The second act of David Axelrod’s musical interpretations of William Blake’s epic Songs of Innocence and of Experience pulls the distorted rock guitar back a tad in favor […]
USA
The debut release by the legendary Bill Evans Trio, Everybody Digs Bill Evans, follows a 27 month break since Evans’ first release, a solo effort titled New Jazz […]
Philadelphia-based electronic artist Ulla Strauss follows up 2019’s excellent Quiet Time Tapes release with 8 tracks of fuzzy, smudged out ambient tracks. Deep and melancholic textures seemingly suspend […]
LS: How would you describe your music? LS: I wouldn’t. People often ask me to do that, and it seems impossible. Music isn’t verbal or conceptual. I try […]
The very first album to fully replace drummers with a drum machine, Timmy Thomas’ Why Can’t We Live Together stands as one of the most remarkable soul albums […]
Short-lived but influential to the 1970’s punk/new wave movement, The Modern Lovers were signed to Warner Bros. but broke up before any album was recorded. Their “debut” was […]
Released on one of our favorite local labels, Motion Ward, Pontiac Streator’s Triz is a modern ambient stunner that seems to sit perfectly between the warm organic soundscapes […]
One of the best kept secrets of the ’60s folk scene, singer-songwriter Fred Neil Never was never quite comfortable with the music industry and would eventually walk away […]
One of the all-time jazz classics and an essential listen, Journey In Satchidananda continues Alice Coltrane’s spiritual connection with Pharoah Sanders. From Alice herself in the liner notes: […]
A massively underrated release from the unsung American post-experimental composer Daniel Lentz, On the Leopard Altar shines bright with voices, digital keyboards, and tuned wineglasses. While Lentz’s music […]
Released in the same year and in a similar echelon of visionary, conscious soul music as Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, Roots is the somewhat underrated second solo […]
A truly spectacular pairing between drummer Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and the great Thelonious Monk. The album is presented in “Atlantic High Fidelity” and the first to featuring […]
Sandy Bull’s cult classic debut album Fantasias For Guitar And Banjo opens with the 22-minute long epic “Blend,” which some consider one of the greatest acoustic guitar tracks […]
A definitive moment in the storied and still-ongoing career of the great Pharoah Sanders, Karma honored John Coltrane’s spiritual jazz legacy while also pushing the movement forward. The […]
After two successful albums with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Joe Farrell, and her husband Airto Moreira as Return to Forever, Flora Purim launched her solo career on New […]
“Just mix the music with the motion and you will have a dance explosion. Just mix the motion with the music, that’s the only way to do it.” […]
The inaugural release by cult new age label Windham Hill is also the debut album by its founder, William Ackerman. In Search of the Turtle’s Naval transformed Ackerman from […]
Part of the ’80s New York avant-garde scene, multi-instrumentalist Rhys Chatham studied under electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick and minimalist composer La Monte Young. Chatham’s second album Die […]
“The music on this record is my attempt to explore and further the American acoustic guitar. I have four sources of the music ideas presented here: Bulgarian music […]
Featured in Numero Group’s Nu Leaf smooth jazz compilation, George Shaw’s Encounters is an underrated jazz album that you probably wouldn’t pick out of the stacks based on […]
Originally released in 1997 on independent UK label Soul Static Sound, Echoes is ex-Tortoise member Ken Brown’s final release under the short-lived Directions moniker. Much like Tortoise’s music, […]
Barton Smith’s gorgeous “one-person orchestra” tape compositions using a mixture of acoustic, electronic, and found instruments. While clearly experimental in approach, the music was actually composed with the […]
Featured in Shotaro Matsumoto’s Walearic Disc Guide, Comme Des Garçons Volume One is, like its title suggests, a commissioned piece for the luxury Japanese clothing brand. While this may […]
The first release on Just Us, a shop and label from Detroit’s Bill Spencer and San Francisco’s Izaak Schlossman (Loveshadow), is an absolute belter of a psych-jazz album, […]
“A fairly essential recording from the Canterbury axis of early ’70s British progressive rock…” Avant-garde saxophonist Lol Coxhill meets blues pianist Steve Miller (not that one) for a […]
The essential ambient masterpiece from Titanic and Avatar composer Michael Stearns… “I imagined myself shot out of the Earth’s resonance. We were Earth sensors sent out to bounce […]
Pino Palladino’s debut studio LP Notes with Attachments is a collaboration with producer, multi-instrumentalist and guitar maestro Blake Mills. A mixture of West African, Cuban, jazz, funk, and […]
Featured in the “Organic” section of Chee Shimizu’s Obscure Sound disc guide, Life Line by Michael Bierylo is a simple but gorgeous new age guitar album that seems […]
Recorded just a few hours outside of Los Angeles in the small town of Idyllwild, Linger Lane captures the spirit of the California mountains with organic marimbas, echo […]
A cult hero from the Louisiana swamps, Bobby Charles (b. Robert Charles Guidry) pioneered the genre known as “swamp rock.” The singer-songwriter played country and Cajun music from […]
Free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman returns to his original (and arguably best) lineup with Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgins on 1972’s Science Fiction. The music is […]
