Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Icelandic classical, experimental and soundtrack composer Olafur Arnalds steps away from the loops and Broadchurch OSTs to conjure yet another sublime LNT saga. Carefully balancing between contemporary odysseys ("Jomsvikingarimur"), dense futuristic electronic weaves ("Last Remnants"), fuzzy 22nd century pop ("A Noise") sludgy cosmic funk ("Jasmine") and introspective soul ("Our Love Comes Back"), Olafur blows wave after woozy wave of soft sonic conjurations in a way that's broad, detailed and cleverly considered. Good night.

Review: Given his impeccable downtempo credentials, you'd expect Bonobo's Late Night Tales mix to be one of the finer installments in the series (and that's saying something). Predictably, it is. Sweet, sensual and atmospheric, with plenty of unlikely gems and forgotten classics for the heads to enjoy, it surprises and impresses with each successive track. This vinyl edition features 17 of the tracks unmixed (naturally) and lifts out many highlights. His own cover of Donovan's "Get Thy Bearings" is particularly revelatory - string drenched, hazy, atmospheric and, of course, immaculately produced - but there are many other gems. Check Darondo's classic heart breaker "Didn't I," the smoky reggae-soul of Nina Simone's "Baltimore", and the enveloping intimacy of Shlohmo's "Places". Do seek out Benny Cumberbatch's spoken word turn at the end too! (mp3 download code for the full release included).

Review: Sam Shepherd AKA Floating Points has long been known as a producer, DJ and selector with a staggeringly good record collection. It's for this reason that his edition of "Late Night Tales", a series dedicated to the joys of post-club home listening, has been so eagerly anticipated. The resultant mix is a triumph, with Shepherd showcasing a largely rare and obscure mix of new age ambient, high-grade jazz, sumptuous folk-soul (see Abu Talib's impeccable "Blood Of An American"), psychedelic soul weirdness, intergalactic jazz-funk, Satie-style piano movements and the drowsy, liquid electronics of Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. The set also includes a handful of exclusive tracks, including a wonderful new Floating Points cover of Kenny Wheeler's "The Sweet Time Suite (Part I - Opening)". In a word: essential.

Review: Groove Armada might well be best known for their big beats, and fair enough. Their mastery of a smart sample and a compelling groove paired with catchy vocal hooks made that chart topping superstars who went on to tour the world endlessly before then disappearing and remerging on more underground labels like Hypercolour. But you don't get that good at sampling with being deep digging record fiends. And that is exactly what made them such a perfect fit for the Late Night Tales series which is all about offering up alternative sounds to accompany post-club comedowns. These collections were gateways into new musical worlds for many dance fans and they still stand up today so it's great to have them back in print.

Review: Treading an eclectic path through a twenty year career that's taken in everything from Detroit techno to vintage French ye-ye, from breakbeat-driven floor-fillers to krautrock epiphanies, David Holmes has made his name predominantly as an exemplary crate-digger and aesthete, whether soundtracking Steven Soderbergh movies or dishing our albums of his own. Thus, it comes as no surprise that this compilation - marking something of a personal journey for Holmes - is reflective of his status as an exemplary man of taste. Whether dispensing classics by the likes of David Crosby or Buddy Holly, unreleased original solo material or killer obscurities from everyone from modular synthesis cultist Keith Fullerton Whitman to Hollywood legend Jeff Bridges, this stylish nocturnal travelogue puts the listener resolutely in safe hands.

Review: The Late Night Tales mix series - going strong since way back in 2003 - never ceases to both amaze and please our eardrums when they're in need of a sonic massage. With legendary artists such as Fatboy Slim, Jamiroquai, Groove Armada, MGMT and many others on their roster, you just know it's going to be quality throughout. This time it's up to Domino man Jon Hopkins to give us an outlook onto his own tastes and musical influences. The selection is vast and varied, with everyone from Four Tet to Darkstar and even Peter Broderick featuring within. An incandescent blend of sci-fi electronica, tropical bass nuggets and lighter shades of drone-fuelled house. Quality.

