Congratulations to Ripple Music on their one-year anniversary. The label is home to the likes of Mighty High, Poobah and Stone Axe, and in celebration of their solar revolution (hopefully the first of many), they’ve made an exclusive digital compilation available for free download from their Bandcamp page. That’s cool enough, but the compilation also features new music from Iron Claw and Grifter, who’ll both have new albums out before the end of the year.

Here’s the news from the label, followed by the audio stream of the comp:

Now, as Ripple Music moves into its second year, founders John Rancik and Todd Severin want to celebrate the enthusiasm of their music lovers with some anniversary specials. As a thank you to their fans and supporters who’ve allowed Ripple to strike out and bring independent music to the world, Ripple is releasing it’s first ever free digital compilation album.

Featuring every band that has made the first year of Ripple Music such a success, Ripple‘s anniversary album kicks off with Stone Axe, before heading down the Ripple highway of Poobah, JPT Scare Band, Fen, and more. And as a special bonus, The anniversary album features the world’s first sneak peeks at two new Ripple releases; Grifter‘s self-titled debut album, and the eagerly anticipated A Different Game, from underground legends, Scotland’s Iron Claw. But the free compilation album may be available for only a limited time, so get over there quickly to get yours!

But wait, there’s more. Over at the Ripple Store, everything is still 15% off until July 4, and every waverider who places an order will get their name placed into a drawing for a very special, last-one-of-a-kind surprise test pressing!

If you missed Ripple Music‘s reissue of Poobah‘s Let Me In, it was definitely one of the highlights of the year as far as that kind of thing goes. Killer ’70s heavy rock topped off with the virtuoso guitar of Jim Gustafson. Hard to beat.

The band just released a live CD of their set from the concert at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland from 2004, and Gustafson sent out the following email about it, which I post here in case anyone wants to get a copy from the Poobah website:

Hello, this is Jim Gustafson of Poobah. I have recently released a very rare collectible live CD, from the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Poobah concert in 2004. This CD is 68 minutes of blazing guitar work. In addition to the 12 songs recorded live, there is also a bonus track of the newly recorded song, “Smokin’ with a Bottle of Rum.”

Poobah has signed a record deal with Ripple Music, in southern California, so there are many new projects that are headed your way. The recent re-release of Let Me In on double vinyl records with 12 bonus tracks, along with a beautifully done CD package, has been reviewed by several magazines, garnering the highest rated reviews , including Goldmine’s raves of Let Me In as the reissue of the year!

This live set burns with furious and wild guitar. Featuring, the classic Poobah songs, and recent new originals full of powerful psych-out sounds.

Long relegated to giving the occasional discerning collector a very expensive boner, Poobah’s 1972 lost wonder Let Me In sees new life in a reissue by Ripple Music and a remastering job by none other than Stone Axe’s T. Dallas Reed. Boasting the original six-track, 31-minute LP and an additional 12 bonus cuts (just to point out the math: there’s literally twice as much bonus material as album tracks), Ripple’s version of Let Me In is a 75-minute monster, and while it’s true some of the bonus cuts are just the band screwing around — I’m looking at you, “Aww, Not Now” — there’s also a slew of killer non-album songs, live rehearsals and alternate versions, so if you’ve ever wanted to hear Poobah, this is probably the best way out there to go about it. Certainly the most bang for your buck.

The material the Youngstown, Ohio, trio of guitarist/vocalist Jim Gustafson, bassist/vocalist Phil Jones and drummer Glenn Wiseman (Nick Gligor and Steve Schwelling also show up for drums on the bonus tracks) brought to the Let Me In album itself is top notch American ‘70s heavy rock. Distinguished by Gustafson’s blazing leads and the occasional psychedelic freakout, tracks like “Bowleen” and opener “Mr. Destroyer” may sound completely of their day, but if you’re hunting down a band like Poobah, that’s exactly what you want. Special mention should be made of the obvious attention to detail and love Reed put into his remastering job, bringing Jones’ bass up for the playful runs on the closing title track (closing out the original album, not the full disc here) makes that song even more of a highlight, and it seems that each song on the record has something special that stands it out, among its tracklist compatriots, yes, but also among the early ‘70s heavy scene, which lacked neither quantity of bands or quality of output. Even the softer, more progressive “Enjoy What You Have” and the ultra-bluesy “Live to Work” — the latter especially — hold their ground against any band to whom you’d have them compared, and the more you hear Let Me In, the more that will ring true.

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Does it seem a little strange to pre-order an album that came out in 1972? Yes. Nevertheless, that’s the situation with Poobah‘s classic of underground ’70s heavy rock, Let Me In. Ripple Music, which has overseen the remastering and reissuing of the album, is now taking pre-orders in advance of the October 12 release date.

The PR wire has the details:

With the original 1972 LP fetching upwards of $300 a piece at various auction sites, Poobah and Ripple Music decided it was time to “re-unleash” the album that started the madness. The fuzzed-out, psychedelic, proto-metal masterpiece Let Me In is set to hit the streets on October 12th, 2010 and will be available in CD, digital and deluxe double gatefold 12″ vinyl versions. Fully remastered by T. Dallas Reed (Stone Axe/Mos Generator) the songs have a fresh vitality while never losing the ‘70s edge that made them so endearing in the first place.

The original six tracks will be accompanied by a ton of previously unreleased tracks and never before seen photographs; Let Me In will undoubtedly satisfy the most rabid of Poobah fan! The CD edition includes twelve bonus cuts and an 8-page booklet that features live shots and of the band at some of their most candid moments, while the double LP edition includes 10 bonus tracks and is pressed on two-toned black and white vinyl. Now accepting pre-orders at Ripple Music!