60’s, 70’s, 80’s landmarks

	15.60.75 (aka The Numbers Band): Jimmy Bell's Still in Town Code:HR112 Price: £10.58 Quantity in Basket: none
Rare reissue of the 1976 LP release from a revived Hearthan Records. 15.60.75 was one of the legendary Ohio groups, back in the glory (Ubu, Devo, Tin Huey, The Waitresses) days. Main characters Robert and Jack Kidney recently re-emerged in David Thomas' Mirror Man project, and in a searing concert at the London Purcell Rooms. It's rock, but it scours and grips. In its field, an insider classic.
	ALLEN, DAEVID, HUGH HOPPER, CHRIS CUTLER: BRAINVILLE 3: Trial by Headline Code:ReRBV3-1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Three old hands out of Soft Machine, Gong and Henry Cow stretch already flexible musical material into one shape after another, then tie it in knots and generally have a fun with it. High quality recordings combined with seat-of-the-pants playing keep the tension high, underpinning a richly labile music, full of shape and colour that is constantly in motion. Compiled from recent concert recordings in Berlin, London and Tel Aviv, this clutch of extended songs should be to the taste of anyone familiar with the protagonists - or who longs to hear a little more straightforward instrumental playing in place of computers, heavy processing and sanitised post production. Brainville offers you tightrope walking, imagination, fast thinking, and a seasoned musicality: a social music, played by old friends, that blithely goes its own way.
	ARCANE DEVICE: Engine Of Myth (vinyl) Code:ReR35 Price: £10.34 Quantity in Basket: none
David Myers has invented an instrument (see the ReR Quarterly Volume 2, Number 3 for details) that produces sound, as it were out of nothing:Feedback music - it screams, it whispers, roars, ululates, explodes, divebombs, twitters and reverberates endlessly in vast and detailed soundscapes; it sets two sound-mirrors face to face creating infinite reflections. DM struggles to control this machine and to give its massive voices shape. The result is huge, intimate and altogether remarkable.
	ART BEARS: The art box Code:ReRABox Price: £40.00 Quantity in Basket: none
A 6 CD box containing: 1. The three original releases, properly re-mastered, - when we did them before, the technology was much poorer. Stunningly re-mastered by Bob Drake from 24 bit transcriptions of the original tapes and in newly designed Digipacks, same cover art, of course. 2. Art Bears Revisited -A double CD of re-mixes, re-workings and (mostly) new pieces made from Art Bears multi-track masters by JOHN OSWALD, THE RESIDENTS, CHRISTIAN MARCLAY, FRED FRITH, CHRIS CUTLER, BIOTA, OTOMO YOSHIHIDE/GROUND ZERO, BOB DRAKE JON ROSE, OSSATURA, WARRIC SWINNEY/KALAHARI SURFERS, WHEN, THOMAS DIMUZIO, ANNIE GOSFIELD ROGER KLEIR,ANDREA ROCCA, VITOR RUA, JOCELYN ROBERT,MUSCI/ VENOSTA/ MARIANI, MASSIMO SIMONINI, HERB HEINZ. MARTIN ARCHER, YASUSHI UTSUNOMIYA, JON LEIDECKER/WOBBLY, STEVAN KOVACS TICKMAYER and BRIAN WOODBURY. 6 years in the making, this is an amazing catalogue of imagination and great music. Digi-packed with a cover art by EM Thomas, who did all three original art bears covers and containing Art re-mixes in the booklet as well as comprehensive information. This double also contains Collapse from the Ralph Records single, All Hail from the Recommended Sampler and one previously unreleased and unfinished track completed by Fred Frith and Chris Cutler for this release. 3. A free extra CD only available with the box (there are reasons) containing further re-workings by John Oswald, Bob Drake, Fred Frith, Biota, Yasushi Utsunomiya, as well as live Art Bears tracks and a Duck and Cover cover. 4. A thick book of artwork, articles, notes, interviews and commentary on the material, the work process, the tour and the band in general, with photographs, documents and artwork. Listen to a sample of this release
	AYERS, KEVIN and The WHOLE WORLD: Hyde Park Free Concert Code:RR002 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Summer 1970 and a great band that drew in Lol Coxhill (national treasure), David Bedford (enfant terrible), Mike Oldfield (wildly over-qualified bass-player) and both Robert Wyatt and bandleader Kevin Ayers (respectively current and ex Soft Machiners). Someone recorded it all, and here, cleaned up as much as possible, are the traces. '70s PA system, big noisy space, wind blowing the sound about; it's all engraved into this CD. And through the lo-fi you can hear what made this period so interesting; bands didn't try to sound alike, they took risks, they shuffled up the genres and they found their own way to a musical language that was full of ideas, details and imagination. The Whole World was exemplary, and you can just about hear what it was all about here. Fans will like it, researchers will be informed and it's nice to hear Robert in this fluid, melodic context; if you were there, this will bring it all back; but doubters should go first to the studio CDs. These are precious documents, however.
	BRYARS, GAVIN: The Marvellous Aphorisms of Gavin Bryars: The Early Years Code:Mode177 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Composed between 1969 and1971, when Bryars was working with ideas from Cage, Fluxus, free improvisation and experimentalism. There are 4 compositions here: Pre-Mediaeval Metrics for guitar and saxophone, a graphic score, Made in Hong Kong, for mechanical toys, 1, 2, 1-2-3-4, for ensemble: the musicians all listen to the same cassette (a new technology then), and ignore one another, improvising along with what they hear (Beatles songs). The cassettes slowly get out of synch, The Squirrel and The Ricketty Racketty Bridge, written for Derek Bailey. The performer has to play two guitars simultaneously, placed flat on their backs, hammering on and off. These are all new recordings with sleeve notes by Bryars.
	CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND THE MAGIC BAND: Grow Fins (5 CDÕs and Book) Code:Revenant210 Price: £51.70 Quantity in Basket: none
5 CDs of unreleased material, tracing the Magic Bands from the beginning. Includes a whole CD of Troutmask rehearsals at Beefheart's house and one collection (no 5) that is just unspeakably great, showing how completely extraordinary the magic band could be in concert and including a Don piano original (Odd Jobs) and the band "demo" version of Odd Jobs from the unreleased Batchain Puller. Plus Don acapella, Don plays the Mellotron and synth live and some unbeatable performances. Plus a long historical memoir by John French (aka Drumbo), occupying the larger part of a 112 page book full of fascinating material and pictures. Definitive. Indispensable. And reasonably priced! Book and Box. Possibly limited supply. Sorry but credit card payment on this box is a horrible £2 extra)
	CAPTAIN BEEFHEART: Dust Sucker Code:BF6003 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Being the unreleased Bat Chain Puller LP (tracks came out on later LP's mostly in re-recorded versions with different personnel). I remember when this showed up at Virgin's A&R dept., we all thought it was the best thing since trout mask (and like TM was also recorded by Frank Zappa). Because of sordid and petty money and attorney dramas, it never saw the light of day; so it's great to see it out at last, not in the best reproductive condition but still extremely good. And the songs are stunning. Floppy Boot Stomp is one of the very great Beefheart songs, Owed t' Alex shows, like Veteran's Day Poppy, what a great original John French was, Harry Irene is so much more than it seems, Poop Hatch is scary, A Carrot· breathtaking, 1010th day and Apes-Ma ...prophetic - and so on. Trout Mask may have been the strangest but Batchain was the most rounded and complete of Beefheart's works - in my opinion, whatever all the other commentators have said. I certainly would not choose between them. In addition there are 7 extra tracks here, 5 of which are absolutely indispensable, being (though not credited here information on the CD is meagre to say the least the short-lived band consisting I'm almost certain of Elliot Ingber (Winged Eel), John French, Tom Fowler, Denny Walley and Eric Drew Feldman. The last two tracks, well, it would have been better to put them on another compilation. Don't miss this CD.
	CHADIMA, MIKOLAS : The City (db) Code:BP0123 Price: £21.74 Quantity in Basket: none
Part of Czech underground history, written and occasionally performed at the end of 1979 and eventually released on vinyl after the changes in 1989, this has all the characteristic qualities of the best of the productions of that period (extended rock with an unmistakable Czech inflection); especially volume 2, which is great. No Western group ever sounded like this. (In fact the only non MC song here, a radically reinterpreted 'Sunshine of your Love' could function as a kind of E-W Rosetta stone. A classic.
	CLEARFRAME: Clearframe Code:TINU001 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Featuring the all-star cast of Charles Hayward, Hugh Hopper, Lol Coxhill and Orphy Robinson (vibraphone, steel drums), with guest Robert Wyatt on cornet. Eight strong pieces in a rock-inflected, improvisation-empowered, loose - but not too loose - free-associating open style that has become as rare as hen's teeth today. Clearframe refers back to time when free jazz, rock and all the experimental fringes were converging in search of a polyglot musical language eschewing the exclusions and rules that hedged their different genres about; and all the participants here (except Orphy Robinson - too young) were part of that project and have been shifting genres and evading labels ever since. To my ears, this record returns to unfinished business and does so at the highest level. These chaps know their way around. Clearframe offers a rare opportunity to listen to masters at work in an almost non-existent field. And it's great to hear Lol in full flight.
