Blue Coast Artists

Various Artists - Real Life Permanent Dreams: A Cornucopia of British Psychedlia 1965-1970 (2007) {4CD Castle Music CMXBX1239}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.52 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 732 Mb
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© 1965-70, 2007 Sanctuary Records / Castle Music | CMXBX1239
Rock / British Psychedelia / Psychedelic Rock / Psychedelic Pop

There have been previous attempts to marshal a lot of British psychedelia into one compilation, but Real Life Permanent Dreams is a little different from those. This four-CD, 99-song box set isn't a best-of, but more like an attempt to assemble a very wide (though still representative) cross section of material, most of it pretty obscure to the average listener. For the most part, it succeeds in delivering a high-quality anthology that manages to offer a lot to both the collector and the less intense psychedelic fan, though it's by no means the cream of British psychedelia.

The blues didn’t stop with the end of the 50s – as soul ruled the charts, the grittier end of black music was well represented by the artists on this compilation. Great guitar playing to the fore.

This recent gospel compilation from Swedish producer and collector Per Notini is a three disc, 84 track set focused exclusively on a capella singing without any instrumental accompaniment. Featuring many well-known quartets such as the Fairfield Four and Soul Stirrers as well as lesser known artists, the set traces stylistic changes over a thirty year period, concluding in 1969 before the ‘contemporary’ gospel era. These groups created some of the most inventive and progressive African American vocal music of the post-war period, which had a profound effect on later R&B and soul artists, not to mention artists across all other genres.

A wonderful collector's edition of jazz pianists' records in almost all styles from the first ragtimes to modern jazz.

Various Artists - From Hard Bop To Cool (1955-1957) - La Grande Histoire Du Jazz Vol. 3 (2010) {Box 25CD - 75 of 100}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 10.6 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 5.07 Gb
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© 1955-57, 2010 Le Chant du Monde | 574 1950.74
Jazz / Classic Jazz / Bop / Hard Bob / Cool

An epic 100 CD chronological documentation of the history of jazz music from 1898 to 1959, housed in four boxed sets. Each box contains 25 slipcase CDs, a booklet (up to 186 pages) and an index. The booklets contain extensive notes (Eng/Fr) with recording dates and line-ups. 31 hours of music in each box, totalling 1677 tracks Each track has been restored and mastered from original sources.

Various Artists - Texas & Tennessee Territory Bands 1928-1931 (1997) {Retrieval Recordings RTR 79006}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 227 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 142 Mb
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© 1928-1931, 1997 Retrieval Recordings / Fountain | RTR 79006
Jazz / Early Jazz / Hot Jazz / Territory Jazz Band

Five of the best southern territory bands of the 1920s are represented on this intriguing CD: Blue Steele, Slim Lamar, Mart Britt, Sunny Clapp, and Phil Baxter. The only sidemen who became known a little bit later on were cornetist Tony Almerico, clarinetist Sidney Arodin, and pianist Terry Shand (with guests Hoagy Carmichael and guitarist Roy Smeck), but the musicianship is pretty decent and the music generally swings well. Serious 1920s jazz collectors will want this CD, which is full of worthy obscurities.