MILES DAVIS - Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2

The second volume of Columbia's Bootleg Series focuses on a rare transition period between Miles Davis' great second quintet and his full-on embrace of electric music, presenting the Bitches Brew repertoire that would provide the core of his forthcoming live performances in its nascent form.

"Recorded as little as two weeks before and as much as four months after Bitches Brew Live's July 5, 1969 Newport Jazz Festival date, some within days of the 1969 Copenhagen DVD, and between four and eight months prior to the Live at The Fillmore East show, much of this music—three CDs, plus one DVD with a 45-minute, full-color performance of the quintet in Berlin on November 7, 1969—has been circulating in bootleg versions for years, but rarely in such sonically (and, in the case of the DVD, visually) cleaned-up form. The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 captures this quintet at two significant junctures: first, in July 1969, a few weeks before entering the studio (albeit with a much larger cast) to record Davis' seminal Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970); and second, in November 1969, less than two weeks before once again returning to the studio to continue recording music that was ultimately collected on The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (Columbia/Legacy, 1998).

This group was the first to introduce electric instruments to Davis' music in a live context—only one, actually: [Chick] Corea's Rhodes, which he employs almost exclusively throughout the four discs. Still, this is a far cry from the more rock-inflected music that was soon to come; if anything, the music on Live in Europe 1969 is some of the flat-out freest improvisational music released by the Davis estate to date. Of course, the second quintet—where saxophonist Wayne Shorter (here, that group's only remnant) was joined by pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and Williams—regularly stretched the boundaries of its compositions, heard with crystal clarity on Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1 (Columbia/Legacy, 2011); but this new quintet of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette took the music to even more far-flung places—a function, most likely, of DeJohnette's formative years in Chicago and Holland's work in England, before Davis called upon him to relocated to the United States." - All About Jazz

MARCOS VALLE - Marcos Valle/Garra/Vento Sul/Previsão do Tempo

From 1970 to 1973, Marcos Valle released these four classic but long-unavailable albums—while we were previously most familiar with the last record in the sequence, Previsão Do Tempo (where session participation by Azymuth lends the proceedings a slightly synthed-out feel at times), we're looking forward to better acquainting ourselves with each of these early '70s singer-songwriter snapshots!

"Evolving from samba's percussive pulse in the late 1950s, bossa nova (literal translation: new trend) was Brazil's internationally accepted gift to the global melting pot of music. Initially brought to prominence by the likes of Antônio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, and João Donato, by the mid-1960s, there was an emerging pool of youthful talent ready to make their voices heard. Marcos Valle and his lyricist brother Paulo Sergio were no exception. By the dawn of the 1970s, the multi-talented Valle was entering a new era, ready to test the government censors and express a socially aware stance and a playful hodge-podge of musical styles including samba, bossa nova, baião, black American music, and rock." - Light In The Attic

DEL SHANNON - Home & Away

Del Shannon was the hardest-rocking teen idol of the early '60s, but had no trouble updating his style as the decade wore on. By 1967, he found himself in England recording this orchestrated pop-rock gem, produced by Andrew Loog Oldham.

"[D]espite its lofty ambitions of being a British answer to Pet Sounds, this LP didn't see release as scheduled in 1967. It took more than a decade for Home & Away to surface, and it’s recently been reissued as a remastered CD from Now Sounds.

Though the new Home & Away is a most welcome release, the oft-quoted Pet Sounds analogy isn’t quite appropriate.  Though Home & Away and the Beach Boys' classic are both orchestrated pop albums, Pet Sounds was an intensely personal vision both musically and lyrically–that of Brian Wilson and his chief lyrical collaborator, Tony Asher. Home & Away was the work of numerous pop songwriting teams from Oldham’s Immediate Records stable. Not that there’s anything shameful about an immaculately crafted collection of largely original pop songs, which is what Home & Away is; the high quality of these tracks, sung passionately by Shannon and arranged pristinely by Arthur Greenslade, will make you wah-wah-wonder why the album was initially shelved in the first place." - The Second Disc

PUCHO & THE LATIN SOUL BROTHERS - Saffron and Soul/Shuckin' and Jivin'

A great jazzy Latin set from BGP comparable in many ways to the label's late 2011 reissue of Cal Tjader's Latin jazz outlier Agua Dulce, another staff favourite which received plenty of plays upon its release; where that record's highlight was a cover of "Gimme Shelter," this two-fer's standout (to these ears so far) is a smoothly discordant revoicing of "Reach Out, I'll Be There" fully deserving of a listen!

