Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Two of James "Gem" Prewitt's two early 80s disco-funk tracks, 'My Love Box' (1981) and 'Juicy' (1983), come courteously reissued via AOTN, raring a snapshot of his exceptional talents and entrepreneurial funk fastenings. Recorded in St. Louis, Missouri, 'My Love Box' marked the beginning of Prewitt's journey, with the 27-year-old attending Forrest Park Community College at the same time as establishing his own label, Keyes Production. Not only did he write, produce, and perform all these tracks, but local success with 'My Love Box' inspired him to team up with Loretta Mathison for the creation of 'Juicy', which ensues here as the orally honeyed slow jam of choice, and which picks up the pace at the midpoint through gospel operatics and wooing coos. This collaboration led to a two-year singing tour, firelighting them from beneath and propelling them from the Philippines to Germany.

Review: Use Vinyl looks back to two iconic tracks from the 70s and 80s here for source material for a new remix EP by the Vannelli family. Joe T remixes 'Thrill Me' by The Wonderland Band into the sort of direct and funky house sound that brims with early dance music charm while the Vannelli Bros offer their rework of 'Party On' by Pure Energy which comes with plenty of energy for club contexts. Both tracks are presented as Classic Mix versions and bring plenty of new life to the original hits without forgoing the timeless, catchy and meaningful melodies that define the originals. House music like this is as authentic as it gets.

Review: Leo Parker was a pioneering baritone saxophonist in the bebop era, best known for his time in Billy Eckstine's band, where he became part of the legendary "Unholy Four" saxophone section alongside Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons in the mid-1940s. Despite personal challenges that sidelined him in the 1950s, Parker made a brief yet impactful comeback in 1961, recording two standout sessions for Blue Note, including Let Me Tell You 'Bout It and Rollin' With Leo. Sadly, Parker died at 36 from a heart attack before the latter was released. Initially shelved, Rollin' With Leo was finally issued in 1980 as part of the LT Series; his signature swinging compositions resound in full audiophile quality here, from 'The Lion's Roar' to 'Jumpin' Leo'.

Review: This compilation is a vibrant celebration of Gnonnas Pedro, the legendary Beninese composer and musician. Spanning his career from 1967 to 1985, it showcases Pedro's remarkable versatility and eclectic musical palette; featuring 21 tracks that traverse genres with ease, from the Afrobeat energy of 'Pas De Petard' and 'L'Indomptable Gnonnas Pop' to the salsa rhythms of 'Tembleque' and the soulful grooves of 'How Much Love Naturally Cost'. Pedro's music is a fusion of influences, blending traditional African sounds with funk, soul and Latin flavours and highlights here include the irresistible 'Dadje Von O Von Non', the funky 'Yiri Yiri Boum', and the soulful 'Bailando Mi Solo'.

Review: Pellegrino & Zodyaco's skillfully intertwine Neapolitan disco, funk, jazz and world music while channelling a spirit of creative escape of this new album, which is inspired by Henri Laborit's 'Eloge de la fuite'. It explores conscious escapism as a return to authenticity and seeks a "common language" through sound by merging Mediterranean melodies with global rhythms, vintage instruments and ethnic percussion that all bridge past and present. Four years after his last outing, Morphe, Pellegrino is still in top form here with a soulful, genre-blurring portrait of modern Naples that reflects the fact that, in the city, musical traditions meet modern experimentation.

Review: Gilles Peterson remains a man with his finger firmly on the pulse and this is another album to prove it: International Anthem is a special double compilation highlighting the renowned DJ and curator's deep connection with Chicago's celebrated contemporary jazz label. Featuring selections drawn from Peterson's BBC 6Music, Worldwide FM and syndicated shows, the collection showcases standout tracks from the label's first decade and also included is an exclusive, previously unreleased live recording from Worldwide FM. Pressed on "Frozen Lake Michigan" coloured vinyl, this Record Store Day exclusive is part of International Anthem's "IA11" series-celebrating 11 years by honouring their past while shaping the future of boundary-pushing global sounds.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


A fresh compilation album documents the best of the late 70s disco-funk-jazz-everything band Phyrework, synthesising a pyrotechnist's hand and a cutting engineer's ear. The Texan group were signed to Mercury in 1978 and released a hotly acclaimed debut album, and while their talents matched the likes of Sly And The Family Stone and Earth, Wind & Fire, they remained criminally under-world, resulting in the band's disbandment after the release. So this is a salvaging effort worth your while; a whopping nine of the songs have never been heard before, and only a complementary two appeared on the original early 80s single. All produced by Michael Cooper of Con Funk Shun, the likes of 'My Funk', 'Never Felt Like This' and 'What Happened To Us' command an extra jerkiness and synthweight bolshiness not nailed by many of their much-more-famous contemporaries.

