David Axelrod-Songs Of Innocence. Label: Oldays Japan. Format: CD. Release Date: 22nd March 2024. By the time David Axelrod began work on his debut album Songs Of Innocence in 1968, the thirty-seven year arranger, composer, drummer and producer old had enjoyed a chequered career. He had started off as a boxer, before changing direction and finding work in film and television. However, in 1959 Axelrod embarked upon a musical career when he produced Harold Land’s album The Fox. This launched his nascent musical career. Four years later, Axelrod was hired by Capitol Records as a producer and A&am ..read more

Laraaji: Vision Songs Volume 1. Label: Numero Group. Format: LP. During a career that has spanned five decades, American multi-instrumentalist Laraaji has released around thirty albums and countless collaborations. Many of these albums were self released by Laraaji on cassettes, and feature his unique and inimitable genre-melting sound. This best described as a fusion of ambient, avant-garde, experimental and psychedelia which is hypnotic, mesmeric and meditative which features the zither, Mbira and piano. However, Laraaji is best known as a zither player, and as the man who transformed and re ..read more

Little Girls-Valley Songs. Label: Playback Records. Format: CD When sisters Caron and Michelle Maso grew up in Colorado, they were complete opposites, and had a love-hate relationship. Michelle was a cheerleader, while Caron enjoyed partying and hanging out with her friends. However, the pair became firm friends when they decided to move to Los Angeles in the late-seventies. Having made the move from Colorado to LA, the pair bonded over their their shared love of comedy and music. They loved to “ham,” and wrote sketches that were inspired by their love and appreciation of Monty Python. The sis ..read more

In The Light Of Time-UK Post-Rock and Leftfield Pop 1992-1998. Label: Ace Records. Format: CD. Release Date: ‘29th’ September 2023. Back in the early nineties, a number of British bands decided it was time to explore a different side to pop and rock music. They were going to push musical boundaries and create innovative music. It was a case of daring to be different. Some succeeded, creating groundbreaking music fusing elements of seventies art rock, post-punk and minimalist music with the new and burgeoning electronic scene. This found favour with some of the established indie labels includin ..read more

Bob Stanley Presents London A To Z 1962 To 1973. Label: Ace Records. Format: CD. Release Date: ‘29th’ September 2023. During a discussion on the ‘20th’ September, 1777, Samuel Johnson said: “Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” Since then, countless artists, poets, writers and musicians have headed to London in search of fame and fortune. They arrived from all over Britain, and the lucky few went on to become household names. Others despite t ..read more

Folk, Funk and Beyond-The Arrangements Of John Cameron. Label: Ace Records. Format: CD. Release Date: ‘26th’ May 2023. John Cameron came to prominence in 1966 after he arranged Donovan’s Sunshine Superman. The arrangement was a fusion of jazz, folk and proto-psychedelia, and when the single was released, it topped the US Billboard 100 and launched John Cameron’s career as an arranger. By then, John Cameron was only twenty-two. He was born in Woodford, Essex, on ‘22nd’ April 1944 into a musical family. His mother played piano at the Canadian Club during the war and his father ran and organised ..read more

She’s Got The Power! Female Power Pop, Punk and Garage. Label: Big Beat Records. Format: CD. Release Date: ‘28th’ April 2023. Back in August 2020,  Big Beat, an imprint of Ace Records, released the compilation Girls Go Power Pop to widespread critical acclaim. Now, just under three years later, comes the much-anticipated followup, Girls Go Power Pop. It will be released on CD on the Girls Go Power Pop. For fans of power pop, the wait is nearly over. This carefully curated compilation features twenty-four tracks that were released between 1978 and 2018. There’s contributions from familiar ..read more

Jon Savage’s 1980-1982-The Art Of Things To Come. Label: Ace Records. Format: CD. In November 2015, Jon Savage’s critically acclaimed book 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded was released. The book told the story of what was one of the most important and influential years in the history of popular music. However, this was just part of the story. To coincide with the release of the book, Ace Records released Jon Savage: 1966-The Year The Decade Exploded. This two CD set was released to plaudits and praise, and turned out to be the first instalment in a year-by-year series which has documented th ..read more

A Way To Make A Living-The Dolly Parton Songbook. Label: Ace Records. Format: CD. Release Date: “31st” March 2023. On September the ‘18th’ 1967, Monument Records released Hello, I’m Dolly, the debut album twenty-one year old country singer Dolly Parton. The album reached number eleven in the US Country charts, and featured two hit singles, Dumb Blonde and Something Fishy. However, the singer from Pittman Center, Tennessee was no overnight success story. Eight years previously, in 1959, thirteen year old Dolly Parton had released her debut single Puppy Love. After it failed to chart, it was thr ..read more

Guerrilla Girls! She-Punks and Beyond 1975-2016. Label: Ace Records. Format: CD. Eclectic describes the twenty-five tracks on Ace Records new compilation Guerrilla Girls! She-Punks and Beyond 1975-2016. This carefully curated compilation features everything from mid-seventies punk pioneers to leftfield post-punk groups, jangly female pop combos grunge bands and vigilante Riot Grrrl groups of the eighties and nineties right through to the she-punk bands that made their presence felt in recent years. Nowadays, the artists and bands on the compilation are regarded as musical trailblazers, who ove ..read more