Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Granada's Cosmic Tribe know the definition of "electro" in its broadest sense; their new Xtrictly Electro comp keeps the dystopian sound endemic to the genre's most present incarnation, but refuses to restrict itself to one tempo: the standard 130-ish that has sadly infected the otherwise genius genre as a necessity. An international splinter cell of spec-ops and mercenaries are recalled from retirement here, as we hear Calagad 13, Nachtwald, EC13 and many more mechanoid ilk lay down all manner of slick utilities, making up a morbid multi-tool. 5zyl brings further lasery Lithuanian steeze on 'Vilnius Bass', whilst Spectrums Data Forces betrays the existence of a sinister corporate entity, whose business model works towards the object of instilling 'Darkness In My Head' through giant, killer mozzy basses.

Review: This four-tracker from newcomer Nackley has been described by Bordello a Parigi, the label releasing it, as a "bold debut declaration from a rising talent". It's certainly a strong first offering, with opener 'Return of the Gecko' delivering a sparkling, life-affirming blend of thrusting, throbbing Italo-disco bass, drum machine beats, excitable acid motifs and picturesque melodies. Nackley dusts down his TB-303 once more on the all-action, mind-mangling throb of 'Sublime Desolation' - a track that manages to sound both brooding and over-excited - before reaching for breakbeats, memorable piano riffs and spacey electronics on 'Been a Long Time'. To draw down the curtain on a rock-solid EP, Athara and Child Of lend a hand on cheery revivalist Italo-disco/synth-pop jam 'Heartbreaker'.

Review: Urgent electro from adept producer and DJ Munir Nadir. His third outing for a new favourite label, the Italian outfit Odd One Tape, this sawtooth croaker is an especially squelchy dance record, drawing on tail ends of minimal techno and noughts electro house, and with perhaps a tad of skweee thrown in too. 'Give Me A Second' and 'Paratoxical' use conspicuous reverb tails and flex-gurgled vocals to spoken and spelt-out effect, while the B-side's 'Sniper' is as wilfully minimal and baleful as it gets, working in a monster of a ghostly vocal underbeat. Finally, 'Flying Ladder' rounds off on a matchingly minimal euphorizer in the 4x4 vein.

Review: Silias Records welcomes Marko Nastic, a venerated DJ and producer from Serbia who could rightly claim to be one of his country's biggest underground electronic music exports. He brings peak time renegers here with tracks rooted in techno and tech such as 'Sour Pie' with its mechanical drum loops and rickety rhythms run through with blasts of electricity. 'Circuits' is smoother, deeper, more rounded in design and jazzy in melody. 'Que Rico Enrigo' is packed with well-designed sounds and a hint of Latin flair in the vocal sample and 'Clockworksx' shuts down with a thudding, persuasive and chunky tech sound with clattering percussion adding some texture.

Review: Rotterdam's Clinical Records bridges eras with a vital new vinyl EP pairing a revered 1992 deep house classic with forward-facing material from a modern legend. Side A on this restitutive record resurrects Vil-N-X's 'De' Jah Voo', its punchy new 'Vil-N-X Mix' redelivering raw 90s sass via urgent hip-rap vocals. The 'Rendezvous Mix' leans into a more meditative space, its lush flutes and deeper harmonisations fostering a mood-drenching for the ages. Flip the record for two standout new tracks from The Nathaniel X Project: 'I Know Me' is all glowing pads agog, while 'Kwantum Leap' pedals harder through hypnotic but driven rhythmic concourses.

Review: Two Balearic musicians with no relation beyond chemistry, Kiko Navarro and Pere Navarro debut as a duo with three tracks that stitch together house and jazz with an intuitive ease. Kiko's Mallorca-honed sense of deep, groove-led house is given new colour by Pere's nimble trumpet work, rooted in his training and practice across Ibiza's jazz and club scenes. 'Byrd's Groove' opens with dusty swing, its crisp drum programming softened by Pere's sunny phrasing and melodic asides. 'Keepn On Loving Me' is the standout, built on a chunky low-end and looped vocal that moves like classic New Jersey house, with trumpet lines that smoulder and lift. 'Blown Flow' closes on a dubbier, more headsy tip i less peak-time, more sunrise session i giving a stylish finish to an impressively coherent first outing.

