Groovy, moddish, magnificent and sunny girl pop from The Land Of The Rising Sun – pummeling drums, jumping arrangements and groovy vocals from the mid-to-late 60s Japanese scene! This is fantastic stuff, any kitch or novelty appeal you might be expecting is kind of muted by the exceptional quality and excellent performances – but it is flat out fun! As the title states, strains of pop, beat & bossa – plus mod & psychedelic fuzz – and the vocals girl group vocals are bright, rocking, playful or sultry or innocent depending on the groove! 25 tracks in all: "Black Room by Jun Mayuzumi, Sharock No 1" by Mie Nakao, "Nagisa No Tenshi" by Mieko Hirota, "Hatsu Koi No Letter" by Miki Obata, "Bazazz Tengoku" by The Cupids, "Aeba Suki Suki" by Margaret With Bunnys, "Nukui Aitsu" by Mika Nohira, "Kiiro No Sekai" by J Girls and more. CD

A classic album of classy vocals – one that helped set a whole new tone in 80s soul music! Anita had already gained a bit of experience on the soul scene before this set, but with this record she emerged as a full-formed diva who could effortlessly blend jazz and soul into a magnificent new sound. The production has a few touches that date the record a bit, but there's a timelessness to the set that was apparent to listeners the moment it was released. Titles include "Mystery", "No One In The World", "Sweet Love", "You Bring Me Joy", and "Caught Up In The Rapture". LP, Vinyl record album

Green Day's undeniably incredible kinda-sorta concept album American Idiot – so full of impassioned, fist-pumping anthems, you'd have to be pretty damn Grinchy to dismiss it! By 2004, Green Day's mid 90s reign as the most American punk pop revivalists had ceded to slightly younger acts and they really needed something astonishing to rise back up in the popular canon, and they pulled it off magnificently. A phenomenal popular and critical comeback for band that truly deserved it. Includes "American Idiot" the killer "Jesus of Suburbia" suite, "Holiday", "St. Jimmy", "She's A Rebel", "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams", "Wake Me Up When September Ends", "Give Me Novacaine" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of 80s albums from saxophonist Arthur Blythe – back to back in a single set! Da Da is a set that mixes some of the sharper edges of Blythe's earlier records with a few more contemporary touches – but always at a level that still has the reedman standing far from the mainstream! The core group here features Olu Dara on trumpet, Cecil McBee on bass, John Hicks on piano, and Bobby Battle on drums – and on the acoustic tracks, there's some great energy between them that soars with a soulful spirit birthed in the loft jazz years, maybe swung a bit straighter than before. A few other tunes add in some extra elements – an electric bass on one number, some light strings on another – but the core of the album still has a magnificent focus on that tone that Blythe had only perfected even more on records like this, especially on the more laidback numbers, which come as a real surprise, and reflect a ballad style we might not have guessed in the early days. Titles include "Odessa", "Esquinas", "After Paris", "Crescent", and "Break Time". Next up is Basic Blythe – not exactly basic work from Arthur Blythe, as the set features an added string ensemble too – but a record that certainly has the saxophonist really hitting a whole new level of genius! There's a great core group here – with John Hicks on piano, Anthony Cox on bass, and Bobby Battle on drums – and the strings are added in around the edges, never getting to much in the way of the combo energy, but also fleshing out the sound with this beautiful richness that only seems to enhance the sharp tone of Arthur's alto sax! The arrangements are great, too – hardly the usual "with strings" material, and instead very creative – with this mix of soul and sophistication that reminds us a bit of the Bill Lee scores for early Spike Lee films, but even longer and with the key addition of Blythe in the lead. Titles include "Lenox Avenue Breakdown", "Faceless Woman", "Ruby My Dear", "Heart To Heart", and "As Of Yet". CD

