Titles include "Mule Walk", "Thou Swell", "I'm Comin Virginia", "Snowy Mornin Blues", and "Old Fashioned Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Back in the mid-90's Mad Lion seemed to be on top of the hip hop/dancehall/guntalk/MJB nexus, and "Own Destiny" is one of the best of that genre – combining dancehall vocals over a hip hop track, and remixed by KRS. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Titles include "Nothin", "Spanish Fandango", "Railroad Blues", "Complainin", "Inner Space", and "Outer Space" by Luckey Roberts; and "Morning Air", "Relaxin", "Rippling Water", "Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea", "Tango La Caprice", and "Concentratin" by Willie Smith. LP, Vinyl record album

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We're not sure what "lion style" is, but we can definitely say that the album's heavy on dub – a darkly bubbling masterpiece with Prince Jammy at the controls – crafting his magic to grooves by a top-shelf set of Kingston musicians! Winston Wright plays lots of keyboards – organ, clavinet, and even some harpsichord – and the real energy of the rhythms come from the young Sly & Robbie – very much in their prime here, without some of those later modes when they were trying to recopy themselves for the mainstream. Chinna Smith throws in lots of riffing guitar to the echoey brilliance – and titles include "No Bride", "Jammy's In The Arena", "Black Trap", "The Big Apple", "Rough Voyage", "Uhru Express", "King Forever", "Tiger Dub" and "Mystic Feelings". LP, Vinyl record album

A lesser-known album from The Stylistics – at least in comparison to their mega-hits of the early 70s – but a set that's still got the vocal group in beautifully harmonic formation! The group are still produced by the team of Hugo & Luigi, and arrangements are by Horace Ott – who turns in a 70s version of the full, emotive backings he could bring to a soul record back in the 60s – almost an old school level of presentation that's a really nice surprise – even as the group step out in a few clubbier numbers, which they really know how to handle well. Titles include "School For Lovers", "Fly", "Music Is Another Word For Love", "We'll Live The Good Life Together", "Make Believe", "Where You Are", and "Sunday In The Chapel". CD

A roots reggae classic from the 70s – a much more obscure set than the giants of the generation by Bob Marley and Black Uhuru, but a set that's got a similar sort of righteous power – maybe even more so, given that Yabby You has the freedom of an indie label setting to get his message across! The set actually took years to put together, which you can hear in the mix of approaches that are used from track to track – material recorded at Black Ark, Dynamic, Channel One, and Harry J – which has creates a sense of variety that you'd not as likely to hear on a record of this nature at the time – although the sound is completely unified, thanks to the spirit of Yabby You's message. King Tubby handled the mixing, and creates a deep sound to match the lyrics – on titles that include "Covetous Men", "Anti Christ", "Carnal Mind", "Love Thy Neighbour", "Run Come Rally", "Jay Vengeance", and "The Man Who Does The Work". CD edition features 12 more bonus tracks – all the dubs from the album! CD

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Solo piano from Thelonious Monk – ten tracks recorded in London in 1971! CD

Two compelling 60s soundtracks from British composer Malcolm Arnold! The set begins with Arnold's great music to the film Nine Hours To Rama – a thriller about Ghandi's assassination, set to musical themes that mix 60s dramatic scoring with some elements of Indian music! Arnold's score is nicely serious in parts, but also has some more driving, percussive sections too – bits of tabla or other percussion that give the music some Eastern flavors – and some vocal passages as well. Titles include "Natu Tells Rani Of His Oath", "Das Warns Ghandi", "Train Coming Into Delhi", "Parade Ground", "Indian Concert", and "Malabar Hill". Arnold's score to The Lion is also set in colonial territory – a meeting of Malcolm's more traditional scoring with the African setting of the film! There's not as many African touches in the music as you might expect – as the orchestrations are mostly full and dramatic – but there's definitely a few attempts at more exotic moments, especially in some of the percussion used. The music represented here by the tracks from the UK 7" EP – a total of 6 numbers that include "King Dance Of Happiness", "Tina At Night", "Opening Title Music", and "Drum Dance". CD

