... LP, Vinyl record album

Funky funky disco from Gaz – one of the best-remembered groups of the Salsoul 70s generation – even though they only ever cut this one album! There's a lot of tight percussion in the mix here – really rooting these tunes in a tight live instrumental vibe – and the arrangements from Richie Rivera also feature a female vocal chorus over the top, but kind of scatting away in a jazzy style that's mighty nice! The set leads off with the totally funky cut "Sing Sing" – a track that's been sampled by plenty over the years – and other cuts include "Synth He Sized Her", "Interstellar Love Affair", "Indian Gaz", and "The Force". CD features three bonus tracks – "The Good The Bad & The Ugly (original 12" version)", "Sing Sing (original single)", and "Indian Gaz (original single)". CD

A gem of an album from trumpeter Matthew Halsall – his third on the Gondawa label, and like all the others, a set that we'd easily rank right up there with the best 70s spiritual jazz on labels like Strata East or Black Jazz! The set's got a fluid sound that's extremely compelling – kind of a post-Coltrane vibe that has all the players stretching out nicely, but always in a soulful way – never too overdone, or too avant – always staying in the right sort of expressive modes to keep their energy focused. And in the group with Halsall's trumpet is the tenor of Nat Birchall – labelmate on Gondawa, and a player we totally love too – with rhythm support from Adam Fairhall on piano, Gavin Barras on bass, and Gaz Hughes on drums – plus a bit of harp from Rachael Gladwin on one track. Titles include "Samatha", "The End Of Dukkha", "Song For Charlie", and "Music For A Dancing Mind". Remastered edition – features bonus tracks "Only You", "Singing Everyday", and "Breathless". LP, Vinyl record album

Repackaging of Brel's 1967 LP – featuring some of his lesser known work from the late 60s, set to arrangements by longtime accompanist Francois Rauber. The tracks are still quite strong, and if anything, Brel's writing has only gotten sharper by this point. Titles include "Le Gaz", "A Jeun", "Fils De", "Les Bonbons 67", "Mon Pere Disait", "La La La", and "Les Coeurs Tendres". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing collection of 40s and 50s jazz drawings by Gene Deitch – the complete anthology of his work for legendary jazz magazine Record Changer! Gene was an amazing artist and cartoonist, whose work helped solidify the legacies of some of the most famous cartoon characters in the American pop culture canon – from Popeye, to Tom & Jerry and beyond – but we're especially in love with his jazz-centric Record Changer era! Gene adored jazz and his love for it really shows! Cat On A Hot Thin Groove includes all of his magazine covers, cartoon panels and other bits from Record Changer – versatile work that ranges from fun, cartoon-y panels of "Jazz Cat" characters, to more elaborate and abstract illustrations. Wonderful, vital stuff – and it's very nicely anthologized here by Fantagraphics! Coffee-table scale paperback – 160+ pages of prime Deitch jazzy drawings with text accompaniment. Book

Readings from "Malombra", "Piccolo Mondo Antico" and "Piccolo Mondo Moderno" by Elena Da Venezia and Franco Graziosi. 7-inch, Vinyl record

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

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... Magazine

That's a lovely photo of Dolly Parton on the cover – and the issue's got a very personal tale of the way that Dolly's music influenced the life of one writer! And as usual, the issue's got the nicely diverse array of cultural forces – the artwork of Fred Tomaselli (with plenty of cool images of his reworkings of New York Times front pages), the compositions of Tyondai Braxton, a long interview with Octavia Butler, the acoustic Powers/Rolin duet, global instrument maestro Peter Larson, an unpublished interview with The Clean, a look at the visual art of Clean drummer Hamish Robert Kilgour, on tour with Crazy Doberman, Portland's Neo Boys, a farewell to Tom Verlaine, and lots lots more – all in full color throughout. Magazine

A great new issue of Maggot Brain – including wide-ranging interviews with artist Raymond Pettibon and underground culture renaissance man John Waters that both go way deeper than their most iconic works – and equally deep insight-fueled pieces from cover-to-cover! Includes a look at the legacy-to-date of Detroit vocalist John Brannon from Negative Approach to the Laughing Hyenas and beyond, a photo journal on tour with noise rock lifers The Melvins, experimental pop veteran Cheri Knight, sax player & composer Patrick Shiroishi on Japanese folk-blues guitarist & visionary Kan Mikami, zine writer/publisher/outsider musician Seymour Glass and lots more. Each feature, column and article is greatly enriched by photos and illustrations, too – the visual side of Maggot Brain gets more vivid with each new issue! Magazine