"Pucho and the band were not yet reflecting the music that was taking off in the Latin clubs of New York; they were a more staid outfit with one foot in the jazz past. This was emphasised by their second album, Saffron and Soul...[T]he material mixed originals with jazz standards and current pop hits such as the Four Tops' 'Reach Out, I’ll Be There.' The originals varied from the soul jazz grooves of 'What A Piece' to intense Latin numbers showing the power of the multi-layered percussion. For their follow-up Shuckin’ and Jivin', vocalist Jackie Soul joined the line-up, immediately taking the record into Latin soul territory." - BGP/Ace

TOWNES VAN ZANDT - Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions & Demos

From the ever-intriguing desk of Omnivore Recordings (who also brought us such recent archival finds as Darondo's Listen To My Song, Two Things In One's Together Forever and Alex Chilton's Free Again: The "1970" Sessions, with a Gene Clark White Light demos set soon to follow in late March) comes this trove of alternate versions, mixes and demos, with astute liners by Hank Williams biographer and roots music authority Colin Escott.

"Sunshine Boy will only burnish Van Zandt’s legend. Even those who think they know him will find stark new insights into his doomed genius. Unlike your typical star, shooting or otherwise, Van Zandt’s most important music, his best stuff, didn’t happen right away. Instead, it was on 1971's High, Low and In Between and 1972's The Late Great, now a bitterly ironic title. Songs from those projects (his fifth and sixth, respectively) make up the bulk of Sunshine Boy, and the bulk of the project's new revelations, as well. "Pancho and Lefty," for instance, is presented without strings or horns. His Dylan-esque pretensions are made clear during this raw take on “Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold.” “To Live Is To Fly” takes on an even greater, devastating beauty. Maybe more interesting, however, are the stripped-down versions of earlier songs that producer Cowboy Jack Clements had dimmed with of-the-moment, overly pretty Nashville production—de rigueur at the turn of the 1970s, but hopelessly dated today. The four demos here from 1970's eponymous release and 1971's Delta Momma Blues may be the most revealing of all." - Something Else!

CHRIS DARROW - Artist Proof

Thankfully, the well of fantastic reissue finds is unlikely to dry up anytime soon; while we were somewhat familiar with the name Chris Darrow (if mainly through having once stocked Everlasting's 2009 deluxe LP boxset compiling his 1973 self-titled album and '74's Under My Own Disguise), this Drag City release of 1972's Artist Proof is a worthy official (and far less limited) introduction to the man's work—we're glad to have finally fully made its/his acquaintance!

"The history of rock and roll in the 1960s is filled with side trips and familiar names mixed together with more trips involving even more names, sometimes less known. One of those names still owed a piece of your mind is California picker, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Chris Darrow. Already a veteran of several bands and scenes on the L.A. landscape, Chris was a founding member of the west coast Kaleidoscope. He went his own way after the recording of their second album A Beacon From Mars to pursue music on his own terms...Chris' solo debut is a rich and powerful dose of California country rock, written almost entirely by Chris and played with grit and precision by a cast of great players." - Groove Attack Records

"Artist Proof is a coming together of young people testing their formative influences in the light of a new day, creating something different in the process, which is likely why the album feels so fresh! Back in print for the first time in 40 years and finally ushered into the digital realm, Artist Proof's debossed LP jacket has been carefully reproduced along with photos from Chris Darrow's archive, bringing back the time of a new feeling in American music in all its melodic, singular glory." - Drag City

SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN (DVD/Blu-ray)

A must-see documentary for music fans, Searching For Sugar Man is the story of Sixto Rodriguez, a singer from the early '70s little known in his native USA who became a musical folk hero in South Africa. After seeing this film, you'll want to buy his music which accounts for why the soundtrack was our #7 Top Selling release of 2012. We also stock his albums Cold Fact and Coming From Reality both reissued by Light In The Attic records a few years ago.

"Music documentaries have come thick and fast in 2012, but this one’s the best and easily the most successful...It’s a heartening, uplifting film, touched by the shy, sweet-natured spirit of Rodriguez; you find yourself willing him to succeed. Director Malik Bendjelloul structures his story skilfully, and in a 30-minute ‘making of’ extra, engagingly relates how he came close to abandoning Searching for Sugarman because he had ran out of money. He emerges every bit as much of an underdog as Rodriguez himself." - The Telegraph

VA - Diablos Del Ritmo: The Colombian Melting Pot 1960-1985

While it's unlikely that they've exhausted the funk mines of their namesake continent, Analog Africa has certainly hit paydirt in South America, as evidenced by this supremely groovy compilation of Columbian bangers.

