... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Titles include "Strangelove", "The Things You Said", "Nothing", "Pimpf", "I Want You Now", "To Have & To Hold", "Never Let Me Down Again", and "Sacred". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

DMZ's badass self-titled set for Sire from '78 – buzzsaw guitars, driving rhythms, manic vocals and eerie organs – an incredible combination of 60s garage inspiration and ferocious punk-era urgency! DMZ migh have been weird fit at a Sire label that at the time was struggling to get The Ramones and Richard Hell into the mainstream – but boy, is it ever worthy stuff! Includes "Mighty Idy", "Bad Attitude", "Watch For Me Girl", "Cinderella", "Don't Jump Me Mother", "Destroyer", "Out Of Our Tree", "Border Line", "Do Not Enter" and "From Home". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "All In Your Mind", "Lips Like Sugar", "All My Life", "Satellite", "Bedbugs & Ballyhoo", and "The Game". CD

Echo & The Bunnymen at the height of their powers – able to deliver music that's as majestic as it is moody, and which nicely avoids all the cliches of the artists the group influenced in years to come! There's subtle use of strings that really give the record a fantastic vibe – one that sets it apart from some of the thinner Britpop stylings of the period, and which also seem to encourage some psychedelic sensibilities – but again, not at a level that's as easy or slavish as some of the rest. Ian McCulloch's vocals are tremendous – heard to famous effect on the classic "The Killing Moon" – but great throughout, on other titles that include "Ocean Rain", "My Kingdom", "Thorn Of Crowns", "Crystal Days", "Silver", and "The Yo Yo Man". LP, Vinyl record album

A great summation of the first few years of work from Echo & The Bunnymen – songs to definitely learn, but don't try singing unless you've got the same amazing vocal skills as Ian McCullough! All the classic singles are here – and titles include "The Killing Moon", "The Cutter", "The Back Of Love", "Do It Clean", "Rescue", "The Puppet", "A Promise", "Never Stop", "Silver", "Seven Seas", and "Bring ON The Dancing Horses". LP, Vinyl record album

A great summation of the first few years of work from Echo & The Bunnymen – songs to definitely learn, but don't try singing unless you've got the same amazing vocal skills as Ian McCullough! All the classic singles are here – and titles include "The Killing Moon", "The Cutter", "The Back Of Love", "Do It Clean", "Rescue", "The Puppet", "A Promise", "Never Stop", "Silver", "Seven Seas", and "Bring ON The Dancing Horses". LP, Vinyl record album

An 80s pop treasure – and a real bright spot in a mainstream world that often had plenty of clunky moments! The album represents a great step forward for the duo of Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn – as Watt's arrangements are even fuller and more focused than before – still lots of jazz in the mix, but on a larger scale that's really great – almost pushing them into a classic old school style – with a blend of orchestrations and vocals that's perfect for both the songwriting and Tracey Thorn's vocals! Titles include "Come On Home", "A Country Mile", "Careless", "Sugar Finney", "Come Hell Or High Water", "Fighting Talk", and "Little Hitler". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A huge global crossover for this amazing-voiced singer – with titles that include "Love Song", "Eshal", "Im Nin'Alu", "Shaday", "Galbi", "Face To Face", and "Take Me To Paradise". LP, Vinyl record album

Ice T's cover of the Curtis Mayfield classic. 12-inch, Vinyl record

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

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A great solo set from the Krown Rulers – a New Jersey crew, but one who worked often with Philly's Tuff Crew – as evidenced by the album's production help from Dave of that group! The cover art might look a bit gimmicky, but the set's nice and raw – bursting with beats and stark samples, and touched with a bit of those higher ideals that Jersey MCs were starting to bring to their music – a legacy that was perhaps never fully realized in the end, but which made that scene such a key link between New York and Philly, and maybe more underground too. Titles include "Paper Chase", "32nd St Down (The Eastside Story)", "Confetti Emcees", "Call Me The Sire", "Non Stop Hip Hop", "B Boy Document", "That's Not Where It's At", and "Super Dope Remix #2 (Kick The Ball)". CD

Madness back when they were strongly in a ska vein! Titles include "One Step beyond", "Tarzan's Nuts", "Madness", "Chimunks Are Go", "Razor Blade Alley", and "Land Of Hope & Glory". LP, Vinyl record album

The music here is as evocative as the title – almost a mix of contemporary Blue Note modes with older ECM styles – all served up as a perfect showcase for the ever-growing talents of trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire! We've really dug the last two records from Ambrose, and this one seems to push his voice even father than before – sometimes in smaller acoustic settings, sometimes with a bit of vocals, and sometimes a bit of strings – performed by a shifting lineup that includes guests Becca Stevens, Theo Bleckmann, and Cold Specks on vocals – plus a core group that includes Walter Smith on tenor and Sam Harris on piano. Titles include "Marie Christie", "Memo", "Ceasless Inexhaustible Child", "Rollcall For Those Absent", "Vartha", and "Our Basement". CD

A nice stretched out mix of the title track from Arpeggio's 1978 LP, with bubbling Euro-disco production, filled out with nice synths and a pumped up, high stepping disco groove! 12-inch, Vinyl record

