Orphan X

Initially coming together during a Fontana-era lull in The Pretty Things’ prodigious career, the band’s now-legendary body of work for music library de Wolfe as The Electric Banana saw their alter-egos become parallel universe superstars, their work utilised by film and TV producers in everything from soft-porn skin-flicks, a Norman Wisdom vehicle and horror classic Dawn Of The Dead to small-screen ratings winners like Dr. Who, The Sweeney and Minder.

Gillian Welch - Boots No.1 - The Official Revival Bootleg (2016) {2CD Acony Records ACNY-1601}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 425 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 182 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 34 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2016 Acony Records | ACNY-1601
Country / Folk / Americana / Neo-Traditional Folk / Alt-Country

When Gillian Welch released her debut album, Revival, in 1996, plenty of listeners and critics were taken aback by her strikingly accomplished re-creation of the sound and mindset of country music of the '20s and '30s, as if she'd miraculously stepped out of Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music into Nashville in the late 20th century. It soon became common knowledge that Welch was born in New York City and had attended the Berklee School of Music, leading many to question the sincerity of the artist and the validity of the work. Twenty years later, Welch has released Boots No. 1: The Official Revival Bootleg, a collection of outtakes, demos, and alternate versions committed to tape before or during the making of Revival.

Weather Report - The Legendary Live Tapes: 1978-1981 (2015) {4CD Set, Columbia–Legacy 88875141272}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.57 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 594 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 258 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1978-81, 2015 Columbia / Legacy / Sony Music | 88875141272
Jazz / Fusion / Jazz Rock / Electric Jazz

These four discs offer completely unreleased performances by the Weather Report lineup of keyboardist Joe Zawinul, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, bassist Jaco Pastorius, drummer Peter Erskine, and a bit later, percussionist Bobby Thomas, Jr. It was compiled for release by Erskine (whose historical essay and annotated track notes are fantastic) and Tony Zawinul, Joe's son. These are mostly soundboard cassettes made by WR's longtime live sound engineer Brian Risner, with choice audience tapes and commercial mobile rig selections mixed in. While it (mostly) sounds like an excellent bootleg, the sound here is remarkable given the root sources. Similar to 2002's Live and Unreleased, the material is not arranged chronologically.

Having weathered so much adversity in their short career (starting with the demise of their original label and indefinite shelving of their first EP), the members of Red Bank, NJ's the Parlor Mob must be breathing a collective sigh of relief over the release of their first album, And You Were a Crow, in early 2008. If not, then at the very least it seems that the weight of these worries actually benefited the precocious quintet's songwriting, by lending a little extra weight of resolve and authenticity to their rootsy, retro-fueled but nevertheless contemporary sounding hard rock. This stems from a veritable melting pot of '70s influences, which the Parlor Mob go to great lengths to break down into their various basic ingredients before building them back up into exciting groove rockers like "Dead Wrong" and "Real Hard Headed," as well as beguiling, paired-down acoustic numbers such as "Angry Young Girl" and "Can't Keep No Good Boy Down," so that only a few anal retentive music obsessives might recognize their origins.

Weather Report is generally regarded as the greatest jazz fusion band of all time, with the biggest jazz hit ("Birdland") from the best jazz fusion album (1977's Heavy Weather). But the group's studio mastery sometimes overshadows the fact that it was also a live juggernaut – so don't overlook the outstanding live and studio album from 1979, 8:30. This was a rare quartet version of Weather Report, with co-leaders in keyboardist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter. The bassist was the inimitable Jaco Pastorius, the drummer a young Peter Erskine. Pastorius is otherworldly on early gems like "Black Market," the breakneck "Teen Town," and his solo showcase, "Slang" (in which he quotes Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun"). Shorter is most involved on the CD's slower pieces like "A Remark You Made," "In a Silent Way," and his own solo piece, "Thanks for the Memory"; Zawinul and Erskine shine on the swinging version of "Birdland" and roller coaster ride of the "Badia/Boogie Woogie Waltz" medley. Four studio tracks (composing what was side four of the original album version) close 8:30 with a flourish – and some surprises.

Spooky Action at a Distance finds Pattern-Seeking Animals more confident than ever, approaching new soundscapes and topics, combined with the DNA of their previous work for their most memorable and powerful album to date.

The Pretty Things - Live At The BBC (2015) {4CD Box Set Repertoire Records REPUK1205 rec 1964-1975}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.45 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 610 Mb
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© 1964-75, 2015 Repertoire Records / BBC | REPUK 1205
Rock / British Invasion / British Psychedelia / Rock & Roll / Psychedelic Pop / Freakbeat

4 CD set. 60 Remastered tracks. Over 4¼ hours of music. Rare BBC archive recordings. Authoritative liner notes and band quotes. The most comprehensive collection of the Pretty Things’ BBC ‘live’ recordings on the market, with several previously unreleased tracks, now all together for the first time on this newly remastered 4CD set, assembled with the assistance of the BBC.