Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Fela Kuti's Alagbon Close, released in 1974, stands as one of his most powerful Afrobeat statements, criticising police brutality in Nigeria. The title track was inspired by two raids on Fela's home, where police searched for marijuana. After swallowing a planted joint, Fela was detained at Alagbon Close, the headquarters of Nigeria's Criminal Investigation Department, for three days while police waited for evidence. His cellmates, in what became known as the Kalakuta Republic, helped Fela escape prosecution. Fela's lyrics denounce the arrogance of the police, declaring that wearing a uniform doesn't place one above the law. The album also marked the beginning of his collaboration with artist Ghariokwu Lemi, whose iconic cover art became synonymous with Afrobeat. Recorded at the A.R.C. Studios, the album is fueled by tight polyrhythms and fiery organ and horn sections, with Fela's sharp political commentary at the forefront. On Side-2, 'I No Get Eye For Back', offers a more groove-driven, mostly instrumental track, showing the collective talents of Africa 70. Together, these tracks solidify Alagbon Close as a timeless work of rebellion and musical innovation.

Review: LA's Jazz Is Dead series is brilliant and always has been. The aim is to put younger and older jazz artists in the same studio and get them to work on music that tapes into both respective backgrounds, talents and perspectives. Adrian Younge is at the heart of it all and this 17th installment brings together cosmic jazz specialists Lonnie Liston Smith with Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Magic happens across a bunch of stylish new cuts that bring traditional and contemporary sounds together in innovative new ways. This is yet another crucial installment.

Review: German imprint Clear Memory focus on the trusted and true admixture of electro, IDM and every angle of experimental music in between. Six tracks by different local artists appear on this heater, which carries an extra-hard edge with it. In particular, the amusingly titled A-sider 'Lidl Darknet' steals the show with its classic string detunings and patchy drumwork, while increasingly distorted numbers also pique our interest, like 0341 Hills' 'No Sense' or Varum's 'Dusky'.

Review: Reel People Music expands the fizzing dynamic between highly accomplished label associates Opolopo (AKA Peter Major) and Angela Johnson with the release of their brand new album Best of Both Worlds. The nine-track record is an impressive merging of soulful souls, building on the pair's previous 'track-by-track' collaborative approach, and calling on influences from Quincy Jones to The Isley Brothers. From the twizzling decrescendos of Buffalo, which hears the pair summon the bruk maestro Kaidi Tatham on recording and co-prod duties, to the sparkly, sparky whetstone electro-disco track 'The Ones You Love', we really do get the best of both worlds here; we get nine worlds, in fact.

Review: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, known for their remarkable work with Nine Inch Nails and film scores like The Social Network, deliver a techno-charged soundtrack for Luca Guadagnino's tennis-themed love triangle drama Challengers. The score is a pulsating mix of electroclash, synth-pop, and driving techno, expertly weaving traditional instruments with electronic beats. Reznor and Ross take Guadagnino's vision to heart, crafting a soundtrack that not only drives the narrative but also challenges expectations with its bold, rhythmic energy. Tracks like 'Compress/Repress', co-written with Guadagnino and featuring Reznor's vocals, showcase their ability to blend artistic expression with the film's themes of control and power. Overall, this is a excellent soundtrack that works well to support the visual or just listening to it without having seen the movie.

Review: The One by Will Sessions is a masterful blend of late 70s progressive funk, soul and boogie, brought to life with the help of Detroit legend Amp Fiddler and the dynamic vocal trio Dames Brown. The album tells a compelling story of love and its challenges in the heart of Detroit, with each track exuding authenticity and groove. The opening track, 'What It Is,' immediately sets the tone with its infectious rhythm, destined to become a dancefloor staple. Amp Fiddler's gritty vocals shine on 'Lost Without You,' perfectly matched by the growling bass and warm groove. 'Belle Isle Drive' offers a laid-back, Sly Stone-esque vibe, while 'Rendezvous' and 'Reminiscin' pure boogie, designed to get you moving. The expansive 'Seven Mile' brings a spacey, relaxed energy, and 'Who Am I' stands out as a soulful gem, with Dames Brown delivering impeccable harmonies. The album closes with the angular and uptempo 'Reconcile,' rounding off a flawless set. The One is an essential listen for fans of boogie and Roy Ayers, showcasing Will Sessions at their creative peak.

