(Castle Music) ****

WHAT a trip! Across four CDs, 99 tracks and an immaculately annotated booklet, David Wells guides us through the many highs and a few lows of what happened when assorted Brit-soul and folk acts ditched the mod trappings and, well, turned on. Many of these cuts are ridiculously hard to come by on vinyl and Wells is to be lauded for bringing the likes of Paper Blitz Tissue, The Drag Set and Andy Ellison to CD.

Wells steers a course away from the commercial big hitters, preferring instead to grub around in the crypt for the wannabes, nearly-dids and never-weres. Of course, some of these failed because they were just plain rubbish, but among the various out-takes, alternative versions and unreleased tracks are some real lysurgic-laced gems. Wig out!