A stunning book of aerial photography – one that has plenty of the time lapse promised in the title, but used in a variety of really captivating ways! Some images feature a standard shift in time – a field before planting, and later filled with crops – the city of Paris in the day, and ablaze with light at night. But other images have a more powerful approach, and show changes in the planet due to human activity – from fire, pollution, deforestation, and other ecological disasters – sometimes quite striking in the relatively short space between two images of the same place! Throughout the book, the images are beautiful – photography that's more than wonderful on its own, even without representation of the topics at hand – and the book's subtitle is "how we change the earth" – documented here mostly for the worst, but with some examples of positive change as well. The presentation of the images is fantastic – full page color images, often without any text on the main page – spread out over 266 pages, in a heavy oversized hardcover volume. Book

The title and cover are a great illustration of the direction that Ten Years After is taking here – a really wonderful blend of trippier influences with the sharp-edged, blues-influenced sound at their core! Even a look at the surface of the record will show you that something different is going on – as one track will be long, the other quite short, and others of varying lengths – really showcasing the variety the group's breaking out with here! Alvin Lee is completely on fire – really hitting Hendrix territory at a few points, such as the incredible "Skoobly Oobly Doobob", which features him scatting alongside a super-fast guitar part! Other titles are equally inventive – as are some of the way the sounds come across, even from familiar instruments – on titles that include "Hear Me Calling", "Going To Try", "Woman Trouble", "No Title", "Faro", "Speed Kills", and "A Sad Song". LP, Vinyl record album

The Thin White Duke turns to the east – and gets a whole new sound with help from Brian Eno! The album is an amazing departure from some of David Bowie's previous work – a set that's sparer, more spacious, and which is often instrumental – quite a statement, given Bowie's reputation as a songwriter at the time! It's almost like Bowie's shaking off all the confused stardom of the previous parts of the 70s – and is stepping forward as a new being from a new space – cleaner, leaner, and simpler than before – but hardly evacuated of soul at all, certainly not as much as you might guess from the Man Who Fell To Earth image on the cover. Titles include "Speed Of Life", "Be My Wife", "A New Career In A New Town", "Warsawza", "Art Decade", "Weeping Wall", and "Sound & Vision". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best CTI albums from the early 70s – and one of Stanley Turrentine's funkiest records as well! The album's got a sharper edge than most other Turrentine albums of the time – a quality that goes beyond Stan's already soulful approach to the tenor, and which brings in some tight changes and more pronounced rhythms that really give the best cuts a great groove! The group's a sextet – with Bob James on electric piano, Milt Jackson on vibes, Cornell Dupree on guitar, Ron Carter on bass, and Billy Cobham on drums – and titles include a monster version of Weldon Irvine's "Sister Sanctified" – a great funk tune that's probably best known as the sample for "My Philosophy" by BDP! Other tracks include "Speedball", "Cherry", and "The Revs". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic early work from Gil Evans – emerging here in this early session as an already far-thinking modernist. The tracks are shorter and less ambitious than some of Evans' work on Impulse, but the group is excellent – and even in a shorter format, the conception of the work still contains plenty of rich new ideas. Players include Louis Mucci, John Carisi, Steve Lacy, Willie Ruff, Paul Chambers, Nick Stabulis, and "Zeke Tolin" on alto, who is certainly a more famous player under a fake name. Titles include "Ella Speed", "Big Stuff", "Jambangle", "Nobody's Heart", and "Remember". LP, Vinyl record album

Speed, space, and plenty more – all going on in the hands of a quartet led by drummer Masahiko Togashi – a Japanese player who's at his most youthfully creative on this album! Togashi was part of a new generation of musicians on his scene who were moving past conventional jazz modes – not just the free jazz styles that European improvisers were bringing to the music, but also maybe a more organic approach that was years ahead of its time, and not as widely recognized by the rest of the world until many years later. Togashi himself plays a big range of percussion instruments and vibes next to his drums – and the rest of the group features the great Masahiko Sato on piano, Mototeru Takagi on tenor and bass clarinet, and Yoshio Ikeda on bass – all moving effortlessly through a variety of modes of expression, on titles that include "Presage", "Speed & Space", "Expectation", and "Panorama". LP, Vinyl record album

