Most comprehensive overview yet of the Ladbroke Grove-based late 60s/early 70s freak scene. Four-hour anthology of locally based acts featuring much previously unreleased or rare material. Now widely acknowledged as Albion’s equivalent of the Haight-Ashbury underground scene in San Francisco, Ladbroke Grove in West London developed into the epicentre of the late 60s British counterculture movement. Cheap rents had already attracted beatniks, bohemians and the Windrush generation of West Indian immigrants, and they were joined as the decade wore on by a motley crew of musicians, freaks and anarchists as the home-grown hippie sub-culture found a spiritual and physical base.

Digitally remastered and expanded edition of the 1995 album by the British band, their second release after the departure of co-founder Curt Smith. Tears For Fears' fifth studio album, Raoul And The Kings of Spain, now comes expanded with seven bonus recordings including 'All Of The Angels', 'The Madness Of Roland', 'Queen Of Compromise', 'Until I Drown', 'War Of Attrition' and acoustic versions of 'Raoul And The Kings Of Spain' and 'Break It Down Again'. The album features a return by Oleta Adams, who duets with Roland Orzabal on the track 'Me and My Big Ideas'. Includes a picture booklet containing sleevenotes by Malcolm Dome, a new interview with Roland Orzabal and a track by track run-down.

Professor Sakamoto gives a lesson on what is practically a different style of music with each track on Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia, beginning with a sure-fire hit: the extroverted, quintessentially Japanese synth workout "Field Work" (with Thomas Dolby). From there, Sakamoto hits riff-ready crossover jazz-fusion ("Etude"), electronic minimalism ("M.A.Y. in the Backyard"), and Oriental dub ("Paradise Lost"). There is a return to sampladelic Eastern synth-pop with "Steppin' Into Asia," but for the most part Sakamoto displays his impressive stylistic range on this solo album.

Lilting melodies and exhilarating dance rhythms; gentle pathos, brooding drama and robust high spirits; the spirit of rural Bohemia and the sophistication of Prague, Vienna, New York and London in the late 19th century: Antonin Dvořák’s music is unfailingly distinctive and captivating. In all his works – from the epic ‘New World’ Symphony and Cello Concerto to the irresistible Slavonic Dances, haunting ‘American’ String Quartet, quirky violin Humoresque and yearning Song to the Moon – he is a composer whose heart is open and generous, and whose love for his homeland always shines through. This box provides an illuminating and enriching survey of his works, including his complete symphonies. A number of the celebrated performers have Slavonic roots themselves; all their interpretations draw on a deep affinity with Dvořák’s inspiration and humanity.

The Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour Recording Sessions Reconstructed Outtakes and Outfakes" fourdisc set. Great alternate versions, intros, different takes, different stereo and mono mixes (some are quite different).

Brian Auger's Oblivion Express was the phoenix that rose from the ashes of sixties combo The Trinity. Fusing R&B, jazz, soul and funk, keyboard maestro Brian Auger created a new breed of music that took the US and the UK by storm. Auger's unique experimentation culminated in rhythm-infused jazz funk that united Black and white '70s audiences.
The 6 studio albums that make up Complete Oblivion illustrate the group's diverse musical influences and progression, from the 1970 self titled debut's heavy jazz- rock to the jazz fusion, latin and disco tinged Reinforcements from 1975 - this process no doubt powered by the groups' evolving line up, which included guitarists Jim Mullen and Jack Mills, drummers Robbie McIntosh & Steve Ferrone, bassists Barry Dean and Clive C h a m a n and vocalist Alex Ligertwood.

Ex-husband Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Records can be accused of scraping the bottom of the barrel in its second compilation of old Sarah Brightman tracks released to take advantage of the singer's international popularity due to her albums Time to Say Goodbye, Eden, and La Luna, all recorded for a different company. Happily, even the bottom of the barrel contains some excellent material, even after the cream was skimmed off with The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection. During and after her marriage to Lloyd Webber, Brightman performed on the Original London Cast recording of The Phantom of the Opera and recorded the albums The Songs That Got Away (1989) and Surrender (1995), and that's the material sampled here, that is, the remaining tracks that weren't used on The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection.

Meet Suzi Quatro, the American singer who's become an international music star since breaking through in the glam-rock Seventies. This compilation celebrates her unique career, featuring hits like UK chart-toppers 'Can The Can' and 'Devil Gate Drive' and US breakthrough single 'If You Can't Give Me Love', topping them off with choice album tracks and live cuts. Stand by for a double helping of rock n' roll dynamite, Suzi style! Includes detailed sleeve notes in an 8-page booklet.

