P.P. Arnold - The First Cut: The Immediate Anthology 2001

Shortly after arriving in London, it wasn't long until the hip, young, beautiful singer Pat Arnold (who'd just quit the Ikettes) was approached by entrepreneur Loog Oldham to record for his fledgling Immediate label. Britain -- its musical artists in particular -- had been won over by the soulful black sounds of America. The up-tempo beat of Motown and Atlantic had increasingly been filling dancefloors, and even the Top 30; it was time for the one-time Tina Turner backup artist to stand up on her own. A wise move! Arnold's signing in late 1967 was perfect timing. The First Cut (originally released in 1998, now remastered and featuring two bonus tracks) pulls all of Arnold's Immediate material neatly together in one package -- strangely, other than "The First Cut Is the Deepest" (1967) and "Angel of the Morning" (1968), few of these recordings dented the British Top 30. However, in retrospect, the perfect combination of husky-voiced American soul, U.K. mod beat, Bacharach-flavored balladry, and Oldham's obsession with the bombastic production techniques of his hero Phil Spector is a pleasure to hear and a wonderful hybrid. This material has a unique sound and feeling, which draws it apart from the "want to be" club soul acts that graced the nation throughout the period. From the ice-cold version of "The First Cut Is the Deepest" to the incredible Small Faces collaboration "(If You Think You're) Groovy," these 28 cuts of mid- to late-'60s cross-pollination are a wonderful example of what happened when America and England met. AMG.

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Backyard Tire Fire - Good to be 2010

In the decade they've been on the road, Backyard Tire Fire has called many small towns home -- Ashville NC, Athens GA, and currently, Bloomington IL. Staying away from the centers of the music biz has served them well. They've never been tied down to any particular scene, so the songwriting of head man Ed Anderson and the playing of the rhythm section -- brother Matt Anderson on bass and drummer Tim Kramp -- is free to range far and wide, covering the rock spectrum from roots rock to Brit-pop. The small town vibe also permeates the band's lyrics and attitude, giving the tunes a working-class veracity that puts them in the company of populist artists like Springsteen and Bob Seger, able to shine a light on the small heroic moments of everyday life without any self-consciously arty moves. This is especially notable on the songs Anderson writes about life on the road with a touring band. Most writers who attempt to chronicle the misadventures of the rock & roll life string together tired clichés hoping that the very fact that they're in a band will give the tunes some oomph. Not Anderson. "Road Song #39" opens the album with a slow, bluesy grind augmented by some simple organ fills laid down by Steve Berlin. It's a sweaty, nasty tune, with a warts-and-all look at life on the road and Berlin's organ adding a hint of roadhouse R&B. The sound is still rooted in country and roots rock, but Berlin(Los Lobos) has pushed the band out of their comfort zone without messing with their winning combination. Berlinplays piano on "Good to Be," another glimpse of road life without any romantic illusions, and a sinister tune that sounds like it comes from the midway tent of a dark carnival. Bleeding fingers from crappy guitar strings, not getting paid, and cars that just barely get them from gig to gig are dismissed as "a minor inconvenience," because they're just happy to be playing music, although Anderson's vocal ironic vocal is less than enthusiastic. "A Thousand Gigs Ago" is a slow, melodic rocker that could have been written by Ian Hunter, a salute to the mixture of excitement and confusion that makes the touring life addictive. The album's other love songs cover a lot of emotional (and geographical) ground. "Brady" tips hits hat to the music of Tom Petty, but Anderson's vocal style is more sincere. The song tells of a young man looking for "love" in the brothels of Amsterdam with a catchy, singalong chorus and subtle percussion accents from Tim Kramp that lift you up despite the downbeat subject matter. "Estelle" is a story song that sounds like the Eagles backed by the Beatles, a moody tale of a single working mother full of compassion and lush vocal harmonies.Anderson's solo is midway between George Harrison and Don Rich. The most countrified song here is "Hell and Back" although it's disguised as a pop/rock tune. It's a rough-and-tumble love song with a neat lyrical twist and a great, clanging country guitar line. AMG.

