Back catalogue: Leftfield

Review: Kreidler return to Bureau B and not without good reason. Their seventh outing on the highly respected label follows suit on previous exploits, exploring some outer limits of cosmic-leaning, guitar-led, electronically augmented stuff. Tracks that feel made for the hidden dancefloors of weird basements as much as the soundtracks to avant garde science fiction. And if that's too much of a stretch, let's just say 'mesmerising' and have done with it. Comparing and contrasting the warm bleeps and filtered hooks of 'Diver', for example, with 'Tanger Telex' and its strange, smoky brass trip into downtempo smoky heaven serves as a quick example of just how broad yet coherent Twists is. As does 'Arthmetique', a strange, patient thing of rhythmic licks and spoken word, when considered next to the fuzzy, dub-tech-meets-math rock of 'Mount Mason'.

Review: Detlef Weinrich is back with his fifth full-length album under the Tolouse Low Trax moniker. Now based in Paris after leaving Dussledorf, he heads in something of a new direction and brings heavy yet velvet sounds which replace the rawness of his earlier work. Tracks on Leave Me Alone bring razor-sharp rhythms to drifting cosmic melodies, there are slow and industrial drones and haunting pads, a signature sense of drum funk and much more besides. This is a great new sound for an artist always on the move.

Review: It has been two years since the first 'Sowas Von Egal' compilation arrived courtesy of Hamburg label Bureau B and Hamburg party series Damaged Goods. The world is unrecognisable compared to then, but diving headfirst into a bunch of obscure tracks from one of Europe's countercultural epicentres, recorded during one of the country's most troubled but fascinating and creative periods, is still a wonderful experience. While tracks here veer from having one foot in indie punk to full blown electronic assaults, the energy levels are consistent throughout - in short, they all pack a punch, whether it's the runaway juggernaut of Vono's 'Fred Der Ritter' or the frenzied looped bleeps on 'Steig Den Luis Trenker' by 4712. Similarly, with distortions, fizzes, crackles and all manner of other audible DIY tells, it's hard to argue with the fact that everything here puts artistry first and foremost, giving commerciality short shrift.