"This is a fabulous album, chock-full of melds and clashes, flowerings and fruits, and more rhythmic grooves than a roomful of guacharacas. If you’ve no idea what Colombia can offer the musically jaded, then this is a timely tonic. Waft some of these cuts under the noses of the musically malnourished and this Afro-Colombian dose of smelling salts will have them on their feet and ready to dance till dawn.

But equally, this is one for the serious collector and connoisseur of Colombian music—or indeed any tropical music, whether from Africa or the Caribbean or anywhere between Cancer and Capricorn. Great notes, great music. This is another one that works both on your library shelf and on the dancefloor." - Worldmusic.co.uk

DAN PENN - The Fame Recordings

Finally! An entire compilation devoted to the masterful songs of Dan Penn as performed by the man himself. These aren't the definitive versions of these songs, but they're still great and any fan of soul music needs this set in their collection.

"Dan Penn is recognised as one of the great songsmiths of the past 50 years. Music historian Peter Guralnick once described him as the 'secret hero' of 60s R&B. For many, Penn’s material defines the essence of southern soul writing, but his catalogue also retains the ability to transcend musical barriers; classics such as 'I'm Your Puppet' and'‘Do Right Woman' have scaled the pop and country charts in equal measure. With his principal collaborator Spooner Oldham, Penn lent R&B songwriting a class and eloquence that has rarely been bettered.

This much-anticipated collection, however, reveals the flowering of Dan Penn as an artist in his own right. It’s collated from the hard evidence of three amazing and educational years spent at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals as a staff writer – an apprenticeship that was as important in helping him find a voice as it was in forging the songcraft that made his name." - Ace Records

VA - Country Soul Sisters: Women in Country Music 1952-74

Another excellent Soul Jazz anthology, this time showcasing female country music pioneers whose proto-feminist songs were delivered with humour and conviction.

"Some people might buy Soul Jazz Records' most recent release thinking this is an album of country-tinged soul music; that’s not the case. For anyone looking for that type of compilation, then Kent’s Behind Closed Doors might suit their tastes. What Country Soul Sisters is, though, is a twenty-five track compilation of music from some of country music’s female pioneers. Artists including Patsy Cline, Bobbie Gentry, Tammy Wynette, Tanya Tucker, Barbara Fairchild, Nancy Sinatra, Kitty Wells and Norma Jean tackle a wide range of social subjects, some of which are radical and hard-hitting, ranging from death, sexual exploitation and bigotry to poverty and domestic violence. However, the music is celebratory and about women taking charge of their lives." - Dereksmusicblog

ALFONSO LOVO - La Gigantona

An incredible acetate find from those intrepid archivists at Numero, La Gigantona runs the gamut from frenzied desgargas to Spanish guitar, Afrobeat-ish horn charts, Echoplexed tape-delay dub-outs and stinging Santana-like leads, yet remains a stunningly coherent and cohesive listen.

"The son of a prominent Nicaraguan politician, Lovo was a choice target for the Sandinista rebels who hijacked his homeward flight from Miami in December of 1971, ultimately putting several rounds through the talented musician’s torso and hand. After several years, and as many surgeries, he would break new ground on this psychedelic swirl of Latin jazz and pan-American funk with his musical partner, percussionist Jose 'Chepito' Areas." - Numero Group

WILLIAM SHELLER - Lux Aeterna

This newly-unearthed Omni Recording Corp. reissue has been getting major store play here, and with good reason—imagine a David Axelrod/Serge Gainsbourg/Jean-Claude Vannier dream-team collaboration (one which presciently narrowly predates the latter two Frenchmen's collaborations, even!), replete with lysergic Catholic mass choir.

Including 11 bonus tracks focusing on Sheller's poppier (but still fairly freaky) 45s, this is the very first time this rarity has ever been widely available.

