Siouxie & The Banshees pick up songs from a well-chosen array of other artists – including Roxy Music, Iggy Pop, Bob Dylan, Television, and Billie Holiday – almost moving into that reworking-of-classics style that This Mortal Coil was using at the time – even though Siouxie's earlier work was probably a huge inspiration on that group and most of the 4AD acts to emerge during the 80s! The vibe here is similar to Tinderbox – surprisingly catchy at times, yet still with that balanced sense of drama that Siouxie could bring to her music – on tunes that include their hit remake of "The Passenger", plus "This Wheel's On Fire", "Strange Fruit", "Sea Breezes", "Little Johnny Jewel", "Hall Of Mirrors", and "Trust In Me". LP, Vinyl record album

A really unique concept for longform improvisation – a single performance that features a group of musicians all handling low-end instruments – which they bring together in a way that's almost sculptural at times! The album rumbles with density right from the start – and features Daunick Lazro on baritone, Jouk Minor on contrabass sarrusophone, Thierry Madiot on bass trombone and telescopic tubes, and both David Chiesa and Louis Michel Marion on five string basses – each of which is recorded in a different channel, which seems to really draw the space of the performance across the room! The set features three indexed selections – but the music was recorded in a single 66 minute performance. CD

A great double header from Honest Jons – a 2CD set that brings together volumes 7 and 8 of their London Is The Place For Me series! Volume 7 is first – a fascinating look at musical modes in London during the big years of postwar immigration – a time when former residents of the crumbling British Empire were flooding to London for jobs and a better way of life – often bringing along a huge amount of cultural experience in the process! This set follows wonderfully in the spirit of previous volumes of the series – bringing together a range of different sonic styles that were originally recorded in London as 78rpm singles – where a new wave of Caribbean and West African immigrants were fusing older styles with a newly modern sensibility, and often a fair bit of jazz as well! The set list is wonderful – a great array of well-chosen material – and titles include "Wa Sise" by Willie Payne & The Starlite Tempos, "The Emperor Of Africa" by The Mighty Terror, "Royal Wedding" by The Lion, "Modern Telephone" by Dai Dai Simba, "Sons & Daughters Of Africa" by Lord Beginner, "Caroline" by Trinidad Steel Band, "Ema Foju Ana Woku" by West African Rhythm Brothers, "Kana Kana" by Billy Sholanke, "Boul Ve Se" by Calypso Rhythm Kings, and "My Handy Man" by Marie Bryant. Volume 8 features a huge collection of work from the great Lord Kitchener – maybe one of the most important singers to move the music of the Caribbean to British shores during the postwar years – a time when he was a strong voice to new waves of immigrants arriving in London, and when he was also making a lot of inroads for criss-crossing post-colonial culture too! The base style is calypso, but Kitchener always handles the music with a spirit that's all his own – modern, witty, and urbane – often with some nice currents of jazz in the instrumentation, and plenty of social commentary that made music like this a great precursor to later righteous moments in jazz, funk, soul, and reggae. Titles include "No More Taxi", "Food From The West Indies", "Come Back In The Morning", "Pirates Of Paria", "Drink A Rum", "If You Brown", "Life Begins At Forty", "Mistress Jacob", "Africa My Home", "Kitch In The Jungle", "Tie Tongue Mopsie", and "London Is The Place For Me". CD

Modern recording of music from various film and television productions – includes music by John Addison, Frank Skinner, Miklos Rozsa, Henry Mancini, Cyril Mockridge, Bruce Broughton, and others. CD

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A really unusual sound library session from the start of the 70s – a record with a number of very short tracks, each of which might make a sort of theme for a TV show – although there's a unified quality to the record that maybe makes every single track work together more as a whole soundtrack! The instrumentation includes plenty of piano and keyboards, some nice flute lines, and some occasionally wordless female vocals – but often used in a style that has a lot more edge than you might here in a Morricone soundtrack – served up here by keyboardist Luciani, and pianist Renosto – who you might also know from recordings under the name of Lesiman. Titles include "Escape", "Ipnosi", "Banditore", "Angoscia Infantile", "Irreversibile", "Dolce E Amaro", "Astrazioni", "Cabaret", and "Macchine". LP, Vinyl record album

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Bouncing digital disco-mixes from the man behind the Music Works! Gussie Clarke was one of the producers whose work wasn't diminished as the Jamaican musical scene transitioned from the live music and bands that drove it for so long to the crisp new digital sounds that overtook the dancehall in the 80s, and this collection of some his bigger numbers from the latter part of the decade is a pure delight for lovers of the newer Kingston vibes! A dozen numbers in all, each one featured in its 12'' mix, including "Rumours" by Gregory Isaacs, "Telephone Love" by JC Lodge, "No Bother Dis (Soundboy)" by Shabba Ranks, "Pirates' Anthem" by Home T, Cocoa Tea and Shabba Ranks, "Mr Bodyguard" by the Mighty Diamonds, "John Law" by Gregory Isaacs, Freddie McGregor and Ninjaman, "To The Foundation" by Dennis Brown and Cocoa tea, "Dancehall Good To We" by Papa San and "Mr Lover Man" by Deborahe & Shabba. CD

A wonderful package of rare bossa work! The set is a great tribute to the composers mentioned above – and it features some of their best songs in classic renditions, packaged in a cover with an 8 page booklet that's filled with great photos and writings in Portuguese. Titles include "O Barquinho" by Pery Ribero, "Fim De Noite" by Coral De Ouro Preto, "Marcha Da Quarta-Feira De Cinzas" by Elis Regina, "Maria Moita" by Nara Leao, "A Morte De Um Deus De Sal" by Roberto Menescal, "Pau De Arara" by Ary Toledo, "Telefone" by Os Cariocas, and "Invluencia Do Jazz" by Carlos Lyra. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most tripped-out albums of funk you'll ever buy – a rare treasure with a very unusual history! The Stark Reality were a cool little combo formed to work on public television in Boston in the late 60s – and the combo featured some heavy guitars, fuzzed-up vibes, and some monster percussion laid out in tight bass and drum rhythms that were years ahead of their time! The group recorded one rare album – ostensibly a children's record, but based around old compositions by Hoagy Carmichael, completely pulled apart, sliced up, overly harmonized, and spat out into wild funky tunes that bear no resemblance to their originals! John Abercrombie handles the guitar, Monty Stark delivers the vibes and vocals – and titles include "Rocket Ship", "Shooting Star", "Bustin Out Of Doors", "Comrades", "Swing High", "Cooking", "Grandfather Clock", "The Old Prospector", "The Whale", "Junkman's Song", and "Merry Go Round". LP, Vinyl record album

