A Distant Shore’ is a much loved indie classic. Freshly mastered at Abbey Road Studios with new sleeve-notes penned by Tracey, this 2024 edition is available on both vinyl and CD, a beautifully presented reminder of the album’s elemental beauty.
Released to critical acclaim on Cherry Red back in September 1982, Tracey's debut solo album is full of engaging, melodic tunes and heartfelt lyrics delivered with her distinctive warm vocals. Recorded for just £138 in a studio in a garden shed when she was a 19-year-old first-year student at Hull University, it is an astonishing demonstration of Tracey's songwriting talent, stripped down to vocal and semi-acoustic guitar.

STUNNING TRIPLE DISC SET FEATURING THE FINEST BROADCAST RECORDINGS MADE DURING ROBERT PLANT S LENGTHY CAREER Born in 1948, Robert Plant s best-known role has been as the Rock-God frontman of Led Zeppelin between 1968 and 1980. But Plant s musical career both before and, more significantly, after Zep has been intriguing, and this 3-CD Set now celebrates all eras of Bob Plant s trajectory by bringing together live and studio broadcast recordings, as a solo-artist, as part of the Page & Plant Duo, and as main-man in Led Zeppelin. Kicking off with a solo-show, on DISC ONE Plant s astonishing set at Glastonbury Festival in 1993 is often hailed as Robert s finest ever solo-performance, and is presented here in all its complete glory. DISC TWO features an extraordinary gig Bob, alongside his old mucker, Jimmy Page, played together under their Page & Plant moniker, at the Bizarre Festival in Koln, Germany in 1998, while the set concludes on DISC THREE with a real treat. Eighteen Tracks that Led Zeppelin recorded for the BBC in 1969, all of which were broadcast by the BEEB at the time, when Led Zep were but a little known new blues band, playing the London circuit.

The Collected Cat Stevens is a three-disc box set that by no means eclipses the four-disc package released in 2001, bit does give it a good run for its money. Largely chronological, but oddly relegating some of Stevens' earliest hits to the end of the final disc, the box opens and closes with two of his most emotive numbers, the hit "Lady D'Arbanville," and the questioning "Father and Son," first heard in their familiar studio form, and then as live recordings. In between times, a total of 54 tracks bounces through Stevens career, from "Matthew & Son" through to "*"Midday (Avoid City After Dark)," credited to the singer's latter-day Yusuf Islam identity, and it's difficult to pick fault with any of the inclusions – even those which, like "Moonshadow," "Morning Has Broken" and, indeed, "Father and Son," are so tweely saccharin that it seems incredible anybody ever took them seriously. They did, though, and Stevens remains one of the few early-'70s singer/songwriters whose ouvre continues to attract new listeners with every passing generation. This smartly projected box will only add to their numbers.

With her hauntingly beautiful album, "Parallelograms," Linda Perhacs offers each listener a stunning gift: a magical journey into the world of psychedelic folk music as the gods meant it to be. Her lyrics and music mirror a love of nature, along with the personal and most intimate parts of her soul. Listening to her, one is continually struck by the perfection of Linda's voice; you cannot help being emotionally moved. This wonderful CD personifies perfection…with taste, warmth, sensitivity, feeling, perception, and all the womanly virtues…

Idaho-bred singer/songwriter Josh Ritter's V2 Records debut follows in the footsteps of 2003's Hello Starling only in instrumentation. While he retains his literate tongue and expressive voice, there is far less humor on Animal Years than on his previous two outings. Producer Brian Deck (Iron & Wine, Modest Mouse) keeps Animal Years intimate but transient, like a circus train crawling through a small town on a busy Saturday afternoon. Essentially built around two startlingly affecting diatribes on the war in Iraq, Ritter utilizes the voices of Peter and Paul, as well as Laurel & Hardy, to eke some kind of explanation from both the Administration and the Creator.

Hello Starling is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Josh Ritter. As Ritter's previous albums have done, Hello Starling was compared to other Americana greats such as Woody Guthrie, Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan, and Leonard Cohen. His voice on the album was described as smooth with sleepy, rough edges. George Graham praised the lyrics and vocal delivery. Hello Starling was reissued on January 17, 2010 as a two-disc Deluxe Edition. The Deluxe Edition includes the complete original studio album and a second bonus disc. The bonus disc contains solo acoustic versions of all the original tracks (re-recorded by Ritter in Nashville of June 2008) as well as four live bonus tracks, an introduction by Dennis Lehane, and a full color lyric and photo booklet with never-before-seen photos.

By the time Joni Mitchell made The Hissing of Summer Lawns, she had already entered the pantheon of the greats, with albums that can be talked about in casual conversation without having to say the artist (Court and Spark, Blue, Ladies of the Canyon, et al.). But the pioneering work in alt-folk and self-confessional singer-songwriting done, she started pushing her music in radical directions, incorporating jazz, African music (which was hard to actually hear in the States in the ‘70s) and a new, sprawling vision of pop music into her fold. The first moment that all those styles converge and lift Mitchell off into some new vista is The Hissing of Summer Lawns, an album we believe to be her masterpiece, an album that has tendrils of influence that are still being felt today. Remastered by Ryan Smith at 2xLP 45RPM from original tapes, this edition has to be heard to be believed.

