... CD

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Produced by Megahertz. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Amazing small group work from Ralph Burns – a real standout, given the amount of his larger ensemble sessions in the 50s! The album features Burns on piano – overdubbed on some tracks – working with a combo that includes Jimmy Raney on guitar, Clyde Lombardi on bass, and Osie Johnson on drums – all gently modern players who fit perfectly with Ralph's vision for the record. Things aren't as dark or as arch as on some of Burns' bigger dates of the decade – almost a bit warm at times, especially thanks to Ralph's piano lines. Titles include "Autobahn Blues", "Echo Of Spring", "Spring Sequence", "Sprang", "Spring Is Here", and "Gina". CD

A cool re-creation of the best soundtrack modes of Fabio Frizzi – particularly his scores for the films of Lucio Fulci! The performance is a live one, but done with a very classic vibe – played by a small combo that mixes keyboards, guitar, and rhythms with some light strings to really capture the creepy vibe of Frizzi's best soundtrack material – served up here in a mix of instrumental tracks that occasionally feature vocals – with music from the films Manhattan Baby, Zombi 2, Paura Nella Citta Dei Morti Viventi, Beware Of Darkness, and more! Titles include "Bunny Love Song", "Silver Saddle", "Baby Sequence" (numbers 1-4), "Zombi 2", "Wast It All In Vain", "Rusth Games", "Luca Il Contrabbandiere", "Voci Dal Nulla" and more. CD

Soulful beats with more than a hint of a hip hop influence – no surprise, considering that the album features guest appearances by Bahamadia, What What, Roots Manuva, The Dream Warriors, and Blade. Lots of heavy downtempo beats, a great one to kickback and herbalise to! Titles include "Who's The Realist?", "Moon Sequence", "Mind In The Frame", "Shattered Soul", "Let It Go", "When I Shine", and "Starlight". CD

Franco Micalizzi was one of the unrivaled maestros of the action score on the Italian scene of the 70s – and here, he does a great job of blending that experience with some slightly moodier touches – creating a really nice blend of tunes that swing effortlessly between clubby groovers and mellower numbers – sometimes with soaring strings, sometimes with spare keyboards – all delivered with that sweet Euro style that Micalizzi did so well at the time! Titles include "Stridulum Theme", "Here's The Dream", "Atmosphere", "Sadness Theme", "Running Away From Jerzy", "Hospital Sequence", and "Voices For Sadness Theme". This CD version features a massive 26 tracks in all – almost 75 minutes of music! CD

Franco Micalizzi was one of the unrivaled maestros of the action score on the Italian scene of the 70s – and here, he does a great job of blending that experience with some slightly moodier touches – creating a really nice blend of tunes that swing effortlessly between clubby groovers and mellower numbers – sometimes with soaring strings, sometimes with spare keyboards – all delivered with that sweet Euro style that Micalizzi did so well at the time! Titles include "Stridulum Theme", "Here's The Dream", "Atmosphere", "Sadness Theme", "Running Away From Jerzy", ""Hospital Sequence", and "Voices For Sadness Theme". LP, Vinyl record album

Donald Rubenstein's great soundtrack to George A.Romero's underrated, original riff on vampirism – and the score is a distinctive work, too! Kind of like the film, Donald Rubenstein's score both recalls and subverts genre expectations, with stripped down and eerie piano and string pieces, but also strange bits of percussion and woozy, dreamlike passages. It's impressive work, and probably pretty influential to some of the stranger, but still compositionally accomplished soundtracks to come later on down the road! Includes "The Calling (Main Title)", "Martin At The Butcher Shop", "Christina Leaves", "Back To Me", "Crawling Sequence", "Fly By Night", "Exorcism/Classical Funk", "Stake, Well Done!", and more. CD

The legendary Suzanne Ciani is in very classic form here – working on EMS, Buchla, and Moog synthesizers alongside French electronic artist Jonathan Fitoussi! The pair serve up twin-keyboard magic throughout, with a bit of vocalization from Ciani – and the record has all the evocative qualities of her best early material, really a return to the kind of spacey, analog sounds that made Suzanne such an important pioneer back in the day, even if she's only finally getting the right sort of recognition she deserves in the 21st Century! The sound of the work is sublime throughout – very lively, and "live" – not so much processed or programmed, as delivered by two musicians working together with instruments they understand inside and out. Titles include "Sonar", "Pinwheel", "Time Lapse", "Oceanium", "Rainbow Sequence", and "Coral Reef". LP, Vinyl record album