Review: Are NewDad your favourite contemporary Irish rock band? If the answer is no, w want to understand why. 12 months or so ago they blessed us with the woozy, late-afternoon-in-the-park-cum-6AM-walk-home jangle of Waves, a stunning EP that cemented their status as one of the few truly authentic sounding indie outfits we have right now. So good it's still on the office playlist, Safe follows that up with another spellbinder. This time there's definitely more gnash and snarl, discordance and strained noises that should sound harsh but have been so beautifully used they only make the whole thing sound more joyful to weirdos. Or at least that's opener 'Entertainer'. The title track lets no side down, keeping that whirlwind of cacophony vibe, while 'Puzzle' and 'Be Kind' double down on melodies without lightening the mood. It's perfect.

Review: Kohei Matsunaga has spent over three decades dismantling and reconstructing the boundaries of experimental music. Born in Osaka and originally trained in architecture, his approach to sound is methodical yet unpredictable, reflecting a fascination with structure and abstraction. Across releases for labels like Raster Noton, PAN, and Skam, his work oscillates between dense rhythmic frameworks and fleeting bursts of sonic chaos, shaped through collaborations with the likes of Mika Vainio, Sean Booth, and Merzbow. His latest release continues this restless exploration. 'Filled With Vacuum' sets the tone with jagged percussive sequences and warped atmospherics, while 'Ancient Behave' layers hypnotic pulses with eerie tonal shifts. On the flip, 'Same Point Different Coordinate' pushes further into spatial disorientation, before 'Formulated Rhythm 4s' closes with a fractured yet intricate groove. It's another entry in Matsunaga's ever-expanding sonic architectureiprecise, disorienting and entirely his own.

Review: Owen Ni invites us on a sonic exploration with this ten-track release, a journey through the realms of ambient electronica and deep listening techno music. 'Beyond Flyhigh' sets the tone, its expansive soundscapes and hypnotic rhythms drawing the listener into a world of introspection and wonder. The Raytek remix injects a pulsating energy, transforming the original into a dancefloor-ready odyssey. Elsewhere, tracks like 'Mover' and 'Arqs2600' delve deeper into hypnotic textures and intricate sound design, creating a sonic experience that's both arrestting and thought-provoking. 'We Are Here' and 'S7lverbox' offer moments of quiet contemplation, their delicate melodies and atmospheric soundscapes inviting a sense of peace and reflection. The release closes with 'Epilog', a fitting conclusion to this immersive journey through sound and emotion, leaving the listener with a lingering sense of wonder and possibility.

Review: Nicole and Troy's latest collaboration sharpens their vision for Cath Records, the Berlin-based label they launched as a home for boundary-pushing techno. Their stripped-back but potent style thrives on precision, drawing from deep club lineage while keeping an eye on the future. 'Out Of Control' is a lean, tunnelling workout, its tension amplified by Z@p, the Uruguayan producer whose percussive, swing-heavy take on techno has earned him a cult following. His remix reshapes the track with a ghostly, skipping momentum. 'Woo Woo' flexes a rubbery, low-end groove, built for peak-time propulsion, while 'Fractals' twists through warped, off-kilter sequencing. A sharp, high-pressure release that reinforces the duo's deft touch.

Review: Night Owls return with a second wave of 7"s, delivering a fresh take on two classics by Aaron Neville under the featherlight sway of infamous record producer Allen Touissant. Reimagining 'Hercules' alongside 'Tell It Like It Is', the duo once again poke at the seams of the cine-funk sound, enlisting powerhouse collaborators - Alex Desert & The Lions, and vocalist Asdru Sierra - on both sides of this blistering 45. The B especially brims with a busty bonhomie on 'Tell It Like It Is', rewiring the OG song's current flows to a throughput of smooth reggae and cumbia.