... CD

Titles include "Rocker's Palace", "Zion", "Dread In The House", "Winners", "Sirens In The City", and "Message To Mr Sus Man". LP, Vinyl record album

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

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

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 fantastic self-titled album from Siren – and a set that's noteworthy for the early appearance of a young Kevin Coyne! Coyne's offbeat approach to singing and songwriting is very much in place here – on tunes that draw on older modes, but which avoid more familiar blues rock styles of the time – as Kevin is already knocking things off-kilter a bit, and creating that unique approach that both made his work instantly timeless, yet really only appreciated by just a few. Instrumentation is all familiar – guitar, bass, drums, and piano – but the approach is the group's own – on titles that include "Gardener Man", "Wake Up My Children", "Sixteen Women", "Wasting My Time", "Ze Ze Ze Ze", "Get Right Church", and "Asylum". LP, Vinyl record album

Andy Summers and Victor Biglione on guitars. Tracks include "Frevo", "Stone Flower", "In Your Own Sweet Way", "Night In Tunisia", "1+2 Blues", "Um Abraco No Bonfa", and "Stolen Moments". 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

... CD

A strong return to the mic from the one-and-only Pharoahe Monch – his unbelievably long-awaited follow up to the amazing Internal Affairs – and one of the best major label hip hop LPs of the first half of '07! Pharoahe's nearly decade long absense from the mainstream seems to have spawned a bit of a contemplative streak on some tunes, an anthemic streak on others, and a modern cultural awareness that might catch you off guard – if you only know him for the "Girlies, rub on ya . . ." mantra, you don't know the half it. Welcome back! Production by Alchemist, Black Milk and others. Titles include "Free", "Desire" feat Showtyme, a reimagining of PE's "Welcome To The Terrordome", "What It Is", "When The Gun Draws", "Body Baby", "Bar Tap" feat Mela Machinko, "Hold On" feat Erykah Badu, "So Good" and the epic closer "Trilogy" (Acts I, II and III) feat Mr Porter, Dwele and Tone. Includes the bonus track "Book Of Judges". 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

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

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

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

A classic live date from Satchmo – and expanded to include the complete performances on that legendary night at Boston's Symphony Hall – for the first time ever! Recorded in November of 1947 and originally released in '51, it's never before been issued with both the first and second sets that night. There's also a number of great tunes here that were released before in edited versions, but fully presented here. It's such wonderful stuff – both as a top-shelf document of this period of American jazz – and as a brilliant example of Satcho's charming stage presence. His trumpet and solo vocals are well captured, and you can here up humming along on the instrumentals, too. The players at this point who are All Stars, indeed, include Jack Teagarden on vocals and trombone, Barney Bigard on clarinet, Dick Cary on piano, Arvell Shaw on bass, and Sid Catlett on drums – plus some great vocals by Velma Middleton. 29 songs on 2CDs – in a hardback package with a great booklet – and featuring "When It's Sleepy Time Down South", "Stars Fell On Alabama", "Body And Soul", "Steak Face", "Back O'Town Blues", "St James Infirmary", "Mop Mop", "Jack Armstrong Blues", "That's My Desire", "C Jam Blues", "Baby Won't You Please Come Home", "Mahogany Hall Stomp" and more – many previously unreleased! CD

Brigitte Bardot's best known on these shores as an actress, but during the 60s she cut some really fantastic work on the scene in Paris – including a fair bit of groovers that were done with help from the legendary Serge Gainsbourg! Bardot provided a fantastic new voice in the world of pop music – a singer who was unabashedly open about her desires, and very different than the more melancholy stars of a few years before – a quality that's further emphasized by the wonderfully groovy instrumentation used on most of these tracks! Production and arrangements are superb – and put this music in the best territory of the grooviest 60s French pop by artists like Serge Gainsbourg, France Gall, Jacques Dutronc, and a rare few others. This is the first-ever English-annotated collection of work from the period – and features a whopping 25 tracks from her recordings for Philips and Disc AZ – titles that include "Harley Davidson", "Contact", "Neu Au Soleil", "Je Danse Donc Je Suis", "La Madrague", "Les Hommes Endormis", "Je Voudrais Perdre La Memoire", "Mr Sun", "Le Diable Est Anglais", "Tu Es Venu Mon Amour", "John Et Michel", "Gang Gang", and duets with Serge Gainsbourg on "Bonnie & Clyde" and "Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus". CD

Contemporary deep soul from Barry Jean Fontenot – a singer who should be destined to be huge, given the power and presence he has on this six track release! Barry knows how to soar like a classic soul singer, but also never hangs his music on cliches – as the sound here is very much his own, right down to backing by The Fountains, who have a nicely different vibe than more retro-sounding combos – especially when they throw in a few key tenor solos that really deepen the mood! The guitar is also nice and bright, in a way that's different from other recordings of this nature – bringing out new colors in Barry's vocals, on titles that include "By The Edge Of The Sea", "Second Line", "Desiree", "Come On Down", "The Flow", and "It Ain't So Easy". LP, Vinyl record album