The debut from Youngstown, Ohio rockers Poobah introduced listeners to the power trio's hard and heavy approach to rock & roll along with a certain degree of silliness employed that helped distinguish Poobah from the many no-nonsense American heavy rock bands of the time…

Featuring compositions and arrangements by film composer and jazz buff Michel Legrand, Stan Getz's Communications '72 is one in a long line of strings-and-voices albums the tenor saxophonist recorded. Starting with a Gunther Schuller-arranged session from 1955, Getz produced some impressive work in this context, with the incredible Eddie Sauter collaboration Focus standing out in particular. And even in the midst of some not-so-incredible backing on a few sets, Getz always comes up with impeccable solo statements. For his part, Legrand strikes an expert balance here among jazz combo, strings, and chorus, but the frenetic Swingle Singers-style choral parts don't always come off. While overpowering Getz on the otherwise lovely "Redemption," the vocal interjections sound too overarching in their mix of avant-garde and straightforward phrasing on "Outhouse Blues" and "Bonjour Tristesse"…

Progressive psychedelic hard rock from the land of the rising sun, how cool is that? Outstanding wailing guitar by Naruml Shigeru throughout makes this a very solid release…

No matter how many times you listen to Flied Egg's first album `Dr Siegel's Fried Egg Shooting Machine' from 1972, you're still going to be scratching your head trying to figure out where even a second of the album hints that the band are from Japan! Not only do they sing in English (superbly too), but they draw a lot of influence from British bands like Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath, as well as the pop music from that country of the previous decade…

One of the most determinative rock/pop groups of Hungary. Due to their local impact, they were sometimes dubbed "The Hungarian Beatles". The band started in 1957 as a family music band. After many member changes (and also musical changes), the final line-up was formed in 1965 and they started to write their own songs, many of them appeared in films. After many 7" singles and co-productions, their first own LP was released in 1968. They combined folk music elements with the (then) latest pop/rock trends and succeeded to be unique with their sound. They maintained their success through 4 LPs until their disbanding in 1973. They have also recorded songs in English and German language and also toured Western Europe and UK when they were active - rare privilege for bands from behind the iron curtain.

This was a short lived, but essential band in the annals of what's called the Canterbury Sound, created by British progressive ensembles in the late sixties and early seventies. The band was formed when Robert Wyatt was ousted from Soft Machine, which he'd founded in the mid-sixties. "Matching Mole" was a wonderful debut that included tracks such as 'O Caroline', 'Signed Curtain' and 'Part of the Dance'. This edition has been newly remastered from the original master tapes and is expanded to include five previously unreleased studio session alternate takes, the single versions of 'O Caroline' and 'Signed Curtain', along with two BBC Radio One sessions from 1972.ю.

For the uninitiated, NRBQ is an oddity. How does one, for instance, approach a band who sings a song like "Howard Johnson's Got His Ho-Jo Working?" The answer may be, "not very seriously," but then another problem reveals itself: the songs are so catchy…

Riff Raff, co-led by Brit keyboard boss Tommy Eyre and bassist Roger Sutton, grew out of the Mark-Almond Band. Before meeting Jon Mark, Eyre had played with Joe Cocker's Grease Band. The pair decided to form solo projects while with Mark-Almond, and recruited vocalist Alan Marshall, drummer Kenny Slade, and guitarist Martin Ball. This lineup was never formalized, though they had recorded demos and even finished some tracks for a debut album for Richard Branson. The amalgam of jazz, rock, and soul was intoxicating and was a fine emotional alternative to the Canterbury bands, which were much more concerned with complexity than groove. The music included here features all seven of those original finished tracks as well as the first four recordings of the final band lineup after Marshall and Slade left.

Starting as a five-piece folk-band, Dando Shaft initiated a completely unique mixture of acoustic folk with driving rhythms and impeccable inventive musicianship. The lyrics are largely concerned with the relationship between man and nature. They marvel in complicated structures and textures and are able to weave very intricate patterns, especially between mandolin (played in a highly original manner), guitar and violin. Very characteristic is also the combination of hand-beaten percussion and double-bass. After a change of label they acquired the services of a female singer, Polly Bolton, who had a pure and very expressive voice.

It's wonderful to finally have an official release of the late Judee Sill's recordings done for the BBC during 1972 and 1973. They have been bootlegged for years, passed from person to person among the – then few – faithful on ragged umpteenth-generation cassettes…