Moondog – Moondog & His FriendsReleased: 1953Label: Epic Welcome to the oddness of Alt-folk and the world of Moondog. Louis Thomas Hardin, also known as Moondog, was an American musician, composer, theoretician, poet and inventor of several musical instruments. He was blind from the age of 16. Hardin lived in New York City from the…

Peggy Lee – Black CoffeeReleased – 1953Label – Decca It may seem odd to say it, but Black Coffee by Peggy Lee is a collection of songs that sound exactly as you would expect them to sound, which is exactly as they should sound. The mid-fifties are preserved in amber in these songs that seem…

The Anthology of American Folk Music: The Collection That Revived a Genre Compiled by: Harry SmithReleased: 1952Label: Folkways Records The Anthology of American Folk Music is a six-album compilation released in 1952 by Folkways Records comprising eighty-four American folk, blues and country music recordings that were originally issued from 1926 to 1933. Experimental filmmaker Harry…

Yma Sumac – Voice of the XtabayReleased: 1950 So this is probably a rather leftfield choice and a difficult album to kick proceedings off with as parts of it sound rather odd 70 years after its release, but odd in a rather brilliant way. Voice of the Xtabay is the first studio album by Peruvian…

There are publications out there that lay claim to the 1001 albums concept, amongst other things, like films and so on, but having read them we always felt it was somewhat limiting as there has been so much music published over the last 70 years that 1001 just wasn’t enough and there were genres that…