All genres

Review: "I'd prefer it to be called just a country album," said TORRES of her collaboration with Baker, nearly a decade in the making, "but I'm proud to have made a 'queer country' album." TORRES had the initial idea to turn to the genre, inviting Baker to collaborate not only because of her shared southern roots but also because she'd also had a similarly religious upbringing that ultimately saw sexual orientation judged and condemned. The result is some deeply autobiographic songwriting on tracks like 'Tuesday', about a traditional family's rage at discovering their daughter was gay, the lilting 'Sylvia' and 'Sugar In The Tank', with pedal steel meeting acoustic guitar strum and very intimate sounding vocals. Bound to cause controversy in certain areas of the US, but it's got the quality and distinctive flavour to stand its ground.

Review: Darkside - the duo of visionary producer Nicolas Jaar and guitarist Dave Harrington - have brought their touring drummer Tlacael Esparza into the recording process for this third album of theirs and he's now a full-time member. The songs for this album, which were recorded in Los Angeles, the south of France and Paris, came out of a series of improvisational jam sessions and they transport you into their swaggering and inventive universe where anything goes. The sheer joy of 'S.N.C' brings to mind Jaco Pastorius in terms of taking the bass guitar to new heights and the funk keyboard is a throwback to the 80s Casio era. 'Graucha Max' is a lot darker and twisted, delving into psychedelic rock with distorted lines, but then splicing it with sub-heavy bass that would ignite any club dancefloor. Darkside are right up there with the best the Los Angeles scene has to offer right now.

Review: Nigerian singer, songwriter, and guitar legend, Mdou Moctar should need no introduction if you keep an ear to the ground of sub-Saharan African music. Then again, the vague region covers a vast area - land in all four hemispheres and around 15% of the Earth's walkable surface. So you could be forgiven for missing out on an individual artist if, for example, you weren't already looking for them specifically. Or relied on Western culture media for tips on what to hear next. That said, problematically tunnel-visioned as the North Atlantic-hegemony of commentators can be, Moctar has been something of a darling to UK, European and US musos for a while now. On Tears of Injustice he presents a convincing case for their continued adoration. A master of Tuareg, a style of music also known as desert blues, it's an intoxicating sound that easily transports and invokes, even if the predominantly Tamasheq language he sings in remains a mystery - arguably another factor in the powerful mythology surrounding his legacy.

Review: Mdou Moctar's reimagining of his work presents a powerful counterpoint to the blistering original. Recorded in the wake of a political crisis that left the band stranded in the US, this acoustic version strips back the aggression, replacing it with raw grief. The band, recording in Brooklyn's Bunker Studio, brings a new, meditative quality to the music, with the songs remaining heavy but haunting in their unamplified form. The standout 'Imouhar' takes shape through two rapid-fire passes, seamlessly merged into one hypnotic take. Where the original album burned with anger, this version captures the sadness and sorrow of a nation caught in perpetual turmoil.

Review: Celebrating the tenth anniversary of Spoon's eighth album, Matador Records is reissuing They Want My Soul as the Deluxe More Soul Edition. This expanded version not only includes the original ten tracksifeaturing fan favorites like 'Inside Out,' 'Do You,' and 'Rent I Pay'ibut also adds 11 demos and alternate versions, nearly all previously unreleased. This reissue underscores the album's significant place in Spoon's consistently stellar catalog and offers a rare peek into their creative process during a pivotal moment. After 2010's Transference, Spoon found themselves drained from years of relentless touring and recording. Frontman Britt Daniel and drummer Jim Eno sought a much-needed break, leading to side projects that reignited their creative energies. When they reconvened in 2013, they teamed up with producers Joe Chiccarelli and Dave Fridmann, whose distinct styles brought new textures to the album. The result was Spoon's most polished and vibrant work to date, blending Daniel's sharp lyricism with Fridmann's maximalist tendencies. Highlights of the deluxe edition include Daniel's solo piano rendition of 'Inside Out' and early demos that reveal the evolution of tracks like 'Do You' and the title song. These rough cuts showcase Daniel's relentless pursuit of lyrical perfection, offering a fresh perspective on an album that has only grown in stature over the years.