What's up is that these cats are plenty darn groovy – a hip young Japanese combo with a real ear for classic-styled jazz! The album's got plenty of echoes of an older European jazz scene – particularly the modal moments of the 60s heard in work by Italian players, and some of the best of the MPS/Saba crew – a real sensitivity to rhythm changes that keeps things fresh throughout, and which makes each track on the album explode with a new sense of delight. The production here is great too – simple, no-nonsense, and as clear and straight ahead as the grooves – not as much of a dancefloor focus as some of the Japanese club jazz combos, and plenty of warmth and imagination on the solos. Instrumentation includes trumpet, tenor, piano, bass, and drums – and the album's a beautiful treasure through and through – the kind of a set that would be right at home with some of your best originals from many years back. Titles include "Which One Is True", "Telemundo", "Edelweiss", "Minor's Holiday", "Five Minutes To Tomorrow", "Into The Dream", and "I Can't Live Without It". CD

Not really the house of ages – given that most of these cuts are so rare, they're only making their first appearance here – but a great little collection that reminds us that there's still so much to discover in the funky underground of the last few years of the 20th Century! Jeremy Newell really knocks it out of the park with this one – and comes up with a deep, soulful collection of house tracks from the farthest reaches of the scene – either work that only appeared on very obscure singles, or didn't even make it past tape back in the day – leaping forth here with a wickedly groovy sound that's more than worth the wait. Titles include "Take Me Higher" by Jimi Polo, "I Promise (more beats for passion mix)" by Mark Rogers, "Keep On Pressing (KOT orig mix)" by Sean Grant, "More I Get" by Teleport feat Russell Patterson, "Yo Razor" by Arts & Craft with Razor Cain, "Don't Run Away" by Soul Dhamma, "When I See You (tight voc)" by Frank Youngwerth with Ernie, "Freak It (Tony Humprhies inst mix)" by Johanna, "Mainline (Roger S Ego trip mix)" by Tribal House, "We Can Make It (unreleased dub)" by UBQ Project, and "Deeper (Benji Candelario's deeper than deep unreleased mix)" by Susan Clark. CD

A fantastic Buck Owens retrospective from the always affectionate, comprehensive and respectful Omnivore label – an appropriately named company if there ever was one – because we hungrily eat up just about everything they put out! Buck Owens two-fronted legacy as a Bakersfield honky tonk pioneer and folksy television personality have been safe and sound for years, but this is the first Buck Owens collection we've seen to so perfectly balance the uber-classic singles and album tracks with comparable rarities – and most of it appears in tight, punchy mono versions. Includes some great early and live versions of some of this best tunes, and the whole thing is great, for newcomers and lifelong fans alike! 50 tracks on 2CDs: "Down On The Corner Of Love", "Hot Dog", "Sweet Thing", "Fooliin' Around", "Fool Me Again", "My Heart Skips A Beat (Early Version)", "Act Naturally (Live In Bakersfield)", "Close Up The Honky Tonks", "Truck Drivin' Man", "Hello Trouble", "I Don't Care (Just As Long As You Love Me)", "Cryin' Time". "Before You Go", "Together Again", "Heartbreak Mountain", "The Girl On Sugar Pie Lane" and many more – reaching back to the late 50s, but mostly from Buck's 60s peak with producer Ken Nelson. CD

The Warp debut from the Boards of Canada, and only the second full length LP from the duo, though they had issued numerous CDs up to this point in their career. Warm electronics that transcends the IDM tag, and elevates them above the crowded peerage of bedroom laptop wizards. 17 tracks in all, including "Wildlife Analysis", "An Eagle In Your Mind", "The Color Of The Fire", "Telephasic Workshop", "Triangles & Rhombuses", "Sixtyten", "Kaini Industries", "Bocuma", "Roygbiv", "Rue The Whirl", "Aquarius", "Olson", "Pete Standing Alone", "Smoke Quantity", "Open The Light" and "One Very Important Thought". Includes the bonus track "Happy Cycling". CD

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A massive batch of righteous soul – plus sound bites and calls to action by some of the most pivotal voices of the era! This collection aims to be the soundtrack of an era that called for a revolution, and if the movement didn't wholly ingratiate into American culture, the passion and the music certainly did! The set features well known numbers mixed with some relatively lesser known numbers, together with some of the most fiery dialogue from icons of the Black Power movement. Tracks include "You're The Man" (parts I & II) by Marvin Gaye, "Let's Clean Up The Ghetto" by Philadelphia International All Stars, "Right On" by Sons Of Slum, "Tell It Like It Is" by SOUL, "Give The People What They Want" by the O'Jays, "Blackenized" by Hank Ballard, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised by Gil Scott-Heron, "My People. . .Hold On" by Eddie Kendricks, "I Am Somebody" (Part 2) by Johnnie Taylor, "We Got More Soul" by Dyke & The Blazers and tons more, plus sound bites by Huey Newton, Kathleen Cleaver, Stokely Carmichael, H Rap Brown and Malcolm X. 38 tracks on two CDs! CD

The Warp debut from the Boards of Canada, and only the second full length LP from the duo, though they had issued numerous CDs up to this point in their career. Warm electronics that transcends the IDM tag, and elevates them above the crowded peerage of bedroom laptop wizards. 17 tracks in all, including "Wildlife Analysis", "An Eagle In Your Mind", "The Color Of The Fire", "Telephasic Workshop", "Triangles & Rhombuses", "Sixtyten", "Kaini Industries", "Bocuma", "Roygbiv", "Rue The Whirl", "Aquarius", "Olson", "Pete Standing Alone", "Smoke Quantity", "Open The Light" and "One Very Important Thought". CD

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A very well-titled set – and the best so far in this cutting-edge series! The "beats and pieces" this time around are mostly underground club tracks from the past few years – the cream of the crop of the best bits that hit our New Grooves section, often served up in harder-to-find mixes that represent the best version of the tunes so far! There's no overall stylistic logic to the set, which is what makes it so great – as mellow soul steps into funky club, into spacey fusion, global house, 21st century groove, then dancefloor jazz! 2CD set features 22 tracks that include "Wake Up" by Herbert, "La Malanga (Kenny Dope rmx)" by Bobby Hutcherson, "Fall Into You" by Stateless, "Hot In Here" by Tiga with Jake Shears, "Take Off (Nicola Conte's Campi's Idea version)" by Nathan Haines and Marco Di Marco, "Bukom Mashie" by Oscar Sulley & The Uhuru Dance Band, "Somebody New" by Georg Levin with Clara Hill, "Besides Myself" by DJ Shaheer Williams, "Timbuktu" by Pan African Electronic Beats, "Someone To Love" by Crusho, "Love & War (version)" by Amp Fiddler, "Forty Days" by Billy Brooks, and "Fall Into You" by Stateless. CD

