Back catalogue: All genres

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


Some 20 years ago, Japanese producer donned the K.F alias (the initials of his given name, Kiyotaka Fukagawa) and delivered the astonishingly good 'Shining of Life', a sun-soaked Balearic house treat shot through with Japanese nu-jazz musicality, gospel-influenced vocals and expansive, life-affirming piano solos. This EP offers up previously unheard 'Shining of Light Flutemental' takes. Calm's own 'unreleased mix' retains some of the key elements of the 2004 original while adding morning-fresh flute solos and starry sounds seemingly inspired by Detroit techno. The 'Lambros Jahmans Sunset Mix' is a dreamy and immersive interpretation underpinned by an Afro-house style beat, while the 'Space Ritual Dub' is an almost entirely beat-free soundscape. On 'Undub (Space Ritual Dub)', the same producer wraps echoing flute and piano motifs around a tactile, hand percussion-driven rhythm track.

Review: Still riding high from the success of his superb re-make of Manuel Gottsching on Test Pressing ('A Reference to E2-E4'), Alex Kassian returns to Pinchy & Friends - who released his similarly popular 2021 EP 'Leave Your Life' - after a three-year break. Beginning with the lusciously languid, Balearic, effects-laden and sonically layered title track ('Body Singer', where Jonny Nash style guitars and tumbling sax motifs rise above a sparse drum machine beat and shoegaze-esque aural textures), the Berlin-based producer offers up a loved-up mix of weightless ambient bliss (Kinship), kosmiche soundscapes (the sun-flecked 'Skinship'), revivalist Krautrock (the Can-after-several-spliffs headiness of 'Trippy Gas') and immersive, cinematic excusions (the gorgeous 'Mirror of the Heart').

Review: Passing Currents aims to stand out from the predictable by offering a deeply human touch in its music. This five-tracker backs that up by melding academic expertise with dancefloor intuition and the A-side features txted by Phil Moffa remixed by Yamaha DSP coder okpk after they met during doctoral studies, they flip technical mastery into bass-driven energy while Atrevido' fuses California warmth with analogue electro, Josh Dahlberg's rediscovered 2009 electro gem, 'Ass On The Floor', still bangs and Detroit's Kevin Reynolds delivers hypnotic grooves before Hazmat Live pushes boundaries with a sound rooted in soulful, experimental innovation.

Review: Let The Light will be KAMM's final album - and its most poignant - as it is a tribute to late member Alland Byallo, a beloved name in the underground who suddenly passed in 2023. Surviving members Marc Barrite aka Dave Aju, Kenneth Scott and Marc Smith dip into new sounds here, including jazz, psych funk, soul, golden-era hip-hop and textured electronics, and work them all into a heartfelt final statement that does a fine job of honouring Byallo's creative spirit with real emotional depth and warmth. From the serpentine tones of opener through the bossa-infused boom-bap of 'No Deal', the politically charged jazz burner 'Your Honour' and the sleek electro rhythms of 'How Long?', the album traverses plenty of ground. It also features Byallo's artwork and closes with a chorus of loved ones that makes it all the more poignant.

Review: Christian Kleine returns in tip-top form to unearthing more pristine gems from his personal DAT archive for a second volume of Electronic Music From The Lost World. This one continues the journey of his effortless fusion of melodic warmth, intricate rhythms and punk influences while celebrating the lesser known edges of electronica. As always he carefully unearths previously unreleased experiments from his Berlin days where minimalist living fuelled maximal creativity. The album's visuals are rooted in Midori Hirano's Berlin photography and add an extra dimension to the cinematic unbroken beats and mournful rhythmic laments.

Review: For the first time, experimental saxophonist and composer Jimi Tenor finds Norweigan dance powerhouse DJ Sotofett, both teaming up for a collaboration: 'No Warranty Dubs'. Completing the trifecta is Berlin ensemble Kabukabu, the five-piece Afro-jazz-funkers whose original recordings - many of which were overseen expertly by Tenor himself - now come redistilled through a dubwise filter paper. The loose-limbed, lackadaisical energy of Kabukabu's live instrumentation merge fully with Tenor's genre-blurring composites, as Sotofett recasts fifteen tracks into rhythm-driven, bass-heavy versions. The original free jazz and Afro-influenced elements remain present, but they here serve as rawer material for layered studio treatments, channelling echo-drenched edit work and hypnotic repetition, where nothing ever rests to the point of complacency.