One of the coolest record books we've ever seen – a smaller take on the album art format, but one that focuses exclusively on flexi discs – those thin little records which were usually given away free, and which are usually pretty hard-pressed to survive the passage of time! Yet author Jonny Trunk is one of the few folks who really know how to take care of ephemera like this – as you might know from his longstanding work on the Trunk Records label – and his presentation of fab flexis from the UK scene is nothing short of mindblowing! These aren't the boring plain black flexis that were often included in magazines – but instead, full color discs that are every bit as great to look at as they are to hear – a wealth of rare records from the 50s onward, all presented here in vivid color, on pages that are about to open a whole new avenue in our record collecting lives. The range of records is great – some feature celebrities, some music stars, others have ads, or spoken words – and many are marketing vehicles, especially from the 60s and 70s, which was a time when the format really took off. The softcover book is full color throughout, features over 150 records, and also includes an essay on the format by Jonny! Book

15 tracks from one of the best jazz funk bands of the past 25 years! The Brand New Heavies have a wonderful sound that mixes 70s jazz funk with a tight modern soul groove – never sleepy, and infused with all the best energy of older groups. They first sprung into being in the early days of the London acid jazz scene of the late 80s – but over the next few years, they became one of the best soul acts in the world, breaking out of the underground, and storming the US charts with classics like "Dream On Dreamer", "Stay This Way", and "Never Stop". All those cuts are on this tasty "best of" set – as are numbers from their hip hop experiments, including "Soul Flower" with The Pharcyde, "Bonafide Funk" with Main Source, and remixes of "Sometimes" with Q-Tip and "Saturday Nite" with Mos Def. The set also features "Dream Come True '92", "Put The Funk Back In It", "Have A Good Time", "Bonafide", and "Finish What You Started", a new track with vocals by N'Dea Davenport! CD

The long-overdue issue of material that was originally recorded for the film Kes back in 1969 – short and lovely numbers arranged and composed by Brit easy talent John Cameron! Cameron's best known for his work in more groove-oriented formats – but this soundtrack is something completely different, and equally great – a set of spare and compelling tunes played by a small combo that includes British jazz players Harold McNair, Ronnie Ross, David Snell, Tony Carr, and Danny Moss. The overall album is quite short, but it features a stunning range of sounds, tones, and colors – with a strong focus especially on the flute work of McNair, easily one of the greatest London players of his generation, and sort of England's answer to Roland Kirk. Titles include "Billy's Paper Round", "Billy Sees Kes In The Tower", "Kes First Flight", "Training Kes", "Billy Asleep In The Boiler Room", "Burying Kes", and "Foreboding". LP, Vinyl record album

A really great electronic soundtrack – contemporary, but served up with a very spare, electronic feel that takes us back to some of the best horror gems of the 80s! If you're a fan of the music for Stranger Things or Good Time, you'll find plenty to love here – as Alec Cheer works in a keyboard-heavy style that's awash with waves of synth and spare layers of sound – maybe sometimes slightly warmer than the music of either of those references, but with an equally compelling sound! Titles include "Evil Ways", "The Night Belongs To Us", "Protective Spell", "Morning", "Hunters", "Kickstart", and "Confusion". LP, Vinyl record album

A unique, rare, and wonderful album from reedman Buddy Collette – very different than any of his better-known work of the 50s – and a complex little set that really shows off a whole new side of his talents! The album was issued by a tiny label away from the LA scene – and has Buddy blending jazz and exotica, but at a level that's way hipper than any of the more mainstream bachelor pad records of the period – maybe even pointing the way towards the very cool records that Buddy would cut overseas. The group is great – very hip – with Gerald Wilson on trumpet, Gene Cipriano on reeds, Justin DiTullo on cello, Red Callender on bass and tuba, Earl Palmer on drums, and either Al Viola or Billy Bean on guitar – very versatile jazz musicians who really follow Buddy's lead on the unusual tunes. Colette himself plays flute and a bit of clarinet – and the set also features some cool vocals from singer Marni Nixon. The "Polynesian Suite" features a bit of narration – and other tunes include "Flight", "Gaugin", "Singapore Sling", and "Japanese Suite". LP, Vinyl record album