A really great project from Erykah Badu – a set that's quite spare compared to the fuller sound and energy of her New Amerykah records – done in a bedroom studio in Dallas with producer Zach Witness! The music is lean and stripped-down – hip hop-influenced soul, but almost at a level that has Badu playing with more popular modes of the time – showing that she can do them better than most, but always with this sense of sophistication that draws on all the other sounds she's given us over the years! Badu released the set direct to digital as a mixtape, but it's a fantastic standalone album project on its own – with titles that include "U Use To Call Me", "Cel U Lar Device", "Hi", "Phone Down", "What's Yo Phone Number", "I'll Call U Back", and "Mr Telephone Man". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastically soulful album from Jorge Ben – one of his greatest records ever, and a key part of Brazilian music in the 70s! The album marks an earthier shift for Jorge – a sound that's still rooted in the samba influences of the 60s, but which also takes on a bit more soul at the bottom – thanks to rhythmic contributions from Trio Mocoto, who work here famously to help Ben shape the overall feel of the set! There's still a bit of larger orchestrations at moments, but these are used sparingly just to sweeten the sound – leaving the main force of the music to come from Jorge's guitar, and the cuica, percussion, and tamborim of the trio. The vocals are wonderful too – slightly raspy, and with a bit more feeling than we ever remember Jorge having on record – sometimes a bit intimate, yet always with an undeniable presence throughout. One of those records that still sends chills up our spines, year after year – with tracks that include "Oba La Vem Ela", "Ze Canjica", "Pulo Pulo", "Apareceu Aparecida", "Terezinha", "Mulher Brasileira", "Forca Bruta", "O Telefone Tocou Novamente", and "Charles Junior". CD

Pure genius from a young Chico Buarque – simple, effective, straightforward tunes – and music that has had a resonance in Brazil for many decades since! At one level, the sound here draws heavily from the samba recordings of previous years – but at another level, there's a greater level of sophistication that predates the growth of the MPB generation during the 70s – a sound that blends in some larger backings and airy production, all for a sound that's completely heavenly! Titles include "Noite Dos Mascarados", "A Televisao", "Fica", "Com Acucar, Com Afeto", "Logo Eu?", "Ano Novo", "Realejo", and "Um Chorinho". LP, Vinyl record album

Groundbreaking work from the ever-changing melange of players associated with Chicago underground jazz musician Rob Mazurek. This "Chicago Underground" set features a trio lineup – with Mazurek on cornet, electronics, organ, and vibes; Chad Taylor on percussion and vibes; and Noel Kuppersmith on bass and vibes. Jeff Parker sits in on guitar and organ – and the record's got a free-flowing sound that's really wonderful, and which reminds us a lot of the best modal moments of the 70s, mixed with some of the more rhythmic sounds of the AACM. Titles include "Shaw Town", "Into Another You", "Passaros", "Pisces", "The Enormous Room", "Teletransporation Unit 3", "Energia", "La Jetee", and "Othello". CD

A nice little package, one that brings together three American releases of music by London's legendary Georgie Fame! First up is the classic Yeh Yeh – a brilliant mix of jazz, soul, and R&B – all filtered through a mod sort of London freshness, as early proof that the city could always take some great things from our own musical roots, and feed it back to us with a whole new flavor! Georgie Fame's no copycat here, though – and the sound is instantly Fame-like – a style that's really not the sort that any Americans were doing at the time, and certainly never this well. Hard-burning Hammond colors most of the tunes here – played with a tightly vamping quality – but it's Georgie's charmingly crackling vocals that really win us over! Titles include "Gimme That Wine", "Pink Champagne", "Monkeying Around", "I Love The Life I Live", "Point Of No Return", "Preach & Teach", "Get On The Right Track Baby", and the hit "Yeh Yeh". Next is Get Away – a great little album from Georgie Fame – with a hard raw soul sound that shows what a big crossover potential he had with the UK soul market – so much so that this batch of material was issued in the US as well! The album's got some wonderful arrangements – quite raw, with some nice organ, and plenty of heavy vocals from Georgie in a strong blue eyed soul mode. Titles include "Sitting In The Park", "Get Away", "Sweet Thing", "Ride Your Pony", "The In Crowd", "Last Night", and "Music Talk". Hall Of Fame is a bit of a best-of – a record that features some singles, and some album tracks – the latter of which aren't included here, as they'd be duplicated. The remaining material is Fame at his raw early best – working in a great soulful style, with plenty of jazzy charms – on cuts that include "Outrage", "Lil Darlin", "Sunny", "In The Meantime", "Something", "Do Re Mi", and Fame's own "Like We Used To Be". CD also features 9 more bonus tracks, some live recordings – titles that include "Bend A Little", "Telegram", "It Ain't Right", "Don't Make Promises", "Many Happy Returns", "I'm In Love With You", "Shop Around", "Green Onions", and "Do The Dog". CD

Not the original Quatermass EP from The Heliocentrics – but material that takes off in an even fuller, heavier direction – and which may well be the funkiest sounds we've heard from these guys so far! The music is stunning right from the very first heavy bassline and sharp drum crackle – more focused, more full-on, and more funky than before – with this mindblowing mix of super-tight rhythms and nicely trippy work on keyboards and guitar – all freaky and fuzzy, but always with a sense of purpose, too – and never just crazy for the sake of crazy! These guys really hit a new high with this set – simply wonderful, and at a level that has us falling in love with them all over again. Titles include "The Pit", "Gas Bottle", "Discovery", "Phenomenon Of Man", "Telekinesis", "Night & Day", "Looking Back", "Mass Psychosis", and "The Final Conclusion". CD

The sound here is never too much, baby – as Pete Jolly always swings with a great sense of space and style – a timing that makes his music sound groovy, although often in some deceptively simple ways! At first glance, the album's a simple piano trio date – but it really steps out with a really rich sound – almost waterfalls of notes on the piano from Pete, served up with an intrinsic sense of rhythm that really keeps things moving along. Group members include Nick Martinis on drums and Chuck Berghoffer on bass – and titles include "Favela", "Same Ol Huckleberry Finn", "Do I Hear A Waltz", "I'm All Smiles", "Telephone Song", and "One Morning In May". LP, Vinyl record album

