Dennis Coffey 'Back Home' (Edit)

Dennis Coffey 'Back Home' (Edit)

Earnest low-note piano riffs and dancing flute lines exchange pleasantries, as Dennis Coffey goes under the scalpel in an operating theatre decked out in tan leather and fake palm trees.

The Shadows 'The Rise And Fall Of Flingle Blunt'

The Shadows 'The Rise And Fall Of Flingle Blunt'

With the Wimbledon tennis championships kicking off today, thoughts momentarily leap back to the competition's standout musical event (read: horror show), when cheese merchant Sir Cliff Pilchard hijacked centre court during rain-stop-play in 1996.  Talk about a captive audience - the call for a sniper was strong that day. The Shadows were his backing band many moons ago, but also struck out on their own to peddle a strong line in skiffle, surf instrumentals. Hank Marvin was the engine room of the band, with a totally singular and vital guitar sound heard on classics like 'Wonderful Land' and 'Apache'. This is a cool, instrumental stroller of a record, unshackled from the creeping schmaltz of Sir Cliff's bogus musical visions.

Billy Cobham 'Stratus'

Billy Cobham 'Stratus'

A restless, surging bassline paves the way for an artillery of instruments on this 7 minute trip to the statosphere, whilst Billy knocks seven shades of shit out of a drum kit the size of a holiday cottage.

Slim Gaillard 'Fuck Off (Chicken Rhythm)'

Slim Gaillard 'Fuck Off (Chicken Rhythm)'

Novelty rhythm 'n blues cut from Slim Gaillard - a jazz performer who was 'accidentally left behind' on the island of Crete by his father at the age of twelve and stumbled into the world of music after training to be a mortician. He also invented his own language called 'Vout'.

The Zombies 'Time Of The Season'

The Zombies 'Time Of The Season'

It's the time of the season for loving. Amen to that. One of the great sunshine psychedelic pop songs of all time, layed down at the Abbey Road Studios a matter of months after 'Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band' and 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn' had been made there. Begs the question as to just what exactly was in the water at that studio in 1967?

Santana 'Jam In E'

Santana 'Jam In E'

This is what Santana were all about - explosive, percussive jamming. Proper rug-swaying, freak-your-shit-out rock. Taken from the 'Acapulco Sunrise' demo recordings from 1968, when big ropey perms and bandanas were most definitely 'in'.

Patrick Abrial 'Slag Machine'

Patrick Abrial 'Slag Machine'

Bonkers, over-sexed and misogynistic Frenchman Patrick Abrial was a lot more miss than hit in his time, but this is a cool two minutes of trippy guitar instrumental and some of the funkiest jaws harp ever committed to record. 'Go away, come back' is what you can only imagine he said to most of the girls.

Episode Six 'Jak D'Or'

Episode Six 'Jak D'Or'

Relatively obscure B-side from a band formed in Harrow (some members of whom would go on to play for dodgy prog outfit Deep Purple). This is a simple psych jam with seismic drum breaks that you could imagine being put to quite good use in a TV advert for a high-strength continental lager.

Steve Winwood, Remi Kabak & Abdul Lasisi Amao (AKA Third World) 'Irin-Ajo'

Steve Winwood, Remi Kabak & Abdul Lasisi Amao (AKA Third World) 'Irin-Ajo'

Third World (not the cheesy reggae outfit) AKA Steve Winwood, Remi Kabak and Abdul Lasisi Amao released this African rock-fusion record in 1973. It's a further demonstration Stevie's almost boundless musical talents. Fragrant flute, eleccy guitar and rickety percussion interplay for hot, lazy days.

Gala Drop 'Drop'

Gala Drop 'Drop'

Nothing to do with bingo as far as I know, Gala Drop are four musical experimentalists from Lisbon, Portugal. This is the standout track on their 'Overcoat Heat EP' from 2010, which to their credit really does sound completely new and pioneering. Words like lilting, meandering and mesmerising also spring to mind. There's a short interview with one of the members over at the (always excellent) Test Pressing site, along with a mixtape for download. Also worth checking is GD's album from 2008 (pictured 'cos its got a better cover than the EP) for more involving and intrepid fusions of electronics and instruments.