	CONRAD, TONY with FAUST: Outside the Dream Syndicate 30th Anniversary Edition Code:conradFaust30th Price: £25.85 Quantity in Basket: none
The classic.. A vital Minimal electric violin drone with microtonalities by La Monte Young affiliate Conrad, and scary machine beats from the Faust rhythm section (Jean-Herve Peron and Werner Diermaier) and Faust guitarist Rudolph Sosna (who plays some synthesiser here) This was undoubtedly one of the more remarkable projects to come out of Faust's famous Wumme schoolhouse (Slapp Happy's Sort Of was another). And it still holds fast as a definitive - and primal - musical statement. Added to the original (remastered) LP are other out-takes from the original sessions and another version of the ur-piece without an extra violin overdubbed later. A landmark. Nice packaging, though the text is more promotional than useful. If you already have the single CD, not a lot is added, but the quality is better. Sorry it's so expensive. But still worth it
	CONRAD, TONY: Outside the Dream Syndicate Alive Code:TOE-CD-48 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A professional recording of the legendary Queen Elizabeth Hall concert in London, 1995 with Jean-Herve Peron and Zappi Diermier of the then newly reformed Faust. More nuanced and richer than the original studio version, but a tad less mechanical; interesting how an unchanging beat and a single tone can carry such different content between record and stage. Notes by a detached Conrad and an intense Peron indicate where the tight focus and high tension of the performance came from.
	CONVENTUM: A L'affut 'un Complot Code:MPM12 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A very welcome reissue of this seminal Quebequois ensemble, first released in 1977, a project of a tireless Andre Duchesne featuring himself, Rene Lussier and Jean-Pierre Bouchard (all manner of guitars and mandolins - and all of whom re-emerged later, electrified, in Les Quatre Guitaristes de L'Apocalpso-bar), Bernard Cormier and Charles Kaczynski (violin, viola, cello, metallophone), Michel Therrien (oboe, alto sax), Jacques Laurin (electric and contra bass) and Alain-Arthur Painchaud (texts, occasional speech). Two percussionists and 5 singers also appear as guests throughout. Andre is the main singer, and though many tracks are songs, the material is mainly instrumental. Highly orchestrated, beautifully executed and detailed writing mingles acoustic and electric languages, folklore, progressive rock and contemporary music (Bartok) in an uncategorieseable melange. They undoubtedly would have been inducted into RIO had that organisation survived longer. And many will remember them from the recommended sampler. This CD contains the entire first LP with 7 extra tracks taken from a live concert in 1977. Great and enduring compositions. Nicely repackaged with good notes in French and English. Essential
	CONVENTUM: Le bureau Central Des Utopies Code:MPM13 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Second and last release from this important band. Now stripped back to a quartet (Duchesne, Lussier, Cormier and Laurin, with Painchaud still on board) they remained equally inventive and versatile. Actually more so, by some distance. This is a record that sets a standard extraordinarily hard to beat. The title track is breathtakingly accomplished and imaginative and there are two great, and long, extra tracks. If you like one of these CDs you will want both. Again, nicely repackaged with good notes in French and English.
	DOWNES, BOB: Episodes at 4 AM Code:PD24 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Paradigm continues to uncover important fragments of the historic record. Bob Downes was everywhere on the musical fringes of the '60s, and his own 'Open Music' with Barry Guy and Denis Smith was part of the furniture of the time. Here, he and Wendy Benka with an orchestra of flutes, hammer dulcimer, marimba, gongs, percussion, jew's harp, saxophone, electronics, feedback, public telephones, water pump, zither, wind gong, cello, crystal glass vase, snail shells and tablas, produce an airy semi-electronic music - originally commissioned for dance, and released on Downes' own Openian label in 1974. What makes it especially interesting is the ground it explores between acoustic and electronic musics: all the sounds are processed, using the limited equipment available at the time, but with a great deal of inventiveness - and imagination will trump outboard computing power every time. Re-mastered from the original tapes, adding 7 extra tracks made between 1972 -2005 (one using only New York Public telephones, au naturel).
	EGG: The Metronomical Society Code:CD69-7202 Price: £14.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Dave Stewart, Mont Campbell and Clive Brooks. For my money one of the most interesting and least acknowledged of the groups of the early '70s, explorers of additive rhythms, complex through-composition and occasional stretches of psychedelic noise. They released three CDs in their lifetime, all still intermittently available, but this collection - all of unreleased recordings complied by the band (mostly from radio broadcasts and well recorded live performances between 1969 and 1972) gives the best impression of the scope and talent of their very substantial enterprise. Released on their own label in a solid digpack with an excellent and informative 20pp booklet, this has some great - and really original - music on it.
	FAUST: C'est Com .. Complique Code:BB21 Price: £14.50 Quantity in Basket: none
A very full, insistent Faust-like sound from the recent performing trio (jean-Hervé, Zappi and Amaury Canbuzat) in a threefold digipack with texts and notes by both Jean-Hervé and Zappi,
	FAUST: Faust IV plus (double) Code:faustIVplus Price: £16.45 Quantity in Basket: none
From EMI, the original Virgin release, much of which was recorded at the Manor in 1973 (some being carried over from Wumme); plus the Peel show, some out-takes from the Manor sessions and alternative versions of several of the pieces. The sleeve notes are unreliable (some are just obvious nonsense, for instance the claim that Faust introduced an unknown and poverty stricken Mike Oldfield to the studio - where he'd been already been working for over a year) and the usual mythmaking obfuscation, but then, this is EMI. As I recall, the band hated the Manor and were unhappy working there. But there are some fine pieces here nonetheless.
	FAUST: Nobody knows if it ever happened [DVD] Code:faustHappened Price: £18.21 Quantity in Basket: none
At last, a well made film that captures the intensity, caprice, craziness and visionary beauty of Faust's late '90s performances, when, for a moment the core members of the original band were temporarily reconciled. Professionally filmed at the legendary 1996 Faust Garage concert, this release fills in what has until now been sorely missing from the record - the sheer physicality of Faust's performances: the litter of scrap, cement mixers, hay blowing machines, angle-grinders and instruments that form their workplace (shared here with sculptress Insa Winkler, toiling away on sheet steel with an oxy-acetylene welder throughout the show). In the middle of the stage hangs a battery of drums, chunks of wood and metal, mounted on a massive open frame, and around it bassist Jean-Herve Peron and drummer Zappi Diermier prowl and play in constant motion. Peron takes time out to strip and fling buckets of paint at a huge white wall of blank LP covers; Zappi attacks his kit with sticks like tree trunks. Meanwhile, organist Jochen Irmler sits placidly in the wreckage, smiling the same smile whether he is unleashing the hounds of hell or underpinning the chaos with meditative drifting pitches. Alongside, guest guitarist Steven Wray Lobdell creates sheets of noise that keep the whole juggernaut rolling, now and then stepping out to tear a hole in it. Between firestorms are quieter moments, enigmatic events, which emerge and then sink back into time. This is not quite the dignified revival expected of rock legends: no question of a perfect sound or mature stage act for Faust. This show, like all their shows during this period, is a tempest of chaos, disruption and moment to moment action. No band was ever more phenomenologically driven than Faust. Sparks fly, machines rattle, the room fills with smoke, and eventually we all wind up on the street as the band stumbles out, and the fire engines arrive. Classic. The DVD also includes 'Struktur' - an exclusive 50 minute behind-the-scenes document shot by the late Arthur Howes, and a bonus performance of Flashback Caruso. It is packaged with commissioned liner notes from Andy Wilson author of 'Stretch Out Time'. And indispensable release for any Faust fan. Official release date 23 April. Sign up now and it will go out to reach you just before it hits the shops.
	FAUST: Patchwork 1971-2002 Code:7.60Staubgold37 Price: £14.98 Quantity in Basket: none
A collection of old and new recordings, with some alternative versions of well known early songs, as well as new material, excellently compiled, almost like a radio piece. Nice cover but no documentation about the sources of any of the material. A must for the Faust fan.
	FAUST: Patchwork Code:Staubgold Price: £12.75 Quantity in Basket: none
New and old material edited together. Unheard at time of press, but good reports. We thought you'd want to know I'll review in the next. Also available in limited vinyl edition for the same price.
	FAUST: The Faust Tapes LP Code:ReRVF1 Price: £21.00 Quantity in Basket: none
Limited audiophile edition of 1000 copies on 180 gm virgin vinyl. POST FREE
	FITZGERALD, GERRY & LOL COXHILL: Echoes of Duneden Code:RR003 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A record complied from many beautifully recorded performances in Edinburgh in 1975, edited and mastered by Gerry and then rejected by Virgin - after which it lay around until picked up, luckily, by Reel. Gerry, a remarkable guitarist, is virtually undocumented; his only released recordings being the legendary but obscure Mouseproof' (with pre Henry Cow Geoff Leigh), Fleas in Custard (also with Lol) and as a contributor to Fred Frith's Guitar Solos 2. So this is a useful addition to a meagre discography. A subtle, careful, very nicely assembled set of improvisations that keep collapsing into unison or co-ordinated sections. Both protagonists are on great form.
