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The Byrds – The Essential Byrds

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The latest in Columbia's impressive Essential series may be the best of the lot, a two-CD compilation whose 44 tracks cover just about every important nook and cranny of The Byrds' illustrious career, from the early flights of Dylan covers and Gene Clark classics, through the proto-psychedelia of Fifth Dimension and Younger Than Yesterday and the proto-country-rock of Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, to the often overlooked highlights of their subsequent slow decline. This latter period is well tracked here, with ironic gems like "Chestnut Mare" and "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man" accompanied by minor glories such as "Jamaica Say You Will" and the euphoric "Glory, Glory". The best Byrds one-stop anthology yet collated.

The latest in Columbia’s impressive Essential series may be the best of the lot, a two-CD compilation whose 44 tracks cover just about every important nook and cranny of The Byrds’ illustrious career, from the early flights of Dylan covers and Gene Clark classics, through the proto-psychedelia of Fifth Dimension and Younger Than Yesterday and the proto-country-rock of Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, to the often overlooked highlights of their subsequent slow decline. This latter period is well tracked here, with ironic gems like “Chestnut Mare” and “Drug Store Truck Drivin’ Man” accompanied by minor glories such as “Jamaica Say You Will” and the euphoric “Glory, Glory”. The best Byrds one-stop anthology yet collated.

Various Artists – Studio One Funk

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Jamaican musicians have long had a penchant for black American music?Bob Marley borrowed many a Curtis Mayfield melody? and the superb 2001 Blood & Fire compilation Darker Than Blue demonstrated just how effectively reggae stars could reinterpret soul grooves. Studio One Funk trawls through producer Coxsone Dodd's legendary archives to offer a tasty selection of covers and originals. The title's misleading as, beyond Cedric Im Brooks'take on "Shaft" , few of the tunes have funk roots. Not that this matters?Jackie Mittoo's gorgeous, organ-drenched "Hang 'Em High"and Sound Dimension's pastoral dub "Love Jah"alone make this worth the asking price.

Jamaican musicians have long had a penchant for black American music?Bob Marley borrowed many a Curtis Mayfield melody? and the superb 2001 Blood & Fire compilation Darker Than Blue demonstrated just how effectively reggae stars could reinterpret soul grooves. Studio One Funk trawls through producer Coxsone Dodd’s legendary archives to offer a tasty selection of covers and originals. The title’s misleading as, beyond Cedric Im Brooks’take on “Shaft” , few of the tunes have funk roots. Not that this matters?Jackie Mittoo’s gorgeous, organ-drenched “Hang ‘Em High”and Sound Dimension’s pastoral dub “Love Jah”alone make this worth the asking price.

Various Artists – Disco Undead

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Anyone who's had their blood chilled by John Carpenter's icy electronic scores or by Goblin's turbulent psycho-prog in Dario Argento's terrifying Suspiria can appreciate the visceral power of a decent slasher soundtrack. Hence Disco Undead, a tribute to these macabre masters, in which f...

Anyone who’s had their blood chilled by John Carpenter’s icy electronic scores or by Goblin’s turbulent psycho-prog in Dario Argento’s terrifying Suspiria can appreciate the visceral power of a decent slasher soundtrack. Hence Disco Undead, a tribute to these macabre masters, in which f

Thirteenth Floor Elevators – Bull Of The Woods

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With leader Roky Erickson in Austin's Rusk State Mental Hospital, guitarist Stacy Sutherland took the reins for this, their third and final album. Largely cobbled from outtakes and re-recordings of early songs, there are rough nuggets here?the brassy, Love-like "Doctor Doom", the Credence-meets-Zappa chug of "Scarlet And Gold" and Erickson's sole contribution, the brittle-sweet "May The Circle Remain Unbroken". But it remains a pale cousin of their '66 debut The Psychedelic Sounds Of and follow-up Easter Everywhere. However, nestling among 10 bonus tracks, mostly poor-quality live cuts, is a beautifully fragile acoustic take on early classic "Splash 1"

