Stones Throw will release an anthology of recordings by singer/songwriter Matthew Larkin Cassell, on May 17.

Entitled (fittingly enough) The Complete Works, the album was assembled by the LA label partly to placate Cassell after he heard an uncleared sample of his song ‘Heaven’ (taken from 1977’s Pieces LP) on the Madlib production 3.214 (from Madvillainy 2: The Madlib Remix).

“To be fair,” say the folks at Stones Throw, “Madlib had no idea he was using Cassell’s work until he put two and two together and realized what his source material, a Japanese bootleg 12” labelled ‘MLC’, stood for. And who wouldn’t want access to the multi-tracks to MLC’s breakbeat-laden ‘My Life’? Madlib certainly did. And MLC wanted to see his catalogue reissued. So here we are, and everyone’s happy.”

Cassell, who hails from San Francisco’s Bay Area, is best known for a trilogy of self-released records from the late 70s and 80s that combined elements of rock, jazz and R&B with the distinct whiff of funk. For the first album, Pieces, Cassell played virtually all the instruments, created the cover art, and distributed copies by hand.  The six-track 12” EP, Matt The Cat, followed soon after, involved a wider cast of musicians and was recorded in a top-notch studio; the final part of the informal triptych was an untitled 7” recorded and released soon after.

A couple of shortlived projects aside, Cassell retired from recording music. Then, in 2008, he made a slight return with the jazz-inflected 12” EP, PrivatePress4, limited to 100 copies with each disco and label hand-painted. This prompted renewed interest in his earlier work, with some of the original pressings fetching up to thousands of dollars on the second-hand market. After hearing the aforementioned Madlib track, Cassell was introduced to Stones Throw. Being long-time fans of his work, they brokered a deal to issue the Cassell’s entire catalogue including some previously unreleased material.

The limited edition 2xLP gatefold vinyl version contains 17 tracks from the complete 20 track CD and digital edition, including of the entire Pieces album. More info here.

Tracklist:
1. Rendezvous
2. Heaven
3. Ecoutez Moi
4. You
5. Beggin’ To Stay
6. Holiday
7. Another Day Gone
8. One Night
9. In My Life
10. More
11. Fly Away
12. Young Girl
13. Hold Me
14. All I’m Missing You
15. Close To You Tonight
16. When I Go Down
17. Love To Love
18. The Meaning Of It all
19. Blind As Love Can Be
20. Suddenly