, and subtle power that really comes through in these recordings! Right from the start, Hyman was very much her own artist – as you'll hear in this set, which begins with some of her earliest, jazziest work, and includes a few contributions with Norman Connors – then moves through a rich legacy of full length albums before Phyllis was taken from our planet all too soon! The set features nine full albums, most with some bonus tracks – and albums include Phyllis Hyman, Somewhere In My Lifetime, You Know How To Love Me, Can't We Fall In Love Again, Goddess Of Love, Living All Alone, Prime Of My Life, I Refuse To Be Lonely, and Forever With You. 119 tracks in all! CD

The album that rocked a million dorm rooms back in the 60s – and for good reason, too – given that the title track is a side-long, totally jamming monster – the kind of track that was really revolutionary at the time, and which still has a hell of an impact all these many years later! "In A Gadda Da Vida" was shortened to a single – with the big hook intact – but this classic album version runs for 17 minutes in length, and has the group doing all these cool jams with their instruments – all the animals in the garden of Eden talking to each other (or at least that's what our addled teenaged minds always thought!) Shorter tracks are mighty nice too – a heady, heavy brew of Hammond and fierce guitar from Erik Brann, on cuts all penned by group leader Doug Ingle. Titles include "Termination", "My Mirage", "Flowers & Roses", and "Most Anything You Want" – plus live and single versions of the title track. CD

We're sure you know the group from their mega-hit oldie title cut – a garagey tune with a very catchy hook – but you might also appreciate them for the soulful finish they put on other tracks on this set, clearly inspired by groups on Atlantic, and going for a blue-eyed soul approach that they're not always known for. Titles include "Soul Searchin Baby", "Lots Of Pretty Girls", "Shake A Tail Feather", "Good Lovin", "The Lover", and "Love Makes The World Go Round". LP, Vinyl record album

About 30 years back, Joseph Lanza first turned us on to an amazing array of 60s easy listening records that we'd never fully given their due – and here, he continues the journey, but with a key shift into the world of psychedelia too! The book is a wonderful look at the way that easy listening and instrumental pop tried to stay vibrant in the second half of the 60s – and it follows the way that easy artists of the time were picking up the aesthetics of the younger generation in a variety of ways – not just doing cover versions of songs by The Beatles and Stones, but also going for trippier artwork on their album covers, and using more unusual studio techniques in production – all in ways that made for a huge legacy of very groovy records! At times, things would even move backwards – as older songs from the early part of the century were given a mod spin for the 60s generation – and the range of topics covered here is as wonderful as Lanza's presentation. The book is a very cool 7" square format – with lots of album reproductions and great graphics, plus a list of 50 essential records at the back – served up in a softcover volume that's 237 pages in length. Book

A really unique later album from Peggy Lee – one that's so different than the brash confidence of her early material, and which shows her really perfecting that boozy, mature sound that she brought to a handful of gems like this! The album's got a truly adult approach to pop that was less concerned with chart placement than it was with getting over a more sophisticated level of expression – and Peggy turns out to be wonderfully well suited for this mode – a deeply emotive singer by this point, capable of bringing a deeper sense of life into younger tunes of the era, fleshing them out with the newer freedoms of the time, yet without going overboard. There's almost a Robert Altman sense of poise and adult grace to these tunes – arranged by Artie Butler with a careful simplicity, and sung by Peggy with some of the truest emotion of her days on record. Titles include "Love Song", "Razor", "When I Found You", "A Song For You", "It Takes Too Long To Learn To Live Alone", "Someone Who Cares", and "Just For A Thrill". LP, Vinyl record album

Two rare albums from Dutch reedman Theo Loevendie – both amazing little records that sound beautiful here on a single CD! Mandela features complicated lines from a hip Netherlands combo of the late 60s – one headed up by Theo Loevendie on alto sax, but which acts a lot more like a collective of modernists working together – Hans Dulfer on tenor and bamboo flute, Willem Van Manen on trombone, Nedly Elstak on trumpet, Joop Mastenbroek on baritone and clarinet, Maarten Altena on bass, and Martin Van Dunhoven and John Engels on drums. The tunes all have a nice sense of structure – energy that's more like the early 60s modernism of the European scene – particularly some of the more rhythmic styles – than the looser freedoms that some of Loevendie's contemporaries were hitting at the same time. There's definitely plenty of offbeat sounds in the mix – but the group also knows how to swing, too – on titles that include "Trombomanie", "Mr Brook", "Timbuktu", "Trompedly", and "Pepy". Chess is a really playful outing from a very cool Dutch combo – one with lead alto from Theo Loevendie, but a rich array of sounds from the other members too! The reeds are especially nice – often coming together with a complexity that goes back to older European modern traditions, yet with a swinging sensibility that's still plenty jazz, too – kind of a mix of composition, arrangement, and inherent swinging – with standout work from Hans Dulfer on tenor, Leon Van Oostrom on baritone, Leo Cuypers on piano, and Willem Van Manen on trombone – a player we barely know at all, but whose bold tones really bring a lot to the record. Titles include "Lapsang Souchong", "Scratch", "Brasilia", and "Tremolo". CD

Features overall scoring by Mundell Lowe, with jazzy instrumentals that are trying to have a serious "southwest" sound to them – plus lots of vocal tracks with a similar folksy style to the film's big hit "One Tin Soldier", included on this album. That one's sung by the group Coven, but the rest are sung by lesser-known singers like Lynn Baker, Theresa Kelly, and Gwen Smith. What a weird time to be watching movies! LP, Vinyl record album