David Shire's wonderful score to The Conversation – a subtle mix of jazz and darker sounds that's one of the best things about this incredible film! Shire's definitely one of the cooler cats of American film scoring of the 70s – and with a groundbreaking project like this, he really shows his stuff – especially given that he plays these haunting piano solos himself throughout most of the score – really beautiful elliptical lines that are a great revelation, and make us like Shire even more! There's also a jazz combo in the film – a group that includes Pete Jolly on piano, Don Menza on tenor, and Conte Candoli on trumpet – and titles include "Theme From The Conversation", "Dream Sequence", "Plumbing Problem", "Finale & End Credits", "The End Of The Day", and "Harry Carried". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the strangest keyboard records you'll ever hope to own – as this unusual little album features not the musical tones of the keyboards, or the results of computer-programmed music – but instead just features the sound of the keys themselves! That is, each different track features the sounds of keys of a certain computer or keyboard in action – often with surprising intensity, as the recordings are part of an unusual underground of keyboard fanatics, with a love of the machine that takes us back to a time when we can remember typing pools in a corporate office, or a 100 word a minute assistant typing at blinding speed while listening to dictation on a set of headphones. The album's certainly one of the most unusual Trunk Records have ever issued – although then again, they've given us plenty of unusual records over the years – and once you get into the sound, the motion of the keystrokes has its own sort of magic, and can feel as if you're hearing some strange mix of organic percussion and future expression. Each track is titled after a specific keyboard – and selections include "Apple M0116", "Makanisk Fjell", "HHKB Pro 2", "IBM 5140", and "Keycult No 1/65". LP, Vinyl record album

The Britixotica crew are down to their skivvies this time around – clearly shaken into clothes-less frenzy by the wild rhythms in the set! The album definitely takes the "wild" in the title seriously, and may well be the best record in the series so far – certainly the most dynamic, as the Latin rhythms are really ramped up – and moved quite far from quieter cocktail modes! As before, all the cuts here are of UK origin – and represent this great, and oft-overlooked, moment in British recordings – when postwar jazz talents and arrangers were really picking up on the more percussive-heavy styles coming from the other side of the Atlantic. Titles include "Baia" by Tony Scott, "Vamos A Baila" by Chico Arnez, "The High Life" by Marion Ryan, "Wimoweh" by Eve Boswell, "Vava Ba Boom" by Edmundo Ros, "Don's Mambo" by Don Carlos, "The High Life" by Basil & Ivor Kirchin with Tony Sharpe, "Taboo" by Charles Blackwell, and "Mambo For Latin Lovers" by Ido Martin. LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic soundtrack for an incredibly groovy film – a landmark British comedy that received some sublime musical treatment from Dudley Moore – who was one of the stars of the movie! Moore's a surprisingly great jazz pianist, and provides a rich blend of jazz instrumentals, groovy larger cuts, and a few wild vocal tracks with a mad mad sound! The album's well-remembered for the fuzzy-breakbeat classic "Bedazzled" and Peter Cook's vocal on the mad rocker "Love Me" – and other tracks are a perfect blend of styles that recall the best of Henry Mancini or Neal Hefti from the same time – the best 60s blend of jazz, mod, and loungey styles. Titles also include "The Millionaire", "Moon Time", "Strip Club", "Sweet Mouth", and "Cornfield", a lively jazzy groover! Especially incredible in this Trunk LP version is the bonus CD that it comes with – featuring uber-rare, improvised promotional radio spots made by Moore & Cook just days before the film's release – titled Peter Cook & Dudley Moore Cordially Invite You To Go To Hell! LP, Vinyl record album

Two rare pieces in the very small genre of "electronic ballet" – a postwar mode in which electronic music was used with dancers! Ernest Berk hardly issued any records at all – but his work on side one, for the ballet "Initiation", is really incredible – at a level that matches all the most inventive aspects of Pierre Henry in the 60s, including that composer's ability to move effortlessly between dark textures and more tuneful moments! "Gemini" is on side two – music that has even more shifts in sonic quality and melody, so much so that it almost works as a narrative unto itself – very unusual for this sort of composition, as if the electronics are telling a story for the dancers! LP, Vinyl record album

