One of those few classic cases where a compilation of tracks was maybe even more influential than the original music itself – as this early 70s collection of 60s material turned out to shape and influence generations for decades to come! Guitar genius Lenny Kaye put the set together famously for Elektra Records in 1972 – as a reminder that, just a few years before, there were some amazing sounds that were not only brewing up in local indie scenes around the country, but also on the radio as well – even though most of those groups had been pushed into relative obscurity by the rise of soft rock, hard rock, and classic rock of the early 70s! The package is a return to the pre-prog years, with an especially strong ear for garage-tuned tracks that would go on to shape later punk, 80s indie, and lots more underground sounds in the future. Titles include "I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)" by Electric Prunes, "Dirty Water" by the Standells, "Respect" by Vagrants, "No Time Like The Right Time" by Blues Project, "Invitation To Cry" by Magicians, "You're Gonna Miss Me" by Thirteenth Floor Elevators, "Psychotic Reaction" by Count Five, "Baby Please Don't Go" by Amboy Dukes, "My World Fell Down" by Sagittarius, "Open My Eyes" by Nazz, "It's A Happening" by The Magic Mushrooms, "Lies" by The Knickerbockers, "Oh Yeah" by Shadows Of Knight, "Sit Down I Think I Love You" by The Mojo Men, "Just Like Romeo & Juliet" by Michael & The Messengers, "Hey Joe" by The Leaves, and "Farmer John" by The Premiers. LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Lots of classics – and titles include "The Cutter", "Back Of Love", "Higher Hell", "Heads Will Roll", and "Ripeness". LP, Vinyl record album

After big success on the Batman soundtrack, Danny Elfman turns his talents to another comic character – Dick Tracy, as portrayed by Warren Beatty in the 1990 film that's not nearly as good as its music! While the movie was filled with over-the-top characterizations that completely went against the brilliance of the original strip, Elfman's score is a brooding masterpiece of understatement – rejecting all the cartoony elements of the film, and instead furthering Elfman's growing talent for orchestral scoring. Titles include "Slimy DA", "Meet The Blank", "Breathless Comes On", "Crime Spree", "Rooftops", "Blank Gets The Goods", "Showdown/Reunited", and "After The Kid". LP, Vinyl record album

Killer work from The Flamin Groovies – a group who were already a bit out of time at their start, and who continue that approach here during the late 70s punk years – but at a way that maybe makes them stand out even more than before! The set's got a style that mixes rock roots with some rawer punk-styled production – a mode that really fits the Groovies, and seems to intensify their sound more than before – especially the lead guitar work of Cyril Jordan, who co-produced the set, and makes sure that he's right up front in the mix! The set includes a great version of the Warren Zevon tune "Werewolves Of London", a nice remake of Dylan's "Absolutely Sweet Marie", and the tracks "Jumpin' In The Night", "Next One Crying", "First Plane Home", "In The USA", "Down Down Down", "It Won't Be Wrong", "Ladyfriend", and "Tell Me Again". LP, Vinyl record album

Ice T's third album, and a set that still has all the nicely biting style of his early best! The approach here is great – as political as the cover implies, but with a nice sense of wit, too – that quality that already made Ice stand so far apart from others who were getting mired down in their hardass stance – but without also ever sounding too flip about the subject matter. The balance is what soon brought him to Hollywood, but it's always got a lot more edge on record – served up here with superb production and beats from Afrika Islam. Titles include "You Played Yourself", "The Girl Tried To Kill Me", "Freedom Of Speech", "What Ya Wanna Do", "Hit The Deck", "Peel Their Caps Back", "Shut Up Be Happy", "Lethal Weapon", and "The Hunted Child". LP, Vinyl record album

Nifty 2LP set that brings together a motherlode of the Impressions' best material from their ABC years – plus some of Jerry Butler's nice solo material for Mercury from the same time, and a few Curtis cuts from the early 70s. Too much to mention here, but titles include "Keep On Pushin", "Gypsy Woman", "Need To Belong To Someone", "Woman's Got Soul", "Amen", "You've Been Cheatin", "Mr. Dream Merchant", "We're A Winner", "Moody Woman", and "Only The Strong Survive". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

An early Madonna single, with a nice Niles Rodgers remix on the a-side. 12-inch, Vinyl record

An early Madonna single, with production from Reggie Lucas and Jellybean Benitez. 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

An early Madonna single – featuring some sweet Niles Rodgers production and some clubby Jellybean touches on "Like A Virgin"! 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

The cover echoes the classic Pleased To Meet Me album by The Replacements, but the set features rare material and outtakes from the sessions from the album – acting almost like a part 2 to one of their best-loved albums from the Sire years! Titles include "Lift Your Skirt", "Til We're Nude", "Beer For Breakfast", "Trouble On The Way", "Birthday Gal", "Learn How To Fail", "Run For The Country", "All He Wants To Do Is Fish", "Alex Chilton (alternate)", "Can't Hardly Wait (alternate)", "I Don't Know (outtake)", and "I Can Help (outtake)". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic album from trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire – a set that really kicks his career up to the next level, and which is easily the most powerful record he's ever given us! The music finds Ambrose in many moods, all of them righteous – sometimes blowing hard and fierce in a small combo, sometimes issuing out more personal statements in a more stripped-down setting – working with players that include Harish Raghavan on bass, Justin Brown on drums, and Sam Harris on piano – plus vocalist Genevieve Artadi on one especially beautiful number that features Akinmusire on Fender Rhodes! We've loved the music of Ambrose for many years – and this is one of those faith-rewarding sets that always makes it so wonderful to follow the career of any key jazz musician – as we hope you'll also find on titles that include "Roy", "4623", "Moon", "Tide Of Hyacinth", "Cynical Sideliners", and "Mr Roscoe". CD