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Grateful Dead - Dead Set (Live) 1981

The Grateful Dead mined two separate double-album sets from their 15th anniversary shows at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco and Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Because of the special nature of these shows -- which included the first acoustic sets that the band had played in almost a decade -- Reckoning was taken from the unplugged performances, and this title was culled from the electric ones. These were the first live albums that the band had issued since the Steal Your Face debacle four years prior, as well as the earliest to feature Brent Mydland(keyboards). More so than any previous live Grateful Dead album, Dead Set attempts to simulate a typical Dead concert -- including a somewhat abbreviated percussion solo ("drums") and free-form instrumental ("space") section. However, because the album is compiled from a number of different concerts, there is not the firmly established continuity that a single performance provides. This was further compounded on domestic U.S. compact disc pressings -- as the ("space") section was judiciously edited to enable the contents to fit onto a single CD. In 2000, a remastered edition was issued in Japan, and the original running order was restored and once again spread over two discs. The set list mixes older and more established favorites such as "Loser," "Candyman," and "Deal" with newer ones ("Fire on the Mountain," "Feel Like a Stranger," and the rarely performed Phil Lesh [bass] composition "Passenger.") Unfortunately, the time limitations inherent in vinyl prohibited the use of any extended improvisation or song couplings. The band also documented their October 31st show -- at Radio City Music Hall -- as a live closed-circuit television special. From that performance, the band's very first home video -- also called Dead Set -- was compiled, which includes a few of the acoustic performances as well. AMG.

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Ramona Falls - Intuit 2009

Portland, OR-based outfit Ramona Falls was formed in 2009 as a solo vehicle for Menomena multi-instrumentalist Brent Knopf. Named in honor of a childhood hiking trail on Mt. Hood, Ramona Falls’ alternately whimsical and brooding blend of electro-acoustic pop and left-field indie rock made its public debut in 2009 with the album Intuit on the Seattle-based Barsuk label. AMG.

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Mr. Pine - Rewilding 2009

It’s appropriate that this Winnipeg band has an honourific in its name, because it certainly deserves respect. Started in 2003 as a collaboration between Matt McLennan and Kevin Scott, Mr. Pine released its debut CD, The Gift of Wolves, in 2006. This follow-up was released last September.  Like its predecessor, the 11-track disc is a combination of English folk, rock, prog, pop and baroque. Standout tracks include the opening ballad Ace of Cups I (“I probably love you,” could very well be one of the best lines of 2008); Glass Petals, in which Scott’s acoustic guitar picking gives way to McLennan’s crushing, distorted power chords and a dual violin/guitar solo; and Sleep of Ondine, which features guest vocals by Alison O’Donnell of ‘70s Irish band Mellow Candle. Unlike many, Mr. Pine is a band that can truly claim to have a unique sound.

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Rephrase - Little Victories 2007

Sydney-based producer Rephrase (real name Jaime Olsen) certainly made quite an impression amongst local nu-funk and breakbeat circles with the release of his debut album ‘Beatcoaster’ two years back on Casa Del Discos, and he certainly hasn’t been idle in the meantime, producing music for television, contributing tracks to compilations such as Creative Vibes’ ‘Evolutionary Vibes 6’ and also somehow finding time to maintain a busy live schedule. This second Rephrase album ‘Little Victories’ follows on the heels of the well-received ‘Boulevard / Good Feelin’’ double-A side 12” earlier this year and emerges through Sydney DJ / journalist Huwston’s Knowfoowl imprint; also the current home of Cookin’ On 3 Burners. It’s also an album that shows Olsen continuing to build on the overseas accolades generated by the release of his debut, taking in a broad range of international collaborations, ranging from Canadian MC Vandal through to NYC-based afrobeat vocalist Negus Shabaka.