A trio of solo albums from David Clayton Thomas – packaged here with a bonus track too! First up is the self-titled Columbia set David Clayton Thomas – great early solo work the singer who'd rose to fame as part of Blood Sweat & Tears – stepping out here with a sound that's maybe even more soul-based than his music with that famous group! The set features production from Bobby Colomby, of BS&T – and the groove is somewhat similar, but with less horns, and a lot more riffing guitar, keyboards, and other elements used to bring out some of the funkier currents in David's vocals! A few tracks were recorded in Memphis, with guitar from Steve Cropper – and the record even features some arrangements from Claus Ogerman and Jimmy Giuffre. The set includes a remake of of "Magnificent Sanctuary Band" – with a break at the start that's as funky as the original – and other titles include "We're All Meat From The Same Bone", "Sing A Song", "Don't Let It Bring You Down", "Once Burned", "Stealin In The Name Of The Lord", and a surprisingly great take on the Gram Parsons tune "She". Next is Tequila Sunrise – a fantastic solo album from David Clayton Thomas – and a set that still retains the amazing vocals he brought to Blood Sweat & Tears, but which has a completely different focus overall! Clayton-Thomas wrote almost all the songs on the set – and he works here with a tight core group that features William Smitty Smith on keyboards and arrangements, and plenty of guitar from Danny Kortchmar – both musicians who give the whole record a very strong, tight vibe that makes the whole thing feel like it comes from some hip early 70s group. Titles include "Friday The 13th Child", "My Song", "Last Time That She Cried", "The Face Of Man", "Nobody Calls Me Prophet", and "Fallin By Degrees". Next up is another self-titled album – David Clayton Thomas, from 1973 – with David himself handling arrangements, and doing a mighty nice job – getting plenty of sweet keyboards from William D Smith, and strong lead guitar from Domenic Troiano – both of whom echo the funky rock currents in the music. There's a bit of a Memphis rock vibe to the record at times – and titles include "Small Family", "Professor Longhair", "Harbor Lady", "Harmony Junction", and "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby". CD also features the bonus track "Some Hearts Get All The Breaks". CD

A cool Italian trio with a really great vocalist – a contemporary combo, but one with a swinging sort of 60s feel! There's plenty of modal elements in the music here – a magnificent dance between acoustic piano, bass, and drums – sometimes joined by vocalist Alan Farrington, a raspy-voiced singer who we really like! On the Farrington numbers, the feel's almost like the Mario Biondi work on Schema, or Bobby Cole's work from the 60s, although a bit more lyrical too. On the instrumental numbers, the trio really takes off beautifully – with some soaring piano lines from Andrea Pozza, supported with round, rolling bass from Aldo Zunino and some great drums from Sangoma Everett. Titles include "Sir Pent", "How Do You Call It", "Perfect Day", "Drop This Thing", "Push The Pedal", "Nebulosa", and "Like In Nigeria". LP, Vinyl record album

Groovy, moddish, magnificent and sunny girl pop from The Land Of The Rising Sun – pummeling drums, jumping arrangements and groovy vocals from the mid-to-late 60s Japanese scene! This is fantastic stuff, any kitch or novelty appeal you might be expecting is kind of muted by the exceptional quality and excellent performances – but it is flat out fun! As the title states, strains of pop, beat & bossa – plus mod & psychedelic fuzz – and the vocals girl group vocals are bright, rocking, playful or sultry or innocent depending on the groove! 25 tracks in all: "Black Room by Jun Mayuzumi, Sharock No 1" by Mie Nakao, "Nagisa No Tenshi" by Mieko Hirota, "Hatsu Koi No Letter" by Miki Obata, "Bazazz Tengoku" by The Cupids, "Aeba Suki Suki" by Margaret With Bunnys, "Nukui Aitsu" by Mika Nohira, "Kiiro No Sekai" by J Girls and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Sublime soul from the great Thom Bell – one of our favorite arranger, producer, songwriters of all time – and a talent who really helped push the Philly soul scene much farther than most during the 70s! Bell was trained as a classical pianist as a kid – which might explain part of his ear for a special sort of tune – but by the time of this work, he was neck-deep in the soul scene – and working with a fantastic track record for bringing the best out of a very wide variety of artists! Bell was especially great with groups – he helped more than a few really stretch out their wings and grow – but as you'll hear here, Thom also handled a fantastic range of music in Philly studios – all with magnificent touches that really set the tunes apart from the rest – French horns, harpsichord, and especially that twangy sitar sound that worked so well with a harmony ballad. The set's got 23 tracks in all, and a massive set of notes on the man and his music – with titles that include "What I See" by Three Degrees, "Here I Go Again" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "You've Been Untrue" by The Delfonics, "Moody Woman" by Jerry Butler, "Something For Nothing" by MFSB, "One Man Band" by Ronnie Dyson, "Close The Door" by Teddy Pendergrass, "Life Is A Song Worth Singing" by Johnny Mathis, "Look The Other Way" by Lesley Gore, "What Kind Of Lady" by Dee Dee Sharp, "It's The Same Old Love" by The Courtship, "Do You Remember Yesterday" by The Intruders, "Track Of The Cat" by Dionne Warwick, and "I Wanna Be A Free Girl" by Dusty Springfield. CD