With leader Roky Erickson in Austin’s Rusk State Mental Hospital, guitarist Stacy Sutherland took the reins for this, their third and final album. Largely cobbled from outtakes and re-recordings of early songs, there are rough nuggets here?the brassy, Love-like “Doctor Doom”, the Credence-meets-Zappa chug of “Scarlet And Gold” and Erickson’s sole contribution, the brittle-sweet “May The Circle Remain Unbroken”. But it remains a pale cousin of their ’66 debut The Psychedelic Sounds Of and follow-up Easter Everywhere. However, nestling among 10 bonus tracks, mostly poor-quality live cuts, is a beautifully fragile acoustic take on early classic “Splash 1”

Shuggie Otis – Inspiration Information

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Still only 20 on the release of his fourth, and greatest, album, Otis subsequently lost his Columbia deal and dropped out of sight. That this incredible recording sounds so utterly 'now' is testament to the visionary genius whose synth silkiness and sophisti-funk orchestrations tripped the minds of everyone from Prince to DJ Shadow. With the then-revolutionary help of a Rhythm King drum machine, the thrill lies in its fluency, its liquid flow of freeform guitar, strings and horn riffs. The Brothers Johnson scored a monster hit with the melted strut of "Strawberry Letter 23" (one of four add-ons from 1971's Freedom Flight), but the irresistible title track, "Rainy Day" and "XL-30" are sublime ambient-soul prototypes.

Still only 20 on the release of his fourth, and greatest, album, Otis subsequently lost his Columbia deal and dropped out of sight. That this incredible recording sounds so utterly ‘now’ is testament to the visionary genius whose synth silkiness and sophisti-funk orchestrations tripped the minds of everyone from Prince to DJ Shadow. With the then-revolutionary help of a Rhythm King drum machine, the thrill lies in its fluency, its liquid flow of freeform guitar, strings and horn riffs. The Brothers Johnson scored a monster hit with the melted strut of “Strawberry Letter 23” (one of four add-ons from 1971’s Freedom Flight), but the irresistible title track, “Rainy Day” and “XL-30” are sublime ambient-soul prototypes.

Brigitte Bardot – The Best Of Bardot

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God may have created woman but Brigitte Bardot was a magnificent conspiracy devised by Vadim, Godard, Rabane, Gainsbourg and the woman christened Camille Javal. This collection cherry-picks from the variable orchard of Bardot's pop career between '62 and '70 and highlights the wit, invention and salaciousness absent from today's celebrity exploitation. Initially tailored as prim pop a la Hardy or Gall, Bardot really flourished centre stage of Gainsbourg's more lurid imaginings and the cinemascope of Michel Colombier's arrangements. A matchless run from the pop Lichtenstein of "Comic Strip" through the epic throb of "Bonnie And Clyde" and "Harley Davidson" climaxes, inevitably, with the original "Je T'aime" ? so lubricious you can see why BB vetoed its initial release.

God may have created woman but Brigitte Bardot was a magnificent conspiracy devised by Vadim, Godard, Rabane, Gainsbourg and the woman christened Camille Javal. This collection cherry-picks from the variable orchard of Bardot’s pop career between ’62 and ’70 and highlights the wit, invention and salaciousness absent from today’s celebrity exploitation. Initially tailored as prim pop a la Hardy or Gall, Bardot really flourished centre stage of Gainsbourg’s more lurid imaginings and the cinemascope of Michel Colombier’s arrangements. A matchless run from the pop Lichtenstein of “Comic Strip” through the epic throb of “Bonnie And Clyde” and “Harley Davidson” climaxes, inevitably, with the original “Je T’aime” ? so lubricious you can see why BB vetoed its initial release.

