The Charles Bukowski Tapes

Produced by T Bone Burnett, "Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes" was written and performed in creative collaboration by Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, Taylor Goldsmith, Jim James and Marcus Mumford. The artists, under the moniker The New Basement Tapes, and Burnett gathered in Capitol Studios in March to write and create music for a treasure trove of recently discovered lyrics handwritten by Bob Dylan in 1967 during the period that generated the recording of the legendary "Basement Tapes".

A superb-sounding double CD of alternate mixes and (just a few) actual alternate takes, named after the late Abbey Road engineer John Barrett, who catalogued and copied many Beatles vault tapes in the early '80s. At first glance, this appears to be a goldmine of unreleased Beatles goodies, spanning "From Me to You" to the Let It Be sessions, but read the fine print carefully. Most of the takes are in fact stereo and mono mixes that happen to be rare or commercially unavailable, not performances that are commercially unavailable. To some fans, these different mixes are revelations; to many, however, they are barely or completely indistinguishable from the familiar versions on official Beatles albums.

The Complete Matrix Tapes is a live album by the New York City-based experimental rock band the Velvet Underground, released on November 20, 2015. It features unexpurgated recordings of the band's two-night stint on November 26 and 27, 1969, at San Francisco club The Matrix, owned and operated by Jefferson Airplane's Marty Balin.

The Alf Bicknell Tapes gathers various Beatles tapes that had been discussed over the years and in fact had been released before in a number of ways. Bicknell was The Beatles' personal limo driver between 1964-1966, so he was able to witness the stardom and adventures John, Paul, George, and Richie had at the height of worldwide Beatlemania. In the 1980's, it was revealed he had some rare Beatles recordings and put them up for action. He had hoped to gain a good amount of money but ended up not getting as much as expected. Some of these tapes are personal demos, some of these are partial demo sessions, a few are of unknown origin but they have become a part of The Beatles' recorded legacy. The quality of each is mixed but as the saying goes, "it is what it is". This is done by the Remasters Workshop in 2010.

Making Tapes For Girls is a charming album by The Pearlfishers, released by Marina / Indigo. This delightful collection of songs showcases the band's signature blend of indie pop and folk influences.