No matter how well tended their careers may be, many major recording stars suffer from some minor example of juvenilia in their discographies, some set of demos or early live tracks still owned by a former associate that gets licensed endlessly all over the world, resulting in numerous spurious releases that always seem to appear with a photograph depicting the artist in his prime instead of his youth. Although he has signed his share of contracts he shouldn't have, Billy Joel has largely avoided this c...   [ read more ]

CD $6.64

Although it was a disappointing seller and signaled the start of Donovan's commercial decline, Open Road could have been a new beginning for the singer. Stripping down to a Celtic rock format that managed to be hard and direct, yet still folkish, Donovan turned out a series of excellent songs, notably the minor hit "Riki Tiki Tavi," that seemed to show him moving toward a roots-oriented sound of considerable appeal. Unfortunately, he was derailed by record company hassles and perhaps his own...   [ read more ]

CD $20.88

Canadian underground rappers Josh Martinez and AWOL One don't really collaborate on Splitsville: aside from shared verses on the title track, each rapper sticks to his own tracks. (The press kit for the album calls it a "double EP" for this reason.) The point of commonality is DJ Moves, who provides the beats for all 14 songs, but even with a producer in common, this is definitely an album of two halves. Martinez's six songs are self-described "emo rap," featuring light, almost pastora...   [ read more ]

CD $15.18