	FRITH, FRED: Keep The Dog Live (dbl) Code:ReR/FRA03 Price: £20.00 Quantity in Basket: none
FredÕs legendary collected works band, formed in 1989 with allstars Rene Lussier, Bob Ostertag, Zeena Parkins, Jean Derome and Charles Hayward. An album mainly of instrumental compositions. CharlesÕ clean, incisive drums lend a sharp edge to the more jazz inflected horns Ð sometimes shifting into jazz-rock territory, Zeena in less customary role concentrates on Keyboards (and occasionally sings with Fred), Rene and Fred share Bass and Guitar, Jean covers a family of winds with an even handed virtuosity and, for the rest, if you canÕt square it, itÕs probably Bob Ostertag, whose sampler stored parts, noises and whatever no one else had hands for. As with Henry Cow, Fred integrated large stretches of improvising between and within the piecesÉ following the grail many of us pursue still - integration beyond the point of distinguishing between composition, improvisation, interpretation and performance. This double CD was compiled from performances in many countries in 1991 and it represents both the breadth of composition and the extraordinary quality of musicianship and imagination characteristic of that new, homeless, community of composer/performers that emerged from the 70Õs genre collapse, a terminal collapse that was to throw the contents and techniques of Folk, Jazz, Rock and Contemporary musics into what was to become in the space of a few years effectively a new form Listen to a sample of this release
	HENRY COW SPECIAL EDITION: In Praise of Learning Code:HCSpecialEdition4 Price: £32.90 Quantity in Basket: none
In Praise of Learning, in cardboard original release facsimile cover. This is a limited Japanese edition of 500 copies of which 32 numbered copies are available outside Japan. These pressings are identical to the ReR releases, so these are really only for collectors. And they are not cheap:28 pounds each, or 100 pounds the set which comes with an archive "Henry Cow family tree" from 1990. Must be sold on a first come first served basis. Not available in japan
	HENRY COW SPECIAL EDITION: Legend Code:HCSpecialEdition2 Price: £32.90 Quantity in Basket: none
Legend, in cardboard original release facsimile cover. This is a limited Japanese edition of 500 copies of which 32 numbered copies are available outside Japan. These pressings are identical to the ReR releases, so these are really only for collectors. And they are not cheap:28 pounds each, or 100 pounds the set which comes with an archive "Henry Cow family tree" from 1990. Must be sold on a first come first served basis. Not available in japan
	HENRY COW SPECIAL EDITION: Unrest Code:HCSpecialEdition3 Price: £32.90 Quantity in Basket: none
Unrest in cardboard original release facsimile cover. This is a limited Japanese edition of 500 copies of which 32 numbered copies are available outside Japan. These pressings are identical to the ReR releases, so these are really only for collectors. And they are not cheap:28 pounds each, or 100 pounds the set which comes with an archive "Henry Cow family tree" from 1990. Must be sold on a first come first served basis. Not available in japan
	HENRY COW SPECIAL EDITION: Western Culture Code:HCSpecialEdition5 Price: £32.90 Quantity in Basket: none
Western Culture, in cardboard original release facsimile cover. This is a limited Japanese edition of 500 copies of which 32 numbered copies are available outside Japan. These pressings are identical to the ReR releases, so these are really only for collectors. And they are not cheap:28 pounds each, or 100 pounds the set which comes with an archive "Henry Cow family tree" from 1990. Must be sold on a first come first served basis. Not available in japan
	HENRY COW SPECIAL EDITION Code:HCSpecialEdition1 Price: £100.00 Quantity in Basket: none
Legend, Unrest, In Praise of Learning, Western Culture - all in cardboard original release facsimile covers. This is a limited Japanese edition of 500 copies of which 32 numbered copies are available outside Japan. These pressings are identical to the ReR releases, so these are really only for collectors. And they are not cheap:28 pounds each, or 100 pounds the set which comes with an archive "Henry Cow family tree" from 1990. Must be sold on a first come first served basis. Not available in japan
	HENRY COW: 40th ANNIVERSARY BOX SET - VOL 1 - 5 CDs , box, book Code:RERHCBOX1 Price: £47.00 Quantity in Basket: none
THE 40th ANNIVERSARY HENRY COW BOX SET 9 CDs and 1 DVD with 2 substantial books - in two solid Boxes. LIMITED EDITION. Assembled over 15 years, this collection gives for the first time some idea of the breadth and depth of Henry Cow's work. Always very much a live band, performance was their metier, and a concert might range far - always driven by an intense dialogue between tightly knit compositions and radically open improvisation. The officially released LPs tell at best only half this story, and one purpose of this definitive collection is to set the work back into its broader context. These are all previously unreleased recordings, that include many compositions and improvisations new to anyone who only knows the official releases, documentation of a number of one-off projects and events and - where different or remarkable enough to justify inclusion - live versions of parts of the LP repertoire. Many of these recordings are high quality radio transcriptions taken directly from the original masters, others are less hi-fi, but justified we think by their historic and musical quality. And everything has been carefully transferred and re-mastered by Bob Drake to the best audio quality that current technology allows without interference or tampering. It's all a million times better than the terrible bootlegs that are swimming around. Altogether, these 9 CDs embody some extraordinary, and occasionally prescient music. Taking this box together with the officially released albums, it is possible at last to get some impression of the extensive ground Henry Cow covered in it's 10 short years. Finally, there is the DVD: 80 minutes of the 1976 Cow (with Georgina Born and Dagmar Krause) performing many unreleased pieces as well as Living in the Heart of The Beast, Beautiful as the Moon &c. This is the only known video recording in existence - professionally made, multi camera - and has not been recovered since its original broadcast (just scour U-Tube, HC is conspicuous by its total absence). And last but not least, there is a great deal of written, photographic and textual documentation. Since this will probably be the last and definitive collection, it has to be thorough. For reasons of fairness and cost we have decided to split the set into two boxes - which can be bought separately or together. VOL 1 covers the period 1971 to the 1976 Hamburg radio show which documents John Greaves' last concert with the band, as well as the extraordinary Trondheim concert from the quartet tour that immediately followed. VOL 2 takes the story through to 1978 and includes more previously undocumented compositions as well as the Bremen radio recording. The Stockholm CD belongs to this second box, which also contains the DVD. Dusted Reviews: The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set
	HENRY COW: Concerts (dbl) Code:ReRHC5-6 Price: £20.00 Quantity in Basket: none
The long-time out-of-print collection of live recordings that form a snapshot of Henry Cow as it was in 1975, including some of the concerts with Robert Wyatt, plus a couple of earlier recordings and the whole of the rather remarkable Henry Cow side of the long deleted 'Greasy Truckers' album. Fully re-mastered by Bob Drake and repackaged into the ReR definitive reissue series. This release completes that series.
	HENRY COW: LIMITED EDITION FACSIMILIE SET IN BOX (7 CDs, box) Code:henryCowFac Price: £105.00 Quantity in Basket: none
Very sturdily boxed edition containing the new Concerts double, as well as the other four Henry Cow releases and the Henry Cow/SlappHappy release 'Desperate Straights' - all in facsimile original board LP-style covers, with an extra subscription-only 8cm CD of previously unreleased material, in a strictly limited edition of 200 numbered copies.
	HENRY COW: Stockholm Code:ReRHC7 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Stockholm will form part of the box set, and if you subscribe to the box, we will send this CD alone immediately. The rest of the box will follow when it is released. If you want this CD alone and decide later to get the box anyway, we'll send you the box minus Stockholm, cheaper than the full price, so either way you won't have to buy anything twice. Stockholm is a high quality Swedish Radio recording, made in 1977, that includes Tim's epic Erk Gah (now known as Hold to the Zero Burn), Phil Ochs' No More Songs and The March - none of which we ever recorded for CD release - plus Ottawa Song & other, untitled, pieces. Over an hour of music, taken from the original radio tapes and re-mastered for this edition by Bob Drake.
