Arthur Lee

Love broadened their scope into psychedelia on their sophomore effort, Arthur Lee's achingly melodic songwriting gifts reaching full flower. The six songs that comprised the first side of this album when it was first issued are a truly classic body of work, highlighted by the atomic blast of pre-punk rock "Seven & Seven Is" (their only hit single), the manic jazz tempos of "Stephanie Knows Who," and the enchanting "She Comes in Colors," perhaps Lee's best composition (and reportedly the inspiration for the Rolling Stones' "She's a Rainbow"). It's only half a great album, though; the seventh and final track, "Revelation," is a tedious 19-minute jam that keeps Da Capo from attaining truly classic status.

1999 was a pivotal year for the White Stripes. From recording their first album through rumors of the band’s demise and embarking on their first-ever tour, the band worked extremely hard and was fortunate to see small but incremental gains from their efforts. Third Man Records is humbled to explore the depths of the band, their self-titled album and the entirety of their 1999 for our 42nd Vault package, THE WHITE STRIPES XX.

The second (and arguably most fully realized) album from Texas psychedelic band Fever Tree, Another Time, Another Place owes less to the sound of roots-based contemporaries like the 13th Floor Elevators, Moving Sidewalks, or the Sir Douglas Quintet and more to heavier West Coast acid rock. One of the most underrated '60s psych bands, Fever Tree comes off like a coincidental midnight meeting of Jim Morrison, Steppenwolf, Jefferson Airplane, Iron Butterfly, and Jimi Hendrix at the tail end of a drug and whiskey binge…

Recorded in the midst of 1966, naturally after the spring release of their debut but before "Pushin' Too Hard" climbed into the national charts in the spring of 1967, A Web of Sound finds the Seeds pushing their sound into new dimensions, happily keeping pace with their Los Angeles contemporaries Love and the Doors. That the Seeds never received the respect accorded to their peers, either then or now, may be partially due to their lack of lyrical ambition, or it could be due to the Hollywood teenage sleaze that seeped out of this quartet led by garage rock icon Sky Saxon. Whatever the Seeds did, it sounded somewhat dirty, a maxim that applies to A Web of Sound even if it lacks singles as hard and filthy as "Pushin' Too Hard"…

At first glance, this otherwise grand career-spanner seems frustratingly incomplete: What a logistically fastidious, but regrettable decision to ignore leader Michael Head's lone "solo" LP as Michael Head & the Strands, 1997's incomparable The Magic World of the Strands. All longtime fans know that it is 1) really no different from the other Shack LPs, in style or in personnel since both crucial Head brothers were present, and 2) universally regarded as their best record. And Shack have released only five LPs otherwise over their two decades, one of which, the 1988's debut Zilch, was all but disowned as it's banished from here.

‘Little Eden’ glows with vintage McCartney-esque couplets before rolling out a chiming signature riff on ‘As I Lay Down To Die’ and adopting Jimi-like phrasing on ‘And Away We Go’.

Oh, My Girl, the second album by singer/songwriter Jesse Sykes and her band the Sweet Hereafter – led by Phil Wandscher – picks up where her debut, Reckless Burning, left off. Songs are played at cough-syrup tempo, production is sparse, instrumentation equally so, offering just enough of a frame for the melody and lyrics to hang themselves on, and everything, absolutely everything, is underplayed. There is plenty of dynamic tension, but little to no dynamic range. Yes, this is a good thing. Sykes' ghostly voice, which hovers about her words more than inhabits them, has enough old-world folkiness, raw – if intentionally muted – willingness, and lonesome country pain in it to carry off these tunes with authority. Produced, mixed and engineered by multi-instrumentalist Tucker Martine, Oh, My Girl is full of slow, dipping passion, moody expressionism and poetic smarts to make it stand out in a sensual, narcotic way from the rest of the gothic alterna-twang pack. And one more thing: Sykes has more emotion in the grain of her halting, cracking voice than a whole army of Margo Timmins'es – so let the comparisons stop now, please.

Harvey Mandel - Snake Box (2015) {6CD Box Set Purple Pyramid Records CLP-2100-2 rec 1968-1972}
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© 1968-72, 2015 Purple Pyramid Records / Cleopatra Records | CLP-2100-2
Rock / Blues / Guitar Virtuoso / Blues-Rock / Boogie Rock / Jazz-Rock / Rock & Roll

Legendary blues guitarist from Canned Heat, Harvey The Snake Mandel, presents this deluxe limited edition 6CD box set that includes 5 classic solo albums from 1968-1972 plus a bonus vintage concert recording from 1968 that features guests Jerry Garcia & Elvin Bishop! Each of these albums showcase Mandels innovative, hugely influential playing that earned him a place alongside not just the Heat but also The Rolling Stones, John Mayall and others! All 6 CDs come individually packaged in its own cardboard sleeve reproducing the artwork from the vinyl jackets.

VA - A Journey To Tyme: 80 Of The Rarest '60s Garage Tracks From The US And Canada (2009) {5CD Remastered Ltd Collector's Edt.}
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© 1960s, 2009 Psychic Circle | PSYCHBOX4
Rock / Garage-Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Acid Rock

Limited edition of 1000 numbered copies. A Journey To Tyme is an 5 CD Box Set 80-track excursion into the murky world of 60s Garage sounds from the USA and Canada. As with all the Psychic Circle box sets, A Journey To Thyme features 5 individually packaged CDs in replica card wallets. Familiar names jostle for our attention alongside their more obscure comtemporaries and each volume was compiled and sequenced by the legendary Nick Saloman (aka the Bevis Frond). A Journey To Tyme was originally released as a double CD and 3 individual records and this is the first time all 5 volumes have been assembled as a deluxe 5 CD box set. Accompanied by a detailed 84-page booklet featuring updated band histories, rare photographs and full discographies, this is another addition to any fan of the genres collection. All 5 individual volumes assembled here for the first time. Compiled and sequenced by Nick Saloman.