Selected by the great Jeff Parker in our 5 Selects feature, Marley Marl’s In Control, Volume 1 is the debut studio album by “the greatest sampling producer and one […]
Terry Riley’s triumphant return to CBS over a decade after 1969’s A Rainbow In Curved Air, Shri Camel is a meditative masterwork blending the feeling of eastern music […]
Leroy Hutson might not be a household name, but you might’ve heard his work through another great soul singer, Donny Hathaway. Hutson was Hathaway’s roommate at Howard University […]
“Organic electronic music” might sound like an oxymoron, but Bay Area duo Motoko & Myers produce just that on their sophomore album Colocate, released on Cincinnati-based label Soda Gong. […]
“There was a strange existentialness to her; she was at once both cool and warm and her style of singing stretched words to the point where they were […]
Recorded, produced, and finished in just two weeks, The Modern Dance by Cleveland-based band Pere Ubu is a pioneering post-punk classic that “pushed music into the 80’s” alongside […]
RAMP aka Roy Ayers Music Productions was a soul/jazz group led by the great vibes player widely known for his composition “Everybody Loves the Sunshine.” The group’s lone […]
The first of three Talking Heads albums produced by Brian Eno, More Songs About Buildings And Food expanded on the group’s rhythmic sensibilities with more danceable grooves. The […]
A favorite from the listening bar, Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun)‘s title is taken from verse 18 of Surat al-Baqarah in the Qur’an. “Deaf, dumb and blind […]
The story goes that Vince and Bola owe the Sheraton Hotels a bit of credit for their magical union… Bola Sete was first discovered by a Sheraton executive, […]
Featured on NPR Classical 50, a weekly series from NPR recommending “50 essential recordings for everyone from first-timers to fanatics,” Paul Jacobs’ performance of Preludes For Piano sounds […]
Gil Scott-Heron was barely twenty-one years old when he signed a record deal with legendary Impulse! producer Bob Thiele’s Flying Dutchman imprint. Thiele had gotten a hold of […]
The full explanation of how this seminal interactive record was made is printed on the original LP cover, but to shorten it: Behrman paired live instruments and players […]
Originally released with a waving red, white, and blue flag on the cover, Sly & the Family Stone’s essential classic There’s a Riot Goin’ On speaks to a […]
Featuring a classic breakbeat that’s been used by Madlib, Big Daddy Kane, Rodney P, The D.O.C, Pete Rock, and countless others, Foster Sylvers is the self-titled debut LP […]
Part of a trio of privately released albums on David Oliver’s own Damiana Records, Hope For La Roo is a gorgeous collection of minimal jazz compositions centered around […]
“I was listening to some of his new beats and studio sessions when I had the idea that it would be great to hear some of these ideas […]
Born into New Orleans blues and raised on Cambridge folk, Chris “Smither is an American original – a product of the musical melting pot and one of the […]
A groundbreaking work that established the name of the “new music,” Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz was so controversial that Downbeat magazine had to feature a double-review of the […]
One of the great masterpieces of the late 60’s psychedelic rock scene in Los Angeles, Arthur Lee and Love’s Forever Changes is a harrowing look into the end […]
Prior to releasing her excellent debut Cult Survivor, Sofie Fatouretchi, one of the original crew of Boiler Room, put together a 24-track compilation of the best in underground […]
Gene Clark was a founding member of the legendary country-folk-rock band The Byrds. His story is a bit of a sad one as his songwriting talent and heavy […]
The 3 Pieces are Andre Richardson, Jerry Wilder, and Lincoln Ross, three Howard University students discovered by Donald Byrd while they attended one of Byrd’s classes. They released […]
The sole album by Joseph Byrd’s The United States Of America is a New York avant-garde classic that pulls influences from both the Fluxus and hippie movements of […]
William Howard “Monk” Montgomery is widely known as the man who “de-bastardized the Fender bass.” Monk worked with Lionel Hampton’s orchestra in the early 50’s and legitimized the […]
The lone solo LP from guitarist / electro-acoustic composer, producer, and mastering engineer Scott Fraser, Architecture contains an endearing mix of chamber music, bird sounds, santur, experimental electronics, […]
One of the great Black Jazz albums in “the key of the black power movement,” Spirit of the New Land showcases pianist Doug Carn’s innovative songwriting along with the […]
Minneapolis Genius is one of the earliest Prince recordings. Released in 1985 but actually recorded in 1977 when Prince was just a teenager, the album showcases the raw […]
An indie new age classic that went platinum, Ray Lynch’s Deep Breakfast melds classical baroque technique with cosmic new age sounds. You’d think with those two genres the […]
Marnie Weber’s Songs Hurt Me is a seminal performance art meets post-punk album from 80’s Los Angeles. A multifaceted artist, Marnie cut her teeth in Los Angeles’s punk […]
“Jaco is a phenomenon. He is able to make sounds on the bass that are a total surprise to the sensibilities. Not only single notes, but chords, harmonics, […]
One of the great underrated Miles albums, Get Up With It pushes forward with the full force, sophistication, groove, and beautiful chaos of Miles’ electrified wah-wah trumpet and […]
Is Los Angeles balearic? The flat streets of the San Fernando Valley might seem a far cry from the beaches of Ibiza and yet – a strange connection […]