A tremendous little record and maybe THE album from trombonist George Lewis – a groundbreaking solo set that's maybe his equivalent of Anthony Braxton's For Alto – and which does similar things both for his instrument and the further growth of the AACM in jazz! The record features Lewis completely solo – but also features one brilliant long track that features overdubs – "Piece For 3 Trombones Simultaneously" – in which Lewis clones himself, and creates this incredible trio trombone sound that's completely wonderful. But even the straight solo tracks are mindblowing – filled with sounds and ideas on the instrument that couldn't have been imagined a decade before – on the titles "Lush Life", "Phenomenology", and "Untitled Dream Sequence". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic early soundtrack from the great Pat Williams – cut around the same 60s stretch that he was doing his wonderful albums for Verve – in the years before he'd break bigger with TV work for The Bob Newhart Show and other 70s programs! The tracks have loads of easy, bossa, and sixties grooves running throughout – more dynamic than the usual mainstream soundtrack of the time, almost as if Pat was composing this music on his own, away from the film! Williams titles include "Villa Sweet Villa", "How Sweet It Is", "A Pair Of Boobie Traps", and "Face Up To It Baby". However, despite the greatness of Pat Williams' music, the real highlight of the whole thing might be the incredible "Montage" sequence – which was put together by a young Jimmy Webb, and which features some very groovy vocal passages, with sort of a Harper's Bizarre-esque strangeness to it – a sublime harmony track with a really heartbreaking vibe. The tune was later covered by others, but sounds wonderful here in the original version – which also includes Webb's vocal version of the title. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest live albums ever, and probably THE best album Johnny Cash ever recorded, properly reissued with the original sequence restored and uncensored! In 1969 Cash had more angst than you could shake a stick at – he just kicked drugs, and he hadn't had a big hit in years, so his respectful and thoughtful empathy for the audience of inmates not only cemented his persona as the real deal, but carries an air of dizzying emotion throughout the set. Appropriately filled with his darkest tunes, Folsom is one of the few cases in which a live recording of a hitmakers catalog is stronger and more vital than the studio versions. Includes "Folsom Prison Blues", "Dark As A Dungeon", "Cocaine Blues", "25 Minutes To Go", "Orange Blossom Special", "The Long Black Veil", "Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog", "Joe Bean", plus "Jackson" and "Give My Love To Rose" featuring June Carter. 2 previously unissued songs – "Joe Bean" and "The Legend Of John Henry's Hammer". CD

A classic set from reedman Charles Lloyd – a set that really pushes forward all the experiments he'd begun in the Chico Hamilton group – and shows a bold move forward for rhythms in 60s jazz! The tracks are long, and spiral out wonderfully – but in ways that are different than those used by other creators of the time – like Eric Dolphy or John Coltrane. Even though leading the group on tenor and flute, Lloyd's got a real sense of rhythm to his playing – echoes of the Hamilton group – but set loose with a stellar quartet of younger players – including Keith Jarrett on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums – all perfect choices for inventive music like this! The standout cut is the amazing "Sombrero Sam", a tight little groover that we never tire of – and one that has Jarrett sounding much more in the pocket than you'd ever imagine – and other tracks include "Dream Weaver", "Autumn Sequence", and "Bird Flight". LP, Vinyl record album

