Guerssen Spain Vinyl & CDs

Review: In some ways (well, at least one way), The Artwoods epitomise what's wrong with popular music, and pre-empted how malignant their problem would become, eventually spreading to every other group that can't churn out new Best Ofs and guarantee huge sales. As a band, the 1960s rhythm & blues outfit were a big draw on the gig circuit, ranking alongside the likes of The Animals in terms of shifting tickets. On the other hand, surprisingly weak numbers for albums and singles tells a very different story, one all-too-familiar in the 2020s. Given this was back then, though, when flogging records was the holy grail, it proved to be quite the undoing, with the guys only managing to convince labels to back a clutch of singles, LPs only coming retro-retrospectively. I Take It All kind of proves how wrong people were, with tracks that stand up to the best of the era.

Review: The Daily Flash originated in Seattle in 1965, and true to their name burned bright and fast for around three years before disbanding. Fronted by Steve Lalor and with Doug Hastings on guitar, it's also noticeable their drummer was Jon Keliehor, who has since had an accomplished career in ambient and experimental music. As a perfect embodiment of the original psychedelic wave when it was still relatively attached to 60s pop, The Daily Flash have been revisited in scattershot form over the years, but finally their outstanding archive of recordings has been gathered in one coherent compilation which covers their brief but brilliant tenure.