One of the early pioneers of boogie and R&B, Kashif (born Michael Jones) cut his teeth with 70’s funk group B.T. Express and later made a name for […]
Psych folk cult hero Linda Perhacs has had an interesting career, to say the least. After releasing her debut Parallelograms in 1970, Perhacs would become a full-time dental […]
Part of New York’s underground punk scene in the late 70’s alongside Blondie, Velvet Underground, The Ramones, etc. Tom Verlaine and Television managed to both fit within and […]
A perfectly sequenced “post-modern mixtape of 12 micro-genres” created by The Numero Group’s Ken Shipley, Reach takes listeners through morning bird songs, afternoon new age, evening soul jazz, […]
Master of the “wah wah” pedal, Melvin Ragin aka guitarist Wah Wah Watson served in the Motown house band throughout the 70’s and has played on albums by […]
From the liner notes: “When Paul Beaver and Bernie Krause began to record for Warner Brothers in the late 1960s, they were already electronic music pioneers. They’d been […]
While not a household name, you’ve likely heard Michael White’s avant-garde violin playing on spiritual jazz classics like Pharoah Sanders’ Thembi, John Coltrane’s Infinity, and Joe Henderson & Alice […]
Produced by the great Norman Connors, Back For More is the major label solo debut of Al Johnson from Washington D.C. soul group the Unifics. Johnson had spent […]
Wamdue Kids is the short-lived house music project by three guys named Chris – Brann, Clarke, and Udoh. The Atlanta based trio was first discovered in 1995 by […]
We missed this classic in our Davida albums feature so here it is in the collection… One of the great left field country albums of the 60’s, Nancy […]
Composed entirely with his own voice, Todd Rundgren’s A Cappella features overdubbing techniques with the legendary E-mu Emulator. The power of sampling is in full effect with Rundgren’s […]
This album needs little introduction… Life on Mars is a space-funk classic from the oft-sampled synthesizer guru Dexter Wansel. Inspired by David Bowie’s “Is There Life on Mars?”, […]
Featured in the “Experimental” section of Chee Shimizu’s Obscure Sound disc guide, Desert Equations: Azax Attra was released in 1986 on legendary Belgium label Crammed Disc’s “Made to […]
An underrated dollar bin soul-jazz find, Formerly Of The Harlettes is the lone album by former Bette Midler backup singers Sharon Redd, Ula Hedwig, and Charlotte Crossley. The […]
A wild fusion of genres (classical, blues, rock, jazz, comedy) in classic Zappa style, One Size Fits All opens with the wonderfully complex “Inca Roads” which features George […]
One of the most underrated LA albums of the last decade in our opinion, No World is the debut album by inc., formerly Teen Inc., aka brothers Andrew […]
Included in our “Beyond the World of Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi” feature, Pinnacle by Mwandishi bassist Buster Williams is a continuation of Mwandishi, but perhaps in spirit only. Mwandishi […]
Tribal electro ambient jazz composed as the soundtrack for a Japanese TV documentary “Tadayuki Naito Zebra” about the life of a zebra… What’s more to say? Jack DeJohnette […]
When Jeff Parker, guitarist of influential Chicago band Tortoise, joined us this past summer for a dedicated listening session, it was clear that his musical influences ran deep […]
Originally issued on Salsoul Records in ’81, Logg is the undisputed masterpiece by the godfather of boogie, Leroy Burgess. Burgess first made a name for himself as the […]
Here’s an interesting one… Two young musical brothers meet the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and create, possibly the first of its kind, Hare Krishna soul / soft […]
Revolutionary spiritual afro jazz from exile… Ndikho Xaba and the Natives self-titled debut is an African jazz holy grail recorded “as a tribute to the struggles of Africans […]
The New Age king of the bargain bin, Andreas Vollenweider has had quite the career. The Swiss harpist sold endless copies of records in the 80’s, collaborated with […]
New Age flute and saxophone player Paul Horn goes soul/fusion jazz-funk with a collection of choice covers of some of the best Stevie Wonder, David Crosby, Joni Mitchell, […]
One of the unsung heroes of the Laurel Canyon scene, Laura Allan has appeared on albums by Bette Midler, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Carmen, Crosby-Nash, as well as Crosby’s […]
Jazz legend Ramsey Lewis plays Fender Rhodes and Arp synthesizer on his 1974 jazz-funk hit Sun Goddess. The pianist is joined by his former drummer Maurice White, members […]
Transfer Station Blue is a cult classic Berlin School style album recorded by Santana drummer Michael Shrieve, his brother Kevin, and legendary German electronic composer Klaus Schulze. The […]
Nobody can be you, but you! The powerful and positive opener on Steve Arrington’s Hall Of Fame Vol. I contains a classic drum break and was a favorite […]
From the liner notes of The Elusive Bob Lind: “Bob Lind is one of the young poets who have changed the sound and the meaning of America’s popular […]
Released in 1983 and recorded at Mark Freeman’s Battery Sound recording studio, where Arthur Russell operated out of in the early to mid-1980s, Lost Tribe is an essential […]
J.J. Cale might best be known for his tune “Cocaine,” which Eric Clapton famously covered on his Slowhand album, but there’s much more to the singer-songwriter than a […]
Considered the bridge between his punk-funk experiments on Dirty Mind and his first mainstream hit 1999, Controversy sees Prince take a step out of the deep eroticism of […]
Moondog 2 is the sixth album by the avant-garde composer Louis Thomas Hardin, AKA the Viking of Sixth avenue, or simply known as – Moondog. Largely self-taught by […]
