Back catalogue: All genres

Review: This marks a first ever reissue of this cult-status punk-funk, no wave electro post-punk fusion 45 from 1979. It's by post-Wayne County Electric Chairs and has been produced by David Cunningam and now expanded to 12". The first tune 'So Many Ways' has Val Haller on lead vocals and sounded at the time very different from anything else the band had done. A hypnotic, sure charged groove that still sounds years ahead of its time. 'J'attends Les Marines' is a rework of 'Waiting For The Marines' from the Things Your Mother album but with some added dub and experimental flourishes. Two versions of 'So Many Ways' then close out this fine curio.

Review: This special green slab of wax brings together two Emerson, Lake & Palmer tracks, one of them with a fresh twist from a legendary US record store. The classic ballad 'From the Beginning' is rich in warm acoustic guitar and Greg Lake's evocative vocals so it stands as one of the band's most beloved and accessible moments. On the flip, 'When the Apple Blossoms Bloom...' receives a bold Dope Jams Kaatskill Mountain take, which flips it into a sprawling, psychedelic-drenched remix that infuses the instrumental with hypnotic grooves and experimental textures. With both cuts on one 12", this one is both a nod to prog rock's legacy and a bridge to new sonic frontiers.

Review: The Ex's 45th anniversary is this year and this new 7" 'Great!' helps celebrate it. This record shows their continued defiance and creative evolution. This Dutch band remains as adventurous and challenging as ever. Both tracks, pulled from their current live set, are brimming with energyiurgent, willful, and joyfully obstinate. 'Great!' pulses with raw punk intensity, while 'The Evidence' is a gritty, adventurous exploration of rhythm and melody. Refusing to be nostalgic, The Ex pushes forward, blending genres like jazz, noise and world music with their anarcho-punk roots. It's a thrilling reminder of their enduring vitality.

Review: Originally scored in 1968 by a loose circle of New York garage-psych acts, this reissued soundtrack finally lifts the veil on one of the strangest period films of the late 60s. The E-Types lead the charge with no fewer than four versions of 'Put The Clock Back On The Wall', ranging from a bright, full-band cut to a warped instrumental and stereo acapella. The Bit' A Sweet contribute the hazy, lurching 'Is It On, Is It Off?'ia woozy gem full of phased guitar and tape wobbleiwhile 'LSD Got A Hold On Me' by Thee Neons dials up the paranoia with raw, fuzzed-out intensity. The Vagrants offer a tight, harmony-laced soul ballad in 'I Love, Love You (Yes I Do)', adding contrast to the acid-drenched proceedings. While the film itself, shot entirely in greyscale, veered closer to surreal documentary than narrative cinema, the music functions as a mood-setting anchor throughoutiequal parts camp, dread, and weird sunshine optimism. This marks the first official pressing of these tracks and serves as both a time capsule of New York's outsider rock fringe and a highly playable psyche compilation in its own right.

Review: You could definitely be forgiven for thinking Elusive Mojo was a much older piece of work, which isn't to say it sounds dated or out of place today; more highlighting the timelessness of high octane heavy metal, its fall out of the limelight but persistence to continue doing what it does very well indeed. Forget the washed up old guard refusing to put a pin in ideas that have repeated themselves for decades, Ecstatic Vision represent the vanguard of a sound we hold dear to our hearts, but don't encounter at its freshest often enough.

Taking a lead from the psychedelic-leaning early metal outfits like Hawkwind and Aphrodite's Child, simply put Ecstatic Vision growl and wail in all the right places, unleashing track after track of juggernaut energy, insane riffs and solos, and industrial power. Steaming ahead of the rest, this latest offering is the kind of record that threatens not just to blow through your hair like a mighty wind, but rip each strand off at the follicle.

Review: There's a juxtaposition of gravel and soaring, almost-gliding quality to the epic guitar work that welcomes you into Eden Gardens. It's as though the refrains and chords are so expansive they envelop everything from ground level to stratosphere. The work of Papir and Cause Sui members Martin Rude and Jakob Skott, the result is both technically impressive and spiritually beneficial. Post-rock that makes you feel genuinely freer than before pressing play.

As grand as it sounds, there's also something very real happening here. For some, this kind of stuff may come across overblown and inflated, but then there's no pomp and pageantry present. And by that we mean the parts that exist are well balanced and you can understand why they are there without necessarily knowing. Everything feels right, and in the correct place, which is probably the best recommendation we can give.

Review: Drissi El-Abbass's Rai Sidi Bel Abbes - Volume 2 is a superb eight-track compilation that tells the evolutionary story of Rai music from the late 1970s to the 1990s. Released by Nashazphone on four sides of wax, it highlights El-Abbassi's soft vocals and innovative fusion of traditional Algerian music with electronic elements which came after he started his career with Les Aigles Noirs and later collaborated with guitarist Ahmed Zergui. El-Abbassi embraced synthesisers and drum machines to shape a modern Rai sound that has stood the test of time and tracks like 'Maak Probleme' and 'Datli Laakal' blend nostalgic melodies with bold production to offer a vivid portrait of Rai's creative transformation.