A rare gem that's worth all the attention it's bound to get over the years – never-issued material from the legendary John Coltrane Quartet – an instrumental session recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio on the day before his famous record with singer Johnny Hartman – completely fantastic throughout! The material here shows the group really starting to stretch out – Impressions would be their next record to follow, and its spirit is certainly in place here – as Coltrane blows magnificently on tenor and soprano sax, alongside McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. There's a few tunes that the group would fix on later, but which sound very different in this context – and there's even a few excellent numbers that didn't even receive titles at the time of recording. Tracks include "Untitled Original 11383", "Untitled Original 11386", "Slow Blues", "One Up One Down", "Vilia", "Impressions", and a short version of "Nature Boy". LP, Vinyl record album

The record that put Edan on the map – a set that came out at the start of the century, but which feels much more like a throwback to classic years of hip hop – a move that was especially welcome at the time! There's a real back-to-basics feel going on – and the album is a sincere love letter to the past, with a sure footed step forward into the future – nice, thick, juicy, wall of sound production, with beats that break and pop in all the right places, and rhymes that make you laugh and smile and get all "wow" inside. Tracks include the phenomenal "Rapperfection" featuring Mr Lif, "83 Wildin", "Syllable Practice", "You Suck", "Ultra 88", "Humble Magnificent", and "AEOC". Includes the bonus track "Sing It Sh*tface". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best later moments from the great Stan Getz – a set we might even place on the same level as his 60s work for Verve – and certainly at the same par as his records in the 70s for Columbia! Yet this set is quite different than that latter batch – as it has Getz really going back to basics – hitting an open, flowing vibe that shows all the best elements he picked up from 60s changes – including bossa, traces of Coltrane, and more – but delivered with a wonderfully understated style throughout. The tracks are long, and have a magnificent flow – and Getz works with a great quartet that includes Lou Levy on piano, Monty Budwig on bass, and Victor Lewis on drums. Titles include a sublime reading of Luiz Eca's "The Dolphin", plus "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes", "Joy Spring", "A Time For Love", and "Close Enough For Love". LP, Vinyl record album

A never-issued album from Bobby Hatfield – best known as one half of The Righteous Brothers, but also a great solo act on his own! The set's from a time when the Brothers had split, and Bobby was working out some different styles of his own – most famously a move to more roots-oriented work on a record for MGM, but also this great set of fuller pop produced by the young Richard Perry! There's a really great vibe to these tunes – lofty arrangements on one hand, the sort that set those magnificent Hatfield vocals in action – blended with a few more homey touches, which includes nice work from Al Kooper on piano, and saxes from Bobby Keys. The quality's like a great maturation of the later Righteous Brothers sound – with a solo singer, of course – and titles include "Stay With Me", "Oo Wee Baby I Love You", What Is Life", "In The Still Of The Night", "Baby Don't You Do It", and "Sour Milk Sea". Also includes two tracks that were issued as a single at the time. CD