Techno-Bush is Hugh Masekala and the Medu Art Ensemble’s Afro-futurist vision of South Africa. Protesting through sound and dance, Masekala and crew crafted a futuristic “techno-bush” with a […]
Included on the excellent Aloha Got Soul (Soul, AOR & Disco in Hawai’i 1979-1985) compilation, Lemuria was a jazz-funk and soul group formed by Kirk Thompson, an influential […]
The underrated Bobby Caldwell album, Carry On sees the pop funk soul singer dive into deeper subjects beyond love and simple attraction. A2 “Sunny Hills” almost sounds like […]
A roller disco classic from one of the founding members of the great SoCal jam band War, Lee Oskar’s Before the Rain is a pleasant harmonica funk album with […]
Released on K. Leimer’s Palace of Lights, Marc Barreca’s debut album Twilight is a collection of improvised ambient compositions using techniques and methodologies pioneered by Brian Eno on […]
A landmark album that inspired an entire musical programming format and genre, Smokey Robinson’s A Quiet Storm was a return to form for the influential Motown songwriter and […]
Big thanks to our friend Andrew “Lovefingers” for this gorgeous selection. The Singers Unlimited were a vocal jazz quartet formed by master singer / vocal arranger Gene Puerling. […]
One of the more underrated Prince side projects released on Paisley Park Records, The Family’s self-titled debut is, like many Prince projects, essentially a collection of Prince songs […]
Les McCann’s drum break classic Layers was conceived in his mind long before the tapes were rolling at Joel Dorn’s Regent Sound Studios in New York. With just […]
John Coltrane’s spiritual dedication A Love Supreme is a four movement masterpiece recorded in a single session at the legendary Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. […]
The great Roland Kirk’s most famous composition, The Inflated Tear is an “awakening and a cry for love” presented in a five-minute package that within it contains traces […]
Bruce Springsteen’s sixth studio album Nebraska is a DIY loner classic released long before the term “bedroom producer” was a thing. The album was recorded with the assistance […]
Undeniably one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever, J Dilla’s influential “rap album without rappers” LP Donuts is now back in stock at Stones Throw. The story of […]
A story gone wrong… Mythical funk goddess Betty Davis’ Nasty Gal was meant to catapult her into superstardom. Instead, it practically ended her career. Davis had just signed […]
One of the most obscure albums to make the Billboard Top 200, Karen Beth’s The Joys of Life is an Acid Archives favorite featuring a gorgeous voice that […]
The last EWF release before the group broke into superstardom with That’s The Way Of The World, Open Our Eyes is a stripped back, jazz, funk and R&B classic […]
Named after a collection of William Blake poems, Song of Innocence is the debut solo album by Capitol Records’ multi-talented musician, producer, composer, arranger David Axelrod. The album […]
Detroit’s Wendell Harrison is as much a teacher as he is an acclaimed reed player. Besides playing alongside numerous greats like Marvin Gaye, Sun Ra, and Aretha Franklin, […]
‘Missa’ is the third release by experimental American composer Daniel Lentz, a true unsung genius of the 80s modern classical age. According to the album’s performance notes, the […]
David Crosby’s solo debut If Only I Could Remember My Name is psychedelic folk-rock perfection from The Byrds / CSNY legend backed by other Laurel Canyon heroes including […]
Produced by the legendary Eumir Deodato, Intimate Connection by New York City–based ensemble Kleeer is a groundbreaking boogie funk masterpiece and roller disco favorite. The album was released […]
The unexpected first time collaborative effort by experimental electronic musicians Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails) and Daniel Avery was created remotely across several times zones over several years. […]
An absolute Detroit electro classic – Lifestyles Of The Laptop Café is the last album by Drexciya’s James Stinson before his untimely death in 2002. At the time […]
Compiled by Egon (Now Again) for Stones Throw Records, The Complete Works by Bay Area soul-jazz singer/songwriter Matthew Larkin Cassell comes with a bit of a story. Hip-hop […]
The debut solo LP by The Velvet Underground’s electric viola player John Cale, Vintage Violence is a deeply personal singer-songwriter album by an artist reflecting on his life, […]
Before Mort Garson’s soothing ode to houseplants (the 1976 LP and now cult phenomenon, Plantasia), Garson spent a decade building one of the most varied and bizarre resumés […]
One of the first albums by a female artist to have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide, Tracy Chapman’s self-titled debut is an essential listen with humble […]
Music for healing from our good friends at Séance Centre… On Music of the Five Elements, electronic composer Sam McClellan applies the ancient Chinese philosophy of medicine to […]
This oft sampled record by drummer Idris Muhammed is a cinematic jazz funk classic. Opener “Could Heaven Ever Be Like this” is as joyous as its name sounds […]
Undoubtedly the best of the three H.P. Lovecraft albums released in the late 60s / early 70s, H.P. Lovecraft II is a cosmic, West Coast mushroom trip that […]
Released on Island Records’ “Antilles New Directions” sublabel, Bush Dance by master Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos is an upbeat, world fusion record that has made its way onto […]
A perfect record for sunny days, this classic record under Roy Ayers’ Ubiquity umbrella is full of funky anthems. The inaugural track “ Hey, Uh, What You Say […]
