The Peppermint Trolley Company

A four-hour, 90-track overview of the Los Angeles music scene between 1965 and 1968
Featuring a dazzling combination of major league LA players, enduring cult acts and ultra-rare garage punk 45s Housed in a stylish clamshell box, ‘Heroes and Villains’ is a fascinating four-hour trip into the heart of the late ‘60s LA music goldmine. After The Beatles captivated a generation with their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Los Angeles music scene moved beyond the previously-dominant surf, hot-rod and girl group discs to fashion a spirited response to the British Invasion.

Never realised the breadth of the "Pop-Sike" genre until I heard Fading Yellow, a really fine compilation that hangs together beautifully as an album. That most of the tracks are obscure isn't surprising: everything is a little odd, a little ramshackle, with a strong melancholic undertow and not a little creepiness. Of course, this music is also specific to a particular time in Western pop music history so there's a strong nostalgic element, but the knowledge this music could never be exactly replicated is what also makes it so fascinating. Recommended, in a warm and loving 60s way.

This is a great collection of rare and hard to find tunes compiled by Jeffrey Glenn. Hundreds of odds & ends by little known groups, famous singers, and famous singers before they became famous.