Insanely great sounds from the legendary Tim Maia – easily the most soulful singer in 70s Brazil, and an artist with a heck of a strong ear for funk, too! The music here is an incredible hybrid of American soul and Brazilian elements – especially since some lyrics are in English – and the grooves are often mixed together in a sound that's nice and fuzzy around the edges, with some slight psychedelic elements that makes the cuts a perfect fit for this Luaka Bop series! Yet Tim Maia's hardly a guy who can easily fit into any easy slot or series – because as you'll hear on this set, he's got a vibe that's all his own – a really wonderful approach that's different even from some of his hippest contemporaries in Brazil – and which has gone onto have influence on countless other generations of singers and musicians – including his nephew Ed Motta. The package is great – a real visual tribute to the sounds within – and titles include "Que Beleza", "Ela Partiu", "Do Leme Ao Pontal", "Brother Father Mother Sister", "Quer Queira Quer Nao Queira", "Let's Have A Ball Tonight", "I Don't Care", "The Dance Is Over", "Rational Culture", "You Don't Know What I Know", and "Nobody Can Live Forever". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet jazzy keys from Mike Mandel – grooving here in a fuller jazz funk mode that's a bit like the best work of the 70s on Kudu Records! The approach is quite nice – with Mike handling all the electrics, and getting solo support from and array of jazzy players who include David Sanborn on alto, Gary Anderson on tenor, Darryl Thompson on guitar, and Wilbur Bascomb and John Lee on bass! The sound's a nice blend of funky and slick – and the album sports a great instrumental cover of Steely Dan's "Peg", as well as the original tunes "As Fine As You Are", "Pyramids", "Elephant & Castle", "Another Kind Of Spring", and "Jupiter Finger". LP, Vinyl record album

An album that definitely lives up to its title – but which also offers a lot more than you might expect – way more than just a few cash-in dancefloor tunes! True, the whole thing's pretty lively – and titles include the group's seminal version of "Dancing In The Street" – still the only version you'll really ever need, despite years and years of countless covers that always fall short of the mark. But the set's also got a wonderful range that really displays the lead power of Martha Reeves – hewn tightly to the supporting Vandellas backups – and filled with a rich sense of feeling on titles that include the classic "Nowhere To Run", plus other Motown goodies like "Hitch Hike", "Mickey's Monkey", and "The Jerk". LP, Vinyl record album

An early moment of genius from post-Beatles Paul McCartney – a solo set that's wonderfully diverse throughout – filled with the kinds of cool little twists and turns we loved in his late Beatles records, and in his 70s killers with Wings! There's a newly-emerging sweetness going on here – that great sound that started to emerge with the McCartney album – where Paul was a proud, put-together family guy – easily one of the most confident of his fab foursome, and able to bring an incredible amount of charm to just about any style he wanted to try! Some of the best cuts here are the mellower, more personal moments – still delivered with an amazing rock-solid sense of musicianship and production, too – and even the rockers, which might sound clunky in the hands of anyone else, manage to come off with a great deal of charm as well. Titles include the wonderfully playful "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" – plus "Too Many People", "Heart Of The Country", "Dear Boy", "Ram On", "The Back Seat Of My Car", and "Smile Away". Deluxe edition comes in a beautiful clothbound box and includes the original album in mono and stereo, the Thrillington instrumental album, bonus tracks, a DVD documentary, 112-page book, and lots of other goodies! CD

One of the grooviest spaghetti western scores we've ever heard – penned for an early collaboration between Terence Hill and Bud Spencer! The main theme "Trinity" starts off with some cool vocal backing by Alessandro Alessandroni's I Cantori Moderni, singing underneath the English-language lead vocal – and the group also make an appearance on the film's reprise of this song at the end of the movie. Other tracks mix together guitar, organ, whistling, and some other cool sonic elements that give the soundtrack a cool late 60s feel that reminds us more of some lost French gem than an Italian thriller! Titles include "Lazy Cowboy", "Un Cowboy e Due Ragazze", "Di Fronte Ai Killers", "Trinity Con La Stella Di Viceseriffo", and "C'e Un Tempo Per Vincere". This huge 2CD version offers up the most overwhelming batch of music we've ever seen from the movie and the recording sessions – 16 tracks from the film, 11 more alternate tracks, and then 25 more bonus cuts in all! CD

A really unique album from the great Lee Morgan – a set that features the trumpeter in two different settings, but in a way that really works well together! Most of the album has Lee blowing in a very cool quintet – with Joe Henderson on tenor, McCoy Tyner on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – a group who maybe bring out a slightly hipper vibe that really points the way to the rest of Morgan's direction in the late 60s, when he was really letting some more spiritual currents loose. The other two tracks on the record feature a hip larger band directed by Oliver Nelson – swinging hard in a really soulful style! Nelson's arrangements on these two tracks are great – quite progressive, with a soul jazz big band style that seems to point the way towards the 70s – and the band provides a raging backdrop that lets Lee's trumpet soar over the top in beautiful crystal clear solos. Titles include "Nite Flite", "Delightful Deggie", "Ca-Lee-So", and "Zambia". CD also features 4 bonus tracks – "Need It", "Filet Of Soul", "Zambia (big band version)", and "Delightful Deggie (big band version)". CD