Larry Levan. Gwen Guthrie. Sly & Robbie. Wally Badarou. You just can’t beat a team like that; these five artists have together accounted for thousands of classics that […]
Though not quite a household name, Brother Ah (aka Robert Northern) is one of the most decorated names in jazz having played with everyone from Donald Byrd, Dizzy […]
Numero Group has spent the last seventeen years reanimating rare music from all around the globe. One of our all-time favorites is their 2012 ode to the FM […]
The stunning debut by Brazilian guitar phenom Fabiano do Nascimento landed during a big year for Brazilian reissues, and, interestingly enough, found a perfect home on LA-based reissue […]
At the advent of the CD-era when recorded music was headed in a digital direction, William Ackerman’s Windham Hill produced records that were an entirely analog affair. Perhaps […]
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson’s Winter In America was the duo’s first and only release on legendary independent jazz label Strata-East. Praised for its influence on hip-hop and neo […]
A name like Philamore Lincoln would seem enough to intrigue a potential record buyer into a blind buy. Yet Philamore’s lone album, The North Wind Blew South, released […]
A cult classic from Lloyd “Bullwackie” Barnes’ Bronx-based label, Love Joys’ Lovers Rock Reggae Style is a landmark album mixing conscious roots reggae and soulful lovers rock with […]
Dubbed “one of pop music’s sneakiest masterpieces” due to its low-key but lasting popularity, Donald Fagen’s post-Steely Dan solo debut The Nightlfy is a semi-autobiographical concept album looking […]
Often credited as the “Mother of Hip-hop”, Sylvia Robinson was a seminal blues-turned-soul singer, producer, and writer who released a slew of sultry and sensually charged records in […]
Tommy McGee never got a chance to make it in his day, but this comp by Numero Group has made a classic of McGee’s soulful funk. I’m A […]
From the extended world of Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi… Buddy Terry’s Pure Dynamite seems to be a bit slept-on but we think it ranks with the best of the fusion-leaning […]
An undisputed masterpiece from Lovely Music’s “Blue” Gene Tyranny, here are some words by NY label Unseen Worlds, which recently reissued it for the first time ever last […]
One of our favorite ECM Records bands, Codona features free jazz trumpeter Don Cherry alongside sitar player Collin Walcott and Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos. The band’s name is […]
One of the great holy grails of the 70s, Body, Mind, And Spirit by Harry Whitaker’s Black Renaissance is a soul-jazz masterpiece with plenty of myth and magic […]
With a name like OM, it comes as no surprise that this band has the ability to lull you into a mesmerizing trancelike state. On Advaitic Songs the […]
Leon Thomas might not be a household name in jazz, but you’ve likely heard his voice if you’re a fan of Pharoah Sanders. Thomas was the vocalist and […]
Considered by many to be one of the crowning achievements in the ambient genre, Structures From Silence was a dramatic departure from Roach’s previous heavily sequenced Berlin-school favored […]
Not to be confused with the French electronic duo, Long Island’s Air is a jazz-rock band from the 70’s consisting of four core members – Tom Coppola, John […]
An underrated album from George Duke’s vast catalog, The Aura Will Prevail was released during a time when Duke was experimenting with incorporating R&B vocals into his music. […]
Included in the “cosmic” section of Chee Shimizu’s Obscure Sound disc guide, Paradise Space Shuttle is tenor saxophonist George Adam’s first U.S. release as a bandleader. Adams was […]
You probably know Patrice Rushen from her 1982 hit “Forget Me Nots” and the countless other R&B and disco classics she put out on Elektra in the late […]
J.O.B Orquestra’s Open the Doors to Your Heart is a highly underrated album from the 1970’s New York afro-spiritualist movement that would later become a favorite amongst hip-hop […]
Kevin “Mr. Groove” McCord had his hand in a lot of 70’s and 80’s Detroit records… With almost 300 writing credits, he wrote, performed, or arranged a wide […]
Although not a household name, Austrian pianist Joe Zawinul is known by many jazz fans to have been one of Miles Davis’ secret weapons during his Bitches Brew/ […]
Legendary Motown songwriter Leon Ware’s sensual masterpiece Musical Massage is a soul classic that should honestly be a lot more popular than it is. Some say its failure […]
After finding success in composing hits for other artists in the early 60’s (such as the Monkees’ “Pleasant Valley Sunday”, Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like a) […]
Art Blakey & the Afro Drum Ensemble’s The African Beat is a landmark jazz percussion album. Released in 1962, the album was one of the first to bring […]
We came across this one randomly while digging in a $5 and under bin… Inspired School Of Astral Music is the ambient side project of Portland-based experimental producer […]
Stanley Cowell was a highly influential figure within the jazz community who somehow never broke through to the mainstream despite his long and storied career. Cowell started out […]
Gris-Gris by Dr. John is an invocation of the spirit of Bayou Funk and Louisiana Blues mixed with playful psychedelic rock. What’s most exhilarating is being able to […]
Recorded shortly after Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi band broke up, Love, Love continues right where the group left off with two long tracks of deep, avant-garde fusion. The Mwandishi […]
