Le Edits - Dimitri From Paris' home of luxurious and beautifully crafted Disco reworkings has returned! This time a very special and thoughtful project is in the works, an extra-special collection looking back over the first offerings of this very unique contemporary Disco label. The first 5 releases, all now long gone and sold out across the globe and fetching high collectors prices in the used marketplace, will now be compiled into a very limited collected boxset for those who missed them the first time around. With such a high demand, the call for represses on all of the Le Edits titles has been loud and clear from record collectors and Disco aficionados worldwide, so it seemed only right to make something special and out of the ordinary! Dimitri, as a life-long record fiend himself, has made sure the original 12's were not repressed while presenting this extremely in-demand music in a desirable, distinctive, individually numbered package complete with a high quality Le Edits screen-printed tote bag.

Here are 3CDs from the legendary Sun Records, the label that launched the careers of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis to name a few. Featuring 60 classic tracks from the arguably the most influential record label in the history of modern music

People have begun to discover just how good a blueswoman the late Jo-Ann Kelly was. That's led to a trawling through the vaults, which have turned up albums like this, of obscure compilation and unreleased cuts. Key to the Highway covers what's arguably her most prolific period, as her star was ascending and was at its critical height (although it should be noted that the 1974 end date in the title is very elastic – there are six cuts from 1975, and two conversation pieces from 1988). While all too often material has remained unreleased for a good reason, everything here is prime. Kelly's definition of blues is definitely loose, including Hank Williams' "You Win Again," with some strong piano from Bob Hall, and even Marvin Gaye's "Can I Get a Witness" and Rufus Thomas' "Walking the Dog." However, in her hands, blues is exactly what they are. While generally accompanied, the stunning a cappella "Levee Camp Holler" shows the power she had, enough to put her up there with the top rank, and where her fretwork shows through, as on "I Can't Be Satisfied," she was a superb guitar player, with a slide technique to make Bonnie Raitt envious. The audio here might not be the best, somewhat crackly and aged, but in many ways that simply adds to the authentic patina of blues. She shows that you don't have to be male and African-American to have the blues. And a record like this simply increases her legacy.

By 1968, the jig was up for Peter & Gordon. Their final Top 40 hit had been the previous year, trends had passed them by, and in all it was time for them to split. Their final LP, Hot Cold & Custard, did find them plugging into the fey orchestrated psychedelic-tinged British pop of the Sgt. Pepper's era to some degree, somewhat along the lines of what Chad & Jeremy were doing with more ambition on albums like Of Cabbages and Kings. That's evident from the backwards effects on the very first seconds of the very first track, "I Feel Like Going Out." It's also present on several song with a distinctly period British songwriting take that looks at British social life with a wry amusement, like "The Magic Story of the Park Keeper," "Uncle Hartington," and "The Quest for the Holy Grail." But the songs really aren't anything special, though Peter & Gordon bring their customary uplifting harmonies to the occasion; none of them demand a place on a Peter & Gordon best-of, aside perhaps from the nice bittersweet pop-folk-rock of "Greener Days." A few of the tracks don't fit into the somewhat artier-than-usual approach, instead sounding more like late-'60s pop as usual, and these "She Needs Love," "You've Had Better Times," and the aforementioned "Greener Days" are the better songs.

The 60s was the decade of peace and love, and while Bob Dylan, John Lennon and many others would fly the flag for peace, artists like PP Arnold, The Searchers, Petula Clark, The Foundataions, The Overlanders (all featured here) sang about love. In the 60s, the accent was on the younger generation having fun. It was time to let your hair down and have a good time, and this superb 2CD collection brings you the love-seeking ladies and the romantic guys who sang from their heart.

Veronica Vasquez, mononymously known to listeners as Veronica, was born on July 24th 1974 in Queens, New York to two Cuban parents. Debuting in 1995 with the single “Without Love”, a slow-mo R&B number released via Mercury Records, the young singer went on to release her first album, V… As In Veronica, just two months later. The LP drew clear influences from hip-hop and included productions from R&B heavyweights Darkchild and Dallas Austin. While it failed to enter the Billboard 200, Veronica would enjoy a greater commercial performance with her 1997 follow-up, Rise. The album’s lead single, “No One But You”, featured guest vocals from Bad Boy Records affiliate Craig Mack, and its title track saw her team up with Terror Squad members Big Pun and Cuban Link. However, despite her grounding in hip-hop, it would be house music which propelled her into the spotlight. A self-titled remix album, consisting of eight dance reinterpretations of tracks from Rise, landed in 2000 as one of the first releases on producer Jellybean Benitez’ label, Jellybean Recordings.

