Idle Race

See for Miles' 1990 compilation The Best of Idle Race contains a generous 25 tracks – just over half of what the Idle Race recorded. This means that it does have the great majority of the best material the band recorded, and it would satisfy everyone outside of the rabid collectors who need anything. The catch is, if you're into the Idle Race, you need everything, so this collection is essentially a stopgap until you can track down (or afford) EMI's 1996 complete collection, Back to the Story. Even then, this may be a little more listenable, since it boils the group's interesting but erratic career to its very best – which is obscure British psych at its best (in other words, it's for the collectors who will seek it out, not anyone else).

The Idle Race are a beloved band of British psychedelia collectors, because the music was rare, because the band was Jeff Lynne's first significant group, and because the music was, by and large, very good. There is a bit of a relative judgment there - this is not music that stands among the very best of British pop-psych of the '60s, since it's not as innovative or consistent as the Beatles, Pink Floyd, the Move, or even Tomorrow, but it's certainly among the best of the second tier, as singles like "Impostors of Life's Magazine," "Big Chief Wooly Bosher," and "Girl at the Window" illustrate. Since this band itself is a collector's item, it only makes sense for collectors to seek out EMI Premier's 1996 collection Back to the Story, which was only available for a brief period (possibly a matter of months) the year of its release…

Various Artists - Artefacts From The Psychedelic Dungeon (1990) {Not On Label ‎ISR007CD rec 1967-1968}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 461 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 171 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1967-68, 1990 [Not On Label] | ISR 007 CD
Rock / Psychedelic Rock

I don't remember where I picked up this hard to find CD, it might have been in Cambridge, MA. I don't know much about the release other than it contains the first two volumes of a 3 LP box set of the same name. Some sources I have seen indicate that it is a bootleg. The tracks are a mix of live BBC recordings, unreleased acetates, and rare versions of British sixties psychedelic classics. Many of the tracks have now resurfaced as part of recent artist-centred compilations but at the time I had heard very few of these tracks. The liner notes are sparse and simply provide a few words about the origin of each track, Pink Floyd on the front cover and Eddie Phillips of the Creation on the back cover. The sound is so-so but listenable considering the varied sources. A good cross-section of psych acts of the period. Originally released in 1990 as a box of 7" singles, this CD features rare singles; radio sessions and tracks previously officially unreleased.