... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

With Jonathan Thomas on drums. CD

A prog classic from the Czech scene at the start of the 70s – music from a moment when things were really pushing the cultural barriers in the new freedoms of the time! Blue Effect blend core jamming with some larger arrangements that appear from time to time – all given a sense of power and majesty that really transcends the boundaries of language, soaring out with a vibe that's right up there with the best non-English work on the Euro scene at the time! The set was issued with translated lyrics in some territories, but this is the original album – with titles that include "Osamela Ulice", "Kamenne Blues", "Destivy Den", "Kde Je Ma Hvezda", "Fenix", and "Pamet Lasky". CD features 5 bonus tracks – including "Grave Of The Sun", "Life", and "Gray Hair". CD

The first four albums from this crucial group – along with four more CDs of rare live material too! First up is the self-titled Cactus – the first album from this legendary group – an important American hard rock powerhouse, driven by the famous rhythm duo of Tim Bogert on bass and Carmine Appice on drums – both of whom roll out of the gate here with amazingly frenetic energy! They're maybe only topped by the guitar work of Jim McCarty, whose searing lines are clearly learned from blues inspirations, then turned up in both speed and power – to match the vocals and harmonica of Rusty Day! There's nothing going on here that sounds like blues rock at all – even though the set begins with a cover of "Parchman Farm" – next to other titles that include "My Lady From South Of Detroit", "No Need To Worry", "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover", and "Let Me Swim". On One Way Or Another, Cactus are totally at the top of their game – and the guitar of Jim McCarthy really sets the record on fire, right from the very first note – at a level that should have made Jim one of the real guitar hero legends of his generation! Yet there's also power from the whole group going on too – tight rhythms from the team of Carmine Appice and Jim Bogert, the latter of whom starts to bring in his own vocals a fair bit more, offering backup to the raspy lead of Rusty Day. And while there's a few currents that show their older influence from blues, the sound here is massively hard rock all the way through – making the record a great illustration of the way that slavish blues rock gave birth to a fresh new jamming sound in a matter of just a few short years. Titles include "Rockout Whatever You Feel Like", "Song For Aries", "Feel So Bad", "Rock N Roll Children", and "Hometown Bust". Restrictions is next, and despite the title, there's no restrictions at all – as Cactus seem to be even more confident, more able to stretch their wings and fly than ever before – even adding in some extra piano and keyboards at points to the core guitar-heavy sound of the quartet! All the group's best elements are very firmly in place – searing guitar, righteously confident vocals, and a strutting sensibility that makes this early 70s album way ahead of the game in terms of territory that so many bigger groups would later copy for their own classic records. Titles include "Guiltless Glider", "Evil Alaska", "Sweet Sixteen", "Bag Drag", "Restrictions", and "Mean Night In Cleveland". Ot N Sweaty is a record that's got a bit of a shift in the classic Cactus lineup – as the group's still driven strongly by the work of Carmine Appice on drums and Tim Bogert on bass, but get guitar power from Werner Fritzschings, who's a pretty amazing player – next to some added keyboards from Duane Hitchings, and vocals from Peter French – a singer who's ballsy power might be even more in line with the group than their previous lead singer! The album's got an unusual approach in that side one was recorded live, side two in the studio – each with a nicely different flavor as a result – on titles that include "Swim", "Our Lil Rock N Roll Thing", "Bedroom Mazurka", "Telling You", "Bad Stuff", and "Bringing Me Down". 8CD set is overflowing with great material – bonus tracks added to three of the four albums in the collection, than a further 4CDs worth of live material – titled Fully Unleashed – The Live Gigs Vols 1 & 2. The live material is great – and really shows the tightness of the group at their best! CD

Rare tracks from one of the greatest soul labels ever – Detroit's legendary Westbound Records, the famous home of Funkadelic – but a source for countless many more grooves! This set features really rare singles and unreleased tracks from Westbound – a flurry of great soul tracks that's surprised even our Westbound-raised ears – with tracks that run from righteous soul to heavy funk, to great group harmonies, and more! There's nary a big name in the set – and instead, the whole thing really focuses on the hinterland of the Westbound scene – including some especially rare gems that were issued as singles by the even-smaller Eastbound label, who did some wonderfully groovy work in the early 70s. Titles include "Admit Your Love Is Gone" by Damon Shawn, "Old Fashioned Woman" by Unique Blend, "I'm Falling In Love" by Fantastic Four, "Tender Moments" by AC Tilmon & Denise LaSalle, "I Love You" by The Motivations, "More Love" by Emanuel Laskey, "What Am I Gonna Do" by Houston Outlaws, "I Don't Know How" by The Superlatives, "Trying Real Hard" by The Magictones, "You Can't Take This Love For You From Me" by Bob & Harold, "I'm Loving You You're Leaving Me" by The Magictones, "Does He Treat You Better" by Unique Blend, and "Rosetta Stone" by AC Tilmon & Detroit Emeralds. CD

The dark, innovative, head crushing classic by Cannibal Ox – perhaps the signature LP of fairly brief, but legendary Def Jux era! Vordul and Vast Aire from the Atoms Family crew twist metaphors and create dark visuals of NYC and outer space with ease on one of the most forward thinking hip hop albums in quite some time – produced by El-P, who we thought of at the time as the underrated MC and producer of underground faves Company Flow – long before he broke big with Run The Jewels! Tracks include "Atom" with Alaska and Cryptic from Atoms Fam, the single "Iron Galaxy", "Raspberry Fields", "Straight Off The D.I.C.", "Vein", "The F Word", "Stress Rap", "Battle For Asgard" with LIFE Long and C-Rayz Walz from Stronghold, "Painkillers", "Ridiculoid" with El-P, "Pigeon" and more. CD