A really joyous album from the Kenyan scene at the end of the 70s – a set that has cascading group vocals even more in the lead than percussion and guitar – yet all delivered with this light, compact style that gives the whole record a really fluid sense of energy! Both presentation and production are nicely lean for the time – especially given some of the modes that were coming into play in the West African scene – and the whole approach really makes the whole thing almost feel more like some sort of spontaneous musical collaboration than a record that was cut in the studio for EMI. Titles include "Mapenzi Tele", "Pole Na Safari", "Rosa Wa Tanzania", and "Caren Atieno". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet spacey grooves from Sauveur Mallia – the French electronic genius who was also the founder of the group Arpadys, who you might know from similarly spacey work of their own! The tracks here are all from a point when the European sound library scene was shedding some of the bigger orchestrations of the past, and going for leaner grooves that often just featured the work of one individual, like Mallia – heavy on keyboard lines and bubbling rhythms that also tie many of these tracks into the sound of the European clubs at the time – with a vibe that's not too different from Cerrone at his best! Most of the cuts here were originally done for the Telemusic label – not commercially available to the mainstream – and titles include "Supersmurf", "Exotic Guide", "Space People", "Electronic Africa", "Smurfissimo", "Synthetic Neutron", "All The Bass", and "African Break". LP, Vinyl record album

A huge amount of music, and the first-ever collection to really do justice to the huge amount of vocal material recorded by the lovely Jeanne Moreau – a figure that most folks know as an actress on screen, famous for her work in French film starting in the new wave generation! Moreau sang a famous song in an early film by Truffaut – but shortly after that, she began a legacy of really interesting, well-done albums that created as surprisingly strong legacy away from the screen – music that's included here in a complete collection of her work, then mixed with lots of other rare music too! The core of the set features seven full albums, all with a lot of bonus tracks – her two albums of songs by Cyrus Bassiak, plus Les Chansons De Clarisse, Jeanne Chante Jeanne, Chante Norge, her 1994 album of songs by Satie and Poulenc, and her 2010 duet with Etienne Daho! Then, there are three more albums of additional material – one of 25 songs from films, plus two more CDs that offer up La Voix De Jeanne Moreau. Then, the set also features two more DVDs, which feature television performances from the late 50s onward – most of which we've never seen. The whole thing comes in a massive book-style package, with 48 pages of notes and images – and a whopping 203 songs in all, including lots of unissued work too. CD

A great relic from the cold wave scene of the early 80s – material that was originally issued on a small-run cassette, mostly as a demo for the group – but more than strong enough to finally be released as a full-length album! Mystery Plane work here in a spare, electric style that has that special warmth we love in a rare few UK acts from the same time – maybe some of the charm of Young Marble Giants, mixed with a few more tuneful tracks that almost seem to be going for the dark club territory of the early Sheffield scene. A few more tweaks, and these guys might have been huge – but we like them best this way, and love the honest approach of their music! Titles include "Telephone", "This Is Your Life", "Something To Prove", "Silence After Midnight", "Still Life", "Crying Again", and "Death Sentence". CD features bonus tracks "Heart Of Darkness" and "Graveyard In The Sky". CD

There's a 4AD-styled image on the cover – and the set looks at a moment in late 80s music when things were nicely swirling together – when production was getting a bit more layered and sophisticated from a few years before – yet not in a way that was overly polished or commercial! Instead, the style represented a new level of sonic sophistication – ways of taking core sounds and spinning them out with greater depth – which made for some really wonderful textures and shapes in the music – pushing things forward in ways that helped the vocals a lot too! The title references a few styles of the time, but there's plenty more going on within – a huge array of work on a special book-style, 4CD package that comes complete with loads of detailed notes on the music. Dozens of tracks in all – work by Ultra Vivid Scene, This Mortal Coil, Shelleyan Orphan, The Chameleons, Louis Philippe, Cranes, Breathless, Kitchens Of Distinction, The Wake, Lush, His Name Is Alive, Lycia, The Sweetest Ache, Smashing Orange, Sweet Jesus, Cranberries, Telescopes, Innocence Mission, Mazzy Star, St Etienne, Low, Dubstar, Pale Saints, and many others. CD

A wealth of jazzy groovers from the contemporary European scene – most of them living up to the acoustic promise of the title, and nearly all of them in an upbeat, club jazz sort of groove! There's a few familiar names here, nestled nicely next to some lesser-knowns who represent the great wave of up-and-coming vocalists and musicians returning to an older jazz groove overseas – artists who might have made dance remix-styled work a decade or so ago, but who are following the lead of others to return things to a warmer groove of the jazz dance past. Yet even though working with classic inspiration, many of these artists come off with a more contemporary feel overall – a sound that's freshly tooled for the 21st Century, but not in a way that's filled with too many gimmicks or tricks. Titles include "Hang Ten" by Malkin Zany, "Better Days" by Sofia Pettersson, "Lady In Cement" by Jet Set Swe, "Laterna Magica" by Key, "Absolute Kevin" by Television Pickup, "Nicsee" by The Einmarsch, "Spagnolia" by Now, "Wouldn't That Be Fun" by Sofi Hellborg with Tony Allen, "Resistance" by Jens Loden, "Jamming" by Five Corners Quintet with Mark Murphy, and "Estrada Do Sol" by Miriam Aida. CD

A fascinating look at musical modes in London during the big years of postwar immigration – a time when former residents of the crumbling British Empire were flooding to London for jobs and a better way of life – often bringing along a huge amount of cultural experience in the process! This set follows wonderfully in the spirit of previous volumes of the series – bringing together a range of different sonic styles that were originally recorded in London as 78rpm singles – where a new wave of Caribbean and West African immigrants were fusing older styles with a newly modern sensibility, and often a fair bit of jazz as well! The set list is wonderful – a great array of well-chosen material – and titles include "Wa Sise" by Willie Payne & The Starlite Tempos, "The Emperor Of Africa" by The Mighty Terror, "Royal Wedding" by The Lion, "Modern Telephone" by Dai Dai Simba, "Sons & Daughters Of Africa" by Lord Beginner, "Caroline" by Trinidad Steel Band, "Ema Foju Ana Woku" by West African Rhythm Brothers, "Kana Kana" by Billy Sholanke, "Boul Ve Se" by Calypso Rhythm Kings, and "My Handy Man" by Marie Bryant. LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastically soulful album from Jorge Ben – one of his greatest records ever, and a key part of Brazilian music in the 70s! The album marks an earthier shift for Jorge – a sound that's still rooted in the samba influences of the 60s, but which also takes on a bit more soul at the bottom – thanks to rhythmic contributions from Trio Mocoto, who work here famously to help Ben shape the overall feel of the set! There's still a bit of larger orchestrations at moments, but these are used sparingly just to sweeten the sound – leaving the main force of the music to come from Jorge's guitar, and the cuica, percussion, and tamborim of the trio. The vocals are wonderful too – slightly raspy, and with a bit more feeling than we ever remember Jorge having on record – sometimes a bit intimate, yet always with an undeniable presence throughout. One of those records that still sends chills up our spines, year after year – with tracks that include "Oba La Vem Ela", "Ze Canjica", "Pulo Pulo", "Apareceu Aparecida", "Terezinha", "Mulher Brasileira", "Forca Bruta", "O Telefone Tocou Novamente", and "Charles Junior". CD