"Originally composed as a wedding gift in 1970, it's an oddly beautiful recording which combines a weirdly sinister melange of ritualistic choral chants, melancholic psychedelic orchestration, whirling electronic oscillations, meditative kosmiche groove and devout spoken word recitations. I can only think of a handful of records to compare it to, the nearest touchstones being the dark instrumental passages of Jean Claude Vannier's L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches or the mystical psychedelic liturgical paens of Majoie Hajary's La Passion Selon Judas, or maybe a few of the immersive orchestral reverberations found on Jason Havelock's Pop Symphony. As I said, comparisons are not easy. Whatever dark chemicals they were dumping in the Seine in the late 60's and early 70's to create such weirdly uncharted musical waters we can only guess." - A Sound Awareness

ARIZONA DRANES - He Is My Story: The Sanctified Soul Of Arizona Dranes

Following on from the staggering surveys This May Be My Last Time Singing and Fire In My Bones, Tompkins Square's newest gospel reissue shines a light on pianist Arizona Dranes, a woman whose blending of the Pentecostal and the secular in the mid-'20s on a series of test-pressing 78s would have been fit for inclusion on Harry Smith's Anthology Of American Folk Music alongside any of its hallowed "Social Music" sanctified singing sides, were Smith to have been hipped to it in the '50s.

"The story of Arizona Dranes is that of too many artists in American history—a passionate and skilled performer, driven in her case by her deep and abiding faith, only sporadically recorded and eventually passing in obscurity. He Is My Story is a familiar story of reissue and reappreciation well after the fact, down to the extensive liner notes—in this case, a full book—and expert remastering; there's no question that the sheer joy and power she exhibits is worth the listening. Essentially the question is simply this: why wouldn't anyone want to sound like this, if given the chance or the calling?" - Allmusic

"The Chicago studio where Dranes recorded her music in 1926 no longer exists, but when she played her music at Roberts Temple, she influenced people like 11-year-old Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who sat in the congregation and would go on to become a gospel superstar. "I mean, it was probably like hearing Jimi Hendrix for the first time," says music writer Michael Corcoran, who has uncovered as much of Dranes' lost history as anyone ever has for this CD. "There was nothing like it before. She really was the first person to take secular styles and put words of praise on top of them to make gospel music."- NPR

VA: Buttons: From Champaign To Chicago

Vintage power-pop from the Midwest is the name of the game for this brand spankin' new Numero Group anthology. Expect more hooks than a tackle box on each and every track herein!

"In the 1970s and early '80s, the Land of Lincoln was home to hundreds of bands that were serving up soaring melodies, guitar-powered hooks, earnest vocal harmonies, dancefloor-filling rhythms, and as much Beatles-like personality as they could muster. Cheap Trick were the Illinois band who were able to sell updated pop to the masses that filled the arenas, and Shoes proved a band could rise from a basement studio and score a major-label deal and international attention, but the vast majority of Illinois power pop bands played the clubs for a few years, left behind some demo tapes or self-released singles, and then vanished without a trace. The archivists at the Numero Group pay loving homage to the glory days of Illinois power pop with Buttons: From Champaign to Chicago, a compilation that features 19 lost classics of Midwest pop, most of which are as hopelessly obscure as any record collector could wish." - Allmusic

"Buttons feels a bit like a powerpop answer to Lenny Kaye's Nuggets. It’s very much—by specific design—intended to pick up where Jordan Oakes left off in his Yellow Pills series. And like those pair of projects, Buttons is both historical document and damn-good-listen...Typical of the genre, many of these tracks have that haven’t-I-heard-this-before vibe, which isn’t to say that these songs rip off other songs—mostly, they don’t: there’s just that friendly familiarity that’s part and parcel of powerpop." - Musoscribe

VA - All Kinds Of Highs: A Mainstream Pop-Psych Compendium 1966-70

In retrospect, the relentless outpouring of records in the mid-to-late 1960s is nothing short of astounding by today's standards. Groups were forming at lightning speed and constantly cutting singles and albums released by major record companies, as well as small independent labels. The music biz attitude of the time can very well be summed up as such: "Hey, let's throw this tune against the wall, and if it sticks, if it's a hit, then perfect! If it flops, so what? There's plenty more where this came from." Both Top 40 AM radio and the emerging underground FM stations were only too happy to play the records, and the rapid turnover of 'product' was downright exhilarating for the listener.

With the explosion of folk-rock, garage and psychedelia that followed the British invasion, one American indie label that attempted to capitalize on the many new bands appearing on the scene was the New York City-based Mainstream Records, previously responsible for putting out jazz albums. Mainstream signed groups ignored by major labels like Columbia, Capitol and RCA, or other independent outfits such as Elektra.

