Pre ABBA. CD

Jam-packed with hit material by this always-popular 70s group – featuring 19 classic tracks that include "Dancing Queen", "Knowing Me Knowing You", "Take A Chance On Me", "Mamma Mia", "Super Trouper", "I Have A Dream", "Fernando", "SOS", "Voulez Vous", and "Waterloo". Includes DVD of "ABBA Gold". CD

Includes the classic "Voulez-Vous", plus "Does Your Mother Know", "Lovers", "Angeleyes", "I Have A Dream", "The King Has Lost His Crown", and "If It Wasn't For The Nights" – plus 3 bonus tracks. CD

That's a mighty sexy cover on the front – and the grooves inside definitely have the flavor to match! The work here is from the obscure French disco underground – a European scene that never got the same exposure as German or Italian work for clubs – which makes the whole package a really great discovery in sound! The music is surprisingly fresh, and often quite funky too – and done in modes that are arguably warmer and more soulful than most other European disco – and often a lot like the best American underground club of the period. Some tracks have breathy female vocals, while others have bolder lyrics that almost echo some of the global musical crossovers happing in 70s Paris and a few of the later tracks bring in electro elements, but in a subtle way we totally love. The collection's a follow-up to the Brazilian Disco Boogie Sounds compilation – and like that one, it's really a cut above the usual! Titles include "Super Star" by Contessa, "Lady Jones" by Over Drive, "Music Madness (ext Charles Maurice version)" by Beckie Bell, "Y'A Du Blues" by Marche Noire, "Un Fait Divers & Rien De Plus (re-remix)" by Le Club, "Pour Moi Ca Va (Charles Maurice version)" by France Lise, "Polar (Charles Maurice version)" by Bernard Guyvan, and "Minuit L'Heure Du Swing" by Didier Makaga. LP, Vinyl record album

The greatest DJ in the world spins live in a wonderful set of grooves that perfectly displays Petersen's huge rep as a genre-bending DJ! The set's similar to some of Peterson's other music mix compilations – in that it blows away any expectations you'd have about the way genres should be put together, running through a stunning mix that includes funk, dub, Brazilian, jazz, jungle, and a heck of a lot more. Sounds like a mess, but the magical Mr P makes everything come out sparkly white in the wash – which is why he's still numero uno in our book! Titles include "The Ghetto/El Barrio" by George Benson, "Slowly Surely" by Jill Scott, "El Capitalismo Foraneo" by Gotan Project, "All I Have In Me (Original Musiquarium Mix)" by Young Disciples, "Blue Mosque" by Don Rendell & Ian Carr, "Black Mary" by Pariss Clemons, "Respect" by Rotary Connection, "Waltz For Koop" by Koop, "Mystery Of Man" by Sarah Vaughan, and "Mind Of A Killer" by Polar. 24 tracks on 2CDs! CD

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A sweet trio set from guitarist Greg Skaff – set up here with the greats Ron Carter on bass and Tootie Heath on drums! Greg's often heard in a fuller setting – including records with a Hammond B3 in the mix – but this record showcases his cleaner, leaner sounds – a great tone played on a hollow-body guitar, given just the right amount of subtle rhythm accompaniment from Carter and Heath! Greg's clearly the driving creative force in the set – and by that, we mean that Ron and Tootie do a great job of following his lead – and Heath is an especially well-balanced drummer, really keeping the sound right. Titles include "Little Waltz", "Mr RC", "Old Devil Moon", "Angelica", "Caminando", "Ill Wind", "Polaris", and "Lady Of The Lavender Mist". CD

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... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

The most polarizing of John Lennon's post Beatles ouvre – the strident, Spector-produced, sprawling mess that is Some Time In New York City – a record that has too much of every idea John & Yoko had at the time, which makes it all the more fascinating after all these years! Angry, self-righteous and quite often brilliant – feminist anthems backed by Wall Of Sound pop, an ode to John Sinclair in the mold of a country rock tune – wild stuff from a superstar! Frank Zappa and the Mothers on side four! Include "Woman Is The Ni**** Of The World", "Sister, Oh Sister", "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Attica State", "New York City" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Photographer/filmmaker Olivia Wyatt's 2009 exploration of tribal Ethiopia – in which she documented 13 different tribes in this visually stunning film on DVD – bound 136-page hardcover book of her Polaroid photographs and a CD featuring field recordings! The DVD is 60 minutes and in color. The book is 5 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches and features 117 color photographs. DVD

Vibist Sasha Berliner has a really great touch here – a style that's almost elliptical at times, as she builds and builds these waves of sound on the vibes – creating a magical flow that really makes the whole album a strong statement for her ever-growing talents! The lineup also helps with the sound of the record a lot too – a great combo that includes alto from Jaleel Shaw and Fender Rhodes and piano from James Francies – players who step back at the right moments, then soar right in and spice things up. The rhythms have a nice crackle that matches Sasha's energy, too – drums from Marcus Gilmore and bass from Burniss Travis. Thana Alexa sings on "Crescent Park" – and all other tunes are instrumental, and include "Jade", "NW", "Boom's Epilogue", "Polaris", and "Ephemerality". LP, Vinyl record album

Dark-edged beauty from a trio of fantastic improvisers – all great musicians in their own right, but sounding even more wonderful here together – at a level that shows just how much the right company can bring out something special in a player! The piano of Georg Graewe really seems to have a balanced sense of space that might be encouraged by the way that Fred Lonberg Holm handles both his cello, and his signals to other musicians – a special sort of timing and intensity that makes the performance resonate even more than most of Georg's others from the time – matched with mindblowing sounds from Frank Gratkowski – who manages to get these completely unexpected utterings from bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, and even a conventional clarinet. The performance was recorded live at LOFT in Koln in 2004 – and titles include "Mittenpunkt", "Isodynamics", and the four part "Trilinear Polarity" suite. CD

Pop culture baggage aside, this is some pretty mesmerizing stuff from Kanye West! Ye the album, if his persona hasn't turned you off by now, is a compelling effort from what we'll dub Kanye's "puzzle period" – this strange era of his recorded output that's a long time since his creative and popular breakthroughs, past the more challenging and complex work circa My Beautiful Dark Twisted Family that enchanted critics and polarized fans, and just got more polarizing from there. The man is a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, hiding behind a Twitter handle but this might be very well be pop art genius...we'll see how it holds up over time! Pretty stripped down compared to some of his denser productions the past few years, and lyrically daunting, but oddly hypnotic all the way. Includes "I Thought About Killing You", "Yikes", "All Mine", "Wouldn't Leave" and "Ghost Town" with PartyNextDoor, "No Mistakes" and "Violent Crimes". LP, Vinyl record album