PIAS レコード& CD

Review: Are there many mixes as seminal as this one? When Soulwax adopted their 2 Many DJs alias for the landmark As Heard On Radio Soulwax series, they heralded a new era of genre-hopping, headsy blending that was fun and fearless in equal measure. It's absolutely of its time, capturing the electroclash zeitgeist and throwing in crowd-pleasing pop nous without diluting the product, and quite simply Pt 2 is one of the best party sets you're ever likely to hear. Released in 2002 and sounding as fresh and inspired as it did 20 years ago, this is an essential item for anyone who takes the art of the mash-up seriously.

Review: Second time around for the Bees' terrific debut album, Sunshine Hit Me, which wowed critics and buyers alike on its initial release way back in 2001. The epitome of a surprise hit with admirably DIY roots - the duo behind it, Paul Butler and Aaron Fletcher, famously recorded it in a limited home studio built in the back garden of a residential house on the Isle of Wight - the album has lost none of its allure all these years on. Woozy, summery and lo-fi, with hazy horns and glassy-eyed vocals rising above backing tracks that variously doff a cap to soul, rocksteady, ska, 1960s dream pop, psychedelia and a wealth of subtle global musical influences, Sunshine Hit Me is a warming, smile-inducing treat. This edition also boasts a sextet of bonus cuts, which seem to be a mixture of B-sides and tracks plucked from the pair's archives.

Review: Founding Bees members Paul Butler and Aaron Fletcher recorded the original Sunshine Hit Me on the Isle of Wight in their own home garden studio which they called The Shed. A year after release in 2003 it got recognised with a Mercury Music Prize nomination and spawned some big singles. Now, 20 years on, it arrives once more but in an all-new and dubbed-out fashion. The six cuts include three which have never previously been released in any physical format and bring a fresh dimension to the originals.

Review: Belgian jazz singer Melanie Di Biasio first came to light around 2007 on Igloo, but she's since fostered a steady relationship with indie giants [PIAS] which has resulted in two subsequent albums, No Deal and Lilies. After a six-year gap, she returns with a new set which finds her edging into intriguing new territory. Il Viaggio is framed as 'a quest for musical, physical, and spiritual renewal, born from an emotional memory awakened'. Make of that what you will, but the music contained within finds her voice framed by a broad spectrum of sonics as she leads us through two distinct halves across two discs - Lay Your Ear To The Rail and The Chaos Azure.

Review: Kerala Dust are an indietronica trio hailing from Berlin, and their upcoming album 'Violet Drive' is rightly described by them as a 'pan-European dream'. Recorded between Berlin and a remote Swiss Alpine studio, this is a funky, dark and sumptuous vocal dance project, replete with an overarching nighttime swing and glossy shimmer. Rather than one for twangy, sunburnt all-American road trips, we imagine this one is far better suited for drives across milder Scandi landscapes at night.

Review: The heady collaborative cocktail of Marc Collin and the late Olivier Libaux, who came together in 2003, led to the quiet storm that its Nouvelle Vague, a project with its heart set on a winner from the start: the fusion of post-punk songwriting with the form and instrumentation of bossa nova. Intended as a one-off, the success of the project came as a surprise, but the duo were hardly willing to let a good thing slide for the sake of dourer endeavours. As part of a retrospective, comprehensive reissues series on top of a new album, this repress of the first album takes us back to where it all began.

Review: Denmark's Agnes Obel is no ordinary folk singer-songwriter. Her music always carries something beautifully strange along with it, and this latest album, which has the strangely fitting name of Citizen Of Glass, might well be her most daring work to date. What is particularly special about this album is its production process; Obel has told the press that this extended piece of music consists of layers upon layers of different tracks, blended together to create something new, fresh and compelling. But, that's not all. The duets that you can hear throughout it aren't even human. She's brought to the foray a new technique that involves recording her own voice as a male cyborg, essentially creating the idea that she's singing along to a non-human version of herself. If you're thinking it's all hype, you're wrong; this album is a magnificently executed piece of melancholic pop music that pushes the boundaries of what has become a largely predictable genre as a whole. It's different, captivating and recommended...