Future hard-rock guitarist Ted Nugent and his band, the Yardbirds-influenced Amboy Dukes, found themselves on Mainstream, and were rewarded with the hit single "Journey to the Center of the Mind," which kicks off this new 2CD compilation. It's the best-known number on here, since the other groups on the label (The Fever Tree, The Fun + Games Commission, The Jelly Bean Bandits and The Superfine Dandelion among them) never achieved a similar level of commercial success. The competition during this period was intense, and talented Mainstream bands like these basically slipped through the cracks, only to be re-discovered by collectors years later. The variety and top-notch quality of the psychedelic pop, garage-raunch, and all-around fuzz-filled freakiness on this collection is, to use the era's lingo, a total trip!

As is par for the course with Ace/Big Beat reissues, the fifty-two tracks on these two discs are superbly annotated with a thick booklet of fascinating info and great photos. If in the past you've, ahem, blown your mind to the Nuggets box sets, then this companion-piece of sorts should indeed provide you with All Kinds Of Highs.

DONNIE & JOE EMERSON - Dreamin' Wild

Originally self-released in 1979, Dreamin' Wild is about as obscure as records get. After a chance discovery in a rural antique store more than 25 years after its release, a network of excited music bloggers finally helped bring this lost masterpiece to a wider audience. Now Light in the Attic has treated us to a deluxe CD and vinyl reissue, bringing everything full circle. Even without the back-story this is one hot album!

"In between logging, fence-post digging, and other farm chores, the boys practiced nonstop and put Dreamin' Wild to tape with little idea of what was happening in popular music (they barely even knew how to load a reel of tape in their studio) other than what emanated from the radio. Listening through, you catch glints of Smokey Robinson, Hall and Oates, the Commodores, Bread, Pablo Cruise, Boz Scaggs and Chuck Mangione amid the AM bullion. Blue-eyed soul, meandering funk (see "Feels Like the Sun" which encourages you to "sing or play a musical instrument along with the boys"), and landlocked yacht rock are evident. Yet the wide-eyed and utterly sincere vision of a 17-year old Donnie stuns." - Pitchfork

"Opening with a luscious groove of "Good Time," before the inexplicably good slow-funk-fuelled of "Give Me The Chance" – replete with psychedelic-space effects. "Feels Like The Sun" is what it says on the packet; gloriously so. While the sparseness of "Love Is" is wonderfully haunting. "Don’t Go Lovin’ Nobody Else" stands up next to "Baby" as another album highlight – guitar lines snake like psychedelic smoke around a grooving bassline." - Cheese on Toast

VA - LateNightTales Presents Music For Pleasure

Just as Belle and Sebastian were recently handed the DJ reins once again by LateNightTales for a second spin, so too has Groove Armada member Tom Findlay (whose group had already curated a 2008 mix for the label), here opting for a set of the sort of '70s/'80s soft rock/blue-eyed soul hits (and album cuts) that were recently reappraised during the 'Yacht Rock' craze of the mid '00s—as lovers of pretty much every featured act here (Hall & Oates, Bobby Caldwell, Ned Doheny, 10cc, ELO, Boz Scaggs, Gerry Rafferty, Robert Palmer...), we're not complaining in the least!

"The mix is subtitled Music For Pleasure, which for Findlay apparently means rock ballads from the '70s and '80s. 'It's very much a 'concept' record: blue-eyed soul, yacht rock,' he says. 'The vibe was very much tunes that I used to blast on the tour bus. I love that music in a very wrong way; it's music to hug to!" Findlay made slight edits to many of the tracks to better suit the mix's continuous flow. As with every edition of LateNightTales, the mix features an exclusive cover from the curator—in this case, Findlay teams up with producer Tim Hutton as Sugardaddy to reinterpret Ace's '74 single "How Long." - Resident Advisor

FRANCE GALL - Made in France: France Gall's Baby Pop

Cherry Red's RPM International offshoot continues its mission of introducing English-speaking listeners to the many delightful pop/rock confections the French cooked up in the '60s. This time out, France Gall benefits from this excellent collection of her charming and catchy girl group-styled songs, several of which were composed by the legendary Serge Gainsbourg.

