The Artificial Disc

The B-52's were one of the great new wave bands, one of the ones who defined the style and cut one of the great records of their time (their eponymous debut), an outfit who maintained a dedicated following even as they fell off the radar of critics and hipsters, a group who overcame a tragic loss (guitarist Ricky Wilson) to make a startling, unpredictable comeback that launched them beyond college radio and to the top of the pop charts. It's a hell of a story, even if the final act was decidedly anticlimatic (after one follow-up to the Cosmic Thing comeback, 1992's Good Stuff, the group essentially disappeared apart from an embarrassing version of the Flintstones theme for the 1993 big-screen adaptation), and they're easily one of the more legendary bands of their time.

Warner's 2013 box set The Complete Studio Albums 1970-1990 rounds up the ten albums ZZ Top recorded for Warner Bros over the course of 20 years: 1971's ZZ Top's First Album, 1972's Rio Grande Mud, 1973's Tres Hombres, 1975's Fandango!, 1976's Tejas, 1979's Deguello, 1981's El Loco, 1983's Eliminator, 1985's Afterburner, and 1990's Recycler…

Sun Ra and His Arkestra - In the Orbit of Ra (2014) {2CD Set Strut STRUT109CD}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 668 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 290 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 75 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2014 Strut | STRUT109CD
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Experimental Big Band / Progressive Jazz

Arkestra bandleader Marshall Allen presents Sun Ra classics and rarities. Includes previously unreleased track 'Trying To Put The Blame On Me' + previously unissued versions of 'Reflects Motion' and 'Island In The Sun'. As the longest-tenured member of the Arkestra (55-plus years and counting as of 2014), there is no one with a deeper understanding of the music of Sun Ra than Marshall Allen, and that's part of what makes In the Orbit of Ra such a special collection. The Arkestra's long history is often divided into musical/geographic periods or spoken of as a progression from inside to outside playing. This set spans from the late '50s to the late '70s but the non-chronological sequencing shows how artificial those stylistic boundaries are.

Although it is a little too extensive for casual fans, the double-disc, 50-track Anyway the Wind Blows: The Anthology is a definitive retrospective of J.J. Cale's career, featuring all the highlights over the years. Cale's albums often sound similar, but they are remarkably uneven in terms of quality, which is what makes Anyway the Wind Blows essential for both neophytes and collectors. Not only is it a perfect introduction, containing of such essentials as "Cocaine," "Call Me the Breeze," and "After Midnight," but it is one of his most consistently listenable and enjoyable discs.

Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music
Originally a two-LP set, this 70-minute concert CD recorded on April 16, 1981 in San Francisco features the core of the band that appeared on The Enchanted Garden.

The Byrds were one of the most progressive and exciting band in '60s rock, with no peers outside the Stones-Beatles-Beach Boys triumvirate. This box set, which collects their original Columbia albums, represents over 90-percent of their career, basically everything they released, all 12 albums (aside from their 1973 reunion album recorded for Asylum). This material was frequently astonishing at the time, and still is, ranging from their debut single "Mr. Tambourine Man" through the bracing folk-rock of their first two LPs, growing psychedelia and experimentation during 1966 and 1967, then a sudden detour into country-rock and mellow pop for the rest of the '60s…