‘Heady, raw, druggy songs of love, dread, hardship, and yearning, recorded in Athens between 1932 and 1936, when Markos was already a master of the bouzouki. His forceful, clean playing compliments his hoarse voice and his stunning rhythmic sensibility, the result of his years as a champion zebekiko dancer. Tracks build and spiral outward, his open-note drones and melodic lines drawing calls of ecstasy and encouragement from his fellow musicians. These recordings mark the height of rebetika, the brief period between the music’s emergence on the recording scene in the early 1930s and government censorship of all lyrics starting in 1936. During the Axis occupation there was no rebetika recording, and though Markos had some hits in the years after the war, he never again attained this level. These are the dizzying, entrancing, and heaviest works of one of the great artists of the 20th century.’

A fresh set of stripped, rubbery, bass-heavy grooves, to consolidate his Idle Hands debut; seaming FWD-night vibes, and Skull Disco, tribalism and grime.

Cornerstone experimental music, from 1966.
‘Nostalgic testament to the interaction between the experimental avant-garde and the countercultural underground, the album was originally released on Elektra, recorded by Jac Holzman (the label’s founder, responsible for signing The Doors, Love, and The Stooges) and produced by DNA, a group that included Pink Floyd’s first manager, Peter Jenner (PF’s track Flaming is a tribute to the first side here)... Long tones sit next to abrasive thuds, the howl of uncontrolled feedback accompanies Cardew’s purposeful piano chords, radios beam in snatches of orchestral music… AMM sought to develop a collective sonic identity in which individual contributions could barely be discerned. Numerous auxiliary instruments and devices, including radios played by three members of the group, contribute to the sensation that the music is composed as a single monolithic object with multiple facets, rather than as an interaction between five distinct voices.’

The marvellous Art Ensemble Of Chicago drummer, solo and duetting with cornettist Olu Dara in 1977-8 — ‘with extreme intimacy, sometimes exploring the sonority of his kit, sometimes extrapolating on a beat… alongside Dara, one of the great figures of the loft era and a wonderfully polymath musician [and Nas’ dad to boot]... stretching all the way out on the three dedications to Lester Bowie.’

Crafted, outward-bound experiments in the improvisatory forms, modes, drones and rhythms of Iranian music, by guitarist Golfam Khayam and clarinetist Mona Matbou Riahi, both born in Teheran.

Unique improvised pop from 1974, by Jean-Jacques Birgé — one of the first French synthesizer players (ARP 2600) — and guitar virtuoso Francis Gorgé.
‘Have you ever imagined what a meeting between the Silver Apples and Sonny Sharrock would sound like?’

Ace kid funk, with coolly blunted singing by the little un, and a good old-fashioned break-and-a-half.

Terrific fun; full of life and invention.
‘This first exuberant wave of innocent, upbeat, ‘party on the block’ rap records re-created the sounds heard in community centres, block parties and street jams taking place in the Bronx in the mid-1970s. But where Flash, Kool Herc and Bambaataa were back-spinning, mixing and scratching together breakbeat records, these first rap sides were all made using live bands, often replaying current disco tunes, whilst MCs rapped over the top…’

An expert sampling of the original Studio One dub LPs, plus a couple of wild cards.

His first solo LP, from 1973, brilliantly produced by Willie Hutch. Highlights include three killers: the sublime, expansive, funky protest of Just My Soul Responding; the achingly beautiful Sweet Harmony; and The Family Song, a two-step classic.