	HENRY COW: THE 40th ANNIVERSARY HENRY COW BOX SET - VOL 2 - 4 CDs, DVD, box, book WITHOUT STOCKH Code:RERHCBOX2NS Price: £42.00 Quantity in Basket: none
THE 40th ANNIVERSARY HENRY COW BOX SET 3 CDs, DVD, box, book. LIMITED EDITION. Assembled over 15 years, this collection gives for the first time some idea of the breadth and depth of Henry Cow's work. Always very much a live band, performance was their metier, and a concert might range far - always driven by an intense dialogue between tightly knit compositions and radically open improvisation. The officially released LPs tell at best only half this story, and one purpose of this definitive collection is to set the work back into its broader context. These are all previously unreleased recordings, that include many compositions and improvisations new to anyone who only knows the official releases, documentation of a number of one-off projects and events and - where different or remarkable enough to justify inclusion - live versions of parts of the LP repertoire. Many of these recordings are high quality radio transcriptions taken directly from the original masters, others are less hi-fi, but justified we think by their historic and musical quality. And everything has been carefully transferred and re-mastered by Bob Drake to the best audio quality that current technology allows without interference or tampering. It's all a million times better than the terrible bootlegs that are swimming around. Altogether, these 9 CDs embody some extraordinary, and occasionally prescient music. Taking this box together with the officially released albums, it is possible at last to get some impression of the extensive ground Henry Cow covered in it's 10 short years. Finally, there is the DVD: 80 minutes of the 1976 Cow (with Georgina Born and Dagmar Krause) performing many unreleased pieces as well as Living in the Heart of The Beast, Beautiful as the Moon &c. This is the only known video recording in existence - professionally made, multi camera - and has not been recovered since its original broadcast (just scour U-Tube, HC is conspicuous by its total absence). And last but not least, there is a great deal of written, photographic and textual documentation. Since this will probably be the last and definitive collection, it has to be thorough. For reasons of fairness and cost we have decided to split the set into two boxes - which can be bought separately or together. VOL 1 covers the period 1971 to the 1976 Hamburg radio show which documents John Greaves' last concert with the band, as well as the extraordinary Trondheim concert from the quartet tour that immediately followed. VOL 2 takes the story through to 1978 and includes more previously undocumented compositions as well as the Bremen radio recording. The Stockholm CD belongs to this second box, which also contains the DVD. Dusted Reviews: The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set
	HENRY COW: THE 40th ANNIVERSARY HENRY COW BOX SET ON INSTALLMENT PLAN Code:RERHCBOXINSTAL Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
We know it's expensive, and that's a problem. But it really is expensive to make, and there's no way around that. However, from feedback we've had we can proposes a special payment method. If you desperately want the box but just can't spend so much at once, you can buy in installments (at £12.5 per CD) and we'll send the boxes with CDs 5 & 10, as well as the extra box for the studio CDs.  At any time you can pay the balance and get the rest of the set all at once (when you win the lottery, for instance). Hopefully this will make it a more manageable proposition for some of you. Just add to the cart as many items as you want at any time, and then in the note section at the bottom of the shopping cart (Use this area for alternate selections and additional sale items) specify the title or titles you want. Please note: CDs 4 & 5 must be bought together, that's 2 items, and the DVD must be the last item you orderÊ - we will send the 2nd and 3rd boxes and the 2nd booklet out with it. Please order this seperately - it is the item listed after this one called: INSTALLMENT PLAN COMPLETION PAYMENT. Thanks. Installment unit Vol 1   £12.50 Installment unit Vol 2   £12.50 Installment unit Vol 3   £12.50 Installment unit Vol 4 & 5       £25 Installment unit Vol 6  (optional)  £12.50 Installment unit Vol 7   £12.50 Installment unit Vol 8   £12.50 Installment unit Vol 9   £12.50 Installment unit DVD    £15
	HOFFMAN, SAMUEL J.: The Theremin (3 CD box) Code:BASTA30-903-2 Price: £25.26 Quantity in Basket: none
A box containing reissues of 3 proto lounge music records featuring Samuel Hoffman, Hollywood's resident theremin player:' Music out of the Moon' (released in 1947 on 3 78 rpm records (a massive hit at the time), the 1948 'Perfume set to music' and 1950's Music for Peace of Mind' - here all presented as facsimiles of the early '50s LP reissues with a typical Basta booklet: 28pp of very thoroughly researched and illustrated material about the Theremin and Hoffman, including a filmography and discography. The music itself is light, loungy and exotic, arranged and conducted variously by Les Baxter and Billy May. A historic collection, of great interest to scholars, the curious - and lounge aficionados.
	HOMOSEXUALS THE : Astral Glamour (3 CDs) Code:MSS204 Price: £20.56 Quantity in Basket: none
One of the outstanding bands of the eighties who came and went with hardly anyone noticing and just 2 EP's and a single released on their own label. In 1982, ReR compiled an LP from the debris of the surviving tapes and that was that for 20 years. Now more or less everything that can be found has been collected together on these 3 CDs. The first two assemble the handful of releases issued by the band plus our own 1982 best-of LP, the 'Ici La Bas' album (the HS under other names), 'Venceremos' - a cassette release with some tracks by the group and various individual members, and various fragments - preliminary backing tracks and so on. The third CD features the work of the later group, mainly Bruno and Suzy. There is a 30pp booklet with some useful recovered photos, Bruno's version of the band history and notes on the tracks. Those of you for whom this is a must know who you are. You will need this release. Those who want to test the water first, I suggest you start with our single CD reissue of the ReR 1982 release.
	HOPPER, HUGH: 1984 Code:RUNE104 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
The classic 1972 record reissued again, with additional track. The long sound-experimental and abstract sections are a tribute to the possibilities of the bass guitar, and still fresh and inspiring- exquisite sounds intelligently deployed, at once hypnotic, abrasive, engaging. Interspersed are post Soft Machine band pieces (John Marshall, Pye Hastings, Lol Coxhill, Gary Windo, Malcolm Griffiths, Nick Evans) which are fine, but very much of their time, and to me dated in a way that the other pieces are not. Recommended.
	HOPPER, HUGH: Hoppertunity Box Code:Rune240 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A great LP that came out originally in1975 in Norway, of compositions recorded piecemeal over a several weeks by Hugh, Dave Stewart, Elton Dean, Gary Windo, Marc Charig, Frank Roberts, and Mike Travis (with Nigel Morris [Isotope] on one track), that mixes great real-time playing with multi-tracked and vari-speeded basses. Rich sonically, and sure-footed musically, this record also exemplifies much of what was great about an era of rock experimentalism that was already being left behind, or buried under expensive technology. Exemplary.
	KIRCHIN, BASIL: Quantum Code:JBH003CD Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A rarity. Kirchin made jazz recordings 50 years ago and then suddenly two experimental LPs in the '60's - more referred to by the few than heard - otherwise only rumours, footnotes circulated. But he was a pioneer, and the marks pioneers make persist, as this recovered recording - thanks to Jonny Trunk, one of those specialists who went looking and found, not only the author, but unreleased work -demonstrates. Subtitled ' A journey through sound' and made between 67 and 71, this mixes, in a coherent but highly abstract way, environmental recordings (insects to trams), instruments (inc. sax - evan parker -, flugelhorn, marimaba, whistles, rock guitar, bassoon), histrionics, voices and swathes of sound into an evolving drama. Absolutely not dated; it still falls between all styles and boundaries into a fascinating sonic no man's land. Historic and a milestone.
	KONTROLL CSOPORT: 1983 (Dbl) Code:BVD002-3 Price: £24.09 Quantity in Basket: none
The legendary Hungarian song group. Strange pop, related to Kampec Dolores (share composer/guitarist Csaba Hajnoczy) with bizarre edge and great singing. Document of the unavailable (or at least 'underground') music of the early '80's. Well recorded.
	L.VOAG: The Way Out Code:ALLVCD Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Reissue of the genuinely strange and idiosyncratic masterpiece reclusive and light-sensitive LV. In the guise of VERY OPEN and stretched pop songs, experiments stream out at A LOT per minute. A melange of snappy tunes, highly unobvious arrangements, left handed humour, sound research, super radical mixing and one off words and singing style. With extra material including the legendary and wholly perfect Beauty Spreads 7-inch. In my view, this is a benchmark best of the late 70's Magnum Opus.
	MAGMA: 1001 Centigrades Code:REX6 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
A classic.
	MAGMA: Attahk Code:REX13 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
	MAGMA: BBC 1974 Code:AKT13 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Two pieces- Theusz Hamtaahk and Kontarkosz (58 minutes total) from the early Jannik Top stretch of the band, with I believe their best and most under-rated guitarist, Claude Olmos- Mr. Minimal. Again a surprise; TH appears in a very stripped back, even lyrical form, with the structure clearly revealed and exquisitely performed. Tempi pulled right back. The most hypnotic version I have heard yet of this piece. K follows in a similar mood. Fascinating.
	MAGMA: BobiMUSICWORKS: No (video) Code:AKT6 Price: £24.09 Quantity in Basket: none
The same concert as the double CD.
	MAGMA: Bobino Concert 1981 (dbl) Code:AKT5 Price: £24.09 Quantity in Basket: none
A live concert performance, studio quality recording. This is the post-classic Magma, for me, with more pyrotechnics and jazz-funk, and less Stravinsky and Coltrane-lyricism than the earlier works. There are still stunning moments and some quintessential Vander stretches that Magma afficianados will treasure. As well as a lot of otherwise unavailable pieces.
	MAGMA: Concert 1976 - Opera De Reims (triple CD) Code:AKT9 Price: £21.74 Quantity in Basket: none
Same band as Magma Live (except 2nd piano now Patrick Gauthier). CD 1 contains an ok version of J.Top's 'De Futura' for the first time (I wonder what happened to mass band version from Nancy a year earlier) and an improvisation followed by a drum solo. CD 2 has further versions of Kontarkosz and Theusz Hamtaahk (I think you'll continue to listen to the ones on Live and Retrospektiw I, II) which were previously released {bootlegged?} on 'Kiss 11' and CD 3 has yet another Mekanik (the 7Tth ?) and again, it's different and excellent - and clear, especially Vander's part- a study version (+long noisy solo). Special mention for the prodigious Bernard Paganotti.
