Cardboard Amanda is the work of Frank Camiola (along with two other musicians), who was one of the driving forces behind the band Frogg Cafe during their most interesting period. After leaving the band, he has been working on this album for a few years now and now it is here. It's a real weirdy; if this released was 30 years ago, all the hipsters would be talking about 'drug-coma induced tape fuckery' when this was re-discovered. For some reason he's using an alias here (sorry if I blew your cover, man!)...

“Fiddler, singer and songwriter Eliza Carthy, inheritor of the mightiest musical genes in all of England (her father is folk legend Martin Carthy, her mother the equally legendary singer Norma Waterson), has always exhibited a wonderfully healthy willingness to break out of the folk music ghetto without ever feeling the need to turn her back on it entirely, and this album sees her really coming into her own as an artist. Songs like the blues-rocking "Follow the Dollar" and the soulful, almost trip-hoppy...

“If the English folk revival of the 1960s had a single "father" and guiding spirit, then Martin Carthy was it. Carthy's influence transcends his abilities, formidable though those are -- apart from being one of the most talented acoustic guitarists, mandolinists, and general multi-instrumentalists working the folk clubs in the 1960s, he was also a powerful singer with no pretensions or affectations, and was an even more prodigious arranger and editor, with an excellent ear for traditional compositions....

Martin Carthy – guitar, vocals
Dave Swarbrick – fiddle, mandolin
These are historic, previously unreleased live recordings from 1966 and show these two in their early, stomping prime.

“Two of the seminal figures of the British folk revival together on one album. Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and later artists such as...

Totally cool-o-matic early rockabilly with Johnny and his original group. Surprisingly very good sound from these over 60 year old broadcasts!!

“Johnny Cash is a hugely celebrated, enigmatic figure in American roots music and one whose legacy continues to thrive and influence millions worldwide. His roots are well documented as is his lengthy career, but his early work with guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant is not so widely acknowledged. In particular, their early appearances...

"A brainy, yet highly engaging septet.... should come as a delight to fans of the Claudia Quintet's ethereal chamber-prog." – Time Out NY

"The Cellar And Point is the chamber-like enterprise of a productive partnership..." – The New York Times

The Cellar And Point is an adventurous 'garage chamber' band, developed and led by childhood friends Joseph Branciforte and Christopher Botta. They had long imagined a fluid synthesis of their wide-ranging..

“The great drummer Joe Chambers was a stalwart presence on many of the most progressive Blue Note albums of the mid-1960s. But it wasn't until 1998 that Chambers made his own Blue Note debut as a leader with his album Mirrors. Now the venerated drummer/percussionist/vibraphonist/composer returns with Samba de Maracatu, a trio album featuring pianist Brad Merritt and bassist Steve Haines on a sterling set of original compositions, standards, and pieces by Shorter, Hutcherson, and Horace Silver.” ...

Originally, Ian Jones, founded a new version of Karnataka, and toured and wrote material, with an eye to releasing a new Karnataka album with a new line-up called “Chasing The Monsoon”, but obviously he decided instead to go forward with a fresh start…

“Ian Jones, a founder member of critically acclaimed symphonic/progressive rock band Karnataka, and Steve Evans, multi-million selling songwriter and producer join forces with vocalist Lisa Fury, guitarist Ian Simmons and special guests including...

Named after the moving company that Phillip Glass and Steve Reich ran in the early 70s/late 60s, when they were struggling [really]!

“Debut release from Thurston Moore's (Sonic Youth) new band--perfectly discordant minor key indie rock packed with driving, distorted guitar love and magnificently mesmerizing post-punk noise chords.
Plenty of ripping feedback and even a bit of post-rock/metal riffing lends power & guts to the core of this pensively blasting monster. An indie slacker ethos....

“Sound collage collaboration between Julian House (The Focus Group) from the Ghost Box label and former members of the indie band, Broadcast. Channeling of early collage work from The Hafler Trio with a distinctly formalist aesthetic dripping with ‘70s nostalgia as with all things Ghost Box.”-Karen Elliot

“Children of Alice have been quietly producing amorphous and intoxicating soundscapes as part of the Folklore Tapes collective for a number of years now, beginning in 2013 with Harbinger of...

"Are Chrome Hoof the best live band in the UK...?" – headline from The Quietus

"...has the subtlety of Can, the pomp of Pentagram and Sabbath, faithfully reproducing the looping musical themes of Magma and Goblin..." – Don’t Panic

"...a dizzying, many-limbed whirlwind of space-funk, soul, prog, jazz & titanic doom." –NME

"...a mind-blowing energetic mix of math-rock, prog, funk, disco, & psychedelia [with] some hints of jazz & metal.” – The 405

The Claudia Quintet is proof positive that the pessimists were wrong: jazz is not dead, despite being embalmed by major labels and confined by some musicians to dead ends. In the works of this sensational NY-based, 'jazz and beyond' ensemble, jazz has broken through its rigid shell and been reborn in shimmering and beautifully alluring new form. It lives and breathes in music that melds influences from classical minimalism, new music composition, and progressive and post-rock with an astonishingly fresh...