A delightful set of music, dialogue, and sound effects from a long-lost British children's show – the short-lived Clangers, which ran for 2 seasons in 1969 and 1971. The tunes are whimsical – often mixing percussion and flute in a playful mode that has traces of Tchaikovsky or Stravinsky, but which also sets things out in sparer, shorter segments. Interspersed with the tunes are spoken "cues" from the show, giving things a bit of a narrative feel, as well as occasional sound effects and other noises. The album features some good notes on the show and the music, and includes bits from the episodes "Music", "Fishing", "Treasure", "Goods", "Blow Fruit", and "The Seed". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent album – possibly the best by German saxophonist Klaus Doldinger! The album's got a wonderful Latiny groove – played by a group that includes Attila Zoller on guitar and Ingfried Hoffman on organ and piano. Hoffman's sound is wonderful – very groovy, and a perfect match for the edgey reeds of Doldinger – and all three players are extremely well situated amongst tight rhythms by Cees Sees (drums and percussion) and Peter Trunk (bass), one of the tightest European rhythm sections of the 60s! The overall sound isn't nearly as bossa as you might think – because Doldinger tempers his horn with a lot of soulful fire, and almost brings a modal sense of exploration to a lot of the tunes. Tracks include some nice originals – "Fiesta", "Viva Brazilia", and "Subo" – plus well arranged versions of "Argentina", "Guachi Guaro", and "Negra Sin Sandalia". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic vintage set from the great trumpeter Dusko Goykovich – and a record that's very much in the best tradition of his groundbreaking early work! Goykovich emerged from the Yugoslavian scene during the key years of communist rule – and his bold, bright horn work was a shining light of freedom in the 60s and 70s – and was also often used as a way of illuminating the richer cultural corners of the Balkans, at a time when interaction with the area was more restricted. As with some of his famous MPS/Saba work, Dusko here creates an extended jazz suite, almost as a sonic poem to his homeland – performed with a core quartet that has Gokyovich on flugelhorn, Fritz Pauer on piano, Peter Trunk on bass, and Tony Inzalaco on drums – all with added horns from the NDR Radio Orchestra, who work beautifully to flesh out the vision of the leader, yet still really let Dusko stand as the main solo voice in the set. The whole thing's wonderful – proud and passionate throughout – with titles that include "Haze On The Danube", "Balkan Dance", "Bosna Calling", "East Of Montenegro", and "Shumadaya". CD

A great album gets even better – as Bluey and crew open the door, and let in a host of great guest talents to remix their impeccable Who Needs Love album! The set's got all the soulful magic of the original – a lasting groove that goes deeper than any of Incognito's recent albums, and which shows the group to be better than ever. The remixers are a varied lot, too – offering some trans-global takes on the music that really fit the spirit of the original project! Titles include "Who Needs Love (LBB Emerald mix)" remixed by Little Big Bee, "Can't Get You Out Of My Head (Trunk Funk remixes)" remixed by Brand New Heavies, "Where Love Shines" remixed by Kyoto Jazz Massive, "Morning Sun (radio edit)" remixed by Danny Krivit, "Cada Dia" remixed by Yukihiro Fukutomi, "Don't Be A Fool (Fantasista re-formation)" remixed by Toshio Matsuura, "Byrd Plays (Deep Sky in the mix)" remixed by DJ Mochizuki, and "Stone Cold Heart" remixed by Soul Bossa Trio with Dazzle-T & Quicky. CD

Densely atmospheric and hypnotically beat-driven grooves from Mad Zach on Alpha Pup! There's a bit more of intense electronic vibe here than the some of the more abstract jazzy soul soundscapes of a lot what we've heard on the label to date, which is gratifying honestly – and is compelling as can be and with a human soul behind it, nothing too clinical or sterile in the way a lot of modern day techno can come off as. Solid stuff! Includes "Dark Street", "Drawing Blood", "Shadow Figure and "Trunk Funk". LP, Vinyl record album

A great audio documentary of a really mindblowing film – one that captures the Rolling Stones at that key late 60s point when they were stepping into really sinister territory – playing in a very vivid setting, along with some of their key up-and-coming contemporaries on the scene! The whole thing builds up with the energy of a circus – the Stones are last, and there's a growing mix of performers introduced by various members of the band – really presented in a carnivalesque array, before the lead act comes in and knocks it out of the park. The set features a killer early version of "A Quick One While He's Away" by The Who – maybe one of the high points of the set – plus "Song For Jeffrey" by Jethro Tull, "Whole Lotta Yoko" by Yoko Ono & The Dirty Mac (John Lennon), "Ain't That A Lot Of Love" by Taj Mahal, and "Something Better" by Marianne Faithfull. The Rolling Stones round things out with performances of "Sympathy For The Devil", "Parachute Woman", "Jumpin Jack Flash", "Salt Of The Earth", "No Expectations", and "You Can't Always Get What You Want". Plus, this double-length version has unreleased tracks "Warmup Jam" and "Revolution (rehearsal)" by The Dirty Mac, "Leaving Trunk" and "Corinna" by Taj Mahal, and the odd symphonic works "Ritual Fire Dance" and Mozart's "Sonata In C Major" by Julius Katchen. LP, Vinyl record album

