BARBARA MANNING - Super Scissors

Deluxe reissue of Barbara Manning's first two long out-of-print records, Lately I Keep Scissors named one of SPIN's Top 100 Alternative Records and One Perfect Green Blanket .  Fans of the Dunedin Sound of Flying Nun Records, jangly guitars and the minimalist aesthetic of the Young Marble Giants (who also enjoyed a recent deluxe reissue of their classic Colossal Youth) will find alot to enjoy here.  Act fast though, we are told these will not be re-released again "in our lifetime". 

WHITE NOISE - An Electric Storm

A pairing of American-born David Vorhaus with BBC Radiophonic Workshop techs Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson, White Noise was a definite contender for the oddest band signed to Island in the late '60s. With a more soft-pop-tinged A-side (although not without its more hardcore moments, such as the actual orgy recordings spicing up the Beach Boys bassline of "My Game Of Loving") backed by two long-form freakouts on the flip, An Electric Storm is both a novel artifact of its time and a highly original project that's still considered a high-water mark for experimental pop.

SEBADOH - The Freed Man

Like many of their contemporaries, influential college pop collagists Sebadoh have been getting a healthy reissue/reunion revival. The latest is a mammoth 52-track version of their 'debut', The Freed Man. Although a duo, Lou Barlow and Eric Gaffney recorded 95% of this material solo, making the album more of a compilation of two artists. Despite this, they shared a lo-fi, 4-track recording style and play nicely off one another. As for the album, you're just as likely to hear a cat snoring or kid's book narration as actual songs, but that's part of the scattered appeal.

G*PARK - Seismogramm

"Marvelously organic close-mic'd sounds (a cat mewling, the branches of a tree twisting in the wind) are spaced and rearranged with a tranquility, clarity and focus that's sadly uncommon in musique concrète made in the wake of widely available sampling technology. There's a kind of autumnal elegance to G*Park's restrained, low-key filtering and EQ work which bathes each sound in a warm mid-range glow. Somebody has just got to reissue this." -Drew Daniel (Matmos)  

THIS HEAT - Deceit

Finally available separately (the Out of Cold Storage box set having been released over a year ago), we can pay This Heat's second (and final) full-length its proper respects. More melodic than its self-titled predecessor (opener "Sleep" features keening vocals akin to fellow Cold Storage sessioner Robert Wyatt) while retaining, if not surpassing, the first record's ferociousness ("Makeshift Swahili"'s sandpaper-hoarse barking, the finely-honed aggression of "A New Kind of Water"), Deceit is a defining moment for British post-punk. A truly original, influential group way ahead of their time.

THE TRAVELING WILBURYS - Collection

Hard to believe this has been out-of-print for over a decade. The casual coming together of George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne to record a 1988 B-side led to a debut of such easy beauty that it still moves the hardest of hearts. Volume 1 remains impossible to deny, full of great singles ("End of the Line", "Handle With Care") and Bob Dylan at his off-the-cuff best ("Tweeter and the Monkey Man"). While follow-up Volume 3 is a shadow of its predecessor, having both packaged together here alongside a documentary DVD is a solid package.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay

The Numero Group's dedication to hunting down the forgotten of music's past has led to a flawless run of surprises. Their 14th release, Grand Bahama Goombay, retains the chief characteristics of most of their titles: crisp, wide-eyed soul music made with equal parts sweat, humour and naivete.  All but the most scholarly of listeners will be hearing this blend of soul, funk, calypso and reggae for the first time. Fresh versions of "Take Five" and "Theme from Shaft" pair with Sylvia Hall's ode to abstinance, "Don't Touch That Thing", to make a collection that is unpredictable and damn fun.