Review: Madrid-based collective Danzon El Gato channel the city's restless creative energy into a vivid fusion of jazz, funk and roots music. Formed within Madrid's experimental scene, the group revolves around Javier Adan and Santiago Rapallo, longtime collaborators whose past projects range from jazz fusion to avant-garde film scores. This latest release sees them sculpt a kaleidoscopic sound, pulling from North African, Latin American and Mediterranean traditions while staying locked into the groove with a rhythm section indebted to 70s library music and golden-era hip-hop. Across the record, they explore an array of moods and textures. 'Ronda' pairs intricate guitar lines with a propulsive swing, while 'La lucha'ifeaturing Marina y su Melaoileans into percussive Latin jazz. 'Twangy Morocco' lives up to its name, weaving surf-rock guitar into an East-meets-West instrumental, whereas 'Chapoteo' ripples with aquatic, freeform interplay. 'Amambay' and 'Fuimos invencibles' showcase their knack for evocative storytelling through sound, shifting effortlessly between cinematic tension and unbridled release. Danzon El Gato craft music that reflects Madrid itselfidense with influences, rich in movement and ambiguousiin the best way. Their sound captures a city in flux, where past and present collide to create something unmistakably fresh.

Review: Viaje Sideral is a cosmic journey led by El Leon Pardo and his ancestral instrument, the kuisi, which is a pre-Colombian flute that traditionally symbolises resistance and survival. This second album from Pardo explores humanity's connection with the stars by blending Caribbean percussion, analogue synths, deep bass, electric guitars and the distinctive sounds of kuisis and trumpets. The tunes channel the tropical psychedelia of the 70s and 80s while incorporating ambient and electronic influences from artists like Terry Riley and Kraftwerk. Viaje Sideral is a great mix of dreamlike astral sounds with tropical rhythms that mean both the earthly and the cosmic are explored.

Review: If you don't know (well, even if you do know it is still true), Californian multi-instrumentalist Brian Ellis is Egyptian Lover's keyboard player, and is also a member of Campus Christi with Peanut Butter Wolf. He steps out alone here with a new and outlier funk album that shows off his idiosyncratic style. It is a raw and dense sound that mixes up bold funk and gritty psychedelic soul while embracing the darker edges of both styles. Along the way, Ellis explores themes of truth, authenticity and the pitfalls of wealth while reflecting on the cost of giving away one's heart. Tracks like 'The Real Deal' and 'Money Drives Me Crazy 'capture these ideas with unfiltered emotion.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


If you don't know (well, even if you do know it is still true), Californian multi-instrumentalist Brian Ellis is Egyptian Lover's keyboard player, and is also a member of Campus Christi with Peanut Butter Wolf. He steps out alone here with a new and outlier funk album that shows off his idiosyncratic style. It is a raw and dense sound that mixes up bold funk and gritty psychedelic soul while embracing the darker edges of both styles. Along the way, Ellis explores themes of truth, authenticity and the pitfalls of wealth while reflecting on the cost of giving away one's heart. Tracks like 'The Real Deal' and 'Money Drives Me Crazy 'capture these ideas with unfiltered emotion.

Review: California multi-instrumentalist, Egyptian Lover's keyboard player and experimental producer Brian Ellis follows up his Quarantine Tapes with his first full-length solo album in four years. Unfortunately, we'll never have a lifetime supply of Brian's music, although that's forgivable since recorded music media also incorporates the genius invention that is playback, which means even one purchase can last for a lifetime as long as you keep your record in good nick! This one is a swirling bomb of bombast funk and dodgy-output psychedelic soul, one that is unafraid of the murkier ends of each sound. Ellis muses on the nature of truth, authenticity, dirty money and the consequence of leasing one's heart out, as on 'The Real Deal' and 'Money Drives Me Crazy'.

Review: Japanese post-hardcore auteurs Envy return with their highly anticipated follow up to 2020's The Fallen Crimson. Marking their eighth full-length LP, Eunoia proves testament to the sextet's enduring legacy with its dexterous marrying of cathartic screamo and post-rock serenity. Throat-shredding howls are subdued under mercurial waves of ethereal crescendos, pulling from cavernous quiet to utter bombast, whilst melodious intricacies weave a hypnotic tapestry of aquatic, abyssal despair. Boasting a tenure spanning multiple decades, the collective's latest endeavour serves as yet another accomplishment that consistently places them in their own lane, admired from afar by the countless acts they continue to influence yet simultaneously eclipse.