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Robert Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders - Singing in the Bathtub 1993

A zany sense of humor fused by a psychedelicized vision made Robert Crumb one of the most influential comic artists of the 1960s. His characters, including Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural, Flakey Froont, and the Vulture Demoness, and his underground comic books, such as Zap Comix, combined elements of social commentary and the British tradition of caricature. His illustrations often graced the covers of record albums, including one for Big Brother & the Holding Company's Cheap Thrills. Comics, however, represented only one side of Crumb's eccentric persona. A clawhammer-style banjo player and vocalist, Crumb led his band, the Cheap Suit Serenaders, through three albums of tongue-in-jowl, early 20th century string band and jazz ditties.

The third of five children born to career Marine Charles Crumb, Sr. and his wife, Crumb started drawing comics at the age of three. As a child, he spent hours drawing comics and was heavily inspired by Mad magazine. In 1962, Crumbaccepted a job drawing greeting cards for American Greetings Corporation in Cleveland. Two years later, he married Dana Morgan and drew the earliest version of Fritz the Cat for Cavalier magazine. A turning point came in 1965 whenCrumb experienced his first trip on LSD. Inspired by the experience, he shifted his artwork to reflect the growing hippie culture. After living temporarily in New York and Chicago, he moved to San Francisco in 1967 and launched Zap Comix. With its pro-drug, pro-free love emphasis, the illustrated magazine was highly provocative. A strip in Zap #4, "Joe Blow," caused several comic stores to be busted on obscenity charges in 1969. The following year, movie producer Ralph Bakshi acquired the rights to Fritz the Cat and produced the first X-rated feature-length film.

Although he continued to be active as a comic illustrator, Crumb suffered several setbacks in the late '70s. His lowest point came in 1977; in addition to having a judge rule that he had no right to the copyright for the slogan "Keep on Truckin'," Crumb was hit with an IRS bill for 30,000 dollars in back taxes and his marriage ended in divorce.Together with accordion player Robert E. Armstrong and mandolinist Allan Dodge, Crumb formed the first version of the Cheap Suit Serenaders in 1972. Over the next six years, the band recorded three albums: The Cheap Suit Serenaders!, Number 2 (reissued as Chasin' Rainbows in 1993), and Number 3 (reissued as Singin' in the Bathtub the same year). The band's third album featured folklorist and guitarist Bob Brozeman. In 1977, Crumband the Cheap Suit Serenaders toured the United States with Tom Paxton,Judy Collins, and Iris Dement.

Crumb's bad luck began to reverse the next year when he married a cartoonist, Alice Kominsky, and moved temporarily to Winters, CA, a suburb outside of Sacramento. In 1990, Crumb's artwork was honored with an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Three years later, he traded six notebooks for a house in the south of France, where he lives with his wife and daughter.

Crumb, a 1995 documentary about Robert Crumb, his work, and his family, received a Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival and was one of the most acclaimed films of that year. AMG.

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Rory Block - Lovin' Whiskey 2009

Aurora "Rory" Block has staked her claim to being one of America's top acoustic blues women, an interpreter of the great Delta blues singers, a slide guitarist par excellence, and a talented songwriter in her own right. Born and raised in Manhattan by a family that had bohemian leanings, she spent her formative years hanging out with musicians likePeter Rowan, John Sebastian, and Geoff Muldaur, who hung out in her father's sandal shop, before picking up the guitar at the age of ten. Her record debut came two years later, backing her father on The Elektra String Band Project, a concept album. She met guitarist Stefan Grossman, who, like her, was in love with the blues. The pair would often travel to the Bronx to visit Reverend Gary Davis, one of the greatest living bluesmen.

