Two CD compilation featuring the complete Capital Records recordings from this Bay Area band. Recorded between 1970-72, this set includes their three albums Joy Of Cooking, Closer To The Ground and Castles. Joy Of Cooking were formed in Berkeley (San Francisco Bay Area) during the hippie era (1967). Their fusion sound, incorporating folk, rock, jazz, gospel and blues, had little in common with acid-rock: it heralded a new era of "creativity" and of stylistic re-evalutation. One of the first bands led by female musicians, and one of the earliest to deal with feminist issues within popular music, the Joy Of Cooking were led by pianist Toni Brown (who had graduated in creative writing) and guitarist Terry Garthwaite (a folk-singer and an aspiring sociologist). The three-unit rhythm section, on the other hand, was entirely male.

High energy, focused show from the 11,000 space of UIC, Chicago. After a rocky '86 the band seem to be finding their groove again. From the Bucket-Sugaree opener through Loser, Touch of Grey, Terrapin & Wharf Rat the vibe is maintained and the sound quality from the WXRT-FM broadcast is top-notch.

Broadcast from the Auditorium Theater, Chicago, Illinois on Tuesday, June 29th, 1976 by WXRT-FM. A Laid back, mellow outing in pristine sound quality. A definite contender for best of '76. A consistently good show with rare Jed opener and a teasing Sipplication jam. Silky, smooth groove throughout.

The Modey Lemon's Phil Boyd (guitars, Moogs, vocals) and Paul Quattrone (drums) invited Jason Kirker to join the band on bass and keys after he produced Thunder + Lightning. But that's not the only change on 2005's Curious City. In the band's earlier work, Boyd sang in a slithering rasp that matched Modey's blues-punk skuzz ably, if only satisfactorily. But on City his suddenly clearer vocals are the key hinge to mounting blasts of hellacious Moog noise and weird melodies that slink from under the belly of classic rock & roll. (On Curious they're weird even when quiet, as the downcast Animals redux "Countries" proves.) The background of "Fingers, Drains" warbles in heat and melting instrument noises, and Boyd's vocal on it is downright sultry. Meanwhile "Sleep Walkers" is some of the most efficient music Modey Lemon's ever made; it sounds like a lost Golden Earring B-side with its throbbing bass and insistent drum clap.

Credited to Merrell & the Exiles, this is a selection of rarities and unreleased material by Merrell Wayne Fankhauser's mid-'60s band, essentially the one that cut the great rare psych-folk-rock album that was credited to Fapardokly. It's pretty much a collection of outtakes with a few rare non-LP singles thrown in, and as such doesn't measure up to the best of Fankhauser's '60s material. Often derivative of the British Invasion, folk-rock, and early '60s teen pop, it's not bad, just not terribly memorable…

4-CD set presents radio recordings from various band phases from 1967 (Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco) to 1972 (Aragon Ballroom, Chicago / without Jim Morrison) and presented band classics such as »Light My Fire«, "The End," "People Are Strange," "Touch Me," "Moonlight Drive," "Wishful Sinful," "Roadhouse Blues," "When The Music's Over," "Five To One" and "Break On Through.

Something of an anomaly on the Sub Pop roster, the Supersuckers bore a limited surface resemblance to grunge, but they were a party band at heart, donning cowboy hats and kicking out a gleefully trashy brand of throttling, rockabilly-flavored garage punk. Their lyrics were a raucous, over-the-top celebration of all the attendant evils of rock & roll – sex, booze, drugs, Satan, and whatever other vices the band could think of, all glorified with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Save for an abrupt and temporary detour into hardcore honky tonk, their approach stayed relatively consistent through the '90s, as did their quality control.

3x RADIO BROADCASTS ON 3 CDs - CAPTURING DIFFERENT ERAS OF THE CAPTAIN S CAREER Noted for his powerful singing voice with its wide range, Van Vliet also played the harmonica, saxophone and numerous other wind instruments. The group drew attention with their cover of Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy", which became a regional hit. It was followed by their acclaimed debut album Safe as Milk, released in 1967 on Buddah Records. The first disc in this set concentrates on this period of Beefheart s career, featuring a radio broadcast of a live performance at The Avalon Ballroom in 1966, and a number of other tracks from various radio sessions from 1967 and 1968. By 1974, six albums in and frustrated by a lack of commercial success, Beefheart released two records of more conventional rock music that at the time were critically panned.

Little Bitch is the third album by Tito & Tarantula, released in 2000. It was the band's first album not to feature bassist Jennifer Condos, and showed a major departure from their former style. Instead, they now incorporated the use of synthesizer moog pedals, giving the music a much stronger pop-rock sound. In addition, they recruited the assistance of several female backing vocalists on most songs, instead of relying on the other band members to back up Tito Larriva's vocals. This musical element is something the band also featured on their next album, 2002's Andalucia, which featured bassist Io Perry singing backing vocals on almost every song…

Channeling the lessons of the experimental Porcupine into more conventional and simple structural parameters, Ocean Rain emerges as Echo & the Bunnymen's most beautiful and memorable effort. Ornamenting Ian McCulloch's most consistently strong collection of songs to date with subdued guitar textures, sweeping string arrangements, and hauntingly evocative production, the album is dramatic and majestic; "The Killing Moon," Ocean Rain's emotional centerpiece, remains the group's unrivalled pinnacle. The 2003 reissue of Ocean Rain features improved sound, new liner notes, loads of photos, and a wealth of bonus tracks. The bulk of the bonus tracks is made up of the Life at Brian's sessions, which found the band playing some of their "hits" like "The Killing Moon," "Stars Are Stars," "Silver," and "Villiers Terrace," as well as a faithful cover of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" in a relaxed, acoustic but still very dramatic setting.

Although released in 1971, the debut self-titled album by Spirit of John Morgan was actually recorded two years earlier, before the spirit of the '60s dissipated into the excesses of the '70s. But even back in 1969, the British quartet were already fish out of water, gasping for R&B in a Technicolor age of psychedelia. So they created their own, an entire album's worth of strong, shadowed, R&B numbers underlit by magnificent musicianship and powerful rhythms. The set opener, a menacing cover of Graham Bond's "I Want You," is a case in point, stalker-like in its intensity, with John Morgan's organ conjuring up a phantom of the opera from which there is no escape.

One of the best heavy guitar driven psych/prog albums from 1974! The album consists of six long tracks with a decidedly heavy guitar-based vibe. Here's an interesting obscurity that mixes two really long moody songs and some shorter hard-rockers. The long songs have definite anthemic quality, and there's some cool guitar, organ and synth soloing: plenty of wah-wah and freaky noises. Most of this is blues-based, most of it riff-oriented. Neither the short or long songs are structured in a particularly complex way. Both are vehicles for jamming.

Reissue of very obscure Doors-ish trippy psychedelic rocker with organs from 1969. A superb example of psychedelic rock within a jazzy framework. Fantastic Hammond and guitar leads.

KURT VILE: We ran into each other on the road in various continents and talked about the recordings. I guess it wasn’t till i had another tour booked for the following summer in Australia that we thought we should record as much as we can, no major goal to make it a full length but it came together that way because the vibe was so strong. I love working with Courtney, the collaboration was laid back with less pressure.

HEAVEN AND EARTH were an American female duo formed in 1969 in Pennsylvania, moving on to New York and existing through regional touring until their dissolution in 1974. The group released one album ('Refuge') in 1973 to critical acclaim but little commercial success…