Very hip work from the Boston modern scene of the mid 50s! The album's one of Serge Chaloff's few as a leader – and is much harder to find than his more widely-issued work for Capitol – an obscure date for the Storyville label, and one that originally only circulated as a 10" LP! The set's also unusual in that it features Serge at the head of a nonet – with strong players that include Charlie Mariano on alto, Herb Pomeroy on trumpet, and Dick Twardzik on piano – all working wonderfully with Chaloff in a groove that's sharply modern, but also plenty darn swinging! There's a strong dose of Boston soul in the mix here, thanks to contributions from the horn players – and the album's got a freshness that's a nice contrast to Serge's more familiar work at Capitol. Titles include originals like "Sherry", "Slam", "A Salute To Tiny", and "Ennie Meenie Minor Mode" – written by group members Mariano and Twardzik! Includes 5 alternate takes. CD

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Stunning work from Michael Angelo – a little-known singer/songwriter from the Kansas City scene of the late 70s – one with a style that's totally great, but way too off the era's chronological expectations to get much notice at the time! Michael's music has a real late 60s vibe – some of the trippier folk modes of someone like Donovan, but mixed with the more complete songwriting of an artist like Nilsson or some of the hipper LA writers of the late 60s – all recorded in this laidback, understated way – especially for the 70s – with acoustic guitar most strongly in the mix, and a few other light rhythm touches and keyboards. The production's sharper than folk, but not much more so – and the music here is a great reminder that while we can look at the rock and roll timeline, and think that the punk explosion of the mid 70s was changing everything at once – out in the hinterlands there were still folks like Angelo who were dedicated to refining an older craft. The CD features a huge amount of material – the full original self-titled album, more tracks from those sessions, and a full second album recorded around the same time. 32 tracks on 2CDs, with lots of notes too – and titles that include "Field Of Lonely Eyes", "Future", "Journey To Find Who We Are", "Russian Lament", "Nubian Queen", "This Is The Night", "Love Is Too High", "Spirits Of Mercury", and "SOS Titanic". CD

Fantastic material from the Art Ensemble Of Chicago – tracks recorded during their same crucial Paris trip of 1969 that also gave the world the better-known BYG/Actual albums – but delivered in a style that's slightly different overall! There's maybe more of the cerebral side of the group at play here – that great love of small shifts, textures, and instrumental interplay – similar, maybe, to their People Of Sorrow album at times – but with a lot more force, especially in the freer moments. In addition to bass, Malachi Favors plays electric bass, sitar, and banjo – all worth the price of admission alone – and Lester Bowie plays trumpet, flugelhorn, and other instruments, while Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman handle a variety of reeds and percussion. Titles include "Tutankhamun", "The Ninth Room" and "Tthinitthedalen". CD

Badge are maybe best known for their mindblowing Kath album – a real outsider underground classic from the 70s – yet the group also recorded a number of singles during their years, too – really showing a weird and wild sound that's partly enforced by the raw production used on most of the tracks! Like so many of the best US obscure groups of the time who never got larger exposure – Badge are clearly out there in a local scene, finding a groove that's very much all their own – certainly graced with some sharp guitar work on many cuts, but also not nearly as slavish to any mainstream or commercial modes of the period – as you'll hear on titles that include "It Doesn't Mean", "As I Looked", "She", "Keep Tryin", "Lonely Again", "The Stream", "She's Gone", and "Haze". LP, Vinyl record album

There's nothing loser about this great lost record – as the set's got this subtle sense of majesty right from the start – even though the overall presentation is relatively stripped down! The group use acoustic guitars and other acoustic instrumentation, but present the work at a level that's definitely got some early 70s glam attitudes too – which almost makes the whole thing feel like you've stumbled across some David Bowie demo material, a quality that's also echoed by the English language vocals of Jay Alanski. The whole thing's pretty darn wonderful – full of subtle charms and gentle genius – all emphasized by the stripped down production of the album – on titles that include "Welcome", "Oxford 1825", "Spanish Women", "You Are Free", "Nobody Knows The Heaven", "Like An Old General", "Something To Do", "The Shining Car", "Yeah Yeah Yeah", "All Is Going Too Slow", and "There Is A Blow". Includes a bonus track version of "Nobody Knows The Heaven". CD

