Bob Stanley

The latest in the popular “Saint Etienne Present” series – soundtracks for places both real and imaginary. This time, Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs have put together a selection to fit a bar in mid-70s Los Angeles, the kind of place where Warren Beatty and Julie Christie might meet in the afternoon for a secret rendezvous between shooting scenes for Shampoo.

Here is the first-ever compilation dedicated to the distinctive and influential productions of Norman Whitfield. You’ll find all-time classics such as Marvin Gaye’s ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’, the Temptations’ ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone’ and Rose Royce’s ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’, alongside lesser-known soul gems from the 70s. Compiled by Bob Stanley, who also put together the acclaimed, big-selling Thom Bell “Ready Or Not” set, it’s the perfect introduction to Whitfield’s work. Atmospheric, cinematic things like Rare Earth’s ‘Come With Me’ sit alongside floor-fillers such as David Ruffin’s wild ‘Me And Rock & Roll (Are Here To Stay)’.

By the turn of the 80s, the impact of David Bowie’s ground-breaking Berlin recordings – the synths, the alienation, the drily futuristic production - was being felt on music across Europe. What’s more, the records being made were reflecting back and influencing Bowie’s own work – 1979’s “Lodger” and 1980’s “Scary Monsters” owed a debt to strands of German kosmische (Holger Czukay), new electronica (Patrick Cowley, Harald Grosskopf), and the latest works from old friends and rivals like Robert Fripp, Peter Gabriel and Scott Walker, all of whom had been re-energised by the fizz of 1977. Compiled by Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley and the BFI’s Jason Wood, “Fantastic Voyage” is the companion album to their hugely successful “Café Exil” collection, which imagined the soundtrack to David Bowie and Iggy Pop’s trans-European train journeys in the mid-to-late seventies. “Fantastic Voyage” is what happened next.

By the turn of the 80s, the impact of David Bowie’s ground-breaking Berlin recordings – the synths, the alienation, the drily futuristic production - was being felt on music across Europe. What’s more, the records being made were reflecting back and influencing Bowie’s own work – 1979’s “Lodger” and 1980’s “Scary Monsters” owed a debt to strands of German kosmische (Holger Czukay), new electronica (Patrick Cowley, Harald Grosskopf), and the latest works from old friends and rivals like Robert Fripp, Peter Gabriel and Scott Walker, all of whom had been re-energised by the fizz of 1977. Compiled by Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley and the BFI’s Jason Wood, “Fantastic Voyage” is the companion album to their hugely successful “Café Exil” collection, which imagined the soundtrack to David Bowie and Iggy Pop’s trans-European train journeys in the mid-to-late seventies. “Fantastic Voyage” is what happened next.

Max Roach – INTEGRAL MAX ROACH 1958–1962 brings together some of the most powerful and transformative works recorded by jazz drumming pioneer Max Roach between 1958 and 1962.

Gold Star Rockers is not just another Eddie Cochran compilation: there are already plenty of those out there, ranging from single disc “Greatest Hits” to exhaustive summaries of his career as a featured musician. Instead, Gold Star Rockers is a lavish 3CD Various Artists set rounding up more than 100 tracks by artists associated with that supremely talented musician, whose early death robbed the music world of one of its most multi-faceted exponents. Dave Penny’s fascinating compilation takes its title from the historic Los Angeles studio, where many of the tracks were recorded.

20 Original Recordings Series Collection from 1930 to 1990!

20 Original Recordings Series Collection from 1930 to 1990!