	MAGMA: Concert, Bruxelles 1971 (double cd) Code:AKT8 Price: £24.09 Quantity in Basket: none
The 1001 Centigrades group with an extraordinary programme where even the Soft Machine and Chicago roots show through now and then. For the time this is an extraordinarily important document of the extent of experiment and adventure possible - and tested - in rock. And for fans of Magma it's indispensable as a lens on their development and influences. Also, here is the first public performance of a proto-version of Mekanik, very different. Altogether welcome.
	MAGMA: K.A. Code:SEVENTH34 Price: £14.10 Quantity in Basket: none
New studio recording of a three part composition thematically related to Kohntarkosz and the earlier major cycle that was part of. This is a return to that kind of intensity and sophistication of composition in the form of a curiously condensed Magma overview touching on most of the themes developed at greater length elsewhere. Written for chorus, two electric keyboards, guitar (discretely deployed), bass, drums and small percussion, K.A. maximises all its resources. It's solid but transparent enough to hear the articulation of ll the parts. The recording is straightforward. You hear the instruments as they are without too much reverb and processing. Christian's playing is exemplary and there are long passages which are as good as it gets. Small percussions (tambourine, bells, blocks &c) are strongly used especially some bravura tambourine - and there is a mass of detail strategically placed. It is mellower sonically than the seventies group, but not lacking: everyone is on top of the material which moves through fractured iteration and stasis which remains one of Vander's compositional trademarks. Elaborately packaged. Full text in Kobaiian, no translation. If you like Magma, this will not disappoint.
	MAGMA: Kobaia (dbl) Code:REX4 Price: £24.09 Quantity in Basket: none
The first, double, CD.
	MAGMA: Kohntarkosz Code:REX8 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
Classic.
	MAGMA: Magma Live (dbl) Code:REX10 Price: £24.09 Quantity in Basket: none
Classic
	MAGMA: Mekanik Destruktiw Code:REX7 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
classic
	MAGMA: Mekanik Komandoh Code:REX62 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
classic
	MAGMA: Mythes et Legendes Code:REX14 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
(a kind of Sampler with extracts linked with talking, telling the 'story' of Kobaia, but not the best introduction in my view)
	MAGMA: Offering (4 CD Box) Code:Rex21 Price: £35.25 Quantity in Basket: none
The earlier CDs and much more; they say the definitive statement of this period of the great work.
	MAGMA: Retrospectiw 1-2 Dbl Code:REX16 Price: £24.09 Quantity in Basket: none
Also from the legendary Paris Olympia concerts 9, 10, 11 June 1980 with Paganotti (bass), Widemann and Gauthier (pianos) Didier Lockwood (violin) and 5 singers, plus Vander himself. CD one is a radically different THEUSZ HAMATAAHK first movement, streetching the composition far from its familiar interpretation. In my opinion this is a classic piece of work. CD 2 is another MEKANIK. For friends of Magma this is an important document.
	MAGMA: Retrospektiw 111 Code:REX15 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
Recordings from the legendary OLYMPIA concerts in June 1980. 'Retrovision' is one of the best recordings of the Magma breakneck orgasmic post soul style, and a classic. Followed by a full length version of HHAI and the 4 min. 'LA' DAWOTSIN. Don't be surprised - it's only 36 minutes long.
	MAGMA: Theatre du Taur 1975.Dbl Code:AKT4 Price: £24.09 Quantity in Basket: none
Double CD of beautifully recorded and played versions of Kontarkosz, Hhai, Kobaaia and Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh. About 94 minutes. Prodigious. Plus.
	MAGMA: Theusz Hamtaahk Trilogy DVD Code:MAGMADVD Price: £24.09 Quantity in Basket: none
(DVD) As Video in last update.
	MAGMA: Trilogie au Trianon Code:AKT15 Price: £29.96 Quantity in Basket: none
3 CD set with 2 booklets (96pp). Current and increasingly extended band (by the end brass- trombones, trumpets, small choir) playsTheusz Hamtaahk, Wurdah Itah and MDK. 30th anniversary Paris concert.
	MAGMA: Tristan and Isolde Code:REX9 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
Recommended, see above.
	MAGMA: Udu Wudu Code:REX12 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
	MATCHING MOLE: March Code:Rune172 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Live concert March 1972
	MATS/MORGAN: Live Code:UAEdisc13 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Concert by fast and furious Swedish ex Zappa Alumni. With 2 more keyboards, bass and guitar (Jimmy Agren) added. Frighteningly tight and, where required, fiendish in complexity. This is Magma/Zappa level performance and competence. Hard to believe that it's taken from a concert recording. To my taste cumulatively it is a bit too indulgent, there are too many solos, too much veering into jazz rock, so you have to like that. But impressive.
	MAXYMENKO, MICHAEL: Businesscide Code:ReRMM1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Michael, founder and brain behind the extraordinary Swedish post-Beefheartian group Kraljursastalten, and world-class ice-hockey player, here collects his extraordinary songbook including much of the two celebrated '70s releases by Kraljursastalten (the Reptile Institution: Michael plus the telepathic twins Stefan and Thomas Agaton), with later recordings from his solo record and released and unreleased pieces with Henry Kaiser, John 'Drumbo' French, Sten Standell, Andy West and others. Wild lurching swing complexity, ridiculous tempi, great rhythms, sudden mood changes, fine compositions and music that is always to the point: no fat, just coffee and cigarettes. Classic. Genre: Unpopular. Influences: Anatolij Tarasov, chief-coach and master-trainer of the Soviet national Ice-hockey team 1958-1972, inventor of "collective telepathy at high speed".
	MILLER, STEVE . LOL COXHILL: Double CD Code:Rune253 Price: £22.33 Quantity in Basket: none
An interesting example of how time changes perceptions. When these LPs were released Lol was ubiquitous and we all took him for granted. The duo with Steve was, likewise, part of the environment. But listening again after 30 years it's clear how, in fact, exceptional and fresh this music was. The past is indeed another country. What strikes me now is the informality of the music - there's no front to it; it's not making any exaggerated claims, it's just casually great. Both LPs are here (Miller/Coxhill, Coxhill/Miller and The Story so Far.../...Oh Really?, originally released in 1974 and 1976. Aside from the excellent duos, there are some fine piano pieces by Miller that are neither jazz nor Chopin; not at all flashy, but tuneful, a bit quirky, rather interested in the flavour, like a good cake. Then Lol, a national treasure, who eschewed both the American and the European approaches to his instrument and wrested his way to a language of his own, at once liquid, instantly recognisable and rather friendly (without giving an inch). Phil Miller, Richard Sinclair, Archie Leggett, Roy Babbington and the redoubtable Laurie Allen also appear on many tracks. Especially welcome are the 8 additional pieces (a serious chunk by Delivery, some excellent solo piano pieces, and a classic improvisation by Miller, Coxhill, Sinclair and Allen that - to end where I began - was the sort of non-generic but also non-abstract improvisation that was 'just around' at the time, but that was hardly ever recorded and so was forgotten. Here you can hear how substantial it was. Altogether a valuable document of an important and unfairly sidelined strand of British music which looked at music as something malleable and open, neither clinging to a rigid language, nor abandoning melody, harmony or rhythm for complexity or abstraction.
	MOORE, R STEVIE: Phonography Code:ReRRSM1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
The first time I heard R. Stevie Moore was when the Residents played me goodbye piano - which would have been sometime in early 1978. Soon after that, I got in touch with him to import some copies for Recommended - followed over the years by many of his other releases. Phonography was Stevie's first, and a masterpiece. Terminally idiosyncratic but with all the compositional qualities of great pop. R Stevie Moore is a gifted songwriter and marches to his own drum - as this strange and compelling record attests. It's been out of print for some time and we have taken the opportunity to restore it to its original form and carefully re-master it. A classic.
	MOORE, R. STEVIE: Delicate Tension Code:mooreTension Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Very welcome reissue of this classic collection of (mostly) songs from a criminally neglected master of pop. I mean pop in the best possible sense. A series of eccentric, but entirely plausible gems, each with enough ideas, imaginative playing, devious studio work and detail to fill a side. Every song a short story or a miniature play. This is a breathtaking parade of mild mannered hits, just a stone's throw from the telephone booth. So, why didn't RSM ever get the Emmys he deserves? It's a good question. Probably because he's too smart, too original, too funny and way too eccentric. Still the pleasure is here for those that want to listen. Infectious, addictive, and unique. In addition to the classic LP there is the EP Stance, and 6 previously unreleased pieces.
	NATIONAL HEALTH: Playtime Code:Rune145 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Live recordings of the band from 1979 with John Greaves, Alan Gowan, Phil Miller and Pip Pyle. This is British Jazz-Rock under the meaning of the act, and the recordings are good and well presented. Excellent and very thorough booklet notes by Aymeric Leroy.
