Back catalogue: All genres

Review: First released on streaming platforms last summer, Wilco's 'Hot Sun Cool Shroud' EP was uniformly praised by critics. Much more than a stop gap between albums (it arrived roughly 12 months after the outfit's lauded 13th studio full-length, Cousin), the six-track set bristles with inventiveness while flitting between styles and tempos. So, opener 'Hot Sun', a sticky slab of Americana-tinged jangly indie brilliance, is followed by the reverb and solo-laden alt-rock squall of 'Livid' and the gentle, string-laden swoon of 'Ice Cream'. And so it continues, with the fuzzy positivity and weary vocals of 'Annihilation' being joined by the pleasant, impossible-to-pigeonhole experimentalism of 'Inside The Bell Bones' and the twinkling, heartfelt melancholia of 'Say You Love Me'.

Review: Former Porcupine Tree founder member Steven Wilson has packed a lot into his career since the early 1990s - not least being a leading light of the post-progressive movement - but until last year he had never written or recorded a Christmas song. He was challenged to do that by a friend and, with a little help from collaborator Randy McStine, conjured up 'December Skies' - a suitably nostalgic, dreamy, progressive rock-tinged affair that touches on some of the usual Christmas single tropes while steadfastly refusing to revert to cliches. It has a pleasingly timeless feel, sounding like a largely cheese-free echo of the mid 1970s. On this limited-edition 'deluxe' CD single, you get both vocal and instrumental versions and a trio of Christmas cards based on the song's animated video.

Review: We all know and love Ron Trent as a house music maestro, but as his elevated productions have betrayed over the years, his chops reach well beyond the simple demands of functional club stuff. In line with his more eclectic output, What Do The Stars Say To You heralds his WARM project in a frankly stunning burst of musicality that harks back to the glory days of 70s and 80s studio prowess. This is still music driven by a groove, but it's certainly not a house by numbers affair. Instead you get soaring violin solos (from Jean Luc Ponty no less), infinte threads of nimble keys work and enough downtempo, slinky grooves to buffet a yacht from the Balearics to the Florida Keys and back again. Featuring members of Azymuth, Gigi Masin and Khruangbin amongst others, this is a return to the craft of exquisite album making, as handled by a true master in his field.

Review: In the 1960s, The Wailers, including Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer, recorded their first songs under Coxsone Dodd. By 1966, members had begun to leave and both Constantine Walker and Rita Marley came in as replacements. During the ska era, they were less consistent than peers like The Paragons and Maytals but by 1967 and now working with producer Clancy Eccles, they began developing their distinct sound with tracks like 'Bend Down Low' and 'Hypocrites'. They later collaborated with hitmaker Leslie Kong which led to their 1971 album The Best of The Wailers. Featuring solid rhythms and heartfelt harmonies, it's now regarded as a classic and comes newly issued on CD.

Review: Kamasi Washington's latest effort is a little different from his previous releases, which delighted in taking spiritual and post-bop jazz in a myriad of thrilling new directions. Befitting its status as a soundtrack - the music on Becoming was written to feature on Nadia Hallgren's Netflix documentary of the same name on Michelle Obama - the compositions unveiled by Washington are breezy, accessible and seeped in musical positivity. There are lots of memorable melodic themes throughout the album, with bold and catchy, up-beat jazz numbers being joined by melancholic, contemplative compositions and even nods towards soul-jazz, Motown style soul and cheery jazz-funk.

Review: One day, Kamasi Washington will be heralded as a genuine musical genius. For now, he's just one of the artists of the moment - a jazz artist whose take on the genre is so wide-ranging and forward-thinking that it defies categorisation. On Fearless Movement, his follow-up to the dazzling and mind-blowing Earth (2015) and Heaven & Earth (2018), Washington heads for the dancefloor, combining his usual jazz, classical and soul influences with lashings of P-funk colour, raps aplenty, and impressive cast-list of guest stars. Andre 3000 reaches for his flute on the decidedly cosmic 'Dream State', old pals Thundercat, Taj Austin and Ras Austin step forth on the brilliant 'Asha The First', and George Clinton and rapper D Smoke light up 'Let's Get Lit'. He even doffs a cap to d&b on future jazz-dance classic 'Prologue'. Immense.