Review: Nightlife Unlimited was a Canadian disco project active from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, spearheaded by key members Tony Bentivegna and Johnny D'Orazio; their curious sound blent lo-fi and hi-fi, carefully construed for maximal-minimal dance floor confounding. 'Peaches & Prunes' first surfaced as a B-side on the Uniwave 'Just Be Yourself' release in 1980, and it would seem that licensing loopholes lay behind its continued bootlegging and reissuing over the years, not to mention its auspiciously magic sequencing and sound design - DJs have snaffled it up over the years for its prophesied 4x4 mixability, achieved far before "quantisation" was even thought a thing. Ron Hardy lays down a tribute, evidencing his awareness of the record's lo-fi vocal charm, though boxing and springing out the mix to lend the record a further reaching, lowly textured agape.

Review: After a long a post-COVID quest to repurpose his music as a vessel for healing, Richard Norris (The Grid, Beyond The Wizards Sleeve) tops up the fourth edition of his oracular, thinking-man's-dub Oracle Sound series. Volume 4 describes its the nine dub versions as "outernational, widescreen versions", and if by widescreen Norris means the stereo field, then this is realised with abundant clarity on the outset that is 'Connected Dub', on which ample effects riffle across a club-readied plod, as a knowing gravel-voice suggests a paternal spirit guide keeping watch over the reels. 'Earthsea Dub' continues, nodding to Ursula Le Guin's fictive planet through sloshing water FX and ticklish 808s, while the three closing 'Ceefax' bits take teletext retro-nostalgia headspaces to the extreme. Jon Carter's Guest Mix is a special closing freakout, one that could convey itself well even over copper wire, never mind the now ubiquitous fibre-optic.

Review: Richard Norris loves a series. The former Grid man and noted psychedelic music afficionado has umpteen on the go at present, including ones dedicated to meditative ambient sounds ('Music For Healing') and modular experiments ('Abstractions'). Then there's his dub-wise and 'outernational' music series, Oracle Sound, which here reaches its fourth - and possibly strongest - instalment. Highlights are plentiful, from the languid and woozy head-nod of opener 'Connected Dub' and the intoxicating, flute-sporting musical mystery of 'Earthsea Dub', to the up-beat dancefloor dub of 'Maximum Dub', and the sub-heavy, near dub techno pulse of John Carter hook-up 'Ceefax'. That one also comes accompanied by alternative takes by both Norris and Carter.

Review: Back here by popular demand, Les Disques Bongo Joe presents a fresh 7" release from Amsterdam's Nusantara Beat featuring, for the first time on wax, the infectious digital single 'Mang Becak' alongside a brand new and unreleased track. Marking their third collaboration with the label, the band reimagines two treasures of Indonesian music and merges their traditional rhythms with a modern edge that masterfully bridges the past and present. 'Sifat Manusa' has Indonesian vocals bringing sunny disposition and real soul over funky and jazzy drums. 'Mang Becak' is a funky groove with plenty of guitars that range from psyched out to more playful.

Review: We assume that Nuts World Tour is a new label that will serve up sonic homage to each of the cities it names its EPs after. First up is the Big Apple with four cuts all named after four of the city's main boroughs. 'MNHTTN' is first, so it taps into myriad samples from the likes of Mobb Deep, Biggie Smalls, ODB and Aaliyah. They are all dropped over a leggy, rolling deep house groove with a wiggling baseline that its sure to be hugely effective and crowd pleasing. 'STTN ISLND' is more blissed out deep house and is again packed with hip-hop samples, which prove great fun decoding. 'BRX' is soulful, simple, seductive and 'QNS' gets a little more raw with a drilling bassline. 'BRKLN' shuts down with a final variation on the theme.

Review: Spiritmuse Records presents Journey to Nabta Playa, the dialogic result of Angel Bat Dawid and multidisciplinary artist Naima Nefertari, as they team up to honour the ancient Nubian astrological site of the same name. An ancient Neolithic site in Egypt's Nubian Desert predating Stonehenge, Nabta Playa incorporates a stone circle whose lithic configuration aligns with celestial events. Fittingly, then, this clash-of-titans record astrologises celestial electronics and divines ancestral predestinations, sewing a starry sonic tapestry - in Bat Dawid's terms "this is not just an album, it's a constellation". Picking up where Don and David Ornette Cherry left off with 'Bishmillah', and carrying out such further original, summative sonic burial and resurrection rites such as 'Black Stones Of Sirius' and 'Procession Of The Equinox', we hear a dance of featuring flute, clarinet, and vibraphone, and enraptured voice.