A legendary work – featuring Charles Mingus' great and chaotic Town Hall concert, one of those special events that achieved legendary status before it even started – not just because of the range of great musicians involved, but because the whole set was barely off the ground by the time it began! The set features a brilliant set of arrangements that Mingus barely copied and handed around before the show started – but that hardly stopped the music from being great, because everyone plays magnificently, especially Jerome Richardson and Charles McPherson, who was hitting a really great period here with Mingus. Tracks include "Epitaph", "Clark in the Dark", "Freedom", and "My Search". LP, Vinyl record album

A record as enigmatic as its title – slow-building sounds crafted by the trumpet of Yaw Tembe and percussion of Monseiur Trinite – both musicians we don't know at all, but who really find a special space with this album! The sound is very open and spacious – much more in an ECM legacy than the usual releases on Clean Feed – but also with a sound that's individually its own, and which isn't trying to copy the ECM style at all. Percussion is often very spare and stark – not loud, but striking – and the performance appears to be live, in a space that also allows for lots of room echo to expand the individual elements. Titles include "A Kind Of Jester's Kindness", "Delta", "Trial", "King Before Kings", "Inner Suite Three Magnificent Ride", and "No Body". CD

A killer collection of 60s Stevie Wonder work for Motown – almost a greatest hit of the label's greatest hits series – given how wonderful most of the tunes are! The set does a great job of moving through the full range of Stevie's 60s talents – from instrumental groovers heavy on drums and harmonica, to vocal tracks that show the growing power of Wonder's appeal – a maturing, magnificent style that would set a whole new tone for soul in the 70s! Titles include "Contract On Love", "Fingertips Part 2", "I Was Made To Love Her", "Work Out Stevie Work Out", "Uptight", "Castles In The Sand", "Hey Harmonica Man", "I'm Wondering", and the always great "Hey Love". CD

An overdue look at a very cool record label – the short-lived Gospel Truth imprint, which was an outlet for the more spiritual side of Stax Records in the early 70s! The music is gospel, but often has plenty of the best Memphis soul elements of more popular Stax/Volt work of the time – and there's a nice criss-crossing of artists going on here – so that you'll get some gospel singers moving into very soulful territory, and some soul artists trying their hand at music that's a bit more righteous overall! And while albums by The Rance Allen Group on the label have been reissued over the years, this is the first time anyone's pulled together the much more obscure 45s – which gives us a much bigger picture of the label at work. The set features 34 tracks in all – and titles include "Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You" by Reverend W Bernard Avant, "He's Mine" by Jacqui Verdell, "At The Feet Of The Master" by Blue Aquarius, "I'm A Child Of The King" by The People's Choir Of Operation Push, "Reflections" by Louise McCord, "We're The Salt Of The Earth" by Rance Allen Group, "Ride Out The Storm" by Joshie Jo Armstead, "If The Shoe Fits Wear It" by The 21st Century, "Magnificent Sanctuary Band" by Rev Maceo Woods, "Hot Line To Jesus" by Rance Allen Group, "I Got The Vibes" by Joshie Jo Armstead, "Consider Me" by Terry Lynn Community Choir, "Keep My Baby Warm" by Charles May & Annette May Thomas, and "Do It Yourself" by Jimmy Jones. CD

A killer collection of 60s Stevie Wonder work for Motown – almost a greatest hit of the label's greatest hits series – given how wonderful most of the tunes are! The set does a great job of moving through the full range of Stevie's 60s talents – from instrumental groovers heavy on drums and harmonica, to vocal tracks that show the growing power of Wonder's appeal – a maturing, magnificent style that would set a whole new tone for soul in the 70s! Titles include "Contract On Love", "Fingertips Part 2", "I Was Made To Love Her", "Work Out Stevie Work Out", "Uptight", "Castles In The Sand", "Hey Harmonica Man", "I'm Wondering", and the always great "Hey Love". LP, Vinyl record album

