‘Sangam means ‘meeting place’ in Sanskrit. Don obviously knew exactly what he wanted to do, and Latif immediately understood, his fingers fizzing across the tablas at frightening speed… It was Don who suggested that Latif overdub new tabla parts to enrich and add complexity to the first takes. We could reasonably have expected to spend the night doing this because this was the first time the percussionist had done this. It took him all of five minutes to get used to listening to the first tracks over the headphones before playing them without the slightest mistake. When we got to the timpani, which he was playing for the first time, his keen sense of pitch and tone once again did miracles. During one take, just for the fun of it Latif started to play a fairly slow, disconnected duple time, moving on to three and then four… all the way up to 19 by which time his fingers were whizzing invisibly across the skins, leaving us in awe and him looking as if he didn’t know what the fuss was all about. All this just made Don even keener to impress his musical companion for a day…
‘Of course, the subtleties of this album call for greater analysis, for example the meeting between the Malian doussou n’gouni and Indian tablas, the Hammond organ taking over from the tampura, 5 1/4 time as if it were the easiest thing in the world, the reinvented Indonesian gamelan… and the lyricism of the pocket cornet.’

Wildly entertaining sixties outsider Americana from this one-man band out of south Georgia. With songs like I’m So Depressed, Cocaine, Vietnam and The Reason Young People Use Drugs.

With the inspirational Elevate Our Minds.
A Richard Evans production from 1979, between Chicago and LA, crowning Linda’s years masterminding Natalie Cole’s success.

Recorded in 1971, up the road from us at the Lansdowne Studios, this was the Sugarman’s last shot at the big-time.

Trying out new ideas (including Stravinsky) after leaving Impulse! in 1975, by turns deploying Wurlitzer, Rhodes and harp, and Charlie Haden and Ben Riley, percussionists, and an orchestra.

With the funky, bad-ass Smoking Cheeba-Cheeba. A bit of a skeleton in the closet, surely — the debauched transition from Wes Montgomery-styled 60s soul jazz, to the urbane sophistication of his super-stardom.

Her legendary, heart-wrenching recording for Capitol in 1969; now remastered all-analogue-style from the masters; with a decent booklet.

Previously unissued underground rock from 1969, Rockford, Illinois.

With Eno more the guiding hand for this second collaboration with Cluster. Open, airy, ambient, unhurried. Originally released in 1978, but still fresh (except for Eno’s singing).

Half-speed mastering.

‘Eleven pieces recorded over the past year, moving between the small town of Alfred in upstate New York, and Beirut; stepping out, as if onto ice, into a new life on a new continent during a time of tragedy, turmoil, and upheaval.
‘Unfamiliar instruments, new materials and new sounds delicately build on Yara’s intimate style, with its backbone of homemade mechanical music boxes and personal archive of family recordings. She explores the peculiar resonance of the metallophone, and delves into her collection of deconstructed toy pianos, guiding her music into ever more surreal territories… dreamlike, fragile, fragmentary, and strangely timeless.’

Addo-Nettey was a conga player and singer for Fela’s Africa 70 when he cut this heavy afro-funk album in 1973, with the Martin Brothers Band from Portharcort, for the Tabansi label.

‘Classic Vinyl Series.’

Gale-force masterpiece.