Simply Red The Very Best

This sublime album by an elusive bunch of Scottish Minstrels is one of the best British albums of any decade and a very rare gem. What it is not is "anthemic like U2" and neither does it "compare to Simply Red and Deacon Blue". Let us for the sake of goodwill extend the milk of human kindess and hope that the author of this heinous claptrap was successful in his or her GSCE Music exam since these comparisons are laughable and "Hats" deserves a whole better than these shoddy musical "bedmates". All Blue Nile albums are essentially markers in time and the yawning gaps between their production seems to grow ever longer. Yet the sparsity of their output over the years and a host of great albums cannot hide the fact that "Hats" is the masterpiece.

2014 marks the 45th Anniversary of the launch of the Invictus, Hot Wax and Music Merchant labels – the trio of labels that Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland launched following their acrimonious split from Berry Gordy’s Motown Empire. Since the 45rpm record was the fulcrum of the new operation, we thought this would be the perfect excuse to celebrate the 45th anniversary by pulling together every single 45 release from the discography of Invictus, Hot Wax and Music Merchant - both A and B sides. That’s 96 x Invictus 45s, 44 x Hot Wax 45s and 17 x Music Merchant 45s – 157 singles and 269 original recordings total.

British progressive rock band Jody Grind issued two obscure albums combining hard rock, jazz, blues, and classical influences with lineups emphasizing Hammond organ, guitar, and drums. Prone to long instrumental riffing and rather ponderous, stern original material, they were similar to other very early organ-oriented U.K. progressive rock acts. But they did not possess the originality, or songwriting or vocal talent, to match well-known exponents of the style such as the various groups in which organists Keith Emerson, Vincent Crane, and Brian Auger played…

BANDA DO CASACO's genesis comes from the reunion of jazz musician Nuno Rodrigues and FILARMÓNICA FRAUDE's men António Pinho and Luís Linhares, who made the decision to establish a new group who could wield some influence in the Portuguese music scene…