Kathy Smith began as a fixture around the Los Angeles hippie and folk scene of the 60’s and 70’s, playing regularly at venues such as Paradox, the Troubador, […]
Released on the cult new age label Higher Octave Music, William Aura’s Half Moon Bay is a highly sought after New Age gem that was one of the […]
Originally recorded in 1996 but never officially released due to “creative differences” from their then label, London Records, Sleep’s Dopesmoker first made its way to the public in […]
Celestial Sky is an underrated disco-funk gem by Norman Connors’ Starship Orchestra. Connors is a brilliant composer/producer and one of the more unsung jazz greats even though he’s […]
Craig T. Cooper is an LA-based guitarist who recorded two incredible smooth-jazz influenced funk records in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Both albums contain a slew of […]
To say that Le Noise is one of Neil Young’s of most experimental and underrated records would be an understatement. The record, along with its accompanying live DVD, […]
On Sweetnighter, jazz fusion supergroup Weather Report take a decidedly different approach from their first two outings. While still adventurous and free form, the music here is funkier […]
In 1983, Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Ryuichi Sakamoto starred in his first film alongside David Bowie and legendary Japanese actor/director Takeshi Kitano aka “Beat Takeshi.” The film, Merry Christmas, […]
Released in 1961, Sunday At The Village Vanguard is a timeless classic that’s routinely ranked as one of the best live jazz recordings of all time. The album […]
An all-time jazz classic, Joe Henderson’s The Elements is a beautiful meeting of five singular talents propelled to cosmic dimensions by the one and only Alice ‘Swami Turiyasangitananda’ Coltrane. […]
On The Corner remains to this day, one of Miles Davis’ most polarizing efforts. Scorned by critics and fans alike upon its release, the free form jazz funk […]
One of the all time greatest 70’s jazz-funk albums, Gears features organist Johnny “Hammond” Smith in collaboration with the legendary Mizell brothers. The album was released in 1975 […]
Famously deleted from the catalogue of Asylum Records, with David Geffen pointedly trying to erase it from history, No Other is the lost and recently found masterpiece by […]
Under the moniker Fools, Chris Bear (the longstanding drummer/multi-instrumentalist of Grizzly Bear, and composer for HBO’s High Maintenance) recently released his first solo album on the Music From […]
Chrome were an experimental rock band formed in San Francisco in 1975. After their first album, the group’s mastermind, Damon Edge, met guitar player Helios Creed and the […]
One of our favorite ECM records, The Jewel In The Lotus is the debut solo album from master bass clarinetist Bennie Maupin. Though not a household name, Maupin […]
Perhaps the most significant thing about Seasons for Pete Jolly was that this album broke away from the more traditional approach that Jolly had been familiar with in […]
Batteaux is a long treasured and notoriously under appreciated 70’s underground folk-funk classic. The only release by the Batteau brother duo is a perfect mix of balearic blue […]
Chicago house music pioneer Larry Heard steps away from the dance floor to circle back on the downtempo and ambient themes previously explored on his 1996 album Alien. […]
Sun Ra’s Angels & Demons at Play is a diptych of a record created from two separate recording sessions recorded four years apart (Side A-1956 and Side B-1960). […]
In 1968, the Everly Brothers had nothing to lose, at least as pop artists. They hadn’t charted in three years, hadn’t been in the Top 10 for a […]
When Bernard Wright released his debut album ‘Nard in 1981, he was only 18 years old. The only son of Roberta Flack had generated quite a bit of […]
When Prince entered the studio to lay down the tracks on For You, the stakes were high. He would be the youngest artist in Warner Bros. history to […]
If you’re familiar with Jessica Pratt’s first two records, her third album, Quiet Sign, isn’t a tremendous departure, per se. But while the first two albums are bedroom […]
Brazilian drummer & percussionist Airto Moreira’s second solo LP Seeds On The Ground – The Natural Sounds Of Airto is a “world music” masterpiece that blends a variety […]
Harumi’s self-titled debut and sole release is one of those quintessentials as far as rare records go. It checks literally all the boxes necessary for what you’d expect […]
Peter Ivers was somewhat of a behind-the-scenes L.A. figure of the ’70s and ’80s best known for writing “In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)” for David Lynch’s […]
Billy Higgins may not be a household name in jazz, but the master drummer was certainly one of the most revered in the scene. In fact, Higgins is […]
Most listeners seem to discover the highly regarded avant-garde trumpeter Jon Hassell via his Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics collaboration with Brian Eno which was not just […]
Motown’s Syreeta Wright is a bit of an unsung hero. Although her voice was not as outright powerful as the other soul divas of her day (Aretha, Diana, […]
Sextant, the first record Hancock cut for his new label Columbia Records, was considered a commercial flop upon its release in 1973. The record showcased Hancock’s early adoption […]
I’m the One is the debut LP from avant-garde singer and composer Anette Peacock. Peacock was a mostly self-taught musician who grew up in California and moved to […]
Los Angeles-based singer / ambient musician Ana Roxanne’s debut EP ~~~ is a sacred work of astral ambient music that lands perfectly on local favorite Leaving Records. Through […]
