Sonic Youth's follow-up to the ALMOST commercial breakthrough Dirty – sarcastically-titled, and overall effort mixes their time-honored noisy weirdness and accessible way with melody in new and compelling ways! Working again with producer Butch Vig, but moving away from the loud guitar ragers of Dirty into stranger territory. Almost worth it alone for "Bull In The Heather", one of the weirdest first singles for a major label rock album in the early 90s – but this whole thing is pretty great, and generally underrated in the SY annals. Other tracks include "Starfield Road", "Screaming Skull", "Tokyo Eye", "Waist", "Bone", "Winner's Blues", "Sweet Shine" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A double dose of Horace Andy – a set that first features some of his great vocal recordings with King Tubby – the follows up with a second disc that offers up all sorts of dub versions by Tubby himself! Andy's vocals are wonderful – soulfully crafted in the early years of reggae, and at their prime here – on cuts that include material from his Pure Ranking album, and other gems at the time – tunes that include "Set Me Free", "It Grieve My Heart", "Sodom & Gomorrah", "Totally Free", "Leaders Of Babylon", "Liberation", and "Natural Mystic". Then, the second disc features dubs by Tubby – titles that include "Dubbing Around", "I Love My Dub", "Set Me Dub", "Liberation Dub", "Leader Of Dub", and "Dub Is The One". LP, Vinyl record album

Heavy dub, with a mighty sharp edge – all those points and angles that King Tubby brought to the music with a special punch of his own – almost as if he's showing the scene that these sorts of dub tracks aren't the stuff of head-nodding naps, but instead have a righteous mystical power of their own! Bunny Lee produced, and the musicians are a familiar group of players, but with a lot more edge here than they'd have over at Island Records – Sly Dunbar on drums, Robbie Shakespeare on bass, Willie Lindo on lead guitar, Earl Chinna Smith on rhythm guitar, and Winston Wright and Jackie Mittoo on some mighty nice organ lines! Titles include "Dub Them Under Manners", "Ragga Muffin Dub Stylee", "Bad Boys Dub Stylee", "The Best Dub In The Business", "Back Out A This Dub Stylee", and "Majestic Stylee". LP, Vinyl record album

Fabulous is right – as the set's filled with killers from Buster – including "Judge Dread", "Ghost Dance", "Too Hot", "Al Capone", "Barrister Pardon", "Free Love", "Take It Easy", "Julie", "Freezing Up Orange Street", "Earthquake", and "Texas Hold Up". CD

The first-ever look at the soul-based legacy of the Jetstar Records label – a small Texas imprint in the 60s, and one that features plenty of work from the great deep soul singer Bobby Patterson and some of his key contemporaries! Jetstar never made the mark that it should have back in the day, but the cuts here are all pretty darn wonderful – even the many unreleased tracks that make up more than half of the set – showing an overlooked legacy that's finally giving the attention it deserves! Instrumentation and production is nice and raw on most numbers – tunes are upbeat overall, not mellow southern soul – but definitely have more grit in the grooves than you'd hear at Motown. Titles include "Take Me Baby" and "What About Me" by Alder Ray Mathis, "You Can Tell I'm In Love" and "What's Your Problem Baby" by Bobby Patterson, "Let It Be Me" and "What Love Has Joined Together" by Abner Haynes, "I Want A Lover" and "Beautiful Day" by Beamon Young, and "Turn Back The Hands Of Time" by The Mustangs. LP, Vinyl record album

Garage genius from the Texas scene of the 60s – a set of tracks that were all originally recorded for the Jetstar label out of Dallas – including a number that were never issued at the time! Jetstar was part of the Abnak Records family of labels – the bigger company more home to hits, Jetstar more of a spot where some of the grittier, more homegrown work could get release – as you'll hear here in a mix of material that even includes some rare tracks by artists who hit bigger on other labels! There's plenty of 60s fuzz in the mix, but also some surprising echoes of earlier styles too – on titles that include "Now You Are Gone" and "You're Not Here" by Kenny Baker, "Look What You've Gone & Done" and "Dance Franny Dance" by Floyd Dakil Combo, "I'm Feeling OK" and "I'm Gonna Leave Ya" by The Five Americans, "I'll Fly High" and "Little Bird" by Dale Hawkins, "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" and "Further Down The Line" by Terry Haynes, and "Wildwood Flower" and "Beetle Bust Out" by Arthur K Adams. LP, Vinyl record album