A treasure trove of rare mid 60s garage rock from the state of Michigan – the complete anthology of local legends The Bossmen! MI was soon to become a breeding ground for some of the most revolutionary rock of the 60s – and while The Bossmen aren't best remembered rockers of the region all these decades later – they really helped lay the groundwork! There's a raw edge, but a melodic style here that's quintessential 60s rock, if you ask us. Guitarist Dick Wagner would go on to play with fellow Michigan rock trailblazer Alice Cooper and other legends, but this earlier work with The Bossmen is really solid, and sounds great all these years later. Comes with thick booklet of notes and photos, too! 18 tracks in all: "Take A Look", "It's A Shame", "Thanks To You'", "Help Me Baby", "Bad Girl", "Wait And See", "On The Road", "Rainy Day", "Sunshine", "Little Girl", "Easy Way Out", "I Cannot Stop You", "Listen My Girl" and more. CD

Jack Lesberg on bass, Ruby Braff on cornet, Don Lamond on drums, George Wein on piano and Buddy Tate on tenor sax. CD

Early recordings by Dollar Brand – recorded in London in 1965, playing solo on a batch of tunes dedicated to two big influences – Duke Ellington and Randy Weston – and also featuring a number of his own compositions. Titles include "Pye R Squared", "Knights Night", "Mood Indigo", "On The Banks Of Allen Waters", "Little Niles", and "Resolution". LP, Vinyl record album

A nicely priced reissue of the rare Duke Pearson album Hush – originally issued on the tiny Jazztime label, very briefly during the early 60s! The rare early session by Pearson is one of the few he cut away from Blue Note – and it's musical delight throughout – with twin trumpet work from Donald Byrd and Johnny Coles, piano by Duke, bass by Bob Cranshaw, and drums by the great Walter Perkins – all coming together in a crack style that rivals the best of Blue Note from the time! The two-trumpet frontline is really something to hear, and the interplay between Coles' warm sound and Byrd's hard one opens up the two different sides of Pearson's playing. Titles include "Hush", "Sudel", "Friday's Child", "Smoothie", and "Groovin' For Nat" – and CD features 3 bonus alternate takes. CD

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An incredible album of electronic music – and one that definitely lives up to its title, as every selection is played live – quite a unique thing as the set was recorded at a time when programming was really beginning to take hold! In a way, Jeff Carney is evoking that first great moment when more expensive electronics were able to get in the hands of more homegrown musicians – using technology that was previously the stuff of academic labs, but in ways that were much more down to earth! You can definitely feel that vibe here – as Carney works magic at a level that has us imagining him just sitting alone in the echoey space of recording – revelling in each new fingertouch on the keyboards – as he spins out the long tracks "Questions Unanswered", "Arp 2600 Improvisations", and "Pensive Mood". LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual little set from Pennsylvania's Case – a group who were decidedly younger and maybe geekier than some of their heady contemporaries in the early 70s underground – and who come across here with a garagey vibe that maybe recalls indie sets from the decade before! The album was recorded on a four track in the group's school music classroom over Christmas break – which gives the whole thing a nice sense of "room", and a relatively live feel – more like you were catching these youthful cats starting to practice before a gig. Titles include "Crystal Ball", "Coming Home", "Ali On The Run", "Lover", "Out Of It", and "Someday". CD

A very heady batch of tracks from a young South African group – one who are working in acid-drenched territory years before the bigger fusions of the Zamrock generation – with a raw sound and very trippy vibe, and music that's overflowing in fuzzy guitar work! The music here was never issued at the time – but it feels like some of the freakiest work coming out of underground Texas and Michigan scenes in the late 60s – raw energy that grabs you right from the very first note, and a strong use of distortion that really blows the whole record way into the red, all the way through! There's vocals on the set, but most of the tracks have the guitars so far up in the lead that they dominate strongly – even next to the equally powerful bass and drums. The tracks here are all from demos, recorded with a very gritty edge – and titles include "Free To Blow With The Wind", "Early Morning Haze", "Metal Sludge", and "Sunshine Comes My Way" – all originally unnamed on the tapes, but titled after some barely-perceptible lyrics on the songs. LP, Vinyl record album