Like other entries in Blue Note's excellent Ballads series, this collection features Sarah Vaughan on a number of mellow standards. The songs originate from a number of sessions Vaughan completed for Roulette between 1960-1963, and they are uniformly lovely. The settings range from the guitar/bass backing on "All or Nothing at All" to the orchestra backing on "Dreamy." Vaughan sings the tastefully arranged "You Go to My Head" with the help of the Count Basie Orchestra and the intimately quiet "In a Sentimental Mood" with guitarist Mundell Lowe and bassist George Duvivier. She slowly caresses each syllable of "'Round Midnight," "Solitude," and "Lover Man," delivering fresh takes on these commonly sung classics. A certain warmth also permeates "In a Sentimental Mood" and "If I Had You," filling each note with an air of regret. The reflective material seems tailor-made for that late hour when one's guests have departed and the cocktail glasses have been cleared. Ballads gathers 13 exquisite recordings in one place and captures Vaughan in exceptional voice. It's also enlightening to listen to how she approaches similar material when the arrangements are so divergent. To those unfamiliar with her Roulette work, Ballads offers a fine introduction.~Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.

This release is a collection of singles from The Parliaments on Revilot Records.

British punk began as a movement of self-proclaimed artists, thick with half-baked theories and aging hipsters trying to artificially stimulate a youth movement of their own. Hyperactive first-wavers Eater, however, offered a glimpse of what punk would soon become, the province of aggressive, inarticulate teenagers with a "loud-fast rules" philosophy that trumps any other consideration. The genuinely teenage Eater (ranging in age from 13 to 17) weren't interested in the Queen or White Riots; they wrote songs about daydreams, hot girls in math class, and bad-taste fantasies of prostitutes and necrophilia. All songs on their sole full-length release sound about the same, played with one stiff light-speed beat and a snotty vehemence to each track, adding up to a ridiculous classic. As fast and clumsy as the material is, there's an undeniable tunefulness at work, particularly in irresistible singalongs like "No Brains" and "Room for One," and the sprightly single "Lock It Up" even attempts some naïve vocal harmonies as they sneer at the upper classes.

Gatefold release, first time on vinyl. Released on Friday 29th March, the brilliant “Ninja Tuna” is the latest Mr. Scruff album to get a fancy makeover. Originally released as a CD in 2008 it’s now available for the first time on vinyl as a deluxe triple LP with bonus tracks, pressed on biovinyl with an “infinity peelable” tuna sticker on the cover.

This album, with which the singer reached his commercial peak, reflects Chris Rea's love/hate relationship with the car. The title track is famously inspired by Rea's experiences of the M25, but this is not a simple tract on the evils of the automobile–in 1988, he bought himself a racing car. His vision of hell is the traffic jam that stops you from using all that expensive acceleration. In this sense Chris Rea–the epitome of maturity compared to most in his business–shows himself still very much a rock star. The Road To Hell, despite the melancholy piano riff of the song itself and its Leonard Cohen-ish lyrics, is an optimistic album with a warm, embracing sound. This album is graced with some of Rea's finest creations: the spacey "Daytona", the topicality of "You Must Be Evil" and the catchy "That's What They Always Say". "Texas" is another witty commentary on the need for speed, and like many of the tracks on this disc it has the mellow groove that Rea has made his own.

The French equivalent of prog-rock bands Yes and Genesis, Atoll recorded four albums in the mid- to late '70s with a lineup that stabilized by the time of the group's second album. L'Araignee Mal (1975) included vocalist/percussionist André Balzer, guitarist Christian Beya, bassist Jean-Luc Thillot, keyboard player Michel Taillet, and drummer Alain Gozzo. Gradually commercializing its sound beginning with third album Tertio, Atoll released only one more studio album (plus a compilation) before breaking up. In the late '80s, however, a new, pop-oriented version appeared. Including only Beya from the previous lineup, the band released L'Ocean and the live album Tokyo C'est Fini (both 1989).

Just like You is the second studio album by Delta blues artist Keb' Mo', released in 1996. It features guest artists Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt, both on the title track "Just Like You". Unlike the first album, Just Like You features a more blues-pop to blues-rock feel and more of its tracks feature a full band. In 1997, Just Like You won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

Auberge is an album by Chris Rea, released in 1991. The album as well as the title song was mostly notable for the association of the Caterham Super Seven that he owned, in which he called it the "Blue Seven". That car appeared on the album cover, illustrated in oil by renowned motoring artist Alan Fearnley. The album makes several reference to the car over several tracks, as well on the video of the title song and its cover illustration was used for its adverts. In 2005, Rea sold his car in an auction. Auberge was a #1 album in the UK in 1991. The title track also gave Rea one of his biggest chart hits, reaching #16 in the UK charts. Other songs released as singles were "Heaven", "Looking For The Summer" and "Winter Song".

Clarinetist David Orlowsky is widely recognized as a musician of tremendous expressiveness and depth, and is acknowledged worldwide as one of today's leading interpreters of the clarinet repertoire ranging from Mozart to Golijov to klezmer. An exclusive Sony recording artist, David has recorded eight discs which have received three ECHO Klassik awards and won him a large and devoted following. David Orlowsky has appeared both as a soloist and with his trio (the David Orlowsky Trio) at a number of major festivals and venues, including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Rheingau Music Festival, Lucerne Festival, Gidon Kremer’s Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival, the Philhamonie Berlin, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Carnegie Hall, with orchestras such as the Netherland Radio Philhamonic Orchestra and the German Chamber Orchestra.