Searing sounds from the Spanish scene of the 60s – a surprising hotbed of razor-sharp, guitar-driven, garage rocking bands! Other European scenes of the time are maybe better-known – especially the UK, Swedish, and German ones – but the work here is really stunning – and easily matches any of the best efforts coming from American cities like LA, Boston, or Seattle back in the day – as these cool quartets and quintets find a way to blend together raw guitar and jaunty vocals – sometimes with a slight dose of Brit Invasion inspiration as well! The package is great – very detailed notes, and lots of groovy photos – and the whole thing's a really thoughtful representation of a scene we never would have gotten to dig otherwise. Titles include "A Tu Vera" by Tomcats, "Antimusical" by Miguel Rios, "Aun" by Los Huracanes, "Yo Te Vi" by Los Impala, "Shake Baby Shake" by 4 Jets, "Dance The Pulga" by Los Brincos, "You Be" by The Canaries, "Mientes" by Lone Star, "It Is My World" by Prou Matic, and lots lots more! LP, Vinyl record album

Cool cuts from around the globe – all brought together in one wonderfully funky set! The music here all draws heavily from American funk and psych styles – and often uses some slightly different instrumentation, or more regional inflection – to make the usual psych funk styles sound even more groovy and exotic – in a mindblowing way that makes the entire set a real musical delight! Most tracks are instrumental – heavy on drums and fuzzy guitar – but there's a few vocal moments, too – and the funk current is super-strong, way more so than on other collections that promise a heavy bottom, but usually just present offbeat psych. Titles include "Jet Pop" by Bana Pop Band, "Foxy Lady" by 49th Blue Streak, "Karate Chop" by The Tijuana Brats, "Stari Dvorac" by Pro Arte, "Nie Przejziemy Do Historii" by Krzysztof Klenczon, "Louis Louis" by Friar Tuck, "Time Of Machines" by Sergio Ferraresi, and "The Shaman's Dance" by Alexandr Sergeyevich. LP, Vinyl record album

The super hits of the 70s – but not in the versions you might know – as the folks at Numero have done a superb job of selecting some really unusual cover versions of classics – all with the great ear for the American underground that's always made their records so great! In a way, the set takes us back to the kind of records we'd sometimes accidentally buy as kids – records that would promise famous hits, but played by studio groups – a fact that was usually hidden somewhere underneath the main text on the cover. Numero replicate that approach somewhat here – using a very cool die-cut cover that replicates an 8-track sleeve – to present titles that include "Cisco Kid" by Richard Powell, "Come & Get Your Love" by Family Tree, "Do It Again" by Deep Heat, "I Am I Said" by Joeven, "Leaving On A Jet Plane" by Summer Madness, "I Second That Emotion" by Ginny Reilly, "Superstar" by Alejandro Bravo, and "Pure Imagination" by Babalade Olamina. LP, Vinyl record album

Cambodian rock, pop and psychedelia from the 60s & 70s – compiled by the members of Dengue Fever, LA's modern torchbearers of rare prime rock era rarities from Cambodia! It's wonderful stuff – like a lot of the sounds from the pulpy garage rock era Asian underground, most tunes have love female vocals, but the instrumentation varies from raw r&b & kind of moddish influenced sounds, to more psychedelic electric guitar and hazy melodies, bits of funk, and strains that come closer to traditional Cambodian sounds. The tracks were culled for rare cassette tapes, and the sound quality is top notch! Titles include "Give Me One Kiss" by Dara Chom Chan, "Don't Speak", "Jombang Jet", "I Will Marry You" and more by Pan Ron, "Shave Your Beard", "Flowers In The Pond", "I Will Starve Myself To Death", "Cold Sky" and more by Ros Sereysothea. 12 tracks in all. LP, Vinyl record album