The complete recorded works of the legendary Jane Birkin – the English actress who teamed up with Serge Gainsbourg at the end of the 60s, and set a whole new tone that would forever revolutionize the world of French music! Birkin's maybe best known for her collaborations with Serge – who wrote a fair bit of her songs during the 70s – but she continued to be one of the key figures in French music for decades after Gainsbourg passed away – and has an amazing legacy of albums that's presented here in a beautiful book-styled set! The package features 15 full albums, plus 41 bonus tracks – a massive 292 titles in all, with a big booklet of notes and photos inside the cover. The set features the full albums Jane Birkin Serge Gainsbourg, Di Doo Dah, Lolita Go Home, Ex Fan Des Sixties, Baby Lone In Babylon, Lost Song, Amours Des Feintes, Versions Jane, A La Legere, Arabesque, Rendez Vous, Fictions, Enfants D'Hiver, Birkin Gainsbourg Le Symphonique, and Oh Pardon Tu Dormais – plus a bonus CD of Duos & Rarities, and a DVD of television material from France. CD

The monumental debut of BT Express – and an excellent funk album that often gets overlooked by fans of the music because of the band's bigger fame as a disco group! This first record has the combo grooving hard and instrumentally – in the mode of a tight blacksploitation soundtrack, with plenty of tight wah wah guitar riffing, conga beats, and funky flute and sax – topped off by just the right amount of strings to make the set soar even more! The album's best known for the title track "Do It (Til You're Satisfied)" – which was a big hit, but is still an excellent groover – and the set also includes loads of other great cuts too – like "Express", which was the original song that the created the JBs' response track "Monorail"; "This House is Smokin'", which has lots of funky descending horn bits; and other great tunes that include "Mental Telepathy", "If It Don't Turn You On", and "Do You Like It". LP, Vinyl record album

Tom Waits's follow-up to Rain Dogs – and a batch of songs that do double duty as a straight-up, stand alone record from his wild years at Island Records – and also as the musical accompaniment to a play he co-wrote with wife Kathleen Brennan! (As Chicagoans, we have a special fondness for that side of the project, since the play premiered here with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.) It's a prime batch of Waits songcraft from this most amazing creative peak period – with the trademark gritty, howled vocals, primal drums, pre-rock horns. Titles include "More Than Rain", "Way Down In The Hole", "Straight To The Top", "Telephone Call From Istanbul", "Train Song", "Cold Cold Ground", "I'll Be Gone", "Yesterday Is Here", "Blow Wind Blow", and "Hang On St Christopher". LP, Vinyl record album

The end of the 80s saw a huge new shift in music on the UK scene – a moment when indie rock and club music collided – and guitar-based work was back on the dancefloors in a really big way! Part of the shift came from years of UK interest in house, electro, and other American styles – which were often spun alongside post-punk and indie material in the same clubs (maybe most famously at the Hacienda in Manchester) – leading to a surprising blend of styles that breathed a lot of new life into the world of rock music as well! This set captures cuts from the key years of this moment – the post-1988 summer of love period through years when dance might take over more completely – a much-loved moment, filled with well-remembered cuts – presented here in a big box set that features many rare mixes from 12" singles as well. The box brings together 57 tracks in all, all with detailed notes on the music – and includes work from Primal Scream, Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, 808 State, Inspiral Carpets, Future Sound Of London, Electronic, Candy Flip, Telescopes, Hollow Men, Spacemen 3, Spin, World Of Twist, Mock Turtles, Northside, The Moonflowers, Charlatans, Shamen, Blow Up, Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, The Dylans, Saint Etienne, and others! CD

The monumental debut of BT Express – and an excellent funk album that often gets overlooked by fans of the music because of the band's bigger fame as a disco group! This first record has the combo grooving hard and instrumentally – in the mode of a tight blacksploitation soundtrack, with plenty of tight wah wah guitar riffing, conga beats, and funky flute and sax – topped off by just the right amount of strings to make the set soar even more! The album's best known for the title track "Do It (Til You're Satisfied)" – which was a big hit, but is still an excellent groover – and the set also includes loads of other great cuts too – like "Express", which was the original song that the created the JBs' response track "Monorail"; "This House is Smokin'", which has lots of funky descending horn bits; and other great tunes that include "Mental Telepathy", "If It Don't Turn You On", and "Do You Like It". CD features two bonus tracks – the original 7" single versions of "Express" and "Do It". CD

Not everyone digs the later Captain and crew, but the early 80s efforts have finally gotten their just props after all these years – and we'll we'll come right out and say that this second to last album before Don Van Vliet hung up the music for painting has always sounded great to us! The Magic Band is incredible as always – with Jeff Morris Tepper, Drumbo French and Eric Drew Feldman's antics under the Captain's idiosyncratic vocalese. With "Hot Head", "Ashtray Heart", "A Carrot Is As Close As A Rabbit Gets To A Diamond", "Run Paint Run Run", "Sue Egypt", "Brickbats", "Dirty Blue Gene", "Best Batch Yet", "Telephone", "Flavor Bud Living", "Sherriff Of Hong Kong" and "Making Love To A Vampire With A Monkey On My Knee". CD

Hypnotic sound library material from Italian composer Daniela Casa – some of her rarest work from the mid 70s – recorded in her home studio and never before released commercially! It's very compelling work, with a range of styles from minimalist soundtrack music, to fairly heavy psych, to sitar-driven strings, to airy flute pieces and beyond. It was recorded for use in radio, television and film, but it honestly works just as well as melodic, if experimental instrumentals that masterfully blends and straddles genres. Titles include "Ricerca Dela Materia", "Pericolo", "Dimensione Concreta", "Grosse Cilindrate", "Avventura", "Visione Surreale", Occultismo", "Fantasia", "Motocross", "Dimensione Astrata", Ugnoto", "Circo Del Bimbi", "Sovrapposizione Di Immagini" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A surprising hit for Diana Ross – a record that really helped the singer shine brightly in the 80s, but with a vibe that's quite different than her years at Motown! The album's got plenty of star power on board – production work from Arthur Baker, Richard Perry, Daryl Hall, Lionel Richie, and Bernard Edwards – and a musical lineup that features half those artistes, plus work from Jeff Beck, Nile Rodgers, and the Brecker Brothers too! Diana's vocals aren't as over the top as during the disco years – and find a nice place to percolate within the warmer 80s grooves – mostly rhythms that have a nice sort of crossover potential, but not in a way that's as clunky or commercial as some of her contemporaries. Titles include "Missing You", "It's Your Move", "Swept Away", "Telephone", "All Of You", "Touch By Touch", "Nobody Makes Me Crazy", and "Rescue Me". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible collection of music from the great pianist Lennie Tristano – and maybe the first-ever set to truly get at the range of genius he could express on the piano! Given that Tristano only made a small amount of records during his too-short career, yet also left a major impact on the field of modern jazz – this set really documents the full span of everything that Tristano had to offer – pulled from a wonderful range of his own recordings, all of which appear here for the first time! These aren't casual solo recordings done in the basement – and instead, the package brings together a mixture of studio, live, and even television performances – all with a different spirit on each of the CDs in the set! One of the most revelatory is the final CD – which features a number of tracks in a "free session" in 1948 - with Tristano on piano, Lee Konitz on alto, Warne Marsh on tenor, and Billy Bauer on guitar – coming together with an amazing sound throughout. That same disc also features a superb 1962 live date at the Half Note – with Konitz on alto and Zoot Sims on tenor. CD1 is wonderful too – a selection of live material with the tremendous Billy Bauer on piano – a player, like Tristano, who was instrumental in shaping the sound of his instrument in modern jazz during the postwar years. CD3 features live performances by a sextet that includes Konitz, Marsh, and Bauer – plus Arnold Fishkin on bass and Jeff Morton on drums. CD2 features beautiful solo performances recorded from the early 50s through 1970. CD4 features trio session, most with Peter Ind on bass – while CD5 features different trio and duo material, but with Sonny Dallas on bass. The set is impeccably done – in cooperation with Tristano's family – and given the wealth of material, the whole thing may well have doubled his recording catalog in the process, while also really illuminating so many different aspects of his career! CD