Two great sets from reedman Charles Lloyd! Dream Weaver really pushes forward all the experiments he'd begun in the Chico Hamilton group – and shows a bold move forward for rhythms in 60s jazz! The tracks are long, and spiral out wonderfully – but in ways that are different than those used by other creators of the time – like Eric Dolphy or John Coltrane. Even though leading the group on tenor and flute, Lloyd's got a real sense of rhythm to his playing – echoes of the Hamilton group – but set loose with a stellar quartet of younger players – including Keith Jarrett on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums – all perfect choices for inventive music like this! The standout cut is the amazing "Sombrero Sam", a tight little groover that we never tire of – and one that has Jarrett sounding much more in the pocket than you'd ever imagine – and other tracks include "Dream Weaver", "Autumn Sequence", and "Bird Flight". Love-In features a classic batch of modal grooves from Charles Lloyd – recorded during the height of his mind-expanding years, with his famous quartet that included Keith Jarrett on piano and Jack DeJohnette on drums! The tracks are long and magical, done with that spiritual spiraling sound that Lloyd was wowing the hippies with at the time – and considering that this set was recorded live at the Fillmore, there were an awful lot of hippies present to be wowed! But the set's also got a charm that lives long past its time – thanks to an expansive vision from Lloyd on flute and tenor, and from Jarrett on piano too. Titles include "Sunday Morning", "Love-in", "Tribal Dance", and "Temple Bells". CD

A very cool record that we might well put right up there with Mel Torme's "California Suite" as a musical tribute to the west coast – or the "Manhattan Tower" of Gordon Jenkins as some sort of tribute to a city! The album's a long piece on the glory of San Francisco – with lots of differently-themed tunes that refer to aspects of the city in mid-century – composed by the team of Libby and Stephen McNeil, set to music by David Rose –a nd featuring vocals by Ray Goman, Shepard Menken, Bob Grabot, Bill Thompson, and others. Titles include "Fog Over Frisco", "Meet The Press", "When You Call It Frisco Smile", "Around The Town Sequence", andee "Mission Dolores". Side two features "Four Moods In Memory" – a suite of themes played by Rose, with narration by Don Sherwood. LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliantly overstuffed package of work from Italian composer Riz Ortolani! Una Sull'Atra is groovy little gem from Riz Ortolani! The soundtrack's got an excellent late 60s feel – with tracks that mix electric bass with sitar, flute, organ, and some fuller jazzy arrangements. There's a strong jazz component running through the mix – taking the score past some of the easier campier moments, and giving it a solid overall sound that will keep you coming back to it again and again. Titles include "Sitar In Blues", "Lombard Street", "St Francisco Railways", "St Quentin", "Un Sull Altra", and "Susan & Jane". Teresa La Ladra is an unusual Monica Vitti vehicle – and Ortolani's score features the funky theme "Teresa L'Illusa", alongside some mellower numbers that include "Teresa For Sax", "Teresa", and "Teresa & Blues". The best of the bunch, though, are the CD's 8 tracks from the Tiffany Memorandum – a groovy action score that's as wonderful as the name might imply! The work has a mod, swinging feel that's really nice – one that mixes together Italian "shake" modes of the 60s with some jazzier American touches on the best cuts. Titles include "Beat Fuga Shake", "Tiffany Sequence M8", "Tiffany Sequence M22", "Tiffany 23", and "Notte Al Grand Hotel". CD

One of Lalo Schifrin's first, and rarest soundtracks – and a bit more complicated than some of his later work. Given the setting of the film, there's a surprising number of jazzy tunes on here – including some cool easy breezy ones that are in keeping with Schfrin's best mid 60s work. These are also mixed with some more dramatic numbers, and a few tracks that have acoustic guitar playing a gentle lead style, similar to some of the tunes in The Fox. Titles include "Bean Time", "Egg Eating Contest", "Tar Sequence", "Ballad Of Cool Hand Luke", and "Road Gang". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes "Spoonin' Rap" by Spoonie Gee, "To The Beat (Y'all)" by Lady B., "Rapping And Rocking The House" by Funky Four Plus One, "Funk You Up" by Sequence, "Super Wolf Can Do It" by Super Wolf, and "Rappers Delight" by Sugar Hill Gang. LP, Vinyl record album

A masterclass in early rap from Sugar Hill Records – touchstone classics that thumped dancefloors from the early days to today, inspired the scene's kings and queens to follow, and helped pave the way for the sounds and styles to come! Bookended by the long versions of the good-natured party rocking namesake Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" and Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel equally iconic "White Lines (Don't Do It)", the rest of the tracks really find the sweet spot between always welcome familiarity and underappreciated gems – and it's great to have them all in a top notch package! Includes The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" (single version), "That's the Joint" by Funky 4 Plus One, " Break Dance-Electric Boogie" (single) by West Street Mob, "Funk You Up (Long Version)" by The Sequence and more, LP, Vinyl record album