A fantastic album from trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire – a set that really kicks his career up to the next level, and which is easily the most powerful record he's ever given us! The music finds Ambrose in many moods, all of them righteous – sometimes blowing hard and fierce in a small combo, sometimes issuing out more personal statements in a more stripped-down setting – working with players that include Harish Raghavan on bass, Justin Brown on drums, and Sam Harris on piano – plus vocalist Genevieve Artadi on one especially beautiful number that features Akinmusire on Fender Rhodes! We've loved the music of Ambrose for many years – and this is one of those faith-rewarding sets that always makes it so wonderful to follow the career of any key jazz musician – as we hope you'll also find on titles that include "Roy", "4623", "Moon", "Tide Of Hyacinth", "Cynical Sideliners", and "Mr Roscoe". CD

A fantastic album from trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire – a set that really kicks his career up to the next level, and which is easily the most powerful record he's ever given us! The music finds Ambrose in many moods, all of them righteous – sometimes blowing hard and fierce in a small combo, sometimes issuing out more personal statements in a more stripped-down setting – working with players that include Harish Raghavan on bass, Justin Brown on drums, and Sam Harris on piano – plus vocalist Genevieve Artadi on one especially beautiful number that features Akinmusire on Fender Rhodes! We've loved the music of Ambrose for many years – and this is one of those faith-rewarding sets that always makes it so wonderful to follow the career of any key jazz musician – as we hope you'll also find on titles that include "Roy", "4623", "Moon", "Tide Of Hyacinth", "Cynical Sideliners", and "Mr Roscoe". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Hurricane", "Isis", "Joey", "Romance In Durango", "Sara", and "One More Cup Of Coffee". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes pieces from Gretry's "Cephale Et Procris", Goldmark's "The Queen Of Sheba", Roussel's "Bacchus Et Ariane"; plus excerpts from Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker", Khachaturian's "Gayane", and Prokoviev's "Romeo and Juliet". LP, Vinyl record album

Demo versions of every single track that appeared on the PJ Harvey album Is This Desire – maybe even more of a match for some of the songs on the record than previous demo releases, given that the standard record has a nicely stripped-down vibe at times! Yet there's also a strong difference here – a to-the-core sound that shows how much PJ Harvey could sometimes hide behind the larger mix of a record, even when she was sounding emotive – as there's a very personal, intimate quality here. Titles include "Angeline", "The Wind", "The Sly Lit Up", "A Perfect Day Elise", "Is This Desire", "The Garden", "No Girl So Sweet", and "My Beautiful Leah". CD

Demo versions of every single track that appeared on the PJ Harvey album Is This Desire – maybe even more of a match for some of the songs on the record than previous demo releases, given that the standard record has a nicely stripped-down vibe at times! Yet there's also a strong difference here – a to-the-core sound that shows how much PJ Harvey could sometimes hide behind the larger mix of a record, even when she was sounding emotive – as there's a very personal, intimate quality here. Titles include "Angeline", "The Wind", "The Sly Lit Up", "A Perfect Day Elise", "Is This Desire", "The Garden", "No Girl So Sweet", and "My Beautiful Leah". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

The tenor of Ivo Perelman often sounds best in a more unusual setting – and that's definitely the case here, as he works in a trio with Gordon Grdina on oud and Hamin Honarai on tombak, daf, and percussion! The set definitely has some of the Mid East currents you'd expect from the instruments – but this is less of a "jazz meets world" setting, than it is a record that has Honari and Grdina improvising in free jazz modes on instruments with much different roots! If anything, the angular notes of Perelman might well be some of the most conventional sounds on the record – and if you know Ivo, you know that he's hardly anything but conventional. Titles include "Bridge To The Soul", "Purity Of Desire", "Music Of A Distant Drum", "Love Is A Stranger", and "Light Upon Light". CD