A Natural Woman

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Nyro, who died in '97, inspires rabid fans of her culthood. While some may remember her best for early songs, covered by hit-makers-Streisand's "Stoney End ", Fifth Dimension's "Stoned Soul Picnic "?she soon disclaimed such Brill Building-ish swingers (they're not here), becoming an introspective, jazz-influenced piano warbler and taking long spells out of music in favour of domesticity. Her reputation's now high as a late icon of sadness?the Joni you can't hum. Believers, then, will love this unearthed treasure, not least because it sounds like underwater ghosts of songs. That's not vague deepness but due to the tape quality, which even producer Al Quaglieri admits in his sleevenotes "has not aged well...audibly flawed". It's taken from three mics mixed to a stereo tape recorder, so don't expect Trevor Horn. It's just one woman and her grand piano, plus so much over-zealous applause that you have to skip between tracks. In '71, aged 23, Nyro was soon to record the Gonna Take A Miracle album with soul men Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, backed by LaBelle. As if to work herself in for that, she here performs sparse medleys of "A Natural Woman", "Spanish Harlem", "Dancing In The Street", "Walk On By", you name it. They serve as relaxing interludes between the intensity of her own songs. The East Village's Fillmore was closing. For its final weeks, promoter Bill Graham booked names: Nyro had previously shared the bill with Miles Davis and Jackson Browne. She lends the occasion gravitas, especially on "I Am The Blues", which she wasn't to record until five years later. "Christmas In My Soul"is brittly passionate. There are two here, gold dust for aficionados, which she never recorded. Opener "American Dove"has the album title as its refrain: she's high-pitched, edgy from the off. Finale " Mother Earth"finds her cruising the margin between hippie dreaminess and a half-hearted recollection of pop's signatures. This offers only a silhouette of what made Nyro, on occasion, transcend genre. It can't match the cutting lyricism of Jim Webb or the melodies of Carole King. Its strength is its frailty: at any moment you fear she and her audience might pack up and burst into tears. Devotees will tremble.

Nyro, who died in ’97, inspires rabid fans of her culthood. While some may remember her best for early songs, covered by hit-makers-Streisand’s “Stoney End “, Fifth Dimension’s “Stoned Soul Picnic “?she soon disclaimed such Brill Building-ish swingers (they’re not here), becoming an introspective, jazz-influenced piano warbler and taking long spells out of music in favour of domesticity. Her reputation’s now high as a late icon of sadness?the Joni you can’t hum.

Believers, then, will love this unearthed treasure, not least because it sounds like underwater ghosts of songs. That’s not vague deepness but due to the tape quality, which even producer Al Quaglieri admits in his sleevenotes “has not aged well…audibly flawed”. It’s taken from three mics mixed to a stereo tape recorder, so don’t expect Trevor Horn. It’s just one woman and her grand piano, plus so much over-zealous applause that you have to skip between tracks.

In ’71, aged 23, Nyro was soon to record the Gonna Take A Miracle album with soul men Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, backed by LaBelle. As if to work herself in for that, she here performs sparse medleys of “A Natural Woman”, “Spanish Harlem”, “Dancing In The Street”, “Walk On By”, you name it. They serve as relaxing interludes between the intensity of her own songs. The East Village’s Fillmore was closing. For its final weeks, promoter Bill Graham booked names: Nyro had previously shared the bill with Miles Davis and Jackson Browne. She lends the occasion gravitas, especially on “I Am The Blues”, which she wasn’t to record until five years later. “Christmas In My Soul”is brittly passionate. There are two here, gold dust for aficionados, which she never recorded. Opener “American Dove”has the album title as its refrain: she’s high-pitched, edgy from the off. Finale ” Mother Earth”finds her cruising the margin between hippie dreaminess and a half-hearted recollection of pop’s signatures.

This offers only a silhouette of what made Nyro, on occasion, transcend genre. It can’t match the cutting lyricism of Jim Webb or the melodies of Carole King. Its strength is its frailty: at any moment you fear she and her audience might pack up and burst into tears. Devotees will tremble.