Incredible sounds from the German Jazz Festival of 1964 – a wonderful meeting of modern talents from all over the European continent at the time – including some great work from behind the Iron Curtain too! The album features a few tracks each by a number of different groups – all of them excellent, and the sorts of players who are really under-represented in terms of available recordings – which makes this selection of tracks completely essential! The set begins with "Sopranitis" and "Birmingham Post" – played by a very cool combo with Heinz Sauer on tenor and soprano sax, Joki Freund on the same two instruments, Emil Mangelsdorff on alto, and Gunther Kornberg on alto and baritone – a four-sax group that works with just bass and drums to give them a groove, with strong solos from all players. Next up is the fantastic Zagreb Jazz Quartet – with Bosko Petrovic on vibes – playing "In Walked Bud" and "Degressia" – plus a version of "Bluesette" with a guest appearance by Sven Asmussen. Tenor player Karl Drevo (Drewo) leads a quintet with trumpeter Maffy Falay and pianist Bora Rokovic – on a long reading of "Save Your Love For Me". The legendary quartet of saxophonist Klaus Doldinger is next – his great group with Ingfried Hoffmann on Hammond, Peter Trunk on bass, and Klaus Weiss on drums – with guest work by Rolf Kuhn on tenor and Inge Brandenberg on vocals – on the titles "Waltz Of The Jive Cats", "What's The Matter Daddy", and "Groovin In Berlin". Last up is one of our favorite groups of the time – the quintet of pianist Michael Naura, which also features Wolfgang Schluter on vibes and Peter Reinke on alto – on "Rainy Clouds" and "Rhythm A Ning". CD

Fantastic work from two different years of this important German Jazz Festival – material that provides a great live complement to some of the best studio jazz recordings of the late 60s European scene – such as those coming from the MPS label, and some of the record companies in Paris and London! The vibe here is mostly straight, but there are plenty of currents of modern, and maybe just a bit of free – and the set's especially great in illustrating the sort of unique groupings and musical moments that can make the jazz festival scene so rewarding! Material from 1967 includes three long tracks by the group of saxophonist Klaus Doldinger with organist Ingfried Hoffmann; a long performance from a big band led by Kurt Edelhagen, with work from trumpeters Shake Keane and Jimmy Deuchar, tenorists Wilton Gaynair and Karl Drewo, and altoist Derek Humble; four tracks by a quartet led by trumpeter Dusko Goykovich, with Bent Jaedig on tenor; two long improvisations from a group that features Manfred Schoof on trumpet, Gerd Dudek on tenor, Alexander Von Schlippenbach on piano, and Jaki Liebezeit on drums; one track by a quartet with Ted Curson on trumpet and Nick Bridnola on soprano sax; four long cuts by the Clarke Boland Sextet, with Sahib Shihab on flute and baritone, Ake Persson on trombone, and Idrees Sulieman on trumpet; a sweet large group led by organist Ingfried Hoffmann, and a few other hip cuts too. 1968 features work by a sextet led by bassist Peter Trunk, with Shake Keane on flugelhorn, Jiggs Whigham on trombone, and Rob Pronk on piano; four tracks by the Clarke Boland Big Band, with Johnny Griffin and Ronnie Scott on tenor, and Sahib Shihab on baritone; two cuts by the twin tenor group of Hank Mobley and Johnny Griffin; a vocal performance by Jon Hendricks with a Clarke Boland group with Johnny Griffin in the lead; twin trombones from the Slide Hampton and Ake Persson Quintet; hip work from the trio of pianist George Gruntz, bassist Henri Texier, and drummer Daniel Humair; a number of tight tracks from the Maynard Ferguson big band, with Pete King on tenor; and two shorter trio tracks from Joachim Kuhn. Like other Be Music titles, the presentation is great – a really well-done box, and big booklet of notes and images. CD

Andrew Lamb is billed as "The Black Lamb" here – a nice nickname, given the earthy quality of the set! The group's got two percussionists at its core – Michael Wimberly and Guillermo E Brown – both players with different energies that help expand the roots of the record – while Tom Abbs builds up its trunk with his organic lines on bass, plus a bit of tuba and didjeridoo too. Lamb unfolds these evocative lines on saxes and flute – and even a bit of conch shell too, handled with a wonderfully exotic tone that's not gimmicky at all. Tracks are quite long, and build with a rich feel that makes the album one of the most soulful we've ever heard on the No Business label – and titles include "Initiation", "Song Of The Miracle Lives", "To Love In The Rain", and "Rhapsody In Black". CD