Sweet sax from the great Tom Scott – two early 80s Columbia albums in a single package! Desire is proof that Scott could still make an electric jazz album sound more soulful than most of his mainstream contemporaries! There's a really great sense of balance here – production that's certainly polished, but instrumentation that's never sleepy at all – those always-sharp reeds we love from Tom, especially on alto and soprano sax – plus some great keyboard work from Victor Feldman, who has a similar sense of space and timing ot match Scott's groove! The set's got a feel that's a bit like some of the few really great albums from Dave Grusin – and some cuts have vocals, although mostly of the backup type. Titles include "Desire", "Sure Enough", "The Only One", "Stride", "Chunk O Funk", and "Meet Somebody". Target features a wide range of styles from saxophonist Tom Scott – some tracks that are in the funkier fusion he scored with in the 70s, but others that have some soul and pop touches as well! Scott's horn is still nice and sharp when he gets to step out in the solo spotlight – more so on the instrumental tracks, but a bit less so on the vocal ones – which feature singers who include Maria Muldaur, Kenny James, and Lee Ving. Other players include Harvey Mason on drums, Ernie Watts on tenor and alto, Victor Feldman on keyboards, and Paul Jackson on guitar – and titles include "Burundi Bump", "The Biggest Part Of Me", "He's Too Young", "Aerobia", "Target", and "Come Back To Me". CD

The first album from Tuxedomoon's European exile era! The sound of Desire follows heavily on the group's excellent Half-Mute set, but also picks up a bit more of a sense of song – trading some of the starker electronic moments for guitar and vocal passages that feature the edgey singing of Winston Tong. Things are quite spare overall, and surprisingly sentimental at times – more personal and less self-indulgent than work by most of the group's contemporaries, or than their own later records in Europe. Titles include "Victims Of The Dance", "Desire", "Again", "In The Name Of Talent", "Incubus", and "Holiday For Plywood". LP, Vinyl record album

Images of famous stars at the beach – not the creepy tabloid photos that always seem to catch them at their worst – but lavish full color images that are pulled from film shots, publicity stills, and magazine layouts – all documenting an ever-evolving sense of fashion in the sand on the west coast scene at midcentury! Most of the subjects of the photos are recognizable – Ursula Andress, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, and so on – but there's also some lesser-knowns, early film stars, and others – laid out in beautiful pages that include a bit of text, and some movie poster images too. 218 pages, full color, hardcover. Book

A lovely title, and a lovely little record too – every bit as poetic as its promise – with haunting trumpet lines by Ambrose Akimusire, nestled nicely in an acoustic quintet that also features Gerald Clayton on piano and Walter Smith III on tenor! There's an understated quality to the record that's really nice – none of the too-modern modes you might guess from the cover image (we'll admit that sometimes we're suspicious of contemporary Blue Note mixing it up too much) – and instead a style that's mighty fresh, yet still pretty earthy – modern, yet never too outside – and a sense of soul that informs proceedings and really helps keep things on track. Titles include "Jaya", "Henya", "Far But Few Between", "Confessions To My Unborn Daughter", "The Walls Of Lechuguilla", and "My Name Is Oscar". CD

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Features Chris Potter on saxophones and bass clarinet, Craig Taborn on piano, David Virelles on prepared piano and celeste, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Eric Harland on drums. CD

Quite possibly the biggest early moment of US fame for Roxy Music – thanks to the classic "Love Is The Drug", which kicks off the album and is easily one of the group's best-known tunes of the 70s! The album tightens things up slightly from the sound of Country Life before – not as many dark corners, but still plenty of the offbeat styles that make these early Roxy Music albums so great – with none of the softer styles that took over during the early 80s years. Other tracks include "End Of The Line", "She Sells", "Could It Happen To Me", "Both Ends Burning", "Just Another High", and "Whirlwind". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful tribute to the Cali soul sound of the 70s – served up here by Robb Scott with a wonderfully groovy sound! The music here recalls that great moment when things could be tight, but never slick or commercial – maybe the productions of Larry Mizell, or the flowing soulful fusion of Patrice Rushen – and Robb handles much of the music himself on a variety of instruments, and also sings vocals – but in the best collaborative Cali spirit, he also opens the door to work with help from The Waters, Sandra St Victor, Juliet Roberts, Gina Foster, and Elisabeth Troy – all artists who lend a great sense of vocal spirit to the album. The set's nice and long – with a great mix of interludes and full songs – and titles include "Neptune Atmosphere", "Rotary Love", "Keep On", "Essaouira Wind", "Siren", "Negative Pleasures", "Hummingbird", "California Suite Revue", and "Venus In Virgo". CD

Not the kind of record you'd bring to a yoga class, as you might think from the title – but instead a really joyous celebration of soulful club music – pulled together with a host of disco classics from the late 70s and early 80s! These aren't the big hits of the time, but instead some lesser-known gems that got bigger play in the hipper clubs and the underground – far from the limelight of Studio 54 and the radio charts, where real clubgoers and dancefloor fanatics kept the disco groove going well into the 80s! None of these tracks is super-rare, but they work together beautifully to showcase the hipper side of female club – in a lineup that includes work by a number of talents who never fully got their due. Titles include "Love Rescue" by Project, "Slippery People (club version)" by Staple Singers, "Give Me Your Love" by Sylvia Striplin, "Loveline (extended)" by Shawn Jackson, "Sweet Dynamite (Tom Moulton 12" mix)" by Cladja Barry, "Can't Fake The Feeling (dub)" by Geraldine Hunt, "I Love Your Beat (inst)" by Rena, "Get On Up & Do It Again" by Suzy Q, "Breaking & Entering (12" mix)" by Dee Dee Sharp Gamble, "On Your Knees" by Grace Jones, and "Too Damn Hot" by Duncan Sisters. CD