Various Artists – The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered

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For the uninitiated, a covers album might smooth the treacherous path into Johnston's disarmingly vivid world. Overseen by Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous, this incredible line-up ?Flaming Lips, Beck, Mercury Rev, Tom Waits?has been assembled to help fund the 42-year-old's proposed move to a house of his own in Texas after a lifetime of mental disorder. Strongest when bottling the vulnerability beneath the eardrum assault, this collection is near faultless. In particular, Calvin Johnson's "Sorry Entertainer" and Bright Eyes' "Devil Town" are brittle slivers of beauty, while the Lips and Sparklehorse make dreamy delight of the hitherto abrasive "Go". A second disc features all 18 of Johnston's originals, plus the previously unavailable "Rock This Town"

For the uninitiated, a covers album might smooth the treacherous path into Johnston’s disarmingly vivid world. Overseen by Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous, this incredible line-up ?Flaming Lips, Beck, Mercury Rev, Tom Waits?has been assembled to help fund the 42-year-old’s proposed move to a house of his own in Texas after a lifetime of mental disorder. Strongest when bottling the vulnerability beneath the eardrum assault, this collection is near faultless. In particular, Calvin Johnson’s “Sorry Entertainer” and Bright Eyes’ “Devil Town” are brittle slivers of beauty, while the Lips and Sparklehorse make dreamy delight of the hitherto abrasive “Go”. A second disc features all 18 of Johnston’s originals, plus the previously unavailable “Rock This Town”

Bad News

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Most heavy metal is beyond parody, but sometimes comedians can nail its absurdities with affectionate bile. The Comic Strip had the unhappy timing to spoof early-'80s Brit-rock in their TV mockumentaries Bad News and More Bad News just as This is Spinal Tap broke worldwide. But their low-rent satire still stands up, thanks to songs of plausibly low-to-middling quality. Sportingly produced by Brian May, lost classics like "Warriors Of Genghis Khan" and "Masturbike" feature Adrian Edmondson's Lemmy-esque vocals and Quo-leaning riffs. But elevating this reissue above one-joke, one-play level are the between-song sketches, all farty schoolboy sniggers that recall Cook and Moore's wilfully moronic Derek & Clive albums.

Most heavy metal is beyond parody, but sometimes comedians can nail its absurdities with affectionate bile. The Comic Strip had the unhappy timing to spoof early-’80s Brit-rock in their TV mockumentaries Bad News and More Bad News just as This is Spinal Tap broke worldwide. But their low-rent satire still stands up, thanks to songs of plausibly low-to-middling quality. Sportingly produced by Brian May, lost classics like “Warriors Of Genghis Khan” and “Masturbike” feature Adrian Edmondson’s Lemmy-esque vocals and Quo-leaning riffs. But elevating this reissue above one-joke, one-play level are the between-song sketches, all farty schoolboy sniggers that recall Cook and Moore’s wilfully moronic Derek & Clive albums.

Stavely Makepeace – The Scrap Iron Rhythm Revue

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Amid the second division Slades of last year's junkshop glam jamboree Velvet Tinmine, Stavely Makepeace's "Slippery Rock Seventies"glimmered with authentic strangeness. As this 22-track anthology demonstrates, it was no one-off. The alter ego of Lieutenant Pigeon, Makepeace mixed '70s MOR with DIY avant-gardism. Speeding up and multi-tracking home recordings in their mum's front room, they concocted phased, clunking West Midlands exotica and spliced whole new genres: radiophonic cajun reggae, yodelling steam-punk, Joe Meek boogie. Their destiny was as a novelty footnote, but this exemplary reissue excavates a weirdly potent homebrew 10cc.

Amid the second division Slades of last year’s junkshop glam jamboree Velvet Tinmine, Stavely Makepeace’s “Slippery Rock Seventies”glimmered with authentic strangeness. As this 22-track anthology demonstrates, it was no one-off. The alter ego of Lieutenant Pigeon, Makepeace mixed ’70s MOR with DIY avant-gardism. Speeding up and multi-tracking home recordings in their mum’s front room, they concocted phased, clunking West Midlands exotica and spliced whole new genres: radiophonic cajun reggae, yodelling steam-punk, Joe Meek boogie. Their destiny was as a novelty footnote, but this exemplary reissue excavates a weirdly potent homebrew 10cc.