A masterpiece of uncanny soul, In a Mood is a holy grail find and one of only two albums by the late-great outsider guitarist Harry Case. A bit […]
Pharoah Sanders’ final album for Impulse! is a joyous message of love for all times. “Love is Everywhere” begins with a gorgeous bass vamp followed by steadily cascading […]
Sensations’ Fix is the brainchild of Italian musician Franco Falsini. In the sixties, Falsini developed his musical chops playing in a beat style band in Florence before moving […]
This surreal and transcendental work by the American avant-garde giant was the first iteration of what would be Robert Ashley’s televised 1983 opera Private Lives. A theatrical work […]
A record that we’d instantly pick out of the stacks based on cover alone, Paul Parrish’s The Forest of My Mind is a wonderful trip through mellow, psychedelic […]
What started as a “just for fun” side project from a little known guitarist has since become a rare and quite sought after 70’s private press, breezy psychedelic […]
It’s no accident that Paranoid is considered one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal albums of all time. “Paranoid is important because it is the blueprint […]
Joni Mitchell’s 8th studio album Hejira has the imagery of highways, small towns and snow, in large part because it was written on a cross country road trip […]
You may not have listened to tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon’s One Flight Up but you’ll feel like you have when you do. As original as he is timeless, […]
One of our many favorites from the legendary Oakland-based label Black Jazz, double bassist Henry Franklin’s The Skipper At Home takes off right where his solo debut The […]
Steve Kuhn’s 1971 self-titled melancholic free jazz opus was written and recorded after he returned from living in Sweden for several years in the wake of his break […]
Time Capsule’s third release is the first-time vinyl reissue of 2003’s Illuminated Audio by Gigi (or rather: producer, bassist and spouse Bill Laswell). It’s essentially a remix album […]
A truly transcendent crossover gospel album by Chicagoan pastor and activist T.L. Barrett and his beloved youth choir. Barrett was the pastor at the Mount Zion church, whose […]
As a possible ode to Mort Garson’s Plantasia, Olive Ardizoni designed their first record as Green-House to communicate with plant life and the people who care for them. […]
Much more than just a rare groove classic, Eugene McDaniels’ Headless Heroes Of The Apocalypse is a psychedelic-soul jazz album with a powerful message. McDaniels, who is also […]
Another archeological music discovery by Numero Group, Edge of Daybreak’s Eyes of Love was a long lost prison letter and portrait of incarcerated soul. It was recorded entirely […]
Welcome to the cosmic playground of The Space Lady, the Queen of Outsider Music. The Space Lady (AKA Suzy Soundz; born Susan Dietrich Schneider) has a heart as […]
After a making his way playing guitar and pedal steel in several different psych-rock and modern country groups over the last two decades, Raymond Richards debuts his first […]
A great way to travel when you’re stuck at home is to listen to Houston-based trio Khruangbin, whose band name is the Thai word for “flying engine” or […]
Rare Silk was an 80’s vocal jazz group, a genre that at the time was defined by it’s multi-part vocal harmonies, pop sensibilities and mix of swing and […]
It’s hard to pin down where to start with an artist that suffered such an incredibly turbulent life and at the same time, composed – on par with […]
A heartbreakingly intimate and rare private press record featuring American folk singer Kath Bloom accompanied by experimental musician Loren “Mazzacane” Connors. The record was originally issued in limited […]
A stark, off-kilter, angst-driven, supercharged debut album by British/German political-journalist-turned-singer Annika Henderson, performing as Anika, backed by the experimental electronic rock band BEAK>. The album consists primarily of […]
A free form jazz guitar record by a pioneer of the genre. Metheny plays with a carefree breezy dexterity here, yet manages to keep things tight with his […]
A cult classic originally released as a private pressing in 1975 that became a costly collector’s item over the years, and is now available to the masses thanks […]
Released in 1969, the In A Silent Way Sessions, as they were known, was all recorded in a day. These recordings were a departure for Davis and would […]
Shoes were formed in the early 70s by longtime friends John Murphy and Gary Klebe in Zion, Illinois before the two even owned their first instruments. The duo […]
These Trails were the Hawaii based couple Margaret Morgan and Patrick Cockett. They never played a show and recorded their sole album in 1973. They were joined in […]
Ever wonder how many amazing unreleased or unheard acetates currently sit in total obscurity, on a shelf somewhere, with decades’ worth of dust, unreleased, or perhaps even completely […]
All Keyed Up by keyboardist Ben Tankard is not what you’d expect from a gospel artist… In fact, there’s not much expected or “normal” to Ben Tankard’s life […]
From RVNG Intl. comes a 2017 anthology of self-released trans-temporal new age music by Bay Area composer/synthesist Pauline Anna Strom, assembled from seven albums composed and recorded between […]
The long-awaited reissue of Ernest Hood’s private press masterpiece is a must-have for any ambient music fan. Released in 1974 before the term “ambient music” was even coined, […]
A future classic from two rising stars of the LA jazz/electronic scene. Music for Saxofone & Bass Guitar was originally self-released as a limited white label in 2018 […]
