Back catalogue:

Review: Vince Clarke and Andy Bell won plenty of praise for their 19th album as Erasure, last year's Neon, with critics praising the analogue-rich, retro-futurist nature of its synth-pop sound. The tracks on this five-track EP, which was mostly recorded during the same period, mine the same pool of vintage synth sounds, some of which are reminiscent not of the pair's early joint works in the 1980s, but Clarke's earlier spell as one of the founder members of Depeche Mode. 'Time (Hearts Full of Love)' and 'Same Game' are both melancholic, stirring and addictive in equal measures, while the bleeping 'Leaving' is pleasingly dreamy. Those seeking more up-tempo, club-ready sounds should head for 'Secrets', a throbbing slab of turn-of-the-80s dance-pop which boasts numerous nods to Giorgio Moroder and Bobby Orlando.

Review: Emotional Rescue returns to early 1980s Manchester with the previously unreleased music of Michael James Pollard and his beautiful distillation of indie pop in Too Confusing and bedsit cover version of Ashford and Simpson's Surrender.

While studying photography at Manchester Polytechnic, (MJ) Pollard lived and played in a band in a ramshackle house in Walley Range. In the cellar studio he would write and record his own songs using their guitars, fretless bass and keys, as well as his own Casio VL-Tone VL-1 and Simmons Clap Trap to augment his drums onto a 4 track TEAC.

By 1983, and now solo, he was recording out of Dislocation Dance's studio (ERC111), had secured a Peel Session and via Factory Records' Lindsay Reade, was discussing with Fundacao Atlantica about releasing an album.

Working with singer Sioux Goddard as a duo, they put down 8 songs in 2 weeks in summer '84. However, Fundacao Atlantica's financial difficulties and soon closure meant the songs were lost until now.

Recovered off the original tapes and lovingly restored, Too Confusing captures the optimism of the sessions, a summer love melody of forlorn youth. Surrender accompanies, recorded back in that cellar in '81, with friend Stephanie Danziger on vocals, its lo-fi simplicity is a perfect take on an all-time classic, making this a newly prized gem of British indie pop history.

Review: While working on The Age of Pleasure, her first album for five years, Janelle Monae frequently played rough cuts of the tracks at parties, choosing to dispense with any that didn't rock the dancefloor. As a result, the album is tons of fun from start to finish, with Monae's lyrics exploring "all the things that give me pleasure" atop music that giddily blurs boundaries in pursuit of genuine good times. 'Float', featuring mighty horns from Afrobeat combo Seun Kuti and Egypt 80, sets the tone, blurring the boundaries between hip-hop, reggae and modern soul, while 'Lipstick Lover' delivers another low-lung reggae/r&b fusion from the top drawer. Throw in guest spots from Grace Jones, Sister Nancy, CK, Amarea and Nia Long, and you have a vibrant and entertaining set that won't leave your headphones all summer long.

Review: Rita Ora recently described her hotly anticipated third album, You & I, as "like my diary of the last few years". Masterminded in collaboration with executive producer Oak Felder and featuring Ora as a credited co-writer throughout, the album has been trailed as loosely chronological musical wander through the highs and lows of relationships and falling in love. Ora is in fine form throughout, singing confidently (and sometimes passionately) atop backing tracks that offer a 21st century synth-pop take on dance music culture - as has been the fashion for a number of years. It also contains a genuine club anthem in the shape of 'Praising You', an inventive, hands-aloft, festival-friendly banger that makes extensive use of Fatboy Slim big beat classic 'Praise You' (for which he gets a 'featured' credit).