After hitting big as a singer on the soundtrack for Claudine, Gladys Knight finally got her chance in front of the camera for Pipe Dreams – a record that featured her both as the star on film and on the soundtrack! The styles here are a bit more wider-ranging than the usual 70s soundtrack of this type – a bit of ballad soul, mellow numbers, and more – arranged by Dominic Frontiere and Michael Masser in styles that are a bit like some of Knight's own albums of the time. We like especially the jazzy vocalesey number "Pot Of Jazz", a nice number that deserves further discovery on a compilation – and other cuts include "Find A Way", "Follow My Dreams", "So Sad The Song", and "Alaskan Pipeline". LP, Vinyl record album

Solo and spinoff projects by UFO band members – includes music from Pete Way, Waysted, the Paul Raymond Project, The Plot, Alaska, Snowblind, and John Sloman. CD

A record that really lives up to its title, given the sweet Philly grooves of the set – a real surprise, given that the album was recorded in Germany! The session's a rare studio project in the early years of the German disco scene – and comes off with the best soulful styles that were bubbling up in the US at the time – clubby instrumental grooves that are filled with soaring strings and tight rhythms – yet served up in ways that are never too overdone! In fact, if you slapped some obscure US label on this one, folks would be more than willing to believe that the set's some underground corner from the New York scene – quite a surprise for a record that was initially cut just for sound library usage. Titles include "City Train", "Alaska Flight", "Skyline", "Night Shift", "Full House", "Star Shot", "Rush Hour", "Sun Ship", and "Flash Point". CD

Joe Quijano was one of the greatest all-around Latin bandleaders of the early 60s – and this rare session for Columbia shows him capably moving through a wide range of material, from mambo, to bossa, to cha cha cha! The bossa material is especially interesting – in that it's got more of a New York early 60s quality, in which the local Latin band were trying to match the bossa rhythms, but with a rawer, more rhythmic quality normally attached to their usual work. The result is some very unusual (but great!) versions of bossa tunes like "One Note Samba", "Desafinado", and "Corcovado", plus other tracks like "L'Apache", "Alaska", and "Lamento Borincano". There's even a lively version of "Hava Nagilhah", which is more than proof that the New York Latin groups made a big part of their money playing for Jewish audiences! LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe one of the coolest country Christmas collections we've ever heard – but then again, we'd expect no less from the folks at Bear Family! There's a lot of great original tunes here – which are mixed with country-fied takes on more popular Holiday songs from the midcentury years – often served up here by singers that were the bigger names of their generation, caught in a very special setting for the month of December! As usual with Bear Family, the presentation is great – vivid images inside and out – and notes on every single track – supporting a selection of 27 titles that include "I'll Be Walking The Floor This Christmas" by Ernest Tubb, "Senor Santa Claus" by Jim Reeves, "Christmas Dinner" by Tennessee Ernie Ford, "Snowdeer" by Carl Smith, "They Shined Up Rudolph's Nose" by Johnny Horton, "Santa Claus Jr" by Eddi Cletro, "It's Christmas Every Day In Alaska" by Hank Thompson, "It Was Jesus (undubbed)" by Johnny Cash, "Reindeer Boogie" by Hank Snow, "The Christmas Boogie" by Davis Sisters, "I'm Your Private Santa Claus" by Eddie Arnold, "I'm Gonna Tell Santa Claus On You" by Faron Young, "Captain Santa Claus" by Bobby Helms, "Santa's Big Parade" by The Louvin Brothers, and "Christmas In My Hometown" by Sonny James. CD

Bear Family does it again – coming up with a sublime selection of vocal tunes from 50s and 60s westerns – mostly films, but with a few TV tunes thrown in for good measure! We're surprised at how much we like this stuff – and it segues nicely not only with our love of soundtracks, but also our appreciation of classic American singers – because when you see who's on the set, you'll be surprised at the voices they get! Titles include "The Hanging Tree" by Marty Robbins, "I'm A Runaway" by Tab Hunter, "Ballad Of Paladin" by Johnny Western, "The Searchers" by Sons Of The Pioneers, "The Legend Of Shenandoah" by Jimmy Stewart, "My Rifle My Pony & Me" by Dean Martin & Ricky Nelson, "North To Alaska" by Johnny Horton, "Bonanza" by Lorne Greene, "Cowboy" by Dickson Hall, "Roll On Texas Moon" by Roy Rogers, "The Rebel Johnny Yuma" by Johnny Cash, and "Nevada Smith" by Merle Kilgore. CD

A wonderfully obscure set of work from Gary Williams – not the blues singers you might expect from the title, but a northwest Pacific country singer who drew plenty of inspiration from the Jimmie Rogers blues folk legacy – which he then served up with a tighter postwar flair! Williams recorded for a number of small labels in the late 50s and 60s – Verve Records is the best known, and the most unusual, given that they mostly issued jazz – and this collection brings together 34 tracks from the short but strong legacy of his singles, with a surprising depth that really contrasts with his obscurity. Titles include "Death Row", "Alaska", "Manhunt", "Heartbreak Special", "My Restless Rollin Mind", "The Great Northwest", "Walla Walla State Prison", "Such A Good Good Girl", "Branded An Outlaw", "Dueling Green", "Rule Number One", and "In The Prison Cell". CD