Captain Nice

Released in 2007 through a joint collaboration between Universal Music and Dutch reissue label BR Music, Testament Van De Sixties 1960-1969 is a massive 10-CD box set spanning 239 tracks that chronicles the definitive soundscape of the 1960s. Curated with a special focus on the European and Dutch (Nederpop) hit parade alongside international pop, rock, soul, and psychedelic milestones, the compilation progresses year-by-year across the decade. From early-60s rock 'n' roll and French chanson to British Invasion beat, Motown soul, sunshine pop, and late-60s heavy psych, this exhaustive box set serves as an ultimate time capsule of 1960s pop culture.

Boasts classic staples from legendary composers John Barry (James Bond), Laurie Johnson (The Avengers) and Sir John Dankworth (Accident), sundry ITC favourites (The Champions, Man In A Suitcase, The Saint) and the superb sounds of Supermarionation from Barry Gray & His Orchestra (Thunderbirds, Joe 90, Captain Scarlet, etc.).

As one might expect, whole concertos dedicated to the tango style and idiom dig a little deeper than shorter pieces intended for use on the dance floor. Astor Piazzolla was one who took the tango far beyond its roots, and the creation of a concerto in which guitar and bandoneon engage in solistic dialogue seems a logical extension of Piazzolla’s ambitions for the tango as concert music.

Dreamt up, assembled and released by one time Love Affair, Third Ear Band and Mott The Hoople keyboardist Morgan Fisher on his Pipe label in 1980, the crazily experimental Miniatures is a unique undertaking: Fisher decided to invite 50 of his favourite musicians and eccentrics to submit original compositions of up to one minute in length, all for the fee of one pound each.