Review: Germany's Die Haut are like the forefathers of a sound that's now sometimes referred to as Crank Wave - this rough n' ready rehearsal room, or dimly-lit basement sound with noisy guitars and goth singing. What's clear, though, despite more than 40 having passed by since this was first released (1983), few capture that murky, jagged aesthetic better than Die Haut. And if you were to have someone mumble-sing over your noise then who better than Nick Cave? Nick Cave was at the end of his time in Birthday Party at this time he briefly joined them, so, as a young man, his pipes are relatively higher than the bellowing baritone we know him to be today. In terms of kindred spirits, you can imagine Lias Saoudi of Fat White Family being firmly into this. This is a top-tier reissue.

Review: New York artist Aaron Landsman and former Swans guitarist Norman Westberg kept vigilant watch with Night Keeper, a full nocturne named after Landsman's play of the same name. First performed in Spring 2023 at The Chocolate Factory Theater in Queens, with performer Jehan O. Young serving as narrative steward, the original piece filled the space with spoken word, projections, choreography, and music, moving between dim light and darkness. Now the recorded version posterises the performance, as Westberg's original texture-scapes come raggedly coiled around sombre loops and samples, as Young's laryngeal monologues course across the record's rough 44 minutes worth of gloaming. Inspired by sleepless nights and the wandering of the mind, Night Keeper lifts the lid on the wee small hours as would a well camouflaged nightjar, inviting listeners to embrace the subdued chaos of the dark.

Review: A second joining of forces from two celebrated Chicago acts, blending deep, organic rhythms with a minimalistic electronic pulse. With the novel but logical addition of Jason Stein on bass clarinet, the collaboration stretches even further, pulling together the spiritual fluidity of Natural Information Society and the electronic minimalism of Bitchin Bajas. The first single, 'Clock no Clock,' is a deep dive into hypnotic rhythms, with guimbri grooves intertwining seamlessly with electronic bursts, flutes and organs. The other three tracks are equally compelling, the music unfolding like a living organism, constantly shifting but always grounded. Expansive, intricately woven sonic delights.

Review: Nazar, the nom-de-guerre of an anonymous Manchester-based producer, presents their sophomore album Demilitarize, following his acclaimed 2020 debut Guerrilla, released amid the pandemic. Nazar's first album securely firmed the artist's name within and beyond the Hyperdub diaspora, thanks to its unique melding of Angolan kuduro music with rough textures, field recordings, and media clips, retelling the story of his family's exile from the Angolan Civil War. Nazar is the son of Jonas Savimbi, a former general of the Angolan independence movement; after Angola's emancipation from Portuguese colonial rule, Nazar relocated to suburban Brussels. More recently, he fell seriously ill with tuberculosis contracted in Angola; battling mortality, the new album reflects a mix of introspection and blossoming love, which contrasts the warring rawness of his debut. Demilitarize is dreamier, with Nazar's submerged, mantra-like vocals at the forefront, evoking artists far-removed from the crumby, unedifyingly rough kuduro that characterised his first EP 'Enclave'. Nazar explains, "I wanted to create something almost metaphysical, inspired by the cyberpunk anime Ghost In The Shell." The sound is delicate, with relatively sculpted rhythms enveloping his own recorded voice throughout.

Review: This reissue of Janitor of Lunacy recaptures Nico in a stark, spellbinding 1983 live performance at Manchester's Library Theatre during a period when she called the city home. Spread across 20 tracks on double vinyl, the album distils her haunting presence and singular voice into raw, intimate recordings that draw from four of her solo records as well as Velvet Underground classics like 'Femme Fatale' and 'All Tomorrow's Parties.' The set also includes a brooding take on Bowie's 'Heroes' which is, like the rest of the pieces, minimalist and emotionally charged. This was Nico stripped down to her essence, namely bleak, beautiful and moving.