Review: A third album of wonderfully intimate, idiosyncratic songwriting from multi-instrumentalist Stephen Gilchrist - formerly the Stuffy in the much loved Stuffy & The Fuses - in his Stephen EvEns guise. The name may be singular, but from the choir of voices singing the opening tune 'A Song For Europe' to the child's voice at the end of seafaring epic 'Hello Salty Salty', this is very much a community effort and feels like it, with Stephen's core collaborators Jimi Scandal (guitar) and Crompton Whesp (drums) joined by guests like former Curve/Echobelly bassist Debbie Smith, longtime Cardiacs keyboard player William D Drake and Hurtling/My Bloody Valentine guitarist and keyboard player Jen Macro. The mood palate is on just as grand a scale as the personnel list, from the Nick Drake-style acoustic guitar/strings interplay of 'Firefly' to the beefy hip-hop backbeat of 'BBQ Head & 7 Bells', a two part track, the first half dedicated to the joys of cooking in the garden, the second about paranoia and the threat of violence. Elements of psychedelia, some gorgeous analogue synth tones, a penchant for a quirky time signature and/or arrangement all add to what's already a very tasty concoction that anyone with an ear for a tenacious earworm or two will love.

Review: Originating in 1979 from the squatting movements of Amsterdam and Wormer, The Ex are one of the most dynamic, experimental and longest serving punk acts of the original Dutch scene, known for their anarcho-punk ethos, seamlessly blending elements of noise-rock, jazz, noise, no wave, free improv and traditionalist folk stretching from Hungary to Turkey, Ethiopia, Congo, and Eritrea. With over 20 full-length LPs to their succinct moniker thus far, If Your Mirror Breaks is the first album from the collective since 2018's 27 Passports, continuing their fearless sonic expansion with a ten-part series of surrealist daydreams, calls to action, ominous warnings and bursts of vitality tapped into the pulse of time.

Review: Another year, another vital repress of Scotland's greatest punk export The Exploited's adored yet overlooked fourth full-length Horror Epics. Originally released in 1985 and arriving two years after the career high-point that was Let's Start A War... (Said Maggie One Day), fan appreciation for the project has only ballooned in the decades since, with a myriad of 7" singles and compilations often boasting at least one of the album's essential cuts such as 'No More Idols' or 'Treat You Like Shit'. For both seasoned heads and newcomers alike, who aren't bothered by the piecemeal approach, take advantage of Radiation Records' tireless efforts to constantly keep such punk classics in circulation in their intended form.

Review: Since signing The Exploited in 2021, iconic metal/punk label Nuclear Blast have gone to lengths to reissue the three latest albums from the legendary Edinburgh oi-punks, who by the arrival of 1987's Death Before Dishonour, had moved towards an even more aggressive form of crossover thrash hardcore. This direction would continue to be pursued throughout their 90s output, with The Massacre in 1990, Beat The Bastards in 1996 and most recently (although 21 years and counting currently) 2003's vicious statement of latter-day intent Fuck The System. Coming seven years after its predecessor as well as marking the band's seventh overall full-length, it's the only album to date to feature guitarist Robbie Davidson and bassist Mikie Jacobs, while the project and its subsequent tour cycle would be marred in controversy due to the band being refused entry into Montreal, Canada in October 2003. This led to the cancellation of the show and a full scale riot of 500 fans smashing windows and destroying cars, ultimately leading to their Mexico City date also being cancelled for safety reasons. Is it really shocking to imagine that's how The Exploited's fans would react when they felt that burned? Juno don't condone, we're just not that surprised.

Review: With the arrival of 1987's Death Before Dishonour, Edinburgh punk legends The Exploited began to distance themselves from their pre-established oi/street punk demeanour, and move towards a far heavier, speed metal-inflected crossover thrash style of hardcore punk; a direction they would continue to pursue throughout the 90s. Following a six-year gap after 1990's The Massacre, 1996 would see the group return with easily the best LP from their latter-day output, Beat The Bastards. Packed to the brim with seething, feral bangers such as 'Law Tor The Rich', 'System Fucked Up', and 'Massacre Of Innocents', this new splattered vinyl double LP pressing comes courtesy of the wonderful folks over at Nuclear Blast who've worked to beautifully restore and reissue the band's heaviest final three albums ever since signing them back in 2021.

Review: Sludge-inflected noise-rock trio Eye Flys may have whittled themselves down following the departure of second guitarist/founding member Spencer Hazzard (Full Of Hell), but that seemingly hasn't diluted their sonic hubris by one single iota. Following on from their 2020 debut full-length Tub Of Lard and 2021's Exigent Circumstance EP, this self-titled sophomore effort continues their pummelling examination of a broken world and systemic prejudices through grinding, buzzsaw riffs and barrages of fuzzed out grooves that echo the likes of Melvins only if fed through a rusted woodchipper. Ugly music for ugly times.