	NEWS FROM BABEL: Complete (3CDs in slipcase) Code:ReRNFBox Price: £22.00 Quantity in Basket: none
Reissue on 2 CDs of both long out of print LPs, re-mastered and repackaged, in a slipcase with an extra illustrated CD of the 7" single that was issued only to subscribers with the original release. Stretched songs and studio work. 'Work' was Lindsay Cooper, Chris Cutler, Dagmar Krause and Zeena Parkins, and followed the vein breached by Art Bears, though with a very different musical emphasis. 'Letters' added Robert Wyatt, Sally Potter, Phil Minton and Bill Gilonis. Music by Lindsay Cooper, words by Chris Cutler. With full text and illustrations.
	NEWS FROM BABEL: Letters Home Code:ReRNFB2 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
The second record by this group (Lindsay Cooper, Zeena Parkins and Chris Cutler) with invitees Robert Wyatt, Sally Potter, Phil Minton and Dagmar Krause who sing, and Bill Gilonis (of The Work) who plays occasional guitar and bass, and who also produced the recording. These are extended songs, unusually orchestrated and arranged and not much like anything else recorded before or since. Re-mastered and repackaged here, with full text and illustrations enclosed.
	NEWS FROM BABEL: Sirens and Silences: Work Resumed on The Tower Code:ReRNFB1 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
News from Babel was the song project inaugurated by Chris Cutler with fellow ex Henry Cow composer Lindsay Cooper. The pieces for this first LP were written for a band that also included Zeena Parkins (harp - her first recording with the instrument) and the incomparable Dagmar Krause (another ex-band member) singing. Using the studio as an instrument and experimenting with unusual instrumentation and techniques, these are songs stretched into a less than familiar shape. Phil Minton and Cow bassist Georgie Born also appear. Re-mastered and repackaged with full text and illustrations enclosed.
	NUCLEUS: Live in Berlin (dbl) Code:RUNE173 Price: £19.39 Quantity in Basket: none
In its way a classic of what jazz-side British jazz rock was about. A bunch of technically facile players wind around grooves with enough imagination to evade tedium. If you like this annexe of British Ô60Õs jazz-rock, you will probably like this; itÕs well done.
	OSWALD, JOHN: S/A 1969-1996 Code:Greyfolded Price: £14.10 Quantity in Basket: none
The ultimate Dark Star and other Grateful Dead plunderphones made at the request of the Dead who opened their massive live concert archive for John to work with.
	PERE UBU: London Texas Code:ReRPU01 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
A great live recording of the sadly short-lived version of the band that existed between the arrival of Eric Drew Feldman and the departure of Chris Cutler. By far the best recording of the Scott, Cutler, Maimone rhythm section, I think, and the whole band is on intense concert form: David racked up to 11, Eric working equally on foundations and fine details as to the out-there manner born and Jim Jones somewhere in the stratosphere. Coming back to it, this was a pretty great band. The songs are economical, tightly arranged and take no prisoners. And there's that live energy - the closest we can get to being when and where we weren't. Studio recordings can't do this. Mastered by Bob Drake, and it stings like a bee - with a beret. Play it loud.
	PICCHIO DAL POZZO: Abbiamo tutti i suoi problemi Code:ReRPdP Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
One of the most original, impressive and highly respected of all the experimental groups to have come out of Italy in the 1970s, Picchio dal Pozzo were also one of the early invitees to the canonical 'Recommended Sampler', and would have been in RIO, had RIO lasted another year - and had the group not folded up and disappeared before anyone had realised it was there. In the last decade the record was reissued briefly in Japan, then It disappeared again. We have now re-mastered it and put it back into the public domain, where it belongs. Copying no one, though there is some Zappa influence - Picchio had a unique and highly developed style of composition that was not only out of step with it's own time but which sounds contemporary still. Highly composed and devoid of jazz phrasing and riffs with solos, this record achieves maximum musical effect with minimum instrumental means through close attention to timbre, dynamics and expressed tempi and a kind of deep complexity that sounds simple but changes with each listening. A lot of ideas subtly developed - rather than experimented with; a one-off classic.
	PLASTIC PEOPLE OF THE UNIVERSE with THE AGON ENSEMBLE 2004: Passion Play Code:KH0001-2 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Performed (once) in 1978 and released on vinyl this was the first of the Plastic People's major through-going works - a major achievement for a rock band by any standards that went largely un-noticed outside Czechoslovakia, and of course, was never officially released inside - the band being effectively illegal. This new version, featuring many of the original group has been expanded and arranged for the PP and the Agon ensemble (a 20 piece contemporary music group best known for their work with the great experimental Czech composers of the last half century). The result is impressive, revealing not only how the PP had evolved a compositional style that left all rock cliché behind but also how seamlessly elements of contemporary music, minimalism and rock can be wound into a powerful vehicle of almost genre-free musical expression. From another planet, certain conceptual parallels might be drawn with Magma (although there is no obvious similarity in the letter or the spirit - and the PP are further from identifiable models than Magma). Still there is certain sense of scale, of evolving composition, of elemental accumulation - and a shared use of choral material). This recording documents the 2004 concert and the sound is excellent. In form, it is an oratorio, with a substantial and impressive text (in Czech), powerfully delivered. The booklet contains the full text in English. Passion Play was one of the great works to come out of what was still loosely called rock in the '70's and has here found a new and expanded life in this nuanced and appropriate elaboration.
	PRESENT: Barbaro (Ma non troppo) DVD + CD Code:adhoc3031 Price: £26.00 Quantity in Basket: none
Formed by Roger Trigaux after he left Univers Zero to follow an even darker and more insistent musical path, built on complex additive rhythms, obsessive iteration and modernist mechanic precision, Present seems here to have found a solid, dependable line-up that can give the compositions their best expression. The CD offers three long pieces, all through-composed, with insistent iterations, big piano, strong cello, shifting accents and slow melodic colouration - all played at a high level of competence. Hard not to file in the (very) rough vicinity of Magma. On the DVD are 3 hours of (mostly) professionally recorded, multi-camera videos of fine live performances in France and Portugal. With impeccably mixed sound. The DVD is persuasive - this music, this band, makes a lot more sense when ear can follow eye through gesture and grimace; then it's gripping, as well as technically impressive. Rhythm team Dave Kerman and Keith Macksoud do sterling work making reiteration convincing. The DVD closes with three extra film extracts from earlier days, featuring other incarnations of the band, all impressive (one with Daniel Denis at the kit). Bands like this are an endangered species. This is less barbaro, than ostinato, martellato, funebre, giusto & imperio.
	RADAR FAVOURITES: Radar Favourites Code:RR017 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
This legendary band - with Gerry Fitzgerald, Jack Monck, Cathy Williams and Charles Hayward - was put together by Geoff Leigh just after he left Henry Cow in 1973. Geoff and Gerry had been in Mouseproof together (and Gerry next surfaced on the second volume of Frith's Guitar Solos); Jack Monck, then best known from his time in Delivery with Lol Coxhill & Carol Grimes, was also an old Cambridge friend of Henry Cow's [he, Fred and Chris were briefly in a band called Sparks together]; Cathy and Geoff went on to form Red Balune. So, this captures a mightily interesting socio-musical moment. The recordings here are of the first edition of the band, since everything else seems to have been lost - including the famous Virgin demo, which I remember we all loved but Virgin passed on. But, here are two great, mostly instrumental, compositions, strong, filmic and with their own unique musical identity, and a handful of rare live recordings, the last of which is an improvisation, to my ears, quite spookily Cowish. This is a recording very much of its time, eloquent of a musical climate and style that has long vanished, almost without trace. If you were there or are interested in the critical byways of the period, this is pretty essential. Carefully re-mastered from original reel-to-reel tapes, with the originally projected cover by Barney Bubbles.
	ROBERT WYATT: Solar Flares Burn for You Code:CN20175 Price: £14.10 Quantity in Basket: none
1972 and 1974 BBC recordings, mostly of songs from the early LPs, 5 of them with Francis Monkman; plus the soundtrack to a short film (1973 - with a' quick-time' version of the film itself) and two recent pieces with Hugh Hopper, where Robert plays trumpet and keyboards. My hit? The Verb.
	SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA: Klossa Knapitatet: Code:SRSCD3617 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Fine early album.
	SAMMLA - VON ZAMLA: Zamlaranamma Code:RESCD511 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Another great record
	SOFT MACHINE: BBC Sessions (dbl CD) Code:softMachineBBC Price: £18.80 Quantity in Basket: none
Great double CD including all classic sessions (including the earliest, not previously released) Covers the Ayers band, the classic trio and subsequent quartet with Elton Dean. Includes the legendary Moon in June, with entirely new lyrics written by Robert for and about Top Gear. Fascinating to hear how not only the band's aesthetic changed, but also the mixing aesthetic of the BBC. An unmissable document. Finally, there is some stunning playing here. Robert is particularly well recorded on the material so blurry on the 2nd and 3rd LP's. And you can see why Mike Rattledge was regarded with awe, and what a massive influence Hugh had on the musical direction taken after he joinedc. Contents in full:1. Clarence in Wonderland2. We Know What You Mean3. Certain Kind4. Hope For Happiness5. Strangest Scene (aka Lullaby Letter)6. Facelift/Mousetrap/ Noisette/ Backwards/ Mousetrap Reprise7. The Moon In June8. Instant Pussy9. Slightly All The Time/ Out Bloody Rageous/ Eamonn Andrews1. Virtually2. Fletcher's Blemish3. Neo- Caliban Grides4. Dedicated to you but you weren't listening5. Eamonn Andrews/All White6. Mousetrap/Noisette/Backwards/Mousetrap Reprise/Esther's Nosejob
	SOFT MACHINE: Backwards Code:Rune170 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Soft machine recordings from November 1969 and May 1970 (the 7 piece with Marc Charig, Lyn Dobson and Nick Evans added), plus the Robert Wyatt Moon in June demo (1968/9). This is definitely one of the ones to get, a classic.