Block continued to tour, although not as heavily as in earlier times, often accompanied by her grown son Jordan Block, who also plays on her albums. She remained busy in the early part of the 2000s, releasing six albums, including a live recording. Issued in 2005, From the Dust drew rave critical reviews, as did 2006's The Lady and Mr. Johnson, an album that sawBlock taking on selected songs of her musical hero, idol, and biggest influence, Robert Johnson. A digital video disc, The Guitar Artistry of Rory Block, was released in 2008. Shake 'Em on Down: A Tribute to Mississippi Fred McDowell, which honored another of her country-blues mentors, appeared in 2011, followed two years later by Avalon: A Tribute to Mississippi John HurtAt the tender age of 15 Block left home, hitting the road in true '60s fashion and traveling through the South, where she learned her blues trade at the feet of Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt, her greatest influence, before ending up in Berkeley. It was there that she developed her slide technique (she uses a socket wrench as her slide), but she didn't record until 1975, when she released I'm in Love (a compilation of earlier material, The Early Tapes 1975-1976, appeared later). After two records for Chrysalis, she recorded the instructional How to Play Blues Guitar for Grossman's Kicking Mule label, and later moved to then-fledgling Rounder, with whom she enjoyed an ongoing relationship. She toured constantly, often playing as many as 250 dates in a year, which kept her away from her family -- she'd married and begun having children in the early '70s -- but developed her reputation as a strong, vibrant live performer, and one of the best players of old country blues in America. In 1987, the best of Block's Rounder cuts were compiled on Best Blues & Originals, which, as it said, featured her interpretations of blues classics and some of her own material. Two of the tracks, released as singles in Belgium and Holland, became gold records. In addition to her regular albums, Blockmade a series of instructional records and videos, as well as a children's record, Color Me Wild. Although she had been performing for a long time, the plaudits didn't really begin until 1992, when she won a NAIRD Award for Ain't I a Woman, a feat repeated in 1994 and 1997. In 1996, she began winning W.C. Handy Awards, first for Best Traditional Album (When a Woman Gets the Blues), and in 1997 and 1998 for Best Traditional Blues Female Artist. In 1997 she was elected to the CAMA Hall of Fame, and in 1999 she received yet another Handy Award, for Best Acoustic Blues Album (Confessions of a Blues Singer). AMG.

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Secret Powers - Secret Powers And The Electric Family Choir 2009

If you believe Jeff Lynne to be Almighty, then "Praise be to Mr. Blue Sky, 'tis a Strange Magic that allows the Evil Woman to leadest thou to Xanadu." And listen to The Secret Powers. The last time I heard such a great mix of retro influences was Andrew Gold's "Fraternal Order of The All" -- and the last time I heard true ELO worship was Bleu's supergroup "LEO". Well here we have the two types of worship combined into one pretty fantastic album. Ryan "Shmed" Maynes made the move to Missoula, Montana. He built a recording studio in his backyard in the hopes of making a living as an engineer, producer, and musician. Lots of "historical" data about the group is emerging, but one thing is certain -- this album is totally entertaining. The production of each song is chocked full of layers and layers of detail. "Orange Trees" is vintage Lynne and sounds like it fell off the "Out of The Blue" album. In between songs are quick odd "podcasts" from Uncle Shmed. Then comes the wonderful bouncy Jellyfish-like "Maryanne" full of ascending chords and waltz timing changes and carnival-like ending. Then "By The Sea" is a perfect companion for Harry Nilsson's "Think About Your Troubles." A theatrical multi-part harmony on "Lazy Men" would make Bryan Scary fans jealous. This leads us the then penultimate ELO ballad "Misery." I could go on, but you get the gist. The group keeps the story moving until the end when they break character. Along the way you are treated to musical roller coaster ride. No weak spots either, as every track sparkles with great melody and multi-instrumental greatness and easily makes my top ten this year. Info from cduniverse.com!