Esther Phillips – The Kudu Years 1971-1977

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Phillips (1935-1984) first tasted chart stardom in the early '50s as Little Esther, before spending the '60s battling heroin addiction. Signing to Kudu in 1971, Esther then made the best music of her career. Kudu surrounded her with fine musicians and material and Phillips' taut, clipped voice conveys intense emotion like few others. "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" (addiction), "From A Whisper To A Scream" (despair) and the best ever handling of "Use Me" (sex) are all here. Not every interpretation works, but when Esther engages with a song, the results are unforgettable.

Phillips (1935-1984) first tasted chart stardom in the early ’50s as Little Esther, before spending the ’60s battling heroin addiction. Signing to Kudu in 1971, Esther then made the best music of her career. Kudu surrounded her with fine musicians and material and Phillips’ taut, clipped voice conveys intense emotion like few others. “Home Is Where The Hatred Is” (addiction), “From A Whisper To A Scream” (despair) and the best ever handling of “Use Me” (sex) are all here. Not every interpretation works, but when Esther engages with a song, the results are unforgettable.

The Feminine Complex – Livin’ Love

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When this debut album?originally released in 1969?was first reissued on cult US indie Teenbeat, complete with sleevenotes from Lambchop's Jonathan Marx, many thought it had to be an elaborate hoax. Could a Nashville girl group really be this good and remain undiscovered? Not forever. A choir of Dusty Springfields produced by Phil Spector would struggle to be this wondrous. Like Lee & Nancy's "Some Velvet Morning", The Feminine Complex, as the name suggests, deliver multi-layered, deceptively innocent, largely self-penned psychedelic pop that swings gently from exuberant to spooky via forlorn and sentimental. Unintentionally groundbreaking.

When this debut album?originally released in 1969?was first reissued on cult US indie Teenbeat, complete with sleevenotes from Lambchop’s Jonathan Marx, many thought it had to be an elaborate hoax. Could a Nashville girl group really be this good and remain undiscovered? Not forever. A choir of Dusty Springfields produced by Phil Spector would struggle to be this wondrous. Like Lee & Nancy’s “Some Velvet Morning”, The Feminine Complex, as the name suggests, deliver multi-layered, deceptively innocent, largely self-penned psychedelic pop that swings gently from exuberant to spooky via forlorn and sentimental. Unintentionally groundbreaking.

Unbearable Ecstasy

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As grunge lay flailing in the rain of Seattle, the last thing anyone expected was a bona fide prodigy appearing, messiah-like, to save the day for passionate melodic intensity. But that's precisely what Jeff Buckley did 10 years ago. The fact that his legacy has been a regrettable line of mewling Brit impostors (Coldplay, Keane and their kind) should not count against him. On first hearing Buckley's Grace, time stopped as one drank in the miracle of its beauty?a kind of unbearable ecstasy that recurred throughout his modest body of work, not least on the sorely under-appreciated Sketches For My Sweetheart, The Drunk. Posturing as Buckley could be, music oozed from his every pore. The sweet pain of "Grace"and "Last Goodbye" remain an aural elixir for all true rock romantics. Ten years on and remastered, Grace sounds more swoopingly lyrical and breathlessly eclectic than ever. "Lilac Wine" is soppy, and the take on Britten's "Corpus Christi Carol"is mannered, but the soaring assurance of the rest? Zep echoes, Asiatic strings, Leonard Cohen cover and all?belies the album's short gestation. Eclectic isn't the half of the Legacy Edition's second CD. Here we have Buckley the chameleon having a stab at Hank Williams, Nina Simone, Alex Chilton?even the MC5's "Kick Out The Jams". It all sort of works, too, complementing two versions of "Dream Brother" and one of "Eternal Life"?as well as "Forget Her", a sorrowful near-classic and this set's "You Know You're Right". Finally, there's a DVD featuring the four Grace videos, a new clip for "Forget Her", and a doc on the making of the album?complete with footage of Buckley and band working on it at Bearsville's Studio A. "I'm an easily distracted person,"Buckley admits as he wanders through Bearsville's back roads in Ernie Fritz's footage. "So this is great."It was great. And it produced some of the most thrilling music of our time.