Review: Trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith and pianist and organist Amina Claudine Myers are both esteemed in their fields and this album is when they united for their first recorded collaboration. It is a much-anticipated release amongst fans of their work and their extraordinary convergence highlights the enduring power of artistic connection and the evolution of musical mastery. Set against the backdrop of Central Park's serene mosaic, with its reservoir, lake, paths, and gardens, this album reflects the harmonious blend of their talents and the nature around them so adds up to a transformative musical journey.

Review: At 88, Ebo Taylor, the legendary Ghanaian highlife and Afrobeat pioneer, made his U.S. debut at the Jazz Is Dead concert series, captivating audiences nationwide. This historic visit coincided with the recording of Ebo Taylor JID022, a groundbreaking psychedelic afrobeat album produced with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Younge expressed the significance of this collaboration, likening it to working with Fela Kuti, emphasising the dream of capturing Ebo's essence on analog tape. The album features swirling horns, gritty guitars and polyrhythmic percussion reminiscent of Taylor's seminal 1970s work, alongside spiritually rich backing vocals that evoke a sense of nostalgia. Ebo's heartfelt lyrics, exploring themes of love, peace and spirituality, resonate with nearly a century of wisdom. Tracks like 'Beye Bu, Beye Ba' and 'Kusi Na Sibo' impart life lessons on gratitude and divine provision, solidifying Ebo Taylor JID022 as an essential addition to his storied catalogue and a crown jewel for Jazz Is Dead. This release coincides with his eagerly anticipated tour across the Americas, showcasing the enduring legacy of a true musical icon.

Review: At 88, Ghanaian highlife and afrobeat legend Ebo Taylor made his first-ever journey to the US, performing in the Jazz Is Dead concert series. These shows, which sold out across the country, led to an unexpected and electrifying collaboration between Taylor, Adrian Younge, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. The result is a psychedelic afrobeat album, recorded at Younge's Linear Labs studio, that's bound to thrill fans of both classic West African funk and afrobeat purists. The album channels the raw energy of Ebo's 70s recordings, with swirling horns, fuzzed-out guitars, and the unmistakable polyrhythmic percussion that made Taylor a revolutionary figure in African music. "Collaborating with Ebo Taylor is a bucket-list accomplishment," says Younge, likening the experience to working with another afrobeat pioneer, Fela Kuti. The analog recording style, embracing the gritty textures of 70s Africa, gives this album an authenticity that's impossible to ignore. Tracks like 'Beye Bu, Beye Ba' and 'Kusi Na Sibo' exemplify Taylor's profound lyricism. His reflections on love, spirituality, and gratitude echo his decades-long career, while the ensemble of Ghanaian vocalists adds a spiritual depth that transports listeners back to his prime. Ebo's son, Henry Taylor, also features, proving himself a formidable talent in his own right. This album is not just a nod to the past but a crowning achievement in Taylor's enduring legacy. For connoisseurs of afrobeat, it's a standout moment in both Ebo's catalogue and the growing canon of the Jazz Is Dead series.

Review: There is a wealth of talent on show on the third EP from the Fusion Sequence label which has put together this six-track deep house sizzler. The Variable Club' 'Biorhythms' is perfectly warm and dynamic for cosy backroom moments and Alpine DJ then brings an old school piano feel to 'Pepe Nony' before A Vision Of Panorama zones you out on lush chords and reverential keys on 'Kissing The Sun.' The flipside offers the more dark and heads-down 'Many Stories' while the blissed-out and feel-good grooves return with Common Mode's 'Bassface.' Body Corp shuts down with the slower, seductive sounds of 'Take It Or Leave It' which rounds out a top-class EP.

Review: After making some low-key waves with his Panama 77 LP, Daniel Villarreal is back with a unique document which pulls from the same era and mindset, but offers something very different. When in October 2020 he invited Jeff Parker and Anna Butterss to record in the backyard of Chicly Outpost in LA, it was the first jam the three had experienced post-lockdown. Some results from the session made it onto the last record, but now Villarreal has decided to focus squarely on these poignant sessions and pull out some of the finest material for our listening pleasure, and what a pleasure it surely is. Dusky, scratchy and honest, this is stripped down jamming jazz at its best.