Review: The long running Late Night Tales mix series could have almost been invented for times like these, when the nights are drawing in and we're all being encouraged to stay home. What better way to pass an evening than in the company of one of pop and electronic music's most charismatic bands as they take us on a personal trip through their record collection. Next to tracks from the band themselves. there are retro-future lullabies, jangling synth disco cuts and passages of new age ambience that are all tender and inviting.

Review: The Late Night Tales series is an absolute bastion of late-night parties back at yours after a heavy club session, or maybe even on a Sunday morning to welcome you to a day of being hungover. Everyone who is everyone had made their entry over the years and used the chance to show off a different side to their sound and that is just what cosmic disco funkster Jamiroquai did when he stopped up. Now his fine choices get pressed up to four sides of vinyl for this fine reissue.

Review: Khruangbin might be the most logical and fitting choice for a Late Night Tales compilation in recent memory. The Texan psychedelic chill artists have always had a sense of the exploratory and unknown running through their blissful grooves, and the fundamental idea behind this series was always about opening up doors to new musical discoveries for listeners.

In many ways, the Houston trio have gone above and beyond. Melding a breadth of sounds that have emerged from an equally diverse set of cultures, we visit Hindi-disco, South Korean rock, African bass, Belarusian folk. Capped off with an exclusive version of Kool & The Gang's 'Summer Madness' conceived by the compilers themselves, it's a case of 15 gateway tracks all of which belong to artists and genres that are crying out for you to dive in.

Review: Joe Mount of lovable scuzz pop outfit Metronomy mans the latest volume in the long running Late Night Tales, a series who always seem to get the best results out of an unexpected cast of participants (Belle & Sebastien, MGMT, Trentemoeller and Midlake being recent inductees). It's hard not to get sucked in from the sugar sweet opening of Outkast's "Prototype", which is the first of several tracks that demonstrates Mount has a penchant for slow bumping R&B and outsider hip-hop with Tweet, Sa Ra and a Dr Octagon classic also appearing. A typically far reaching approach to genres applies here with the cosmic jazz of Chic Corea happily mingling with Autechre and Two Lone Swordsmen, and American synth oddities Geneva Jacuzzi and Appaloosa mingling for attention with The Alan Parsons Project and Herman Dune. The de-rigueur cover version arrives with a Metronomy rendition of Jean-Michel Jarre's "Hypnose" while Paul Morley ends the selection with a spoken word piece. This vinyl edition has 18 of the tracks spread separately across two plates as well as the mixed CD and a booklet!

Review: Aussie soul boy and soothing crooner Jordan Rakei is a profile songwriter, producer and vocalist who has put out plenty of great records in recent times. They have made him a firm festival favourite over on these shores and as such he was tapped up back in 2021 to make his entry into the esteemed Late Night Tales series. As per the MO, he takes a deep dive into his record collection to soundtrack a session back at his once the sun has gone down. It's classy and sophisticated from front to back with jazz, soul, folk, deep house and plenty of his own tracks all adding up to something beautifully escapist.

Review: Man like Jordan Rakei has become a modern neo soul pin up. His solo releases - whether under this name or a more house leaning alias Dan Kyo - drip with sensuality. His buttery vocals always well matched with smoochy beats and deep grooves. To get a window into his music collection is mouthwatering indeed, and a Late Night Yales mix seems like the perfect opportunity to do so. As expect there are jazz moments, deeply soulful sounds, a few of his own exclusives and plenty of candle lit, tender, middle of the night moments of pure musical joy.

Review: Given the wide-eyed, largely downtempo nature of their music, it's perhaps a little surprising that it took Late Night Tales this long to ask Royksopp to mix a volume in the long-running after-hours series. Royksopp are, of course, old hands at this kind of thing - they delivered an impressive Back To Mine comp back in 2007 - and use the opportunity to mix-up a typically heady selection of stoner soft rock (Little River Band, FR David), sparse dub-rock (Tuxedomoon), cinematic soundscapes (Johann Johannsen), psychedelia (Prelude), well-worn favourites (Acker Bilk) and folksy Balearica (John Martyn). Fans will be pleased to see a sprinkling of unreleased Royksopp fare, including intensely beautiful opener "Daddy's Groove".