Tom Waits's follow-up to Rain Dogs – and a batch of songs that do double duty as a straight-up, stand alone record from his wild years at Island Records – and also as the musical accompaniment to a play he co-wrote with wife Kathleen Brennan! (As Chicagoans, we have a special fondness for that side of the project, since the play premiered here with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.) It's a prime batch of Waits songcraft from this most amazing creative peak period – with the trademark gritty, howled vocals, primal drums, pre-rock horns. Titles include "More Than Rain", "Way Down In The Hole", "Straight To The Top", "Telephone Call From Istanbul", "Train Song", "Cold Cold Ground", "I'll Be Gone", "Yesterday Is Here", "Blow Wind Blow", and "Hang On St Christopher". CD

A fantastic collection of Ethiopian funk – rare singles from the late 60s and early 70s – all brought together as an amazing illustration of a time when the scene was really on fire! The music here has this incredible resonance between ancient and modern – local and global – as older instrumental modes and singing styles get inflected with drums, basslines, and horn parts that are strongly influenced by American funk and soul – all at a level that makes for one of the most mindblowing mixes of music you'll ever hear! The "stompers" in the title is very well-chosen – as many of these grooves are maybe even more floor-shaking than conventional funk – with a different rhythmic structure than American styles, but an end result that's even more powerful overall. Titles include "Ewnetegna Feker" by Hirut Bekele, "Endiet Zengeshiw" by Selomon Shibeshi, "Alkedashim" by Birkineh Wurga, "Hasabe" by Teshome Meteku, "Mela Mela" by Seifu Hohannes, "Sigibgib Joroye" by Tilahun Gessesse, "Fikrishin Eshaleyu" by Getatchew Kassa, "Alagegnhwatem" by Muluken Melesse, "Ene Yewodedquat" by Tamrat Molla, "Felagote" by Bezunesh Bekele & Bodyguard Band, "Temeles" by Hirut Bekele & Alemayehu Eshete, and "Teleyeshign" by Merawi Yohannis. CD

Badu is back with some of the deepest, funkiest and best music of her career – a mindblowing treatise for a New Amerykah – and what we'll consider an instant classic whether the world at large catches on or not! Erykah steps up this time with a set that balances the wilder impulses of her criminally underappreciated Worldwide Underground and more of a hip hop based, righteously grooving style – but still bursts with a freshness that's unrivaled to say the least. From free spirited soul, to sparse hip hop funk this record is both blunt and beautiful – with a slow-building emotional resonance that'll reach the most jaded souls. Modern soul music of the first order that gives us goosebumps from the first spin to the last beat! The album kicks off with Erykah riffing on and remixing Ramp's "American Promise" as an intro – and it just gets deeper from there. Producers/collaborators include Madlib, Sa-Ra, Karriem Riggins, James Poyser and ?uestlove. Amazing!!! Titles include "The Healer", "Me", "My People", "Soldier", "The Cell", "Twinkle", "Master Teacher", "The Hump" and "Telephone". LP, Vinyl record album

A full helping of work from Claudine Clark – a killer 60s soul singer, and one with a really great ear for upbeat, romping tunes! Claudine originally hails from Georgia, but the work here is much more in Detroit, Chicago, or New York styles of the time – nicely moving numbers with a Motor City blend of tight instrumentation and bold lead vocals – sometimes a bit sweet, but always with enough power to keep up with the grooves in the tunes! The package does a great job of bringing together work from Claudine's varied recording career in the 60s – material done for labels that include Chancellor, Jamie, Fayette, Swan, Herald, and Match – under Clark's name, and the names of Joy Dawn and Sherry Pye as well. CD features full notes on Claudine's music and recording history at the time – plus 24 tracks that include "Party Lights (alt take)", "Gimme A Break", "A Sometimes Thing", "Easy To Love", "The Strength To Be Strong", "The Telephone Game", "Goodbye Mama", "Hang It Up", "Standing On Tip Toe", "Moon Madness", "My Turn To Laugh", "Who Will You Hurt", "Angel Of Happiness", "What Kind Of Party", and "Teenage Blues". CD

The lone early 70s masterpiece from Gary Higgins! Red Hash is monumental on a few fronts, a huge one being how far his influence reached despite the album spending so many years as a rarity, beloved by the relative few who've heard it. Seriously, we can think of a few icons of the indie folk 90s and 00s whose music simply would not exist if not for this record! But despite that, Red Hash is incredible on it's own terms – underground psych folk at it's finest – with titles that include "Thicker Than A Smokey", "It Didn't Take Too Long", "Windy Child", "Telegraph Towers", "I Can't Sleep At Night", "Cuckoo", "Stable The Spuds", "Unable To Fly", and "Looking For June" CD

