The Early Ayn Rand Bernadette Dunne

Last year saw the launch of the David Munrow Edition on Virgin Veritas (9/96). The series continues with this, arguably Munrow’s most consistent and most polished collection, devoted to the sacred and secular polyphony of the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These recordings remain marvellously fresh and vital – even in the case of pieces that have since had more polished or more clearly recorded interpretations.

The 2013 low-budget compilation The Early Days: Ultimate Collection brings together tracks legendary guitarist Eric Clapton recorded in the 1960s with the Yardbirds. Also included are a few cuts off his rare 1971 album Guitar Boogie, which featured Clapton jamming with fellow British blues-rock guitarists Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Included are such cuts as "Boom Boom," "Train Kept a Rollin'," "I Ain't Got You," and others.

Credited to Merrell & the Exiles, this is a selection of rarities and unreleased material by Merrell Wayne Fankhauser's mid-'60s band, essentially the one that cut the great rare psych-folk-rock album that was credited to Fapardokly. It's pretty much a collection of outtakes with a few rare non-LP singles thrown in, and as such doesn't measure up to the best of Fankhauser's '60s material. Often derivative of the British Invasion, folk-rock, and early '60s teen pop, it's not bad, just not terribly memorable. The fake British Invasion of cuts like "Send Me Your Love" rank as the highlights. It also has his late-'60s non-LP single cover of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'," although for some reason it's missing one of his mid-'60s non-LP 45s, "Can't We Get Along"/"That's All I Want From You" - it was reissued on a rarities tape that Merrell himself released, if you can find it…