Catching up with vinyl plucked from the bargain bins:

ROVA Saxophone Quartet – Saxophone Diplomacy (Hat Art, 1983): This wonderful 2-LP set is a live recording of ROVA's visit behind the Iron Curtain in the early 1983. This was during the darkest days of the cold war but the band is greeted rapturously during it's concerts in Russia and Romania. The group sounds really inspired by their surroundings and creates spontaneous riffs and improvisations where one saxophone will solo while being supported by the other three, or the group will improvise collectively, moving from melody to cacophony and back. The lengthy “Flamingo Horizons” and "Paint Another Take of the Shootpop" last for entire sides of vinyl and build to powerful conclusions. But the entire set is powerful and accessible music, and it a great plave to make the bands acquaintance.

The Move – Best of the Move (A&M, 1974): The Move was a fascinating English rock 'n' roll band that was eclipsed in its 1960's heyday by the likes of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. This “best of” is actually the band's self titled debut LP on one platter and a collection of singles from the period on the other. The collection is interesting because of the way the band juggles rough and ready garage rock, incense and peppermints psychedelica and even string laden ballads. Their “Nuggets pop” may be the most interesting with the goofy pop of “Fire Brigade” and the druggy sing-a-long of “Ican Hear the Grass Grow” being the most fun. These are dated a little bit, but they still make fine examples of the boundless experimentalism of British pop music during this period.

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