As grunge lay flailing in the rain of Seattle, the last thing anyone expected was a bona fide prodigy appearing, messiah-like, to save the day for passionate melodic intensity. But that’s precisely what Jeff Buckley did 10 years ago. The fact that his legacy has been a regrettable line of mewling Brit impostors (Coldplay, Keane and their kind) should not count against him. On first hearing Buckley’s Grace, time stopped as one drank in the miracle of its beauty?a kind of unbearable ecstasy that recurred throughout his modest body of work, not least on the sorely under-appreciated Sketches For My Sweetheart, The Drunk. Posturing as Buckley could be, music oozed from his every pore. The sweet pain of “Grace”and “Last Goodbye” remain an aural elixir for all true rock romantics. Ten years on and remastered, Grace sounds more swoopingly lyrical and breathlessly eclectic than ever. “Lilac Wine” is soppy, and the take on Britten’s “Corpus Christi Carol”is mannered, but the soaring assurance of the rest? Zep echoes, Asiatic strings, Leonard Cohen cover and all?belies the album’s short gestation.

Eclectic isn’t the half of the Legacy Edition’s second CD. Here we have Buckley the chameleon having a stab at Hank Williams, Nina Simone, Alex Chilton?even the MC5’s “Kick Out The Jams”. It all sort of works, too, complementing two versions of “Dream Brother” and one of “Eternal Life”?as well as “Forget Her”, a sorrowful near-classic and this set’s “You Know You’re Right”.

Finally, there’s a DVD featuring the four Grace videos, a new clip for “Forget Her”, and a doc on the making of the album?complete with footage of Buckley and band working on it at Bearsville’s Studio A. “I’m an easily distracted person,”Buckley admits as he wanders through Bearsville’s back roads in Ernie Fritz’s footage. “So this is great.”It was great. And it produced some of the most thrilling music of our time.

Antony And The Johnsons

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Marrying the ambisexual slap of Leigh Bowery to the anguished croon of Nina Simone, Warholier-than-thou NYC diva Antony's 1997 debut begins at the peak of melodrama and doesn't flag. Through emotional atrocities and raptures, it's a vertiginous suite composed for strings, woodwind and extraordinary voice. It'd take a stony heart not to chuckle at the flamboyant grief of it all, but when he hits the right note (as on "Cripple And The Starfish"), Antony fans the embers of torch song thrillingly.

Marrying the ambisexual slap of Leigh Bowery to the anguished croon of Nina Simone, Warholier-than-thou NYC diva Antony’s 1997 debut begins at the peak of melodrama and doesn’t flag. Through emotional atrocities and raptures, it’s a vertiginous suite composed for strings, woodwind and extraordinary voice. It’d take a stony heart not to chuckle at the flamboyant grief of it all, but when he hits the right note (as on “Cripple And The Starfish”), Antony fans the embers of torch song thrillingly.

Crime – San Francisco’s Still Doomed

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Far from New York, America's West Coast punks were struggling just to be heard back in '76. At their forefront were Crime, four greasers in cop uniforms whose bile-spattered extrapolations of The Stooges and rockabilly provided a San Franciscan correlative to The Ramones. Largely ignored during their lifetime, Crime's legend is justified by this expanded reissue of a 1992 compilation: two thrillingly crude demo sessions that are the closest they ever came to an album. The "Hot Wire My Heart"debut single (memorably covered by Sonic Youth) is essential, too: reckless, indignant, the very dumb essence of rock'n'roll.

Far from New York, America’s West Coast punks were struggling just to be heard back in ’76. At their forefront were Crime, four greasers in cop uniforms whose bile-spattered extrapolations of The Stooges and rockabilly provided a San Franciscan correlative to The Ramones.

Largely ignored during their lifetime, Crime’s legend is justified by this expanded reissue of a 1992 compilation: two thrillingly crude demo sessions that are the closest they ever came to an album. The “Hot Wire My Heart”debut single (memorably covered by Sonic Youth) is essential, too: reckless, indignant, the very dumb essence of rock’n’roll.