Nothing "classical" about these guys – as Classical M is a really great psychedelic group from late 60s France, and one who add in an unusual array of sounds and styles to their music! As with other reissues on the Lion Productions label, this one's an overstuffed array of great tunes from a band who's really been lost to the shifting sands of time – brought back here in all their glory with 24 tracks recorded over their 3 year existence, all supported by a great set of notes on the tunes! Lyrics are often in English, and sung with a compressed quality that squeezes in nicely amidst the guitar – sometimes coming off with folksy touches, in an earnest and slightly experimental mode that's not unlike some of the work of the early Saravah crowd. Titles include "Once In A While", "Gog Demagog", "J'Ai Decide", "Pauvre Cobaye", "C'Est La Guerre", "Love Love Is There", "Bad Guy", "Such A Lovely Voice", "Once In A While", and "Le Romancier Tcheque". CD

A record that's virtually impossible to describe in words – partly because it's got a trans-historical, trans-spatial sort of vibe – effortlessly filtering together the best roots of older French pop music, and combining them with a range of underground pop elements that reach out to the farther reaches of the globe! Jean Emmanuel Deluxe sings lead – often with a raspy style that's partly sung, partly spoken – but never in a Serge Gainsbourg mode. Instead, he gets lots of spacey support on keyboards, echoey drums, and other instrumentation that feels like reworked 60s modes – ala Stereolab, High Llamas, or Pearlfishers. Yet the record is nothing like any of those references at all – even though Sean O'Hagan provides some guest work – as does Bertrand Burgalat, Misawa Masanori, and drummer Werner "Zappi" Diermaier of Faust. Titles include "Lushy Life", "The Girl Who Was Talking In Reverse", "Claire", "La Gourveneur De California", "Hollywood Parties", and "Comme Une Video Star". LP, Vinyl record album

Really compelling work from the enigmatic Dino – a set recorded with slow, slinky backings from the Montevideo Blues combo! The album's a lot less blues than you might guess from the group's name – and in a way, the approach is almost more folksy, or singer/songwriter overall – with a key focus on Dino's political lyrics, and backings that often follow along with snakey guitar and slinky rhythms. There's a raspy brilliance to the whole set – and Dino almost sounds like Uruguay's equivalent of Geraldo Vandre – a powerful, positive singer, but one who never reached a bigger audience outside his homeland. Titles include "Sentimiento", "Si Te Vas", "Montevideo Blues", "Milonga De Pelo Largo", "Para Hacer Musica Para Hacer", and "Chamarrita El Chiquero". CD reissue is as amazing as the original – with a huge booklet with notes, history, and lyrics – plus 7 more bonus tracks too! CD

A great little combo, and one with a fair bit of organ in the mix – more of a rock instrumental combo than a jazz one, but still with plenty of jazzy touches – thanks to the keyboards! The tunes here are all instrumental – a bit fuzzy at times, but nice and clear at others – and the group stretch out with a wonderful vibe that's much more soulful than some of their contemporaries on the Euro scene – a style that reminds us of the best British jazz rock moments at the end of the 60s, before part of that scene went a bit over the edge. Guitar and organ take the lead on most numbers, and there's almost a Colosseum sense of rhythm going on at the bottom. All titles are pretty great – and titles include "Faster & Faster", "Obsession", "On The Way To Eden", "Feeling In The Living", "Travelling", and "Reinyet Number". This CD version includes the bonus tracks "Under The Sun" and "Travelling (Single Version)". CD

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There's nothing folk about the Folklords – and the group are overall maybe more in the best mode of the Sunshine Pop generation, as you'd guess from their dreamy image on the cover! The group features a trio of singers – two guys, one gal – trading leads and harmonies, and coming off with these really easygoing, sparkling sort of glow – supported with a bit of work on guitar, bass, drums, and autoharp – the last of which adds a cool an unique vibe to the record! Titles include "Jennifer Lee", "Don't Hide Your Love From Me", "Child", "Windows", "Pardon Me Judas", "Thank You For Your Kindness", "We'll Love Like Before", "Suzanne Marie", "Don't Look Back", and "The Slave" – plus bonus tracks "Unspoken Love" and "Forty Second River". LP, Vinyl record album

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