From the expert curation of Numero Group comes an extensive anthology of rare cassette releases, deep cuts and previously unreleased gems by prolific electronic music pioneer Joanna Brouk. […]
When you think of classic digger records, Lonnie’s albums are sure to come up. Endlessly sampled (the most famous being Digable Planets’ “Pacifics”) and sought after for his […]
The debut release from NYC based artist Chester Raj Anand serves as something of an audio diary retelling the experience of a solo trip to Tokyo. The story […]
“I strove to produce a musical work which uplifts the spirit by calming the mind and organically stimulating the subtler dimensions of physiology, in a manner consonant with […]
Hard Candy, Ned Doheny’s blue eyed soul opus, offers a lesson in everything going right for a record, yet still failing commercially. After his debut album failed to […]
Jon Lucien is known as one of the most focused and emotional balladeers to ever step in front of a microphone, but it’s his soothing baritone voice that […]
Stepping Into Tomorrow is a classic jazz-funk bomb from the great Donald Byrd featuring an all star cast including Gary Bartz on saxophone, Chuck Rainey on bass, and […]
An essential for any Arthur Russell fan, Another Thought is the enigmatic artist’s first posthumous release after passing from AIDS in 1992. Compiled by producer Don Christensen from […]
Archie Shepp’s Attica Blues is a multi-faceted jazz masterpiece. Musically, it represents a departure in Shepp’s music from the free jazz leanings of his previous output to cohesively […]
Bobby Brown’s debut is a difficult to classify outsider opus that has become a sort of grail for rare psych collectors (it’s featured in the highly renowned Acid […]
Zummo With an X is the debut album of Peter Zummo, a multi-instrumentalist and frequent collaborator/friend of the great Arthur Russell. Zummo’s playing can be heard on some […]
Tim Buckley’s third album represented many important changes for the young songwriter. He stopped working with the lyricist of his first two albums and began to write his […]
American composer and multi-instrumentalist Alvin Curran’s fantastic debut Canti E Vedute Del giardino Magnetico, which translates to Songs and Views from the Magnetic Garden, consists of two sidelong […]
Linda Cohen was a mostly self taught musician from Philadelphia who along with being a fixture in the local avant-garde music scene, worked diligently as a classical guitar […]
The aptly titled Traveller is an icy ambient journey through the harshness of a midwestern winter. Enveloped by nature and snow, Sampson recorded the Traveller entirely alone in […]
An In Sheep’s Clothing nighttime favorite, Barbara & Ernie’s only release is a complex combination of soul, folk rock, and late 60’s psychedelia. At first listen, it doesn’t […]
San Francisco is the perfect introductory album to American jazz vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson. Featuring his right-hand man Harold Land on reeds, the duo’s style takes a step forward […]
Blacks and Blues was recorded in 1973 when American jazz flutist Bobbi Humphrey was just 23 years old, two years after becoming the first African-American female instrumentalist signed […]
If you’re new to Alice Coltrane, this is an exciting first album to catapult you straight to her planet, whereas other albums might fly you there more slowly. […]
A good rule of thumb if you want to dive into an enormous artist discography and don’t know where to begin: trust the artist’s own recommendation. In this […]
In an unlikely collaboration between folk singer Laura Allan and New Age pioneer Paul Horn, Reflections captures two artists in perfect harmony of their talents. Allan, in addition […]
What makes this record so special is the sublime interplay between Bill Evans piano playing and Jim Hall’s guitar work. These two masters of their craft found a […]
It comes as little surprise that Miles Davis was a great admirer of Ahmad Jamal. The critically acclaimed jazz innovator, known for his understated playing and elegant arrangements […]
Steve Reich’s organic minimalist tour de force is a ground breaking record that would become an influence for much of the electronic records we hear today. Reich creates […]
Charlie Haden’s Closeness is comprised of 4 duet collaboration based melodies crafted by Haden. On each number, Haden (the bassist) pushes the musical envelope playing opposite an artist […]
This record finds Neil at a crossroads musically somewhere between country, rock and blues. While the title suggests summer breezy, On The Beach finds Neil in a more […]
A monumental jazz big band record, Masterpieces by Ellington was one of the earliest releases to take advantage of the extended time available on Columbia’s brand new 12-inch […]
When Pharoah Sanders’ Love in Us All was released in 1974, it was already becoming clear that the artist was shifting away from the wilder experimentations of his earlier […]
A much needed reissue of Chicago jazz legend Philip Cohran and his Artistic Heritage Ensemble’s private press gem On the Beach. Cohran played with the Sun Ra Arkestra […]
The New Folk Sound Of Terry Callier released in 1966 on Prestige is exactly what its title suggests – a fresh take on American folk from the then-newcomer […]
One of the most sensual records of all time. Janis Gaye, whom the album is dedicated to, recalls “I’m pretty sure if you took a poll of how […]
A daytime favorite at ISC, John Carroll Kirby’s solo piano album Tuscany on NYC label Patience is music inspired by a time and a place. The Los Angeles-based […]
A timeless masterpiece by Simon Jeffes’ Penguin Cafe Orchestra. PCO’s sound is difficult to categorize but perhaps best summed up as a mishmash of Jeffes’ eclectic influences – […]