Guitars playing plenty of games here – easy to do when in the godlike hands of Harvey Mandel – a guitarist rooted in blues, but also with lots of psychedelic inclinations as well! This album's one of Harvey's best as a solo act – and gets some sweet fuzzy production by the legendary Abe Voco Kesh – whose touches help give the record that sort of genre-stepping vibe of the best Bay Area material of the time. Harvey's guitar is firmly in the lead, but there's a bit more vocals on the set than some of the previous Mandel records – and titles include a trippy version of Horace Silver's "Senor Blues", plus "Capurange", "Ridin High", "Honky Tonk", "Leavin Trunk", and a wild stoned version of "Games People Play". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary German session from the 60s – and a record that really showcases the unusual criss-crossing of modes that was going on in the European scene at the time! There's a very strong MPS vibe here – as trumpeter Dusko Goykovich leads a swinging sextet that includes Nathan Davis on flute, soprano, and tenor – blowing some tremendously soulful reed lines – plus incredible rhythms from Mal Waldron on piano, Peter Trunk on bass, and Cees See on drums. The record's an attempt to bring traditional Macedonian rhythms into a jazz perspective – but with players like these, it swings in a way any Macedonian album never could – damn soulful, and with a great exotic vibe. Davis is especially great, and plays in a soaring modal vein that's similar to his work on his classic MPS sides, and on the records he cut in America in the early 70s. The album's a beautiful session that often get's overlooked because it blends it with the Enja catalog – but it's really more of a record that belongs in an MPS reissue series, and is a great lost groover that's waiting to be rediscovered by the Dusty Groove crowd. Titles include "Macedonia", "Old Fisherman's Daughter", "Jumbo Uganda", "Bem Basha", "Saga Se karame", and "The Nights Of Skopje". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic soul from Lucid Paradise – a group who work here with a soaring, joyous vibe that takes us back to the best underground club of the early 80s! The beats are contemporary, but the keyboards and group vocals are very old school – and the whole thing sounds like it came from lost tapes discovered in a trunk on the outskirts of LA! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A great audio documentary of a really mindblowing film – one that captures the Rolling Stones at that key late 60s point when they were stepping into really sinister territory – playing in a very vivid setting, along with some of their key up-and-coming contemporaries on the scene! The whole thing builds up with the energy of a circus – the Stones are last, and there's a growing mix of performers introduced by various members of the band – really presented in a carnivalesque array, before the lead act comes in and knocks it out of the park. The set features a killer early version of "A Quick One While He's Away" by The Who – maybe one of the high points of the set – plus "Song For Jeffrey" by Jethro Tull, "Whole Lotta Yoko" by Yoko Ono & The Dirty Mac (John Lennon), "Ain't That A Lot Of Love" by Taj Mahal, and "Something Better" by Marianne Faithfull. The Rolling Stones round things out with performances of "Sympathy For The Devil", "Parachute Woman", "Jumpin Jack Flash", "Salt Of The Earth", "No Expectations", and "You Can't Always Get What You Want". Plus, this double-length version has unreleased tracks "Warmup Jam" and "Revolution (rehearsal)" by The Dirty Mac, "Leaving Trunk" and "Corinna" by Taj Mahal, and the odd symphonic works "Ritual Fire Dance" and Mozart's "Sonata In C Major" by Julius Katchen. CD

So we'd guess by the title to this latest Timbo effort that it's meant as a follow up to the last Missy Elliott album, and in a lot of ways it is. As with earlier Tim & Magoo efforts, you're not getting this one for lyrical finesse, but the bouncing beats, which get stripped down to the bare essentials this go 'round, and that's nothing to wince at either. Tim revisits a few of his hotter tracks from this past summer, but if the ubiquity of the "Jump Off" is any indication, you can bet this one'll be bumpin' from trunks for some time to come. Not too many guest spots here, just a couple cameos from Bubba Sparxx and Missy Elliott, with 16 tracks in all, including "Cop That S**t", "Shenanigans", 'That S**t Ain't Gonna Work", "Don't Make Me Take It There", "Indian Flute", "Naughty Eye", "N 2 Da Music", "Throwback" and "Hold Cuts". LP, Vinyl record album