During his long musical career, Johnny Otis recorded for more labels than most folks have pants – but his 50s work at Capitol (and the related Dig label) remains some of his best, and it's very nicely collected on this 24 track set! The Capitol years gave Johnny some polish – a good thing, because it helped him hone his songwriting ideas, tighten up the playing, and get a bit more jump in his grooves. The result was a sound that was a perfect blend of the bourgeoning LA R&B scene and the classic American approach to songsmithery that was Capitol's best strength during the 50s. Titles include "Voodoo Woman", "Vine Street Swing", "Three Girls Named Molly", "Castin My Spell", "Telephone Baby", "Crazy Country Hop", "Cold Turkey", "I'm With You", and the classic "Willie & The Hand Jive". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful collection of Latin recordings from postwar France – all recorded by Cuban native Filiberto Rico, an artist who moved between Havana and Paris in the early part of his life – and seemed to leave quite a musical legacy in the process! Rico was part of seminal Cuban recordings of the 30s, and definitely has the chops to make his French recordings come across at a level that rivals the music taking place in his homeland at the end of the 40s – but there's also a nice current of American jump blues on some of these numbers too – which almost creates a jukebox mambo sort of vibe – as Latin percussion, rolling piano lines, and well-blown saxophone solos take off alongside the vocals! Singers here include Fermin Lorenzo Jova, Antonio Picallo, Emilio Aarmengol, Doris Marnier, and Carlos Petrel – and titles include "Somos Differentes", "Angelitos Negros", "Se Acabo", "Pajarito", "Tumba", "Tu Felicidad", "Dinorah", "Colibri", "Sabrosura", "La Ola Marina", and "La Television" 36 tracks in all! CD

An incredible collection of music from the great pianist Lennie Tristano – and maybe the first-ever set to truly get at the range of genius he could express on the piano! Given that Tristano only made a small amount of records during his too-short career, yet also left a major impact on the field of modern jazz – this set really documents the full span of everything that Tristano had to offer – pulled from a wonderful range of his own recordings, all of which appear here for the first time! These aren't casual solo recordings done in the basement – and instead, the package brings together a mixture of studio, live, and even television performances – all with a different spirit on each of the CDs in the set! One of the most revelatory is the final CD – which features a number of tracks in a "free session" in 1948 - with Tristano on piano, Lee Konitz on alto, Warne Marsh on tenor, and Billy Bauer on guitar – coming together with an amazing sound throughout. That same disc also features a superb 1962 live date at the Half Note – with Konitz on alto and Zoot Sims on tenor. CD1 is wonderful too – a selection of live material with the tremendous Billy Bauer on piano – a player, like Tristano, who was instrumental in shaping the sound of his instrument in modern jazz during the postwar years. CD3 features live performances by a sextet that includes Konitz, Marsh, and Bauer – plus Arnold Fishkin on bass and Jeff Morton on drums. CD2 features beautiful solo performances recorded from the early 50s through 1970. CD4 features trio session, most with Peter Ind on bass – while CD5 features different trio and duo material, but with Sonny Dallas on bass. The set is impeccably done – in cooperation with Tristano's family – and given the wealth of material, the whole thing may well have doubled his recording catalog in the process, while also really illuminating so many different aspects of his career! CD

A great little album that's still very much in the best mode of Tom Verlaine's early solo years – just the kind of set that will come as a discovery to folks who maybe didn't realize how much Verlaine's music had an influence on underground sounds for years to come! The production, guitar work, and even vocal presentation here really feel years ahead of their time – muted and muddled nicely, but still with a clarity that reflects Verlaine's earlier power in Television – especially at moments when the sound is even more open and spacious. The lyrics are often a bit poetic, but dark – in Verlaine's sort of way – and titles include "Five Miles Of You", "Travelling", "Foolish Heart", "Dissolve/Reveal", "Let Go The Mansion", "Miss Emily", and "Rotation". LP, Vinyl record album

Tom Waits's follow-up to Rain Dogs – and a batch of songs that do double duty as a straight-up, stand alone record from his wild years at Island Records – and also as the musical accompaniment to a play he co-wrote with wife Kathleen Brennan! (As Chicagoans, we have a special fondness for that side of the project, since the play premiered here with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.) It's a prime batch of Waits songcraft from this most amazing creative peak period – with the trademark gritty, howled vocals, primal drums, pre-rock horns. Titles include "More Than Rain", "Way Down In The Hole", "Straight To The Top", "Telephone Call From Istanbul", "Train Song", "Cold Cold Ground", "I'll Be Gone", "Yesterday Is Here", "Blow Wind Blow", and "Hang On St Christopher". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic collection of Ethiopian funk – rare singles from the late 60s and early 70s – all brought together as an amazing illustration of a time when the scene was really on fire! The music here has this incredible resonance between ancient and modern – local and global – as older instrumental modes and singing styles get inflected with drums, basslines, and horn parts that are strongly influenced by American funk and soul – all at a level that makes for one of the most mindblowing mixes of music you'll ever hear! The "stompers" in the title is very well-chosen – as many of these grooves are maybe even more floor-shaking than conventional funk – with a different rhythmic structure than American styles, but an end result that's even more powerful overall. Titles include "Ewnetegna Feker" by Hirut Bekele, "Endiet Zengeshiw" by Selomon Shibeshi, "Alkedashim" by Birkineh Wurga, "Hasabe" by Teshome Meteku, "Mela Mela" by Seifu Hohannes, "Sigibgib Joroye" by Tilahun Gessesse, "Fikrishin Eshaleyu" by Getatchew Kassa, "Alagegnhwatem" by Muluken Melesse, "Ene Yewodedquat" by Tamrat Molla, "Felagote" by Bezunesh Bekele & Bodyguard Band, "Temeles" by Hirut Bekele & Alemayehu Eshete, and "Teleyeshign" by Merawi Yohannis. CD

A mindblowing tribute to one of the most important indie rock labels of the early punk years – New York's Ork Records – an imprint that was almost as important to the music as CBGB! The label only lasted a few short years, but had an uncanny ear for capturing the best new sounds of the time – that genre-crossing, style-blending mode that distinguished American punk from its early UK partner – and which sometimes had surprisingly strong ties to earlier scenes too. Ork was surprisingly open-minded, and maybe not as narrowly cast as punk labels would become a few years later – but that's also not surprising, given the scene in which they worked – which is captured here beautifully in a very lavish boo, well over 100 pages – not only filled with notes, details on the music, and the history of the label – but also countless photos from the early years of punk in New York too. But hell, the music is more than enough to make this set great – as the package features a wealth of excellent titles that include "Let It Blurt" by Lester Bangs, "Little Johnny Jewel" by Television, "Fa Ce La" by The Feelies, "I Won't Give Up" by Erasers, "All Of The Time" by Alex Chilton, "I Thought You Wanted To Know" by Chris Stamey & The DBs, "You" by The Idols, "Christmas Weather" by The Student Teachers, "Everytime I Close My Eyes" by Prix, "You Gotta Lose" by Richard Hell, "Fire & Smoke" by Marbles, "Connection" by Richard Lloyd, "Play With Fire" by Mick Farren & The New Wave, "Funky Kinky" by Kenneth Higney, and lots lots more! CD