A really funky theme from the Italian scene of the 70s – served up here in two great versions! The main title take has this fast-moving bassline that's peppered with slower keyboards that are balanced with some more dramatic pops in the instrumentation – which then take over as the drums ride on more strongly, giving the whole thing a great funky crime/cop feel! The "sequence 1" version is slower, with heavier drums – and cool harmonica next to the electric piano in the grooves! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Amazing small group work from Ralph Burns – a real standout, given the amount of his larger ensemble sessions in the 50s! The album features Burns on piano – overdubbed on some tracks – working with a combo that includes Jimmy Raney on guitar, Clyde Lombardi on bass, and Osie Johnson on drums – all gently modern players who fit perfectly with Ralph's vision for the record. Things aren't as dark or as arch as on some of Burns' bigger dates of the decade – almost a bit warm at times, especially thanks to Ralph's piano lines. Titles include "Autobahn Blues", "Echo Of Spring", "Spring Sequence", "Spring", "Spring Is Here", and "Gina". LP, Vinyl record album

A totally cool chapter in the early career of Cabaret Voltaire – a stark soundtrack done for a film that's even more obscure than this record! If you dig the creepy, dark early sound of the Cabs, you'll love this one – as the music's got plenty of moody Sheffield electronics, some spare and pulsing with a basic sense of rhythm, some quite noisy at points! We totally love the extended "Taxi Music" – which shows up for most of the first side, and as a dub on the flip – it's a wicked post-punk electronic number that still blows us away time and time again. Other cuts include "DTs", "Cold Turkey", "The Quarry", and "Title Sequence". CD

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A great slice from Jackie McLean's rare unissued 60s sessions for Blue Note – a rollingly soulful session that stands in stark contrast to some of his more modern sides of the time! The set's got Jackie working with a group that includes Lee Morgan on trumpet and Harold Mabern on piano – in a vamping, soaring vibe that's similar to the feel of contemporaneous Morgan sessions like The Gigolo or Tom Cat – but which has a slight bit of McLean's more modernist edge from time to time. Mabern's piano work is tremendous – filled with life and joy that soar the album effortlessly along – and the lyrical drum work of Billy Higgins and basslines from Herbie Lewis are also very much a key part of this groove. The set was originally recorded in 1965, but only made a first appearance on record in 1979 – and even then, only briefly! Titles include "Vernestune", "Slumber", "Bluesanova", "Consequence", and "Tolypso". CD

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One of the strangest records you'll ever buy! Even on our storied pages this one's a bit of anoddball to describe – kind of a sound play of words, songs, noises, and lots of odd effects – an effort of classic rock proportions, but the brainchild of Lol Creme and Kevin Godley after their departure from pop group 10CC. It's nearly impossible to believe how a record like this got made – especially in the year that punk was taking over the British record industry – but the fact that it became an instant cutout may say a lot about its ill-chosen release. Whatever that history, though, the album's a near-legendary one now – some where between Ivor Cutler-esque sound poetry and some of the weirder pop of British mid 70s groups. Peter Cook wrote and performed all the spoken bits on the record, and Sarah Vaughan even makes a guest appearance! LP, Vinyl record album

A great slice from Jackie McLean's rare unissued 60s sessions for Blue Note – a rollingly soulful session that stands in stark contrast to some of his more modern sides of the time! The set's got Jackie working with a group that includes Lee Morgan on trumpet and Harold Mabern on piano – in a vamping, soaring vibe that's similar to the feel of contemporaneous Morgan sessions like The Gigolo or Tom Cat – but which has a slight bit of McLean's more modernist edge from time to time. Mabern's piano work is tremendous – filled with life and joy that soar the album effortlessly along – and the lyrical drum work of Billy Higgins and basslines from Herbie Lewis are also very much a key part of this groove. The set was originally recorded in 1965, but only made a first appearance on record in 1979 – and even then, only briefly! Titles include "Vernestune", "Slumber", "Bluesanova", "Consequence", and "Tolypso". LP, Vinyl record album