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Robert Wyatt - Nothing Can Stop Us 1982

This compilation of early-'80s singles includes some of Wyatt's finest work. Aside from "Born Again Cretin" (whose vocals recall the Beach Boys at their most experimental), all of it's non-original material that Wyatt makes his own with his sad, haunting vocals. You could hardly ask for a more diverse assortment of covers: Chic's "At Last I Am Free" (given an eerie treatment with especially mysterious, spacy keyboards), the a cappella gospel of "Stalin Wasn't Stallin'," political commentary with "Trade Union," the Billie Holiday standard "Strange Fruit," Ivor Cutler's "Grass," and a couple of songs in Spanish. The tracks have since been reissued a few times, with bonus tracks such as the "Shipbuilding" single; the best option for U.S. consumers is Compilation, which pairs Nothing Can Stop Us with Old Rottenhat. AMG.

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Muxima - Homenagem ao Duo Ouro Negro 2010

A tribute band dedicated to Duo Ouro Negro, a popular Angolan duo from the 1960s and '70s, Muxima is a Portuguese quartet who made their Top Five hit album debut with Homenagem ao Duo Ouro Negro in 2010. Founded in 1956 in Benguela, Angola, a country in southwest Africa that was an overseas province of Portugal until 1975, Duo Ouro Negrois comprised of Raúl Indipwo and Milo MacMahon. They made their commercial recording debut in 1959. Though they were active throughout the '70s, they were most popular during the '60s, when they scored numerous hits and performed Portuguese-language covers of popular music of the era such as the Beatles ("Agora Vou Ser Feliz") andCharles Aznavour ("La Mamma"). Founded with the intent of paying tribute to the 50th anniversary of Duo Ouro Negro,Muxima is a quartet comprised of Janita Salomé (who hails from Portugal), Filipa Pais (Portugal), Ritinha Lobo (Cape Verde), and Yami (Angola). In association with Farol Musica, Muxima made their full-length album debut withHomenagem ao Duo Ouro Negro, which includes Duo Ouro Negro favorites such as "Amanhã," "Maria Rita," and "Vou Levar-te Conmigo." Produced by Manuel d'Oliveira and Hélder Moutinho, Homenagem ao Duo Ouro Negro was a Top Five hit on the Portuguese albums chart. AMG.

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New Fast Automatic Daffodils - Body Exit Mind 1993

Though it contains a number of number of minor gems, Body Exit Mind sees New Fast Automatic Daffodils taking a step in the wrong direction. Overlong by at least 15 minutes, due to more than a few extended, bloated tracks, the album lacks much of the fun the band exhibited in Pigeonhole. The song titles don't lie; the band became slightly bitter somewhere after the release of that album. "Bruises," "How Much Longer Must We Tolerate Mass Culture," and "What Kind of Hell Is This" detail a world-weary view in their lyrics and music. Guitar squall takes the place of the dub vibes of the band's debut. The tone is heavier and murkier, with too much needless distortion where melodies would have been more appropriate. When the band kicks things into high gear, they excel. "Bruises" displays a dreamy sound reminiscent of Ride, and the song never fails to impress with its gentle dynamics. "American Money," outside of its obvious social commentary, is one of the few times that the distortion works, sounding not unlike the Wedding Present with more attitude and style. Five short interludes mostly meander. They are typical of the album's general lack of focus, though "How Much Longer Must We Tolerate Mass Culture" is so brittle and beautiful that it suggests the band could have been excellent ambient soundsmiths. Nowhere near as compelling as Pigeonhole, Body Exit Mind is an album searching for a personality and finding only a few cohesive shafts of light amidst dollops of confusion. AMG.

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Rich Kids On LSD - Rock & Roll Nightmare 1987

Fast metallic virtuoso pop punk from Santa Barbara, RKL takes their sarcasm very seriously. On Rock N'Roll Nightmare, RKL delivers an album of irreverent songs, blaming every track on society that takes you right back to the late 80's punk/hardcore scene in San Francisco just before it died. relish in the joy of pure hard hittin rock. Songs like "Tribute to the Jester" and "Catch Your Breath" show the bands ultimate maturity in their song writing and overall mayhem. Before MTV ruined punk there was RKL, love it. Besides this album shows some of the best drummimg and best bass playing hardcore has ever seen, and it's one guy doing both, not to mention he's the main songwriter.

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