Review: Over the last 12 months, Adrian Younge and A Tribe Called Quest member Ali Shaheed Muhammad have been inviting some legendary musicians to swing by the former's Los Angeles studio to make fresh tracks with vintage equipment. The results are detailed on "Jazz Is Dead", a superb album that combines elements of dusty soundtrack jazz, soul, jazz-funk, Latin jazz and head-nodding live beats influenced by the duo's hip-hop roots. Highlights include the atmospheric, slow-motion warmth of Roy Ayers collaboration "Hey Lover", the floor-rocking fusion heaviness of epic Azymuth hook-up "Apocaliptico", the languid sweetness of 'Down Deep" (featuring Doug Carn) and the samba-soaked sunshine that is Marcos Valle composition "Nao Saia Da Praca".

Review: Since launching the Jazz is Dead series two years ago, Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muuhammad have released eight studio albums - each a collaboration with a different figure from the jazz and soul spectrum - and a compilation of instrumental takes. It makes sense, then, that volume 10 is a remix album, with a variety of producers putting their stamp on cuts from the pair's expansive joint catalogue. As you'd expect, it's packed to the rafters with killer hip-hop, downtempo and broken beat reworks, with highlights including Cut Chemist's head-nodding, cinematic hip-hop take on Gary Bartz hook-up 'Soulsea', Shigeto's contemporary spiritual jazz revision of Brian Jackson co-production 'Nacy Wilson', and DJ Spinna's squelchy, house-not-house rub of Azymouth collaboration 'Rendor Do Samba'. Soulful, jazz-fired perfection.

Review: Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad share the 21st volume in the 'Jazz Is Dead' series, the LA-based "love story" founded by the pair in the fallout of the latter's involvement in A Tribe Called Quest. Jazz Is Dead is a longstanding series committed to unearthing and re-sharing the jazz artists who, after initial releases, found continual success in the continua of hip-hop and pop, especially by way of being sampled by other artists. That said, all the artists featured share new contributions to the series, rather than reissued goldies. A new eight-track record, this is yet another LP, one that multiplicitously celebrates and continues the legacies of the greats: chief among them this time is Ghanaian highlife and afrobeat pioneer Ebo Taylor - whom at 88 years old contributes the jolly synth-sonic rivulet 'Obi Do Woa', a sagacious modernising of his originally 70s and 80s psycho-beat sound - and Antonio Carlos e Jocafi, who updates, in the label's own words, "some of the sweetest samba-soul of the 1970s by way of Salvador, Bahia," Brazil. An all-out arsenal of differential Afrobeats (among other kinds of beat), packaged and presented for the modern listener gripped by an insatiable curiosity for the past.

Review: Jazz Is Dead is a series that welcomes contemporary musicians to revisit jazz storied of old. This collection challenges Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad to utilise vintage equipment to create new master soundscapes, and they really come correct. Roy Ayers, Gary Bartz, Marcos Valle, Azymuth, Doug Carn, Joao Donato, & Brian Jackson are some of the legends who feature and the album is a free flowing delight that touches on soaring and soulful highs as well as bossa-tinged shufflers and plenty in between.

Review: Adrian Younge and A Tribe Called Quest man Ali Shaheed Muhammad's recently released "Jazz Is Dead" album had the feel of a landmark set: a collection of inspired, all-star workouts that combined live, hip-hop style beats with the effervescent musicality of soundtrack jazz, soul, jazz-funk and Latin jazz. This speedy sequel flips the script, stripping back the guest list to a single guest collaborator: jazz-funk and fusion legend Roy Ayers. From start to finish, the set bristles with sweet female group vocals, mazy Vibraphone solos, ultra-warm electric piano, hybrid hip-hop/jazz-funk beats, and Ayers' effortless musical positivity. While nowhere near as eclectic as its predecessor, "Jazz Is 2" is arguably an even more coherent and enjoyable album - and that's saying something.

Review: US ambient maestro zake and vocalist Angela Winter exchanged ideas for a whole year in the course of putting together this, this debut collaboration. It comes as a numbered CD with a download code and is, according to zake, "the perfect orchestration between two individuals at the right moment." We agree as it beautifully navigates a realm between the terrestrial and cosmic with organic drones and ethereal vocals fort and centre. The likes of 'Terminal Sleep' contrasts dynamic drones with introspective moments while 'Advent' offers harmonic pulses and sculpted vocals as Winter's instinctive responses to everyday sounds enrich the album's allure. A perfect soundtrack to quiet introspection, Mid Sky is another gem in a long line of them from this label.