Review: Pianist. Conductor. Composer. Impressario. Extraordinaire. We could probably leave it at that with Piero Piccioni, but for the sake of clarity let's get clear. One of Italy's most prolific film composers of the mid-late-20th Century, this monolith of big band and jazz wrote more than 300 movie scores in his career, and also lays claim to membership of 013, the first jazz outfit broadcast in his home country following the fall of Fascism in 1944. Born in Turin, one of the epicentres of Italian music, Cadaveri Eccellenti was a 1977 crime thriller about Lino Ventura, Italy's top homicide detective, who is investigating the assassination of a judge. Full of intrigue, mystery, and tension, not to mention that underlying sense of sexiness which seems to pervade European flicks of this era, by now you can probably imagine how cool the score is.

Review: Munich-based trio Prepared craft a hypnotic and high-energy journey that blurs the lines between chamber music, jazz and minimal dance. The trio i Chris Gall on prepared piano, Flo Riedl on bass clarinet and Christoph Holzhauser on drums i merges cyclical motifs and layered patterns into a trance-inducing soundscape. Drawing comparisons to Steve Reich, Jonny Greenwood and Dawn of Midi, their music pulses with rhythm and repetition, creating a hypnotic Gesamtkunstwerk that feels both innovative and timeless. Recorded live in a single room without overdubs, Module is a state-of-the-art production. Utilizing advanced 3D miking techniques for Dolby Atmos, the recording captures the raw interplay between instruments with breathtaking clarity. Across four expansive tracks divided into ten parts, the album flows through moods and textures. 'Modul Eins' opens with a downtempo introduction before evolving into an upbeat, swinging groove. 'Modul Zwei' offers a cinematic, film noir feel, while 'Modul Drei' dips into hip-hop beats with introspective breaks. The 15-minute opus 'Modul Vier' swells through four sections like changing seasons, showcasing the trio's virtuosity and cohesion. With Module, Prepared prove that repetition can be a riveting genre-defying experience that's impossible to forget.

Review: NPG Records and Paisley Park Enterprises, in partnership with Warner Records, are pleased to announce the release of a brand-new audiophile Blu-ray featuring 2024's Dolby Atmos mix of Prince and the Revolution's iconic 1984 album, Purple Rain, as well as Prince's original 1984 stereo mix, in high-definition 24bit / 96kHz audio.

Prince shattered all expectations and made music history when he released the album Purple Rain, followed by the hit movie of the same name weeks later. The 9-track LP went on to win two Grammy awards ("Best Rock Performance by a Group" & "Best Album of Original Score Written For A Motion Picture"), two American Music Awards, a Brit Award, and an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. In 2012 the Library of Congress added the album to the National Recording Registry, which only accepts sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." Purple Rain spent 24 weeks at #1 on the Billboard album charts, sold over 25 million copies worldwide, and appears on countless 'Best Of' polls, most recently achieving the #4 spot on Apple Music's Top 100 Albums Of All Time.

The 2024 Atmos presentation of Purple Rain featured on this Blu-Ray, was meticulously mixed from the original multi-track master tapes by Prince's protege and Best Engineered Grammy nominee Chris James. It was released via all participating Digital Service Providers on June 21, 2024. "In 2024 we started our year-long celebration of the 40th anniversary of Purple Rain, we are thrilled to present Prince's masterpiece in ATMOS, providing an immersive, surround auditory experience of Prince's legendary album. This highly crafted release will present Prince's iconic work with more space and depth while preserving the beautiful songs that have shaped music and popular culture, and touched the lives of countless fans around the world." - Paisley Park Enterprises

Region code: universal

Review: This Price album was originally part of the 2023 Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe box set, but now the triple vinyl live recording arrives on standalone yellow vinyl in a fancy triple gatefold sleeve. It was initially captured on January 11, 1992, at Prince's Glam Slam club in Minneapolis and is a performance that showcases Prince and The New Power Generation at their creative peak, just ahead of their epic world tour. Spanning over 100 minutes and 14 tracks in all, the still electrifying set focuses on material from the Diamonds and Pearls era and includes a preview of the then-unreleased 'Sexy M.F.' to make for a fine snapshot of a new era in Prince's evolving sound.