Various Artists – Sean Rowley’s Guilty Pleasures

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Never mind the canon; here's the fodder. Rowley's BBC London show celebrates the anti-cool?the less credible '70s songs blown away by punk. White men with bad hair made fine records even then, and this knows its Blue-Eyed Naff. Alessi's sweet "Oh Lori", Andy Kim's growly "Rock Me Gently", Sherbert's "Howzat"?giants all of the one-hit-wonder game. Colin Blunstone's "Say You Don't Mind", ELO's "Sweet Talkin' Woman"?if only these artists would accept they'll never do better. All this plus gems by 10cc, Pilot and Jim Gilstrap. The people's album of the year.

Never mind the canon; here’s the fodder. Rowley’s BBC London show celebrates the anti-cool?the less credible ’70s songs blown away by punk. White men with bad hair made fine records even then, and this knows its Blue-Eyed Naff. Alessi’s sweet “Oh Lori”, Andy Kim’s growly “Rock Me Gently”, Sherbert’s “Howzat”?giants all of the one-hit-wonder game. Colin Blunstone’s “Say You Don’t Mind”, ELO’s “Sweet Talkin’ Woman”?if only these artists would accept they’ll never do better. All this plus gems by 10cc, Pilot and Jim Gilstrap. The people’s album of the year.

Julie Driscoll – Brian Auger & The Trinity

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Driscoll fronted Brian Auger's Trinity on these two albums, which are still undiminished in spirit and style. The instrumentals pack a real punch, led by Auger's Hammond, although his occasional vocals are weak. But Joolz is the star, moving effortlessly from blues and soul to gospel and freeform jazz pyrotechnics that recall Tim Buckley's Starsailor. Streetnoise is still truly adventurous in scope, while Open adds three non-album singles, including the atmospheric "This Wheel's On Fire"and its unsuccessful follow-up, David Ackles'"Road To Cairo".

Driscoll fronted Brian Auger’s Trinity on these two albums, which are still undiminished in spirit and style. The instrumentals pack a real punch, led by Auger’s Hammond, although his occasional vocals are weak. But Joolz is the star, moving effortlessly from blues and soul to gospel and freeform jazz pyrotechnics that recall Tim Buckley’s Starsailor. Streetnoise is still truly adventurous in scope, while Open adds three non-album singles, including the atmospheric “This Wheel’s On Fire”and its unsuccessful follow-up, David Ackles'”Road To Cairo”.

Frank Zappa – Joe’s Corsage

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The first of hopefully many raids on the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen brings together a bunch of 1965 demos recorded by the original Mothers quintet (Zappa, Collins, Vestine, Estrada, Black), three tracks from an early live gig in California and further demos from the same band (minus Henry Vestine). The live tracks, which include The Righteous Brothers' "My Babe" and Marvin Gaye's "Hitch Hike", show that the Mothers were never going to make a living as a convincing covers band. The pre-Freak Out material manages to sound both polite and sleazy: you can just hear them bristling to break into "...Brain Police" or "Trouble Every Day".

The first of hopefully many raids on the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen brings together a bunch of 1965 demos recorded by the original Mothers quintet (Zappa, Collins, Vestine, Estrada, Black), three tracks from an early live gig in California and further demos from the same band (minus Henry Vestine).

The live tracks, which include The Righteous Brothers’ “My Babe” and Marvin Gaye’s “Hitch Hike”, show that the Mothers were never going to make a living as a convincing covers band.

The pre-Freak Out material manages to sound both polite and sleazy: you can just hear them bristling to break into “…Brain Police” or “Trouble Every Day”.

Lou Rawls – I Can’t Make It Alone; The David Axelrod Years

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With a voice like childhood friend Sam Cooke's, Rawls'career covered soul, gospel, jazz and...Budweiser ads. But his '60s work with producer David Axelrod is among his finest, a loose-limbed soul captured here in all its raw glory. Interpretations of Donovan's "Season Of The Witch"or Stephen Stills'"For What It's Worth"are great introductions to his versatile voice. Rawls'laid-back passion and Axelrod's groovy production are invaluable additions to fans of both artists. A match for the legendary Stateside's Axelrod and Minnie Ripperton retrospectives.

