Combining Beatles-influenced songcraft with the sort of wit you might expect from a pack of UC Berkeley grads, the Morning Benders are gearing up for a big year. Their debut album is set for a spring release on +1 Records, and the quartet will bring its sunny, West Coast pop to next week’s SXSW festival. Talking to AllMusic while simultaneously cooking curry and listening to the Trojan Rocksteady box set (how’s that for multi-tasking?), frontman Chris Chu sounds excited to take his music on the road. “We travel by van,” he explains. “Our van is named Daryl. You should put it in italics because you have to whisper it as you say it, and I don’t know how else to convey that. Daryl is beautiful, but sort of dangerous. There aren’t many working mirrors. The visibility is low.”

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In recent years, American major labels have been obsessed with best-of single-artist comps, or have dumped theme-related releases by classic or various artists into the bins to coincide with seasonal or greeting holidays. (Thank goodness Valentine’s Day is over for another year.) It takes little to no work to assemble these CDs, and the profit margin is higher. At the same time, well regarded catalog titles are allowed to either languish in the vaults or be licensed exclusively for release overseas. This leaves many true music fans — those that buy music continually and who don’t purchase low-fi MP3s — either to search out precious vinyl copies from online auctioneers and collectors’ web sites or drop equally big bucks to divisions of these companies or independents on retail sites.

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While there are literally dozens of tiny basement labels out there legally reissuing classic titles as well as those that have barely ever been on the radar, compared to Europe and Japan, relatively few of them are in the United States. Porter Records, a one-man operation run by Luke Mosling in Winter Park Florida, is among the latest; it is also one of the most ambitious. Their first three titles all roll out next week on February 19; they are all doozies.

First up is Moonflower (above), a brand new album by the legendary Finnish pianist Heikki Sarmanto and his quartet (pictured above). This brand new offering also features drummer Craig Herndon, bassist Pekka Sarmanto, and saxophonist Juhani Aaltonen as part of the lineup. Heikki is best known to American audiences for his with work with Sonny Rollins and Art Farmer. He’s recorded 25 albums as a leader, including the New Hope Jazz Mass for jazz ensemble, orchestra, soprano and choir (conducted by no less than Gregg Smith, which was performed at the Newport Jazz Festival). His symphonic jazz poem Suoni premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1988. Moonflower is a much more intimate work; it expands on the intense lyricism of Sarmanto’s larger works in a smaller, more soulful setting. This is only the first of the Sarmanto projects Mosling is planning; later in the year will see the first-ever issue of A Boston Date by Sarmanto’s Serious Music Ensemble from 1970, recorded while the pianist was attending the Berklee School of Music. Drummer Herndon — who plays on that set as well, along with Natural Food’s Lance Gunderson on guitar and bassist George Mraz — discovered the tape recently.

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In 2007, Chicago’s independent record store and mail order company Dusty Groove got into the record business in a new way by starting a reissue imprint of their own. Their first seven titles were all classics; some well-known, some all but unheard of except by cratediggers willing to mole their way into grimy secondhand shops, dingy and damp basements, and attend sketchy yard sales to unearth treasure.

From Melvin Jackson’s Funky Skull to Dorothy Ashby’s Rubaiyat; from Jorge Ben’s Força Bruta to the Dells’ Sing Dionne Warwicke’s Greatest Hits; from Chakachas’ Jungle Fever to jazz pianist Pete Jolly’s Seasons and La Clave’s incredible self-titled album, their roster has been nothing if not eclectic and impressive.

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Six Degrees Records, San Francisco’s independent modern world music label, has made a name for themselves over the past 10 years. Their rep is for issuing innovative recordings by musicians and producers from all over the globe, many of whom have unique takes on melding world music traditions with the digital age. Their impressive catalogue includes recordings by Ceu, Cheb i Sabbah, Karsh Kale, Bebel Gilberto, Banco de Gaia, the Real Tuesday Weld, the Bombay Dub Orchestra, Willie Porter, King Britt, DO (Omar Sosa and Greg Landau), DJ Spooky, Steve Tibbetts and Chöying Drolma, and DJ-composer-producer Tom Middleton, one half of Global Communication; Middleton’s autobiographical Lifetracks album is being reviewed — and enjoyed — globally. Here’s a sample from the cut “Serendipity.” The label also released the 2007 Latin Grammy winner for best Flamenco recording, Techarí by Ojos de Brujo. Here’s a sample. They’ve done a number of soundtracks too, including the award-winning Genghis Blues. Six Degrees is a music freak’s label if there ever was one.

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The Verve Music Group is making available some long sought after titles in its new “Originals” series. Packaged in simple digipacks with original artwork, the series is kicking out some titles that have either been long unavailable in the U.S. or, more importantly, are making American debuts on compact disc. The standard list price is $11.98, but a number of retailers are selling them for less — at least initially. Here are four compelling candidates that CD buyers have paid big money for in the past, and in one case, the third one, lies a title that deserves major reconsideration in the present era.

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Wednesday night at Southpaw looks to be a big night for fans of ’80s girl-pop. Closing the night at the Ramo Records showcase are three survivors of a long ago era: the Little Girls, Nikki Corvette, and Holly & the Italians.

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