	SOFT MACHINE: Grides (CD/DVD) Code:Rune230/231 Price: £22.33 Quantity in Basket: none
The CD: an unidentified recording of a quartet performance on October 25th, 1970 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Songs played are Facelift, Virtually, Out-Bloody-Rageous, Neo-Caliban Grides, Teeth, Slightly All The Time, Eamonn Andrews, Esther's Nose Job -with a Slightly All The Time/Noisette encore. The performance is workmanlike but, to my ears, doesn't always gel. Some of the tempi, probably demanded in the concert situation, seem a little uncomfortable on record. Most problematic is the too-clean sound and the mechanical mix which rob the music of its force and character. You can hear the playing, but the clinical separation drains it of cohesion and velocity. The DVD: a television recording made in Bremen in 1971, about 20 minutes long and complete with glooping light show (not Boyle's, I think), back projection and TV effects. The sound on the DVD is rather one-dimensional I'm afraid and both drums and bass are hard to hear. Admirably thorough and informative notes by Aymeric Leroy.
	SOFT MACHINE: Live at Henie Onstad Art Centre 1971 (dbl CD) Code:RR014-015 Price: £16.50 Quantity in Basket: none
Recorded on February 28th, 1971 by the classic quartet of Ratledge, Wyatt, Hopper and Dean, who are all on good form here. This is a professional stereo recording, though a little unbalanced, of the entire concert, unedited, and comes with extensive notes, documentation, concert photographs and additional materials on a CD-Rom.
	SOFT MACHINE: Middle Earth Masters Code:Rune351 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A tough one, this. First-off it has to be said that the sound, although worked on extensively, is rough -headphones may be the best option. On the other hand, this sometimes adds its own genius to the gig (notably in Robert's totally overloaded solo). And it's the voices that really suffer; the organ always sounds great, as does the bass. Drums suffer a lot in the first half of the CD and then suddenly come into the light - after this, the sound (except the voices still) is fine - and very live, very powerful - as the band was at the time, when they were a rock band doing interesting songs with extended, noisy, instrumental arrangements. This is the only live recording I know of any authority that captured the Ayers, Wyatt, Ratledge version of the band. Moreover, these concerts, in September 1967 and May '68, bridge the last days of the counterculture as alternative - it was already being tamed and made marketable - and this recording does nail, roughly, how the band sounded and what was remarkable about it at the time. Musically, there is a parade of ideas here that make today's bands seem half brain-dead, and there is some impressive playing. Unhappily, much is missing (because of the irremediable sound, according to the sleeve-notes) and thus the way the songs were linked together and the orchestration of SM concerts as a whole is lost. As a musician I am not sure how sanguine I'd be if it were an early Cow gig in this quality - but in this case, the band have all approved the release, and certainly, as a civilian - and as someone who saw the band a lot at this time, these concerts included - I recognise something here that is missing from the official record. So. For some, this will be invaluable - since it's close to something lost, and it does capture the root: that just about every band in the mid '60s was trying to extend the song form of rock, and Soft Machine was no exception. For others it may sound a mess and seem like a desperate search for more product offering scanty returns. I can't advise.
	SOFT MACHINE: Middle Earth Masters Code:Rune351 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
A tough one, this. First-off it has to be said that the sound, although worked on extensively, is rough -headphones may be the best option. On the other hand, this sometimes adds its own genius to the gig (notably in Robert's totally overloaded solo). And it's the voices that really suffer; the organ always sounds great, as does the bass. Drums suffer a lot in the first half of the CD and then suddenly come into the light - after this, the sound (except the voices still) is fine - and very live, very powerful - as the band was at the time, when they were a rock band doing interesting songs with extended, noisy, instrumental arrangements. This is the only live recording I know of any authority that captured the Ayers, Wyatt, Ratledge version of the band. Moreover, these concerts, in September 1967 and May '68, bridge the last days of the counterculture as alternative - it was already being tamed and made marketable - and this recording does nail, roughly, how the band sounded and what was remarkable about it at the time. Musically, there is a parade of ideas here that make today's bands seem half brain-dead, and there is some impressive playing. Unhappily, much is missing (because of the irremediable sound, according to the sleeve-notes) and thus the way the songs were linked together and the orchestration of SM concerts as a whole is lost. As a musician I am not sure how sanguine I'd be if it were an early Cow gig in this quality - but in this case, the band have all approved the release, and certainly, as a civilian - and as someone who saw the band a lot at this time, these concerts included - I recognise something here that is missing from the official record. So. For some, this will be invaluable - since it's close to something lost, and it does capture the root: that just about every band in the mid '60s was trying to extend the song form of rock, and Soft Machine was no exception. For others it may sound a mess and seem like a desperate search for more product offering scanty returns. I can't advise.
	SOFT MACHINE: Middle Earth Masters Code:Rune351 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
A tough one, this. First-off it has to be said that the sound, although worked on extensively, is rough -headphones may be the best option. On the other hand, this sometimes adds its own genius to the gig (notably in Robert's totally overloaded solo). And it's the voices that really suffer; the organ always sounds great, as does the bass. Drums suffer a lot in the first half of the CD and then suddenly come into the light - after this, the sound (except the voices still) is fine - and very live, very powerful - as the band was at the time, when they were a rock band doing interesting songs with extended, noisy, instrumental arrangements. This is the only live recording I know of any authority that captured the Ayers, Wyatt, Ratledge version of the band. Moreover, these concerts, in September 1967 and May '68, bridge the last days of the counterculture as alternative - it was already being tamed and made marketable - and this recording does nail, roughly, how the band sounded and what was remarkable about it at the time. Musically, there is a parade of ideas here that make today's bands seem half brain-dead, and there is some impressive playing. Unhappily, much is missing (because of the irremediable sound, according to the sleeve-notes) and thus the way the songs were linked together and the orchestration of SM concerts as a whole is lost. As a musician I am not sure how sanguine I'd be if it were an early Cow gig in this quality - but in this case, the band have all approved the release, and certainly, as a civilian - and as someone who saw the band a lot at this time, these concerts included - I recognise something here that is missing from the official record. So. For some, this will be invaluable - since it's close to something lost, and it does capture the root: that just about every band in the mid '60s was trying to extend the song form of rock, and Soft Machine was no exception. For others it may sound a mess and seem like a desperate search for more product offering scanty returns. I can't advise.
	SOFT MACHINE: Noisette Code:RUNE130 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
A rare recording of the 1970 quintet (with dean and dobson added to the classic trio) which includes versions of Eamonn Andrews, Moon In June, We did it Again, Backwards. Taken from the same (professional) tapes as ÎFaceliftâ (on Soft MachineThird), sound quality is good. Vital for SM fans.
	SOFT MACHINE: Spaced Code:RUNE90 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
This is the music recorded by the (Wyatt/Hopper/Ratledge) Soft Machine in 1969, consisting of specially recorded and subsequently manipulated (looped, mostly) material, made for a multimedia show at the Roundhouse. Shades of 'Third' are unmistakable, but more tapeworked than performed pieces (except for a long, treated improvisation (tk 4) and the mighty odd tk 6. Still fresh (sometimes downright prescient) and, of course, an important document recovered.
	SOFT MACHINE: Virtually Code:RUNE100 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Hot on the heels of 'Spaced'. This exceptional Cuneiform release contains late 'Third/Fourth' era Soft Machine pieces recorded for radio Bremen in March 1971. The drums are very clean and forward in the mix, and for this alone the CD is a fan must-have. Everyone is on late tour confident form and the recording is studio quality. Indispensable really.
	THE GIRLS: Live at the Ratskeller Code:Abaton007 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
(1979) For those who know who the Girls were, or who ever heard their only contemporaneous single on the Pere Ubu Hearthan label, or who study that late 70's east coast moment of independent American rock ....this is the document. Historic..
	THE WORK: Rubber Cage Code:AdHoc14 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
My favourite of all the Work records, so newcomers start here. Dense compositions, high quality, powerful recordings that explore the fringes of rock; pop fragments, hypnotic repetitions and highly evolved arrangements coupled with a fine exploration of sonorities and techniques, this has a strong and unique musical fingerprint, always surprising while retaining its centre in performance. Now re-mastered with a dramatically improved sound. A modest classic.
	THE WORK: See Code:Woof015 Price: £13.51 Quantity in Basket: none
The second LP reissued.