The Thin White Duke turns to the east – and gets a whole new sound with help from Brian Eno! The album is an amazing departure from some of David Bowie's previous work – a set that's sparer, more spacious, and which is often instrumental – quite a statement, given Bowie's reputation as a songwriter at the time! It's almost like Bowie's shaking off all the confused stardom of the previous parts of the 70s – and is stepping forward as a new being from a new space – cleaner, leaner, and simpler than before – but hardly evacuated of soul at all, certainly not as much as you might guess from the Man Who Fell To Earth image on the cover. Titles include "Speed Of Life", "Be My Wife", "A New Career In A New Town", "Warsawza", "Art Decade", "Weeping Wall", and "Sound & Vision". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the first giant hits by the Grateful Dead – and a record that has the group tightening things up a bit more, and stepping into some of the country-tinged territory of The Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers! Turns out, the move is a great one – as the songs come across with a real down to earth charm that maybe humanizes the group a bit more for the uninitiated listener – a mix of northern Cali pastoral with some of the musical dexterity they'd brought with them from the Haight – folded together perfectly, with a quality that's made the album one of their best-remembered over the decades. Titles include "Uncle John's Band" – maybe their biggest hit at the time – plus "Dire Wolf", "New Speedway Boogie", "Cumberland Blues", "Casey Jones", "Easy Wind", "High Time", and "Black Peter". LP, Vinyl record album

Tremendous work by Lee Morgan – easily one of his greatest albums, and a soaring session of modal energy that easily rivals the best work of the Impulse era! The album's got a slightly different feel than usual for Blue Note – a sense of freedom, joy, and soaring energy that's totally great – explored by a crack group that features Morgan on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor, Harold Mabern on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – all coming together with a unique sense of creativity! The rhythm section is one of the key factors here – as Mabern, Cranshaw, and Higgins have a fluid groove that really sets the tone for the record – letting Morgan and Shorter stretch out to the height of their powers, and explore some incredible modal and soulful themes. Titles include the seminal 11 minute reading of "The Gigolo", plus "Yes I Can No You Can't", "Speedball", and "Trapped" – as well as an excellent reading of "You Go To My Head" that completely opens up the old standard! Plus, this CD reissue's got a bonus alternate take of "The Gigolo", for an extra 10 minutes of music! CD

The most stylistically sprawling record yet from Jack White! White's trajectory from Detroit garage-blues-punk wunderkind to Nashville record biz provocateur/label magnate is pretty damn impressive – and he really lets his far-reaching impulses fly on Lazzaretto. Unpredictable twists and turns abound, bu t it's all held together by an undercurrent of pummeling, unpretentious rock and roll, with a rootsy swagger. Ever upping the ante on hella cool vinyl releases, Lazarretto is a 3-speed "Ultra LP" – with a 33 1/3 main track list, and 2 hidden tracks beneath the center labels, one that plays at 45 and one that plays at 78. Oh, and also a hologram visual effect. We're thinking that maybe his next record will summon a genie that grants you 3 wishes. Titles include "Three Women", "Lazaretto", "Temoprary Ground", "Would You Fight For My Love?", "High Ball Stepper", "Just One Drink", "Alone In My Home", That Black Bat Licorice", "Entitlement", "I Think I Found The Culprit" and "Want And Able". LP, Vinyl record album

Tremendous work by Lee Morgan – easily one of his greatest albums, and a soaring session of modal energy that easily rivals the best work of the Impulse era! The album's got a slightly different feel than usual for Blue Note – a sense of freedom, joy, and soaring energy that's totally great – explored by a crack group that features Morgan on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor, Harold Mabern on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – all coming together with a unique sense of creativity! The rhythm section is one of the key factors here – as Mabern, Cranshaw, and Higgins have a fluid groove that really sets the tone for the record – letting Morgan and Shorter stretch out to the height of their powers, and explore some incredible modal and soulful themes. Titles include the seminal 11 minute reading of "The Gigolo", plus "Yes I Can No You Can't", "Speedball", and "Trapped" – as well as an excellent reading of "You Go To My Head" that completely opens up the old standard! LP, Vinyl record album

A stunner from Fela – a record that really leaps right into the groove right from the very first note – then never lets up at all! Igo Chiko provides some fantastic tenor sax solos on the tunes – and both Tunde Williams and Eddie Faychum serve up some killer trumpet – while the rest of the group moves at amazing speed, driven on by the legendary drums of Tony Allen! Fela handles a bit of keyboards, with a really cool, moody sound alongside the groove – and the whole thing was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, which might have been a surprising change from some of the more staid material in the halls of EMI. Titles include "Alu Jon Jonki Jon", "Jeu Ko Ku", and "Eko Ile". LP, Vinyl record album