The first volume in Now Again's incredible compilation series for the True Soul label – assembled with the personal participation of the label's owner, Lee Anthony – rare, deep and absolute True Soul and funk from the 60s & 70s catalog of the revered Arkansas indie! It's rare regional funk & soul made under the mightily imposing shadows of southern labels like Stax and Hi Records – but the tunes here are straight up incredible and as ripe for discovery as any music of the era. The label was called True Soul and they don't take that moniker lightly – but it's adventurously soulful, with strains of psychedelic soul and funk, with a bit of southern swagger. Includes "Slipping Around (45 Version)", "Funky Music", "Sister Funk (Original, Full Version)" and "Follow The Rainbow (Alternate Mix)" by Thomas East, a great instrumental cover of "Come Together" by Albert Smith, "Doing My Own Thing" by John Craig, "Funky Football", "Psychedelic Hot Pants (Full Version)" and more by York Wilbern's Psychedelic Six, "Hard Times" by Classic Funk, "I Gotta Move With The Groove" by The Right Track", "The Real Thing" by The Conspiracy and "(It's A) "Rat Race by The Leaders. 14 tracks in all on the CD– including a previously unreleased York Wilborn's Psychedelic Six track. It also comes with a DVD – featuring live footage from a 1973 True Soul Revue television program, and the set is packaged beautifully! The CD & DVD are bound in what's essentially a small hardcover book – a thick, lavishly illustrated one – full of vintage performance, studio and promo photos, discography, deeply felt notes by Eothen Alapatt, plus interviews conducted by Egon. We heard years ago that Now Again was cooking this series up. . .and it was absolutely worth the wait. CD

A very aptly titled set – as Gilles P is one of the most eclectic DJs around, and one of the best too! The set is Gilles 4th for the Trust The DJ series – and like the others, it's a well-chosen batch of tunes that pushes the boundaries of modern music in all the right directions! Gilles dips into the cream of the crop of the soulful underground – bringing together jazz-based tracks, Brazilian groovers, spiritual club tunes, and some of the most far-reaching music being made on this planet in service of the groove. Highlights on the set include "Jogando Capoeira" by Beatfanatic, "Barulhos (LTJ X-Perience rmx)" by Studio Apartment, "Longer (Wait)" by The Watch featuring Alison Evelyn, "Eple" by Royksopp, "Words & Poets" by Mr Spck, "Revelation" by Detroit Experiment, "This Journey In (voc)" by The Rebirth, and "Leave Me Now" by Stateless. 12 tracks in all – all unmixed. CD

An incredible legacy of funk – from a group who were easily one of the tightest, sharpest acts in the mainstream soul scene of the 70s! BT Express are a combo who pre-date disco, and whose grooves went a long way towards forging the blueprint for that mid 70s movement – but their music also never went the way of the easy crossover hit, or the cliched mode of pop disco production – as the second half of the 70s only seemed to have the group digging in their heels and sounding even funkier than ever! Compression is the key to the BT Express sound – an ability to bring together many different elements and lay them down right on the money together – focusing things so that the complexity of their instrumentation is often understated, even though it's the quality that makes their grooves so great! This wonderful package really gets right to the core of the BT Express sound – picking all the right tracks from both their indie and major label years – and serving up 31 tracks that include "Make Your Body Move", "Happiness", "This House Is Smokin", "Mental Telepathy", "That's What I Want For You Baby", "Peace Pipe", "Shout It Out", "Sunshine", "This Must Be The Night For Love", "What You Do In The Dark", "Ride On BT", "Give Up The Funk", "Does It Feel Good", "Can't Stop Grooving Now", and "Do It Til You're Satisfied". CD

26 tracks by Johnny Otis and the musicians and singers who comprised his loose "show" of the mid 50's. The great folks at Ace packaged together all this stuff in a nice package that reproduces the cover of the original album, plus they added a whole bunch of extra cuts that were only released as singles. Artists include Marie Adams, 3 Tons Of Joy, Mel Williams, and Marci Lee, and cuts include "Shake It Lucy Baby", "Loop De Loop", "Telephone Baby", "You Just Kissed Me Goodbye", "Story Untold", and "Willie And The Hand Jive", Johnnie's classic from this time. CD

Hardly the sort of industrial sounds you might not expect – not the noisy European mode of the 80s, nor even the sort of labor-conscious styles of the Folkways generation – and instead, a sweet batch of groovy, lively instrumentals with a strong 60s vibe – of the sort that makes us think that Italian factories must have been a pretty pleasant place to work at the time! The great Piero Umilian penned all the tunes – in the best manner of his film scores from the same time – and the music is conducted by Romolo Marcellini, for a television program that used all of the tunes – in a beautiful blend of organ lines, guitar, vibes, and other jazzy instrumentation. Titles include "Natascia", "Tempo Di Week-End", "Playtime", "Automatismo", "Microracing", "Negozi Alla Moda", "Coltura Virus", "Cibernetica", and "Rally Notturno". LP, Vinyl record album

Way more than just a live recording – and instead a host of original material from bassist Ben Wolfe –- really sparkling with the strength of a well-crafted studio session! The tunes are fresh, and handled by a dynamic group that really brings out some wonderful energy in the music – the soaring horn combination of Marcus Strickland on tenor and Ryan Kisor on trumpet – and the rhythm trio of Wolfe on bass, Luis Perdomo on piano, and Gregory Hutchinson on drums – leaping into the fray in a way that really gets things moving. The recording quality – like most of these Smalls Live sets – is excellent, and perfect for capturing the nuances of both Wolfe's writing, and the interplay of the members of the group. Titles include "For The Great Sonny Clark", "Telescope", "Contraption", "Coleman's Cab", and "Double Czech". CD

An even deeper dig into the world of the German underground than the first volume of this series – a set that moves way past some of the bigger cuts of the underground, to pull together a whole host of little gems that we might not have heard otherwise! Some of the cuts here are from rare cassette-only releases or 7" singles – and together, they show just how far some of the more groundbreaking artists on the German scene were going at the time – moving past both the catchy electro pop and cold wave styles of the UK scene, and often using their longer legacy with electronics to really create some great adventures in sound! Many of these cuts also benefit from the use of German language lyrics, which seem perfect for the spirit of the music – and even when dark, things are still pretty tuneful too – as you'll hear on tracks that include "Dream Machine" by Phantom Band, The Wisp" by Notorische Reflexe, "Noch Lange Nicht" by Sprung Aus Den Wolken, "Television" by The Wirschaftswunder, "Alleewalzer" by Thomas Singer, "Der Mond" by Maria Zerfall, "Pissnelke 2000" by Detlef Diedrichsen, "Aludome" by Alu, "Hope Is The Answer" by Rolf Trostel, "Francis & Friends" by Rudiger Lorenz, "Tanne Tot Samba" by EMP, and "Do The VoPo" by Butzmann/Kapielski. LP, Vinyl record album