A great date that's almost as noteworthy for the presence of Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax and flute as it is for that of leader Enrico Pieranunzi on piano! There's a really great feel to the record – one that's got some of the lighter, airier moments of Pieranunzi's other records of the time – but which also takes on a bolder, more soulful sort of feel too – especially when Cuber steps in on his well-blown baritone! A few tracks feature flute, taken slightly more lightly – but only just a bit more so – and the rest of the group features Enzio Pietropaoli on bass and Alfredo Golino on drums and percussion. Pieranunzi plays electric piano on a few tunes – and titles include "Hip Switch", "Inconsequence", "The Bluesman", "Roberta", and "The Secret Ingredient". CD

A survey of The Music Scene through the eyes, mind and fingers of longstanding hip hop and spacey beatcraft guru Blockhead! Blockhead's way with a sample has been one of the reasons we've been on board so long, and it's as unpretentiously hypnotic as ever here – staying defiantly headnodding in a groove – while subtly innovating and floating in myriad stylistic variations without hitting you over the head with them. Solid stuff. Titles include "It's Raining Clouds", "The Music Scene", "Only Sequences Change", "Which One Of You Jerks Drank My Arnold Palmer?", "Attack The Doctor", "The Prettiest Sea Slug", "The Daily Routine", "Pity Party", "Farewell Spaceman" and more. CD

Mouse On Mars' latest is an elaboration on last year's Niun Niggung, with a darker harder sound on some tracks, with others reflecting greater explorations of orchestral sounds, mangled hip hop beats, and other sounds previously touched on by MoM. Tracks are "Actionist Respoke", "Subsequence", "Presence", "The Illking", "Catching Butterflies With Hands", "Doit", "First: Break", "Introduce", "Unity Concepts", "Paradical", and "Fantastic Analysis". CD

Two amazing works from Belgian electronic genius Alain Pierre – both appearing in this form for the first time ever! Side one features 11 minutes of continuous music that Pierre created for the short film O Sidarta – music that mixes a range of electronics, keyboards, and acoustic percussion with studio effects and voice – all with a result that almost feels like some of the longer-form prog creations of the German scene of the time – although with qualities that are much more varied, less rock-based, and with occasional nods to the earlier generation of musique concrete! The flipside features the 17 minute "Notions De Physique Intererieure" – a work that uses a wide array of electric sources in a very short space – theremin, Arp sequencer, Telefunken echomixer, and more Arp, Kort, and Oberheim keyboards – all in this slow-building, wonderfully spacey sort of mode – almost hinting at some of the straighter fantasy soundtracks that Pierre would create in the mainstream – as the piece has the feel of a story in sound! LP, Vinyl record album

A classic set of French disco tunes – one that blends electric and acoustic, in a style that really foreshadowed the current sound of the Paris scene! The singles on the set were a cover of "In A Gadda Da Vida" – almost unrecognizable compared to the heavy original, and Giorgio Moroder-esque "Over & Over" with the bubbly sequencer underpinning the thumping disco beat. But the real gems here are the nice uptempo groover "Soul Sister" with a nice chirping guitar line and a disco remake of Babe Ruth's "The Mexican", that even has a quoted riff from "Apache" in it! CD

A wealth of live solo Bob Dylan from the early to mid 60s – material that was once in the deepest darkest corners of Columbia's Dylan archives and have only scarcely seen any kind official release before now! Of course it's wonderful stuff, from the earnest early recordings from '62 and the next couple years – when even his studio recordings were still solo, but the live versions just have that urgent, unmanicured edge that's vital to have on record – to recordings from '65 & '66 of songs that were fleshed out big in the studio and on the road, too, which was once controversial and now just legendary, but here it's just Dylan with his guitar and harmonica for maximum intimacy. The recordings were done on the east cost of the US and throughout the UK, sequenced by recording dates – and it's a generous 2CD set of 29 songs – including "Blowing In The Wind", "Corrina, Corrina", "Seven Curses", "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright", "To Ramona", "When My Ship Comes In", Chimes Of Freedom", "One Too Many Mornings", "It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding", "She Belongs To Me", "Maggie's Farm", "Desolation Row", "Ballad Of A Thin Man", "Visions Of Johanna" and more. CD