"Throughout the decade of the 2000s, the Claudia Quintet recorded, toured, and became one of the top five progressive jazz units in the U.S. and the world. For 2010 they continue with Royal Toast, implying elegance and a golden brown, perfectly prepared, even buttery music. ...Versace's role is that of shading or propping up these melodies, and one should listen closely to his contributions here. It's another extraordinary musical experience from the Claudia Quintet, who deserve all the high marks they...

"Having made landmark recordings with Miles Davis, formed pioneering fusion bands Dreams and Mahavishnu Orchestra, and made several fine solo albums, by 1978 Billy Cobham was firmly established as one of the world's leading jazz-rock drummers. This superb set was taped for radio broadcast by WXRT-FM at Park West, Chicago, Illinois, on March 4, 1978, and finds him supported by his recently formed Magic Band, consisting of Charles Singleton (sax, reeds, guitar), Ray Mouton (guitar), Alvin Batiste...

“The Future is the ninth studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released in 1992. Almost an hour in length, it was Cohen's longest album up to that date. Both the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 1992 Los Angeles riots took place while Cohen was writing and recording the album, which expressed his sense of the world's turbulence.”

“The Texan blues giant Albert Collins enjoys far greater divinity in modern times than he was ever afforded before, especially at the point in his career when he provided a stunning set at Joe's Place in Cambridge, MA in 1973. Joe's Place offered a smaller and more intimate setting for Collins, who performs a selection of his repertoire including "Backstroke," "Frosty" and "Thaw Out," three gems from his 1965 debut The Cool Sounds of Albert Collins. Collins applied his unique and revered style with...

A iconic mid 60s John Coltrane album that deserves every singe gram of eminence it has gained in 55 years and counting. If you don't own it, this is a must. Period.

"One of the most important records ever made, John Coltrane's A Love Supreme was his pinnacle studio outing, that at once compiled all of the innovations from his past, spoke to the current of deep spirituality that liberated him from addictions to drugs and alcohol, and glimpsed at the future innovations of his final two and a half...

“Trane's two blazing performances at Newport in 1963 and 1965 have now been reissued onto one bargain CD! The 1963 performance, even though it featured Roy Haynes on drums instead of regular Elvin Jones, has long been counted among Coltrane's most fiery performances; it appears here with an unreleased extended version of Impressions. Jones is back behind the kit for the 1965 performance, which consists of just two tracks, One Down, One Up and My Favorite Things. Transforming music from a great artist.”

“Common Eider, King Eider return to Cyclic Law with their 13th full length album "Yearn". Since 2012, A.C. and B.S.s. have been crafting a unique aesthetic vision around modern composition, dark ambient, and black metal using voice, viola, percussion, and organic objects such as bone and antler to create a sonic world drenched in animism and project mythology. "Yearn" follows suit with five extended arrangements for viola, percussion, and voice. The pieces slowly unfold as if remembering a dream…

This is a really good collaboration from hugely talented folks who you would not expect to work together, but, actually, if you think about it, make total sense to work together.

"Musicians separated by age, style, and demographic, Elvis Costello and the Roots are nevertheless natural collaborators bound by wide taste, insatiable appetite, and fathomless record collections. This is particularly true of Roots drummer/de facto bandleader ?uestlove, the musical omnivore who is the band's most...

“Although the titles are all familiar (most of them a little too much so), Cotton and his all-star cohorts (guitarists Jimmie Vaughan, Matt Murphy, Luther Tucker, Hubert Sumlin, and Wayne Bennett, with the omnipresent Perkins on keys) pull the whole thing off beautifully. Cotton's cover of Wolf's "Moanin' at Midnight" is remarkably eerie in its own right, and he romps through Muddy Waters' "Blow Wind Blow" and "Sugar Sweet" with joyous alacrity.”-AllMusic

More roots of Brit-jazz here.
"Digitally remastered reissue of this 1961 album from the jazz drummer. Whole Lotta Tony was recorded and released in 1961 on Ember, and credited to Tony Crombie & His Friends. Drummer Crombie's CV to date had...

“2016 album by former King Crimson violinist and Mellotron player David Cross and Sean Quinn. Cold Sky Blue is a sonic melting pot taking in prog, ambient, synthpop and even a sprinkling of dubstep, which is simultaneously timeless and modern.
David and Sean were introduced by a mutual friend and after a lengthy phone conversation, pitched a couple of ideas at each other which became Skyline Vertical and Cold Sky Blue. They then agreed to expand the collaborative nature of the record and Beth Hirsch..

Lorraine Bailey – vocals, keys, alto saxophone, flute, synth bass
Jack Bouboushian – vocals, guitar, organ, microphone
Bill Miller – drum kit, percussion
Matt Puhr – bass

Crown Larks are an excellent Chicago band who play a cool unique progressive rock with heavy psych influences. I stumbled upon them a couple of years ago and they impressed and I was a instant convert!

"...demonstrates a learned appreciation for the city’s recent underground musical history (particularly th

Anti von Klewitz (violin, viola & voice)
Sander Hoving (kontra, violin, viola)
Anneke Frankenberg (violin, viola)
Jens Piezunka (double bass)

Csókolom play Eastern European folk music with a gypsy flavor, emphasizing arrangements using two or three violins and a double bass. The leader and singer for the group is fiddler Anti von Klewitz, who in addition to playing traditional Hungarian music has studied jazz (under bassist Reggie Workman) and classical, and has also played in a sals