Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Two years ago, Italy's Balearic Gabba Soundsystem switched from remixing and re-editing their favourite cuts to curating compilation style EPs of similarly minded fare. They're in that mode again here, presenting a trio of cuts that combine the saucer-eyed warmth and loved-up musicality of Balearic music culture with grooves and rhythms firmly focused on the dancefloor. They begin by showcasing Wallace's sublime remix of Sewell & The Gong's 'Better Worlds', a locked-in, hypnotising fusion of semi-organic deep house grooves, new age melodic motifs and the dreamiest of ambient chords. Over on the flip they dip into slo-mo Italo-disco/acid house fusion via SIRS fine revision of My Friend Dario's 'Tell Aro', before treating us to a Pedro Bertho remix of Verdo's 'Belvourdier' in which sparkling Balearic house piano riffs, undulating acid lines and mid-80s "chorus" synth sounds rise above a fluctuating synthesiser bassline and hustling beats.

Review: The Vendetta Suite returns in early 2025 with a stunning pair of singles on Hell Yeah, blending acid acerb, house heat, disco d'oeuvres and a Balearic bliss. Long thought by some to be Belfast's best-kept secret, the Suite has garnered well-deserved traction for his genre-spanning productions, fusing ambient, post-rave, dub and psychedelic. First up, 'The Jam Answer' reinvents acid house with dusty analogue drums, hypnotic 303s, and cosmic cantatas; then the flipper 'Island Hill Microdot' drifts over into dreamy Chicago house and IDM, offering a lusher, tuned bamboo percussive pelagi-scape.

Review: Here is the long awaited debut album from long time musical adventurer Gary Irwin as The Vendetta Suite. Over the years, Irwin has racked up releases of his own on Harthouse, Novamute and Phil Kieran Recordings, while being a frequent studio collaborator with fellow Irishman David Holmes. On The Kempe Stone Portal, released on Italian label Hell Yeah, Irwin explores such disparate genres as krautrock, library and synth music, through to house, downtempo and Balearic across this widescreen 12 track album, which is a testament to his illustrious career in music.

Review: Gary Irwin's musical journey since 1990 has been long and varied, with spells as an in-house engineer at various studios being combined with occasional releases, mostly of a Balearic flavour, as the Vendetta Suite. The Kempe Stone Portal is his first album and draws on a vast archive of tracks built up over 20 years. Musically, it's subtly diverse in the best possible way, with Irwin delivering colourful, atmospheric and emotive cuts that variously draw influence from ambient, new wave, synth-pop, new age, mid-80s AOR, library music, post-punk, dub, shoegaze and much more besides. That it all not only hangs together but also makes perfect sonic sense is testament to Irwin's skill as a composer, musician and producer. Well worth a listen.