Van's debut album for Warner Brothers and a pretty radical departure from anything he'd done before – breaking all kinds of new ground for his own most creative work and helping pave the way for all kinds of hauntingly poetic rock, folk rock, and singer-songwriter records to come! It doesn't take more than a few seconds of opening title track, with Morrison's rawly passionate voice and spiritually yearning lyrics, to know this is a pretty remarkable creative leap from pop leaning sound of "Brown Eyed Girl" and other preceding efforts – , and it gets even more far out from there both lyrically and instrumentally! It's almost folk jazz, arrangements wise, with flute and largely acoustic instrumentation, a really spontaneous feel to the sessions, and always hypnotic, seemingly stream of consciousness vocals by Van. As loose and spacious as the sound is, the emotional resonance is pretty heavy, and sequenced as a cycle: part one In The Beginning on side 1 and part two Afterwards on side 2. A stunner! Titles include "Astral Weeks", "Beside You", "Cyprus Avenue", "Sweet Thing", "Slim Slow Slider", and "Madame George". CD

A sprawling 5CD box set of benchmark 80s indie pop from the UK – chronologically sequenced (for the most part) from the beginning to the end of the decade – with so many brilliant songs both straight-up classic and others that are relatively forgotten! Incredible stuff from the post punk guitar years, to dreamier and more psych steeped sounds, to the dancier grooves late in the decade that laid the groundwork for the 90s. Classics and early singles by Prefab Sprout, TV Personalities, Everything But The Girl, Pulp, Biff Bang Pow!, Primal Scream, The Wedding Present, The Soup Dragons, House Of Love, The Shamen, The Rosehips, Pop Will Eat Itself, The Wonder Stuff, The Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets, James, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Lloyd Cole & The Commotion, The Darling Buds, The Boo Radleys and many, many more! More than 130 tracks in all – with a thick booklet of notes! Kind of like a Nuggets for the indie 80s British scenes! SO many great songs, but to name a few: "Revolutionary Spirit" by Wild Swans, "The Missionary" by Josef K, "Lions In The Garden" by Prefab Sprout, "A Picture Of Dorian Gray (Live)" by TV Personalities, "Just Like Honey (demo October '84)" by Jesus & Mary Chain, "Oblivious" by Aztec Camera, "Velocity Girl" by Primal Scream, "Go Out And Get 'Em, Boy" by The Wedding Present, "If I Said" by The Darling Buds, "Son Of A Gun (demo)" by The LAs, "The Hardest Thing In The World" by Stone Roses, "Catweazle" by The Boo Radleys and many, many more! CD

A whole new level of genius for Herb Alpert – a record that's light years away from his earlier work with the Tijuana Brass, and which has the trumpeter stepping strongly into the world of smooth jazzy fusion! The title track here went platinum the minute it was released – and became an end-of-the 70s instrumental anthem that seemed to drift out of speakers around the country. The rest of the album's pretty great too – built on the modes explored by Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, and other soulful fusion players of the 70s – but cast out with a bit more drama overall. Titles include the seminal jazz dance classic "Rotation" – plus "Rise", "Street Life", "Aranjuez (Mon Amour)", "1980", "Angelina", and "Love Is". Expanded CD version has been re-sequenced by Herb himself – and features the bonus tracks "Rotation (alternate version)", and "Aranjuez (2007 dance mix)". CD

A trio of mid-to-late 60s Italian spy soundtracks – Italo Greco and Gianni Boncompagni's work for Riuscira' Il Nostro Eroe A Ritrovare Il Piu' Grande Diamante Del Mondo, Boncompagni's score for Colo Di Sole, and Bruno Canfora's work for Spia Spione – on one great CD from Beat Records! We'll admit to knowing very little about the films, but we must say, this material is very nicely curated, which shouldn't come as surprise given Beat's always warmly presented film score sets. It covers the genre terrain beautiful, from big scale, action-y orchestras, to stripped down, loungey cocktail jazz and beyond. The material from each of the three soundtracks is comprised of sequences on the title themes. 31 tracks in all! CD