Since its debut in October 1975, Saturday Night Live has always prominently featured musical acts and during its lengthy history, there have been a number of remarkable performances – so many, as a matter of fact, that it's hard to believe that a collection of musical highlights wasn't released until the fall of 1999. Two volumes of musical performances containing 15 tracks apiece, were released simultaneously that year, purportedly to celebrate SNL's 25th anniversary (yes, it actually coincided with their 24th birthday, but jumping the gun is part of the show's history – they celebrated their 20th anniversary on their 19th). Given that so much music has aired on the show, it's inevitable that some favorites are missing – whether it's the Replacements' legendary drunken appearance or Simon & Garfunkel's reunion. Still, most of the featured tracks on Saturday Night Live: 25 Years, Vol. 1 are pretty great. The most notorious of all is Elvis Costello's "Radio Radio," which he performed after being warned by the network not to sing it, but it's not the only highlight here – Paul Simon's "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes," Sting's "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You," Jewel's "Who Will Save Your Soul," Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way," Tom Petty's "Honey Bee," the Grateful Dead's "Casey Jones," Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young," David Bowie's "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)," and Randy Newman's "I Love LA" are all worth the price of admission. It is true that the collection leans a little too heavily on '90s material (which makes sense, since it was released in the '90s), but as the start of a (hopefully) long-running series of compilations, it's very good indeed.

One of the long-standing collaborations of the British folk revival, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn's Bert and John sees the masterful Pentangle guitarists sparing together through their trademark steel-string guitar styles. Their respective solo careers established them both as leading troubadours of British Isles folk, with little debate and few peers, besides maybe Wizz Jones and Ralph McTell. On this album the duo finds good company in each other's techniques, which are quite indistinguishable in both guitar playing and singing through traditional adaptations, blues, and originals in the Anglo-folk style. The duo plays beautifully together in a candid setting.

The 101 Strings Orchestra established a reputation as one of the finest ensembles in the easy listening genre. Yet the group actually never existed as a performing orchestra: it was a recording-only ensemble made up of musicians whose personnel often changed from one recording to the next. Moreover, many early albums released under the name 101 Strings were actually reissues of recordings made by such groups as the Rio Carnival Orchestra, New World Orchestra, and others. Under its now-familiar name, more than 100 recordings were issued by two labels – both of which owned the name, hired the players in the ensemble, and, most importantly, provided for the music arrangements that have been crucial to maintaining the orchestra's familiar sound – a dreamy, silken sound not dissimilar to that of Mantovani.

Another great concert from the successful WDR Rockpalast series, recorded live on March 17, 1978 at Audiomax, Hamburg (Germany) - plus bonus track "Look At That Girl" from "Die Aktuelle Stunde" (WDR) from October 12, 1989!- John Martyn's impassioned vocals and dazzling guitar make this an extraordinary concert performance

18 tracks live at the Panama Club 2004. Tracks include 'Angel', 'Turn The World' & 'Sleepwalking'.

Long after most '60s icons have tarnished or dropped from sight, Melanie shows undimmed allegiance on Crazy Love to the utopianism that nourished the music of that era. Her voice projects somewhat fractured yet gloriously expressive power throughout this album, even as she lampoons herself on a loony remake of "Brand New Key." She resorts to spoken monologues where her message apparently feels especially urgent, but whether admonishing listeners to "make a little difference" over a rousing gospel outro on "Till They All Get Home," delivering a somewhat indulgent self-analysis on "I Can Do This…," or imitating a snooty Bohemian suspicious of people who, as the song title says, simply "Smile," her idealism proves disarming again and again. Melanie's new songs are solidly crafted and deftly performed by a band in which her son, Beau Jarred Schekeryk, shows an astonishing flamenco-like virtuosity. At times his pyrotechnics feel a little extraneous, but because he restricts himself to acoustic guitar they never overwhelm the arrangement. On balance, Crazy Love, with its gushy emotion, goofy humor, and exuberant vocals, illuminates Melanie as an artist of integrity, whose occasional interpretive excesses only make her more endearing.

Melanie Singer and songwriter Melanie rose to fame in the late 1960s, making her breakthrough with an appearance at the 1969 Woodstock Music & Art Fair, the rock festival that came to typify the hippie ethos of the era. While Melanie certainly seemed like a flower child in both creative vision and temperament, her singular blend of folk-rock, art song, purposefully playfully pop, and daringly personal introspection set her apart from her peers, delivered with a smokey, quavering passion that made her more serious numbers all the more incisive. 1970's Candles in the Rain – which included the singles "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" and "Ruby Tuesday" – would become her commercial breakthrough and defining work. 1971's Gather Me, which included the number one hit "Brand New Key," would prove to be her best-remembered album, but she was remarkably prolific, recording and performing well into the 2020s and never straying far from the creative vision that gave her an audience.

Begun as an acoustic spinoff of the Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna eventually became the full-time focus of founding members Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen, emerging as a popular touring act of the 1970s. The two were lifelong friends, growing up together in Washington, D.C., and playing in the group the Triumphs. After high school, guitarist Kaukonen and his government-service parents relocated to the Philippines, but he returned to the U.S. in time for the advent of psychedelia, landing in San Francisco and co-founding the Airplane in 1965. Bassist Casady joined not long after, and together they helped lead the group to massive success during the late '60s. Hot Tuna – originally dubbed Hot Sh*t, much to the chagrin of their label, RCA – first began taking shape in 1969, while both Casady and Kaukonen were still active members of the Jefferson Airplane; in fact, their first performances were sandwiched between regular Airplane gigs.