Maggot Brain has only been around for a handful of issues – but during that time, the publication has evolved tremendously – and become one of our go-to sources for digging into a really wide range of music! This time around, the cover feature spotlights a set of never-seen photos of early 90s indie rock – but there's plenty more on Archie Shepp, Camille Roy, ELO, Endless Boogie, Guerilla Girls, and the duo of Will Sergeant & Bobby Gillespie – all presented with the mixture of strong writing and art! There's plenty more too – even a column by Luc Sante. Magazine

The wonderful Raincoats are on the cover this time around, and the issue looks at the way their once-overlooked music has gone on to get the attention it deserved, and keep on having an influence over generations to come! There's lots more too – a very interesting piece that has Terry Riley and Hamid Drake commenting on Don and Moki Cherry, a set of unpublished AC/DC photos from 1977, the duo of guitarists Marisa Anderson and William Tyler, unseen collage art from Jim Jarmusch, an interview with singer/songwriter Tim Rutili, the rebirth of singer Merry Clayton, a cool collection musical artifacts at the Henry Ford Museum, 13 pages from issue #2 of Gary Panter's Jimbo comic, and lots more cool stuff too – the sort of articles that have continued to make Maggot Brain one of the most interesting magazines in recent years! Magazine

... Cassette

... Magazine

Pearl Jam are on the cover this time around, with a big exclusive interview inside – and there's other great articles too – including looks at the relationship between David Bowie and Mick Ronson, the guitar work of Phil Manzanera, UK folk legend Anne Briggs, unreleased Jimi Hendrix material, the late Wayne Kramer of MC5 fame, and the massive funk group Cymande! And, as always, there's plenty more too – including the famous Mojo reviews section, which is overflowing with music recommendations. Also comes with a bonus CD – with rare live tracks from Pearl Jam! Magazine

This issue of Mojo looks at the 30 greatest songs by Steely Dan – a large number, but maybe not big enough – given the greatness of the group! There's also plenty of other classic features – rare photos of the Rolling Stones, and more on Marvin Gaye, The Ramones, Lenny Kravitz, and the Butthole Surfers – plus Stone Roses guitarist John Squire and the mighty Liam Gallagher! The issue also features a bonus CD with 15 tracks from famous northern bands – including James, The Fall, Magazine, Blue Orchids, Inspiral Carpets, and others – plus the usual huge section of Mojo reviews! Magazine

Heavenly grooves from Hiroshi Okazaki & His Star Gazers – a group who harmonize wonderfully on this set! Despite their Japanese origin, the Star Gazers sing in English – clearly drawing from a legacy that includes The Four Freshmen and Hi-Los – but they also scat wordlessly at points too, in ways that really transform the sound of the tunes! There's a wonderfully sparkling feel to the whole record – of the sort you'd find in the hippest 60s European soundtracks or Brazilian bossa albums – and although the group hardly cracked the market outside their native Japan, a session like this has strong global appeal all these many years later. Titles include "What Can I Do Dear", "Agua De Beber", "I Can't Find The Words", "Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars", "This Guy's In Love With You", and "The Last Waltz". CD

... Magazine

Record Culture is even cooler than ever – as this issue comes with a bonus book as well! But first, the magazine – this issue has the same great format as the others – a book-style package, filled with beautiful full color photos of record collectors, vinyl culture, and other cool bits from around the world – all put together to show that the love of records knows no boundaries, and is still more vibrant now than it was back in the 20th Century! There's a great article in this issue on Twilite Tone – a Chicago hero from way back, given plenty of space for his career and love of vinyl – and the issue also has features on Gerd Janson, June Jones, Eug, Vanessa Worm, Sebastien Dellier, and Bradley Zero – again, based on their interest and use of records. And lastly, there's a very interesting feature – postcards sent to the Time & Space radio show at WNYU! 211 pages, full color, and more like a softcover book. Then, you also get the very cool book – Second Generation – a collection of Chicago house music flyers from the years 1991 to 200 – dozens of pages of ads for gigs and shows, all in full color, pulled from the archives of Mark Farina and Alicia Prior. Magazine