A mighty impressive box set of previously unreleased Can – incredible stuff captured throughout their groundbreaking run from the late 60s to mid 70s – culled from hours and hours of tapes of the sessions that could have just as easily wound up on any of their classic records of the period! We figured that this would almost certainly be a solid companion piece to their initial run of classic albums – but the best thing about it is that out stands up really well on its own. Can pretty famously let the tapes run while they worked things out and let the magic happen spontaneously, so it stands to reason a lot of brilliant stuff was left on those tapes! We're surprised it took so long to pour through it and assemble some of the best of the "lost" material, but better late than never! Since it covers the full late 60s & early 70s periods, it's got bits with Mooney and Suzuki, hypnotic live takes, slow-building tension, moody lulls and violent bursts of sound – it's Can, alright! 30 tracks sequenced brilliantly over 3CDs – and it comes a reel-to-reel style box with a 10-inch booklet. Titles include "Millionenspiel", "Waiting For The Street Car", "Evening All Day", "Deadly Doris", "Bubble Rap", "Your Friendly Neighborhood Whore", "Bilnd Mirror Sur", "Bubble Rap", "Godzilla Fragment", "Barnacles", "The Agreement", "The Loop", "A Swan Is Born" and more. CD

The classic quartet of John Coltrane, certainly the classic quartet of the 60s jazz scene and perhaps the classic jazz quartet of all time, compiled in one box set with all of their studio recordings! John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones set so many benchmarks for jazz with their envelope pushing style, recording and performances that it's impossible to overstate their importance in the modern musical oeuvre. This set features all of the LPs Coltrane, Ballads, Impressions, Live At Birdland, Crescent, A Love Supreme, The John Coltrane Quartet Plays, Kulu Se Mama, Transition, Sunship, Infinity and First Meditations, plus a number of tracks issued on compilations. 66 tracks in all, spread out over 8 CDs, in a beautiful bookbound package with a metal slipcase and extensive liner notes. The titles are too numerous to list here, but the set includes "Big Nick", "Soul Eyes", "Miles' Mode", "Tunji", "After The rain", "Lonnie's Lament", "The Drum Thing", "Wise One", "Crescent", "A Love Supreme", "Nature Boy", "Brasilia", "Song Of Praise", "Dear Lord", "The Last Blues", "Living Space", "Dusk Dawn", "Dearly Beloved", "Attaining", "Ascent", "Amen", "Love", "Compassion", "Joy", "Consequences", and "Serenity". CD

Side A features vocals by El Da Sensei and Consequence. 12-inch, Vinyl record

When tenor player Ken Vandermark moved to Chicago in the early 90s, his presence began a set of ripples that ran through the city's jazz scene, and left traces that continue to transform the city to this day! One of those ripples became the DKV trio – a brilliant ensemble featuring Vandermark, bassist Kent Kessler, and percussionist Hamid Drake – a crack avant trio, with no end of imagination and creativity – stepping out here on a flagship recording for the Okka Disk label, maybe the most important force to document Vandermark's mighty talents during these early years! The recording features 5 tracks of varying length, from the 35 minute "Baraka" to the 8 minute "Soft Gamma Ray Repeater" – plus the titles "Figure It Out", "Consequence", and "Double Holiday". CD

Kanye West finally dropped the full length in early '04 – and it's one of the best hip hop albums of the year. Kanye is probably the hottest beats producer of the year, too, having dug through the greatest soul hooks of the past few decades for his samples, and piled on the chunkiest, catchiest, thickest beats anywhere. And if he doesn't have the greatest vocal delivery in hop hop (if he did, he'd be Superman considering his production pedigree), he makes up for it with some masterful lines, like "I gotta apologize to Mos and Kweli/is it cool to rap about gold if I told the world I copped it from Ghana and Mali?" from "Breath In Breath Out". Hilariously, Kanye also found just about the sharpest theme for a record that we've scene in a while – the tangential connection between gang bangers and frat boys! He ain't granola, he ain't bling bling, he's just a guy from Chicago with a sometimes astoundingly strong production aesthetic, very smart rhymes and a lot of people who owe him great guest spots, and deliver. Were you looking for more than that? It's a triumph, one that Chicago couldn't be more proud of! "We Don't Care", "Graduation Day", "All Falls Down" with Syleena Johnson, "Spaceship" with GLC & Consequence, "Never Let Me Down" with Jay-Z, "Get 'Em High" with Talib Kweli & Common,"New Work Out Plan", the great single "Slow Jamz" with Twista & Jamie Foxx and more. CD