The Yardbirds,”Beck’s Blues” (Charly)- Here’s another splendid vinyl anthology from the good people at Charly Records, this time focussing attention on the contribution made to their sound by the late great Jeff Beck during his short stint with the band in the mid sixties. The mercurial musician had joined their ranks when Eric Clapton left the fold in 1965 after growing increasingly disillusioned with their refusal to fully embrace the spirit of the blues, and his innovative guitar work underpinned a string of singles successes as the decade progressed, with “Evil Hearted You,” “Heart Full of Soul” and “Shapes of Things” capturing the essence of their progressive but highly commercial sound. The astute compilers have also found space here for some classic musical outings from the archives, including the band’s rip roaring revamp of rhythm and blues bandleader Tiny Bradshaw’s “The Train Kept A-Rollin’.
” The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, “The Good Thief Tips His Hat” (Talking Elephant)- This fine American outfit have tipped a whole host of musical influences into their creative melting pot and emerged at the end of the process with one of the most beguiling sounds that you could ever wish to hear. Echoes of everyone from David Bowie to The Band and Dylan inform this enticing collective’s memorable approach to the art of music making and they’ve chosen to mark their twenty fifth anniversary as a performing unit by making their 1999 debut set.