A great mix of heavy rock and jazzy changes from Spontaneous Combustion – a trio who really live up to their name with a burning way of putting over a tune! The group loves the sudden changes in groove – a shared characteristic with the prog scene of the time, yet delivered here with a tight, no-nonsense quality that makes the tunes might more rocking overall – almost a funky undercurrent at times, thanks to tight interplay between the drums and bass in the trio! Lead vocals from Gary Margetts have a way of being a bit more heartfelt than usual for this sort of set – yet never in a way that's overindulgent or trite – just right on the money when they need to be. Titles include "Speed Of Light", "Listen To The Wind", "Leaving", "200 Lives", "Down With The Wind", and "Reminder". LP, Vinyl record album

Speed, space, and plenty more – all going on in the hands of a quartet led by drummer Masahiko Togashi – a Japanese player who's at his most youthfully creative on this album! Togashi was part of a new generation of musicians on his scene who were moving past conventional jazz modes – not just the free jazz styles that European improvisers were bringing to the music, but also maybe a more organic approach that was years ahead of its time, and not as widely recognized by the rest of the world until many years later. Togashi himself plays a big range of percussion instruments and vibes next to his drums – and the rest of the group features the great Masahiko Sato on piano, Mototeru Takagi on tenor and bass clarinet, and Yoshio Ikeda on bass – all moving effortlessly through a variety of modes of expression, on titles that include "Presage", "Speed & Space", "Expectation", and "Panorama". 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

The Thin White Duke turns to the east – and gets a whole new sound with help from Brian Eno! The album is an amazing departure from some of David Bowie's previous work – a set that's sparer, more spacious, and which is often instrumental – quite a statement, given Bowie's reputation as a songwriter at the time! It's almost like Bowie's shaking off all the confused stardom of the previous parts of the 70s – and is stepping forward as a new being from a new space – cleaner, leaner, and simpler than before – but hardly evacuated of soul at all, certainly not as much as you might guess from the Man Who Fell To Earth image on the cover. Titles include "Speed Of Life", "Be My Wife", "A New Career In A New Town", "Warsawza", "Art Decade", "Weeping Wall", and "Sound & Vision". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful work from pianist Ryo Fukui – a relatively recent set, but one that sparkles with all the charm and imagination of his famous records from years back! The format is a familiar trio – with Takumi Awaya on bass and Itetsu Takemura on drums – but as always with Fukui, the result is something that's far different than standard jazz piano – as his sense of rhythm, timing, and lyrical flow really keeps things moving in very surprising ways – even when the performance features familiar songs! The recording quality is fantastic, and really lives up to Ryo's boundless energy on the keys – and the whole thing is a great contemporary extension of that rich tradition in new piano expression that Japan first started during the 70s. Titles include "Soultrane", "Old Country", "Sonora", "Stella By Starlight", "Be My Love", and "Chasin The Bird". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic album from Damu The Fudgemunk, and a set that kicks off a whole new series in the sound library universe too – one that has contemporary producers getting access to classic samples from the KPM Sound Library catalog, while also adding their own music to the label too! Here, Damu samples classic sound library funk by Johnny Pearson, Johnny Hawksworth, Yvan Julien, Alan Hawkshaw, and other KPM giants – sometimes serving up instrumentals, but often adding in contributions from guests who include Raw Poetic, Blu, Nitty Scott, and Insight Innovates. Given that the core sounds are right up our alley, the record sounds fantastic – and if you're worried about this not being close enough to Damu's other records, put those fears aside – as the whole thing more than lives up to that legacy too. Titles include "Upload Optimism", "Enchanted Spirits", "Reporting", "Power Of Mind", "God Speed", and the "For Better Or Worse" suite. CD

A killer set by Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 – recorded in Japan in 1970, and never issued in the US! The album's the rarest that Sergio ever cut, and it's a real gem – a live show that features the group moving at double-speed, turning out incredibly lively versions of some of their biggest hits, all done without any studio augmentation – which is a perfect way to hear just how fantastic the group truly was! The whole thing's wonderful all the way through, and it's a fresh addition to your treasured collection of work by Sergio. The extended jamming on "Mas Que Nada" is especially great, and the other tracks include "Day Tripper", "Pradizer Adeus", "Scarborough Fair", and "What The World Needs Now". CD

The cover's a bit monochromatic and boring, but the album's full of vividly colorful funk and soul – topped with lead vocals from singer Lucy Richards, and given a very old school treatment by the group! There's a classic funky soul approach to the whole thing – maybe slightly more contemporary in terms of production, but with live instrumentation that's heavy on tenor, trumpet, and keyboards – all put together by group leader Moss Daytoner! The record's definitely in the female deep funk mode inspired by the Sharon Jones generation – and titles include "Time", "Blood Out Of A Stone", "Keep It Moving", "Shout Love", "The Hurt Inside", "My Sweet Baby", "Searching", "Jet Speed", and "Numbers". LP, Vinyl record album