"Incredibly, it's been 47 years since France Gall romped to victory at the Eurovision song contest in Naples with "Poupée de cire, poupée de son." Her winning song was, arguably, the first contemporary tune to win the contest and had been penned by no less than Serge Gainsbourg, Gallic pop's enfant terrible...Indeed, Gainsbourg would write many of Gall's hits—and a number of her most controversial tracks, including, most notably, "Les sucettes." This ode to the joys of sucking a lollipop was the very height of double-entendre, but it left the singer publicly humiliated when she discovered the song’s other meaning. It marked the beginning of the end of the relationship between the two of them. That's a shame, as this terrific compilation of their joint oeuvres—brought to us by those lovely people at RPM—amply demonstrates that, together, Gall and Gainsbourg were pop genius." - Ready Steady Girls!

CAN - The Lost Tapes (3CD)

A successor/sequel in many ways to 1976's Unlimited Edition, The Lost Tapes exhumes thirty more tracks from the archives, from live excerpts to 'ethnological forgeries' and such revelatory works-in-progress as "Dead Pigeon Suite" and "A Swan Is Born," respective early takes of Ege Bamyasi's "Vitamin C" and "Sing Swan Song."

"Can released 12 albums, and a number of outtakes have dribbled forth since. But for the krautrock aficionado, the tease that 100 tapes of unreleased material was sitting around was almost unbearable: akin to knowing the Holy Grail was sat in a cupboard in Cologne. Finally, Can keyboardist Irmin Schmidt and band associate Jono Podmore have dug in, and the results are pretty stunning: three CDs drawing on film soundtrack work, live material, experimental segments and sprawling jams that show the workings of later Can favourites." - NME

"Drive was Can's trademark, powered not just by [Malcolm] Mooney's aggression but by Michael Karoli's tattoo-needle guitar style and (especially) the drumming of Jaki Liebezeit, in which the delicacy and invention of jazz was applied to a series of rigidly mechanised beats, a kind of percussive hypnosis driving the others forward without fear. In time, as Mooney was replaced by the ethereal Damo Suzuki, the drive became more of a glide, the sound spun out until it was almost translucent, but the band retained its eerie power: heavy when featherlight, direct when delirious." - The Quietus

"At its root, this collection is a testament to the groove. Jaki Liebezeit says: 'The idea to keep the rhythm was forbidden in times of free jazz. There was no groove. But in Can, the rhythms were always defined. I had a lot of critics in the beginning because they said I am repeating all the time, it is monotonous and I have no ideas. If you change your standpoint all the time, no one will understand you. So I keep a standpoint and go on. I must obey the rhythm.'" - musicOHM

EPIC SOUNDTRACKS - Wild Smile: An Anthology

Epic Soundtracks' albums went out of print years ago and I've been wishin' and hopin' some enterprising label would see right to get his overlooked material back into the world again. Thankfully, Easy Action sub-label Troubadour has stepped up with a top notch presentation of highlights from his career along with a bonus disc of live tracks and rarities for the faithful. His is a sad story but he will live forever in the minds of his fans who connect with his tales of heartbreak, struggle and sometimes hope. He sings from the depths of his soul.

"Simply put, it's an excellent selection of songs that well demonstrates his heart-on-sleeve pop. Deceptively simple confections like "Farmer's Daughter" (whose main character reappears in "Emily May [You Make Me Feel So Fine]"), "You Better Run" and "Wishing Well" reveal a student of pop music who can channel his inspirations (Brian Wilson, Alex Chilton, Carole King, the Monkees) into music that sounds most like himself. Intricate mini-symphonies like "Fallen Down" and "Big Apple Graveyard" indicate more ambition than Soundtracks is usually given credit for, with an attention to detail that belies the raw emotions on display. Ballads like "There's a Rumour," "Sweet Sixteen" and "Waiting for the Train" tend to strip down to little more than voice and piano (or guitar), giving the listener no barrier between Soundtracks and what he's feeling." Blurt

"Despite his avant-punk roots as half of Swell Maps, the late Epic Soundtracks was a pop tunesmith at heart, and a big heart it was. The first disc of this double set collects the best from his three solo albums, with clear shades of Bacharach and especially the Zombies. The second disc of rarities is highlighted by his Jonathan Richman-esque “I Wish I Had a Girlfriend” and covers of the Beatles’ “I’ll Be Back” and James & Bobby Purify’s “I’m Your Puppet”. His stripped-down, vulnerable delivery is entirely suited to the lyrics of both." - Sound And Vision