The crowning achievement of ELO at their best – a double-length set in which the genius of Jeff Lynne gets extra space to fully flower – and his mighty talents don't let up for a minute! The record's given us some classics over the years – standout tracks like "Mr Blue Sky", "Turn To Stone", and "Sweet Talkin Woman" – but the whole thing works perfectly together – as a sublime sonic treat that has all the Lynne studio genius coming into full focus, moving between different textures of electricity and light, through a set of songs that sound infinitely different than the group just a few years before. Other tracks include "It's Over", "Night In The City", "Starlight", "Jungle", "Believe Me Now", "Steppin Out", "Sweet Is The Night", "Standing In The Rain", "Summer & Lightning", "Wild West Hero", "The Whale", and "Birmingham Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Cambodian rock, pop and psychedelia from the 60s & 70s – compiled by the members of Dengue Fever, LA's modern torchbearers of rare prime rock era rarities from Cambodia! It's wonderful stuff – like a lot of the sounds from the pulpy garage rock era Asian underground, most tunes have love female vocals, but the instrumentation varies from raw r&b & kind of moddish influenced sounds, to more psychedelic electric guitar and hazy melodies, bits of funk, and strains that come closer to traditional Cambodian sounds. The tracks were culled for rare cassette tapes, and the sound quality is top notch! Titles include "Give Me One Kiss" by Dara Chom Chan, "Don't Speak", "Jombang Jet", "I Will Marry You" and more by Pan Ron, "Shave Your Beard", "Flowers In The Pond", "I Will Starve Myself To Death", "Cold Sky" and more by Ros Sereysothea. 14 tracks in all. CD

A strange and wonderful mix of tracks – one that goes past the familiar disco you might expect from the title, and which also includes some crossover pop tracks from the 80s – all in a mix of rhythms that easily moves between mellow, midtempo, and more upbeat grooving! The selection here is by DJ Osshy, who's unabashedly in love with 80s pop – which means he can effortlessly lay a soul tune alongside an AOR number, and get some really great results in the process – especially given that some of these tracks are ones that we'd normally expect to find on such a collection. The 2CD package features 36 titles in all – divided into a "bitter side" and a "sweet side" – and tracks include "I Miss You" by Klymaxx, "After The Love Has Gone" by Earth Wind & Fire, "Sweet Baby" by Stanley Clarke & George Duke, "A Woman Needs Love" by Ray Parker Jr, "One On One" by Hall & Oates, "There'll Be Sad Songs" by Billy Ocean, "Almost Paradise" by Mike Reno & Ann Wilson, "Drive" by The Cars, "Reality" by Richard Saunderson, "Ooo La La" by Teena Marie, "Sara" by Starship, "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye, "Between The Sheets" by Isley Brothers, "It Will Be Alright" by Airplay, "Baby I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley" by Will To Power, "Through The Fire" by Chaka Khan, "Babe" by Styx, and "You Got It All" by The Jets. CD

Music from Bruce Springsteen, Robbie Nevil, Robert Palmer, Grateful Dead, Bruce Hornsby And The Range, Suzanne Vega, Richard Marx, Billy Joel, Starship, Europe, Michael Jackson with Siedah Garrett, Gregory Abbott, The Jets, Kenny G, Bruce Willis, Robert Cray Band, Lisa Lisa And Cult Jam, Gloria Estefan And Miami Sound Machine, and Beastie Boys. LP, Vinyl record album

The laidback classic! The Digables certainly weren't the first or the most innovative hip hop group to rely upon cooled out jazzy grooves for the backbone of their sound, but they really brought it home with a hugely endearing and long enduring vibe – and this is their masterpiece! All these years later, Blowout Comb is still pure gold. Loads of tripped out arrangements on live instruments – which is a huge step for the group after their largely sampled debut – and layer upon layer of groovy vocals in addition to the easy rhymes of Butterfly, Ladybug and Doodlebug. Also includes an appearance by Jeru! Probably the catchiest jazz-rap fusion record of all time! Tracks include "The May 4th Movement Starring Doodlebug", "Black Ego", "Dog It", "Jettin", "Borough Check", "Highing Fly", "Dial 7", "The Art Of Easing", "K.B.'s Alley", "Graffiti", "Blowing Down", "9th Wonder", and "For Corners". LP, Vinyl record album

A record with a sexy cover and a slinky sound to match – the rare second album from the cool French instrumental combo Les Jaguars – a 60s group who start in modes that resemble American surf guitar, but really take off into some great directions of their own! The style here is familiar – bass, two guitars, and drums – but the quality of the instrumentation gets nicely complex, and opens up way past catchy themes and references to sand and surf – as the group turn in mostly original tunes throughout, and have some especially great interplay between the two guitars – at a level that might normally be carried by an additional keyboard or tenor sax. The record's a hell of an instro rocker – way more so than you'd guess from the cheesecake cover – and titles include "Tourbillon", "Guitare Cha Cha", "Melle Yeye", "Guitare Strip", "Guitare Jet", "Dors Mon Amour", and "Jaguar Shake". LP, Vinyl record album