Review: Lizard Label is a brand new American imprint that kicks off with the aim to "be that sunbathed rock, the artist to be the sun and the listener to be that lizard" and provide warm sounds to pock you in the moment. The first release is a notable one from Chicago-based artist Wav Fuzz who offers up a true electronic odyssey across six tracks on Sensing. These are sub-aquatic techno excursions, electro workouts and deeply immersive dubbed-out soundscapes for maximum cathartic impact. All the music is finely crafted which makes us all the more intrigued about who is behind this low-key alias.

Review: Scarred by a high-profile breakdown, Abel Tesfaye aka The Weekend has spent much of the last three years rebuilding his mental health - a process reflected in the introspective and surprisingly open lyrics at the heart of Hurry Up Tomorrow, his sixth studio album. Said to be the final part of a semi-autobiographical trilogy, the two-disc set is a dizzyingly varied and star-packed affair that confidently strides between squelchy synth-pop (Justice collaboration 'Wake Me Up'), thrillingly bass-heavy Baille funk (Anitta hook-up 'Sao Paolo'), attack-on-the-senses EDM-pop ('Until we're Skin & Bones'), heavily orchestrated slow jams (' Reflections Laughing' with Travis Scott and Florence and the Machine), head-nodding R&B ('Enjoy The Show' with Future), 80s pop revivalism ('Take Me Back To LA'), and shimmering analogue synthscapes (Giorgio Moroder collaboration 'Big Sleep').

Review: Devoted fans of Abel Tesfaye were left in a spin when the latest The Weeknd album dropped out of the blue, offering up lead singles 'Sacrifice' and 'Gasoline'. The expansive reach of Tesfaye's musical world knows no bounds, straddling pop, rap, electro and much more besides on a quest for life-affirming, show-stopping songs that burrow straight into your heart. The cast of collaborators on this record is staggering, from Tyler, the Creator, Lil Wayne, Quincy Jones, and Oneohtrix Point Never to Jim Carrey and Swedish House Mafia, would you believe. Through it all, Tesfaye's dazzling persona shines through, making for another classic from one of the most unique artists in the premier league of contemporary RnB.

Review: Sixth months after it first dropped on streaming platforms, the expanded 'deluce' version of Kanye West's 10th studio album finally drops on CD. Less over the top and strutting than its predecessor, Jesus is a King, the double-disc set continues the iconic artist's infatuation with blending cutting-edge contemporary hip-hop (and nods to his musical roots in the '90s rap scene), R&B and his beloved gospel, resulting in a grandiose and entertaining set that makes use of a huge roll call of guests and collaborators *Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Lil Yachty, Roddy Ricch, Young Thug, Jay Electronica, Travis Scott, The LOX, Kid Cudi, Fivio Foreign, Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine, Playboi Carti, Jay-Z, Shenseea, DaBaby, Pop Smoke and Andre 3000 all feature). It's basically stadium hip-hop blended with reflective soul and R&B; given that nobody else does it quite as well as Kanye, it's no surprise that Donda hits home hard.

Review: Following the success of last year's My Beautiful England, his first solo album for two decades, David Westlake has decided to offer up an expanded reissue of his 1987 debut, Westlake (now retitled D87 in reference to the NME's legendary indie tape, C86, on which he featured). Westlake recorded the album following the collapse of the band he'd led, The Servants, with the help of fellow post-punk era songwriter Like Haines of The Auteurs. The original album, which bristles with jangling and layered, Johnny Marr style guitars, expressive vocals, good grooves and occasional strings, still sounds great, and this time round comes backed with recordings of a 1987 'session' for Janice Long's BBC radio show.

Review: Though prolific since emerging at the dawn of the millennium, White Denim have refused to settle into a specific sound, with main man James Patrelli flitting through styles, influences and inspirations (and band members) at a rate of knots. On the simply titled 12 - yep, the band's 12th album to date - Partelli and company subtly switch focus once more, this time with the help of his latest co-writer (and the band's synth player) Michael Hunter and a broad range of guest musicians. The results are bright, attractive and thoroughly enjoyable, with notes of tropical guitars and the work of highlife legend Ebo Taylor rubbing shoulders with nods to bossa-nova, Southern soul, jangling indie-rock and The Beatles circa The White Album.