This fascinating and thoroughly entertaining 3CD set is now available!
Here's what I had to say about it on All Music Guide:
"The idea of ‘banning’ a song from being broadcast over the airwaves is a familiar story here in the U.S., especially when it comes to offensive lyrics. Many of the decisions made by the FCC have been no-brainers and have met with some resistance but were, for the most part, justifiable. But in the UK (especially during the years covered on this three CD set), the BBC’s judgments on what was inappropriate for airplay made U.S. radio sound like a crowded brothel during happy hour!

All the Way… A Decade of Song is the first English-language greatest hits album by Canadian recording artist Celine Dion. Released by Sony Music Entertainment on 12 November 1999, it features nine previously released and seven new recordings. Dion worked on new songs mainly with David Foster. Other producers include Max Martin, Kristian Lundin, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, James Horner and Matt Serletic. All the Way… A Decade of Song garnered positive reviews from music critics. They praised the first uptempo single "That's the Way It Is" and a ballad "If Walls Could Talk". Some criticism was directed towards including a small number of hits and many new recordings. Despite that, the album became a commercial success throughout the world and peaked at number one in every major music market around the globe.

Four CD set. Les Disques du Crepuscule presents a comprehensive anthology by visionary French avant-garde composer Erik Satie, collecting together piano works associated with the Dada, Cubist and Surrealist art movements, as well as his celebrated musique d'ameublement (furniture music) written between 1917 and 1923. The four CDs are housed in a clamshell box, which also includes an illustrated 32 page booklet featuring detailed liner notes by James Nice and Stephen Whittington.

When filmmaker David Lynch backed a disquieting scene in Blue Velvet with Roy Orbison's "In Dreams," he demonstrated the eerie atmosphere behind its pre-'60s innocence. Orbison disciple Chris Isaak played those qualities to the hilt in his shimmering, spare "Wicked Game," so it was no surprise when Lynch included the ballad in Wild at Heart. What was surprising, given the fact that it sounded like nothing else on pop radio in 1990, was that "Wicked Game" became a breakout Top Ten hit, pushing Isaak's accompanying album Heart Shaped World to platinum status. Of course, there's more than that one moody masterpiece of a single to recommend Heart Shaped World.

This is the album where Jeff Lynne finally found the sound he'd wanted since co-founding Electric Light Orchestra three years earlier. Up to this point, most of the group's music had been self-contained – Lynne, Richard Tandy, et al., providing whatever was needed, vocally or instrumentally, even if it meant overdubbing their work layer upon layer. Lynne saw the limitations of this process, however, and opted for the presence of an orchestra – it was only 30 pieces, but the result was a much richer musical palette than the group had ever had to work with, and their most ambitious and successful record up to that time.

Limited 10 CD box set. The first-ever CD box set gathering the entire 10 album collection released by Brian Eno's Obscure Records. Originally issued between 1975 and 1978, nearly 50 years on the output of Obscure remains radically forward-thinking - offering glimpses of a future yet to be fully seen - and amounts to one of the most important, influential, and creatively accomplished album series ever conceived. Curated by Eno and the composers Gavin Bryars and Michael Nyman - issuing the recording debuts of Bryars, Nyman, John Adams, Christopher Hobbs, David Toop, Max Eastley, Jan Steele, Simon Jeffes / The Penguin Café Orchestra, and Harold Budd, in addition to important works by John Cage, Tom Phillips, and John White - Obscure's collective output is a groundbreaking landmark in the histories of Minimalism, modern composition, and Experimental music, and laid much of the groundwork for the soon to emerge movement of Ambient music. Illuminating the remarkable, and largely otherwise undocumented, creative ferment within and between the British and American scenes of experimental music during the mid to late 1970s. Offering each of Obscure's albums, completely remastered and housed in faithful replicas of their original covers and liner notes, as well as a booklet filled with rare photos, archival material and texts by - among others - Gavin Bryars, Bradford Bailey, David Toop, Max Eastley, Richard Bernas, and Tom Recchion, this historic collection marks the first time this seminal series has received a complete reissue.

The S.O.S. Band hit with a two-million-selling single, "Take Your Time (Do It Right)," their first time out, before having several hit singles written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The Atlanta, GA-borne band was started in 1977, when keyboardist/vocalist Jason Bryant, saxophonists Billy Ellis and Willie "Sonny" Killebrew, guitarist Bruno Speight, bassist John Alexander Simpson, drummer James Earl Jones III, and lead vocalist Mary Davis formed a group called Santa Monica that played at Atlanta nightclub the Regal Room. Their manager, Bunny Jackson-Ransom (who later managed Cameo), sent a demo to Clarence Avant, head of Tabu Records. After signing the band to Tabu, Avant suggested that the band work with songwriter/producer Sigidi Abdullah. Abdullah was curious as to why an Atlanta-based band named itself Santa Monica. Keyboardist Jason Bryant replied that the band had an enjoyable concert in Santa Monica, CA. Abdullah then came up with a new band name, the S.O.S. Band, with S.O.S. standing for "Sounds of Success."