An overdue look at a very cool record label – the short-lived Gospel Truth imprint, which was an outlet for the more spiritual side of Stax Records in the early 70s! The music is gospel, but often has plenty of the best Memphis soul elements of more popular Stax/Volt work of the time – and there's a nice criss-crossing of artists going on here – so that you'll get some gospel singers moving into very soulful territory, and some soul artists trying their hand at music that's a bit more righteous overall! And while albums by The Rance Allen Group on the label have been reissued over the years, this is the first time anyone's pulled together the much more obscure 45s – which gives us a much bigger picture of the label at work. The set features 34 tracks in all – and titles include "Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You" by Reverend W Bernard Avant, "He's Mine" by Jacqui Verdell, "At The Feet Of The Master" by Blue Aquarius, "I'm A Child Of The King" by The People's Choir Of Operation Push, "Reflections" by Louise McCord, "We're The Salt Of The Earth" by Rance Allen Group, "Ride Out The Storm" by Joshie Jo Armstead, "If The Shoe Fits Wear It" by The 21st Century, "Magnificent Sanctuary Band" by Rev Maceo Woods, "Hot Line To Jesus" by Rance Allen Group, "I Got The Vibes" by Joshie Jo Armstead, "Consider Me" by Terry Lynn Community Choir, "Keep My Baby Warm" by Charles May & Annette May Thomas, and "Do It Yourself" by Jimmy Jones. LP, Vinyl record album

A rare gem that's worth all the attention it's bound to get over the years – never-issued material from the legendary John Coltrane Quartet – an instrumental session recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio on the day before his famous record with singer Johnny Hartman – completely fantastic throughout! The material here shows the group really starting to stretch out – Impressions would be their next record to follow, and its spirit is certainly in place here – as Coltrane blows magnificently on tenor and soprano sax, alongside McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. There's a few tunes that the group would fix on later, but which sound very different in this context – and there's even a few excellent numbers that didn't even receive titles at the time of recording. Tracks include "Untitled Original 11383", "Untitled Original 11386", "Slow Blues", "One Up One Down", "Vilia", "Impressions", and a short version of "Nature Boy". 2LP version features 7 more alternate takes – some very different! LP, Vinyl record album

A great shift in sound for the Cocteau Twins – a record that tones down the splashier drum machine parts that were such a key element in earlier records – in a way that almost makes the ethereal guitars and vocals feel pastoral at points, but never in mode that's sleepy at all! The set may be one of the most magnificent showcases ever for the sublime vocals of Liz Frazer – who soars, dips, turns, and flutters with effortless grace throughout – processed, but personal, and with qualities that really set this record apart from the rest of the 4AD pack! Titles include "How To Bring A Blush To the Snow", "Feet-Like Fins", "Whales Tales", "Oomingmak", "Little Spacey", "Throughout The Dark Months Of April & May", and "Fluffy Tufts". LP, Vinyl record album

Veteran turntablist D-Styles of Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Beat Junkies, and Third Sight as fresh as ever – delivering the goods after all these years via spare beats, deft scratches and clever samples, and subtly crafting a mood that carries throughout! It's the latter aspect that's most impressive here, a full length listening experience the brings the blueprint hip hop instrumental elements in service of an overall piece. Even some the greatest turntablists don't always make great album artists, D-Styles is that and more. Includes "He's Your Friend Too", "Roll Call", "Day Desert Trek", "Stranger Danger", "Watch Yo Step", "Tonal Catastrophe", "The Magnificent" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the last albums the Four Tops ever issued on Motown – but also one of the best, and a set that really has the group taking off in a strong new direction for the 70s! Frank Wilson's at the production helm, and the set has all these cool little twists and turns that work perfectly with the magnificent harmonies of Levi Stubbs and the group – a mode that draws on all their vocal highlights from older years, but also refits them with a more spacious, more mature sort of sound! The approach is different than that used with the Temptations at the same time – less political, but still flowing with plenty of new ideas – handled by arrangers Jerry Long, Jimmy Roach, and David Van DePitte. The title cut – "Still Waters (Run Deep)" – is a perfect example of this – as the tune's got weirdly wonderful production, almost as watery as the cover image, and a bit of moog buried in there – which comes forward even more on the reprise of the song at the end of the record. Other titles include "Love Is The Answer", "Reflections", "I Wish I Were Your Mirror", "Bring Me Together", "LA (My Town)", and "Everybody's Talkin". CD