With a voice like childhood friend Sam Cooke’s, Rawls’career covered soul, gospel, jazz and…Budweiser ads. But his ’60s work with producer David Axelrod is among his finest, a loose-limbed soul captured here in all its raw glory. Interpretations of Donovan’s “Season Of The Witch”or Stephen Stills'”For What It’s Worth”are great introductions to his versatile voice. Rawls’laid-back passion and Axelrod’s groovy production are invaluable additions to fans of both artists. A match for the legendary Stateside’s Axelrod and Minnie Ripperton retrospectives.

Capital Gains

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Time could well have been up for The Clash when they came to make their third album in 1979. The 'Class of '76' backlash was in full swing, an ill-conceived sophomore outing, Give 'Em Enough Rope, still cast an ominous shadow, and a new breed of electro/industrialist art rockers were preparing to invade the capital. As Strummer recalls in the Last Testament documentary (once mooted as the LP title itself), hard work and team spirit were the qualities that marked the fight back. Under siege, The Clash hunkered down in the Vanilla rehearsal rooms to road-test the sketches of songs that would become the rebel rockers' revenge. There's some that didn't make it: their cover of Matumbi's version of Dylan's "The Man In Me". Then there's the title track with different lyrics and elementary sound effects and "Guns Of Brixton", then the instrumental "Paul's Tune". The Vanilla Tapes are a valuable addition to the Clash mythology, the grit and grime of a band sparring in the ring. But, ultimately, they just make the supercharged, customised and invincible finished masterpiece sound greater than ever. This is rock 'n' roll brimming with swagger and verve, drawing inspiration from the outside world but also Strummer/Jones' inner life ("I'm Not Down") and childhood memories ("Lost In The Supermarket"). Elsewhere?"Jimmy Jazz", "Hateful", "Rudie Can't Fail", "Death Or Glory"?losers, smackheads, rude boys and child-beaters burst into life, tackled with rage, grim humour and compassion. The end of the '70s zeitgeist?fear, paranoia and the rise of the right wing?induces the title track's impassioned call to arms and the defiant "Clampdown". Brilliantly sequenced so that the songs and characters smash into and cross-reference each other, London Calling engages soul riffs, reggae beats and vintage rock 'n' roll as a band of true blood brothers define their battle-scarred universe. As remarkable now as it was 25 years ago.

Time could well have been up for The Clash when they came to make their third album in 1979. The ‘Class of ’76’ backlash was in full swing, an ill-conceived sophomore outing, Give ‘Em Enough Rope, still cast an ominous shadow, and a new breed of electro/industrialist art rockers were preparing to invade the capital. As Strummer recalls in the Last Testament documentary (once mooted as the LP title itself), hard work and team spirit were the qualities that marked the fight back.

Under siege, The Clash hunkered down in the Vanilla rehearsal rooms to road-test the sketches of songs that would become the rebel rockers’ revenge. There’s some that didn’t make it: their cover of Matumbi’s version of Dylan’s “The Man In Me”. Then there’s the title track with different lyrics and elementary sound effects and “Guns Of Brixton”, then the instrumental “Paul’s Tune”.

The Vanilla Tapes are a valuable addition to the Clash mythology, the grit and grime of a band sparring in the ring. But, ultimately, they just make the supercharged, customised and invincible finished masterpiece sound greater than ever. This is rock ‘n’ roll brimming with swagger and verve, drawing inspiration from the outside world but also Strummer/Jones’ inner life (“I’m Not Down”) and childhood memories (“Lost In The Supermarket”). Elsewhere?”Jimmy Jazz”, “Hateful”, “Rudie Can’t Fail”, “Death Or Glory”?losers, smackheads, rude boys and child-beaters burst into life, tackled with rage, grim humour and compassion.

The end of the ’70s zeitgeist?fear, paranoia and the rise of the right wing?induces the title track’s impassioned call to arms and the defiant “Clampdown”. Brilliantly sequenced so that the songs and characters smash into and cross-reference each other, London Calling engages soul riffs, reggae beats and vintage rock ‘n’ roll as a band of true blood brothers define their battle-scarred universe. As remarkable now as it was 25 years ago.

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