Review: Definitely not to be confused with the 2005 Neo-noir US movie of the same name, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was a 1966 Eurospy comedy directed by Duccio Tessari. The plot, which contains several genre tropes, revolves around a retired espionage agent who receives a death sentence after being caught trying to steal L1 million dollars. At the last minute, he's offered a reprieve, if he can steal a secret formula before terrorist Mr X does. We won't divulge what happens next, but as spy movies tend to, there are plenty of curveballs and red herrings thrown at us. Bruno Nicolai, a powerhouse of Italian cinema during this time, whose tracks have found their way into Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 2 and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, delivers an archetypal score for this cinematic canon, packed with tension building percussive movements, swooning and sweeping string and woodwind pop, and even the odd gentle slow dance.

Review: In 1984, Gary Numan launched Numa Records and started a new phase in his career with the release of Berserker. This album introduced a harder-edged digital sound into his canon while maintaining the analogue textures of his earlier work. It's a testament to the fact that Numan's creative evolution never stopped and blends both personal and fictional narratives into haunting tracks like 'My Dying Machine,' 'This Is New Love' and 'Berserker.' The remastered double vinyl edition includes the original album with bonus tracks that add extra perspective to this pivotal period in his career.

Review: Cabale Records is a Parisian label that has, for the last few years been exploring the minimal techno world. It now branches out with its first various artist release featuring some tasteful tune makers starting with Pheek. He brings some loose percussive energy and wonky drum funk to his opener then Mod303 layers in dreamy and immersive pad work to deft, subtle drums on 'Paris City Zoo.' Night No Tori Vs Hubble keeps it deep and dubby with the late-night introspection of 'Deja Vu' then Sten's 'Slope' is a trippy afterhours sound with tumbling synth smears and percolating dub tech beats.

Review: Pharoah Sanders, the legendary saxophonist known for his spiritual jazz and drummer Norman Connors, another key figure in the genre, deliver a blistering live performance at 1978's Montreux Jazz Festival set. The duo, both with decades of experience shaping the sound of free jazz, blend complex rhythms with expansive melodies, weaving through tracks like 'Babylon' and 'Casino Latino.' Sanders' saxophone improvisations glide between tension and release, while Connors' drumming provides a solid yet dynamic foundation. This recording encapsulates their mastery of blending the spiritual with the free, two jazz icons at the height of their craft, delivering a performance that is at once urgent and transcendental.

Review: An ambitious, thought-provoking collaboration that merges radical improvisation with meticulous songcraft. Inspired by Francisco Goya's Los Caprichos painting, the album interrogates modern anxieties through a fusion of classical composition and lyrical introspection. Mark Springer, known for his spontaneous, real-time piano compositions, crafts haunting pieces performed by the Sacconi Quartet, while Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant 's unmistakable vocals lend a poetic depth to the work. Recorded across multiple locations in 2023istrings in Surrey and Tetbury, piano in Brussels and vocals in Londonithe album benefits from its layered, almost collage-like construction. This fragmentation mirrors the project's thematic preoccupations: the disjointed state of contemporary society, the corruption of truth and the divisiveness of social media. Tennant's lyrics, shaped by Goya's grotesque and satirical visions, meditate on deception, power and the erosion of collective trust. The interplay between Springer's expressive piano and the Sacconi Quartet's controlled precision is key to the album's success. Tracks move fluidly between moments of stark beauty and eerie unease. Tennant's vocal performances are restrained yet evocative, delivering lines that echo both personal reflection and broader cultural critique. The arrangements are elegant yet unsettling, reinforcing the album's central tension between order and chaos. Sleep of Reason is not an easy listen, nor does it aim to be. It is an intellectual and emotional work, one that rewards deep engagement. In blending classical refinement with pop craftsmanship, Springer and Tennant have created an album that is an eloquent response to a world teetering between enlightenment and darkness.

Notes: This 732-page, two volume set chronicles over 3200 artists, 1200 record companies, and 10,000 individual releases between the years of 1960 and 1990. From Chicago to Cairo, East St. Louis to Kankakee, from The Accents to Ze-Majestiks, Soul Music Of Illinois serves as discography, field manual, atlas, telephone directory, and coffee table book, all presented in glorious full-color and wrapped in handsome woven linen.