Back catalogue: All genres

Review: New Order's 'The Perfect Kiss' stands out as their first single to be simultaneously released on a studio album, appearing on 1985's Low-Life. Recorded at Britannia Row Studios in London, the track merges alternative dance with rock influences, reflecting themes of love and mortality. Bernard Sumner himself has admitted he's unsure of its full meaning, though one of its most recognised lines - "pretending not to see his gun / I said, 'Let's go out and have some fun'"- was inspired by a real-life encounter with a gun-owning host in the United States. Created in a sleep-deprived rush just before an Australian tour, the song has since been reinterpreted by artists like Capsule Giants and Amoeba Crunch and remixed by collectives such as Razormaid. Spin magazine's John Leland praised its evocative melody and intensity, particularly the explosive finale where the band cranks every machine to full power.

Review: Four years, a lot of gigs, and a change of lineup are all that have stood between Vyvyd and The Uncanny Extravaganza. New Candys triumphant return after the best part of a half decade is exactly that, unleashing some of the most powerful tracks in their oeuvre after no less than two years spent writing, recording and producing them. Which is ironic, given the raw, unfettered distortion that makes much of what's here so compelling and utterly devastating. It would sound off-the-cuff, it it weren't so complex. The Uncanny Extravaganza is one of those records that makes you genuinely excited about the prospect of seeing a band live again. It's loud - even if you've got the volume down - and its disharmonious, it's soaring and distant yet immediate and up front. It's psyche-infused garage rock with a dusting of raucous shoegaze (if that's possibly a thing), at times nodding to the likes of Ringo Deathstar or Death In Vegas, in other moments Spiritualised. Or maybe that's just us.

Review: Based in the Bay Area, Now are a DIY pop group channelling the offbeat glamour of 80s UK cassette culture and jangly mod experimentalism. This release shows them at their most refined and surreal-channelling The Soft Boys one minute and whispering beat poetry in a velvet dive bar the next. 'The Ballad of Joy Bang' shuffles along like a soundtrack to a B-movie daydream, while 'Pointe Shoes' and 'Join Our Treasure Hunt' pair melodic guitar hooks with cryptic, diaristic lyrics. The duo's knack for brevity sharpens their charm-few tracks break the three-minute mark-but every detail feels fussed over, from the fluttering Mellotron feel of 'Careening' to the lo-fi shuffle of 'Morning Trains Like Mirrors'. With members drawn from Cindy and Thunder Boys, the sound is steeped in Bay Area DIY but looks across the Atlantic for its ghosts. Equal parts sweet and sardonic, this is outsider pop that rewards close listening and soft focus.

Review: Mark Springer - long a restless force in post-punk, free jazz and modern composition - joins Neil Tennant for a cool-headed meeting of minds, fusing Springer's jagged piano suites with Tennant's metrical lyricism and raw delivery. The pair orbit very different creative poles: Springer, known for his time in London punk funksters Rip, Rig and Panic, often works in extremes; whereas Tennant brings a crisped, measured sensibility honed over decades of pop songcraft. Here they land somewhere unexpected, in a padded set of chamber-style pieces for piano, quartet and quintet, wrapped in a dry mist of vocals trading in reflection, dislocation and dream logic.