	THE WORK: Slow Crimes Code:AdHoc15 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
First LP by The Work, formed in 1980 by Tim Hodgkinson and Bill Gilonis with Rick Wilson and Mick Hobbs. Song based, noise backed, tight-drum-riff-driven, complex, strange and edgy music, with a life-is-short basement aesthetic. Takes no prisoners. Reissued re-mastered.f
	THINKING PLAGUE: Early Plague Years Code:Rune141 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Every now and then a landmark group emerges. Thinking Plague in my opinion belongs in that category. Being an interesting group isn’t a matter of learning to imitate some favourite bands' style, it's having an original musical vision and the skills to bring it into being; it's breaking new ground. That's why Thinking Plague qualifies in my book. These are fully realised compositions whose innovations are as much in their use of recording technology as in the organisation of musical materials. Songs like Warheads are textbook examples of an original voice that comes apparently out of nowhere, fully formed and brilliantly executed. After a long period of unavailability, these two original LPs have been re-mastered on one CD by original group member Bob Drake.
	THIS HEAT: Deceit Facsimile Edition Code:THDeceitFacJap Price: £22.03 Quantity in Basket: none
We have a few copies of the Japanese CD facsimile limited edition of deceit, in perfect cardboard sleeve duplicating the original vinyl release.
	THIS HEAT: Health and Efficiency Facsimile Edition Code:THHealthFacJap Price: £22.03 Quantity in Basket: none
We have a few copies of the Japanese CD facsimile limited edition of H&E in perfect cardboard sleeve duplicating the original vinyl release.
	THOMAS, DAVID: Monster (4 cd box) Code:HR110 Price: £29.96 Quantity in Basket: none
Four CD set in a slipcase box containing- THE SOUND OF THE SAND (with Richard Thompson, Philip Moxham, Anton Fier) VARIATIONS ON A THEME (Thompson, Hamann, Fier, Lindsay Cooper, Chris Cutler, Jack Monck) MORE PLACES FOREVER (Cooper, Tony Maimone, Allan Ravenstine, Cutler) MONSTER WALKS THE WINTER LAKE (David Hild, Maimone, Ravenstine, Garo Yellin) BLAME THE MESENGER (Jim Jones, Ravenstine, Maimone, Cutler. Produced by Chris Cutler.
	TOP, JANNICK: Soleil DâOrk Code:JANNICKTOP:SoleilDâOrk Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Mostly demos of Top's Magma pieces where he plays everything - although Musique des Spheres interestingly features a lot of percussionists from Dakar. Includes. Utopia Viva, De Futura, Soleil dÕOrk and Glas (never used but an interesting ambient construction of bass elements). Also the full version of Mekanik Machine performed by Magma.
	TREVOR WATTS: Moire Music Code:FMRCD108-L1002 Price: £12.50 Quantity in Basket: none
One of the legendary jazz offshoots in the UK, this is a reissue of the 1988 LP featuring WattsÕ African inflected music. With an early appearance by Veryan Weston.
	UNREST, WORK ∓ PLAY: In-Forms (vinyl) Code:RRC19 Price: £14.10 Quantity in Basket: none
The only recordings of this shortlived but important group. In-Forms is a particularly accomplished work, mangling ∓ renewing 'In' Forms. Full of ideas and excellent playing.THIS IS A VINYL RELEASE
	UNREST, WORK ∓ PLAY: Sound every Day (12-inch EP) Code:PU3 Price: £14.10 Quantity in Basket: none
THIS IS A VINYL RELEASE
	UR KAOS: Av Sprucket ut ar ett Inutti Code:BAR9901 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
It's been a long time since the last. Sombre, minimal, nicely recorded, this is a kind of almost-rock that is insistent but soft, a little distant. Disappearing songs, a fragment of twisted forest. Many fine moments. An acquired taste, but very articulated and finished music.
	UR KAOS: Ur Kaos Code:BAR0701 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Reissue of the fine 1987 release by Swedish trio Ur Kaos, featuring Lach'n Jonsson (who will be well known to old Recommended hands - indeed, included here as a bonus track is one of the pieces he did for the ReR Quarterly many years ago). An inventive, strong - but sombre - collection of instrumental-heavy songs that have internalised Magma, This Heat, Art Bears and other influences, while retaining their own character and mood. Bands used to be like this. Instrumentation is bass, drums, guitar, keyboards and singing. Sensibly divided by a silent track into the original A and B sides so as to retain the listening-programme of the LP, this is a memento of a time when bands had musical personalities, and when instrumental playing was nuanced and expressive. Music with character.
	VANDER/TOP/BLASQUIZ/GERBER: Neheh Kehr Code:AKT2 Price: £15.33 Quantity in Basket: none
70 minute improvisation (mostly arhythmic) made in 1973. Blasquiz, Vander, Top, Gerber. For devotees.
	VIDEO ADVENTURES: Musique Pour Garcons et Filles Code:SPALAXCD14970 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
This is the old, rare, Recommended 10-inch EP, long out of print, now reissued by Spalax with two extra contemporary tracks and several pieces that appeared on compilations, plus 4 unreleased pieces. With guests Gigou Chenevier, Gilbert Artman, Cyril Levebvre. Well documented. A slice of lost French music history recovered.
	VON ZAMLA: 1983 Code:RUNE121 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Taken from two live concerts in Bremen and Hildesheim in 1983, when Michel Berkmans (Bassoon) was in the group. Bremen is a radio recording and both concerts sound excellent. The music is exemplary, a pleasure to listen to and a tribute to one of the best and most imaginative groups born out of the radical ferment of the fringe 1970's. It still sounds contemporary, and the playing is perfect.
	WICKES, JOHN: Innovations in British Jazz (vol1 1960-80) Code:JOHNWICKESInnovationsinJazzvol1 Price: £23.50 Quantity in Basket: none
248 large format pages with an unusual orientation that follows a line through John Dankworth, Stan Tracey and Humphrey Littleton to Alexis Korner, Ian Carr and Graham Bond, then out into to blues, soul, Soft Machine, Gong, Henry Cow, Lol Coxill, Jon Hiseman, Jack Bruce, Caravan, Egg, Matching Mole, Henry Cow, Paul Buckmaster and many others - all the way down to Brand X on one side, and through Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Tony Oxley, SME, AMM, LJCO and the hard core experimenters on the other, as well as taking the more expected route through Mike Westbrook, Keith Tippet, Chris Macgregor, John Surman, Harry Becket, Norma Winston and Co. Divided into easy, headed blocks, often biographical (but small print Ð there is a LOT of data here), this also covers early race issues, poetry connections, the unfairly forgotten indo-jazz fusions, the UFO club, the Musicians collective, the South Africa connection, Women in Jazz, The Amazing band, Mike Cooper and a lot else. The names listed above are just a tiny selection of a vast number dealt with in this history. There are quibbles one could make, errors and omissions and what I would consider wrong interpretations, but overall the sheer scope and structure of this book is impressive. And unique. I have never seen this story told this way. And the so called progressive and Canterbury groups get put into a serious context and seen as part of a greater story that is about music, its connections and ramifications Ð all clearly situated into a socio-historic context. Not the last word but a book immeasurably better than anything near it. Properly Indexed too. A vital resource. Apologies but because of weight, the postage for this outside Europe is 8 pounds (actually 10 but we charge you 8)
	WINDO, GARY: Anglo American Code:Rune189 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Includes tracks by Symbiosis and the short-lived MWMW - with Robert Wyatt - and pieces with Dudu Pukwana, Marc Charig, Nick Evans, Harry Miller Louis Moholo.and Roy Babbington and Mongezi Feza. Later tracks are rockier, including a version of Red River Rock (not credited as such) with Hugh Hopper and Laurie Allen. But it's that Brit jazz.style of the '70s and early '80s - for those who like that this is made.
	WINDO, GARY: His Master's Bones Code:RUNE89 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
Featuring- Carla Bley, Brotherhood Of Breath, Mongezi Feza, Steve Hillage, Hugh Hopper, Bill MacCormick, Nick Mason, Steve Swallow, Julie Tippets, Pam Windo and Robert Wyatt. A 'box of dusty and unlabeled tapes' - in fact a collection of missing recordings of his bands and projects made mostly between 1969 and 1978. A worthy tribute to a great player.
	WONDEURBRASS: Simoneda, Riene des Esclaves. (vinyl) Code:RRC29 Price: £13.80 Quantity in Basket: none
Four women from Quebec whose approach to playing and composition is at once skilful and personal. Complex, sometimes simple, idiosyncratic and always human; this record marks a gratifyingly successful expressive unification of electronic and acoustic voices which escapes stereotypes or cliche.
	WYATT, ROBERT: A Short Break (ep) Code:VP108 Price: £10.16 Quantity in Basket: none
21 Minutes of intimate RW Home recordings. To my ear some of the best he's done for a long time.
	WYATT, ROBERT: Nothing Can Stop Us Code:RobertWyatt:NothingCanStopUs Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
	WYATT, ROBERT: Old Rottenhat Code:HNCD1433 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
	WYATT, ROBERT: Ruth is Stranger than Richard Code:HNCD1427 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
	WYATT, ROBERT: Shleep Code:HNCD1418 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none
	WYATT, ROBERT:Rock Bottom Code:HNCD1426 Price: £14.69 Quantity in Basket: none