Review: Adam Wiltzie is an American-born, Belgium-based ambient composer, sound designer, film soundtracker and one half of A Winged Victory For The Sullen. His latest album-length suite was inspired by two things: a recurring dream in which people die after listening to his music, and a fascination with sodium pentathol, a barbiturate routinely used as a general anaesthetic. It's a kind of musical exploration of - to paraphrase his label's accompanying press release - tiptoeing between beauty and oblivion, or sleepiness and wakefulness. Mixed by Loop man Robert Hampson and featuring strings recorded in Budapest, the album ebbs and flows majestically, with billowing orchestral moments nestling side by side with creepy ambience, immersive and dream-like soundscapes, simmering melodic motifs and the kind of arty but enveloping fare that reminded us a little of the Orb and Robert Fripp's mid-90s FFWD project.

Review: As you may well be aware, the Winstons' most significant contribution to musical history was the righteous drum break featured on their 1969 single 'Amen, Brother', a breakbeat that has since become the backbone of countless hip-hop, hardcore and D&B tracks. Yet as good as that break is, there was always much more to love hidden in their catalogue, particularly debut album Color Him, Father. As this surprise reissue on CD proves, it is a genuinely brilliant collection of loved up East Coast soul songs - both dancefloor-friendly and downtempo - which on this edition has been expanded via the addition of a quartet of previous single-only cuts. This, then, is the definitive version of a vitally important soul album.

Review: According to the band themselves, the Wombats' new full-length - the long-serving trio's sixth studio set in total - is their most "sophisticated and sonically adventurous yet", exploring lyrical themes of "socially awkwardness, internal strife and everyday LA life". It's certainly a musical departure, with the Liverpool-born band and producer John Congleton (best known for his work with St Vincent and Death Cab For Cutie) largely eschewing the synths and indie-dance influences of old in favour of a sound rooted in British "beat music" of the late 1960s, jangly 1980s indie-rock, and the Britpop era. It's a notable change in direction, but it works really well - as the bold, beautiful and undeniably catchy songs 'Can't Say No', 'Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want To Come' (a future anthem for socially anxious misfits everywhere in the same mould as Pulp's 'Mis-shapes') and the surprisingly funky 'Blood On The Hospital Floor'.

Review: Fresh from appearing in Bob Marley biopic One Love (as one of the early, lesser-known members of the Wailers), 30-year-old Jamaican J Written (real name Jason Wright) drop his debut album - a set produced by legendary American reggae mixer Doctor Dread and featuring a stellar line-up of backing musicians (drummer Sly Dunbar included). Sitting somewhere between classic lover's rock and digital roots-reggae, the album's focal point is undoubtedly the artist's rich, soulful voice. While he does 'toast' in patois at times (see 'West Indies'), for the most part Wright showcases his full vocal range. The results are undeniably impressive, with the tender 'We Alright', ska-influenced 'King Kong', vibrant opener 'Work To Do' and exotic 'Keep People Poor' (where sitars and electric guitar solos catch the ear) standing out.

Review: 25 years have now passed since Liverpool legend Pete Wylie and his long-term backing band released Songs of Strength & Heartbreak, which marked the post-punk era combo's return to action after 16 long years. Something of a triumphant return, the set flits between raucous punk energy ('Never Loved as a Child'), Oasis-ish riffs on mid-late period Beatles ('Sing All The Saddest Songs', 'Disneyland Forever'), riff-heavy post-Britpop indie-rock ('I Still Love You', post-punk headiness ('Loverboy') and all manner of orchestrated, reach-for-the-ceiling sing-alongs ('Hey! Mona Lisa'). To mark the album's birthday, Chrysalis has served up this expanded 'deluxe' edition. Unusually, this time round CD1 boasts the album as it was originally demo'd and produced in 1998 - including a slew of songs that were subsequently shelved - with the 'released' version (2000) nestled on CD2.