Back catalogue: Library/Archive

Review: Measured Mile is a new 7" label run by regular Ace consultant and confidante Bob Stanley. The plan is to release DJ-friendly 45s that are either very rare or previously unavailable on seven-inch. On this new one come two pieces from esteemed library musicians - the well known pairing of Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett, and Dave Richmond. 'Name Of The Game' is a slow instrumental blues piece with beats ready to be plundered for hip-hop beats that once soundtracked a 1970s aftershave ad, while Richmond's 'Confunktion' is a motivational builder-upper with drums and organs aplenty.

Review: Flour Flies embarks on a new series of releases entitled Italian Library Songbook where contemporary artists put their spin on great soundtracks of theist. First to add their own new reinterpretations are Neapolitan producer pAd and London singer-songwriter Jessica Duncan. They tackle Alessandro Alessandroni's 'Philadelphia' and turn out something brilliantly soulful: 'Do You Wanna Get Close' is a lush and club ready sound that is backed with the glorious original on the flip side. This is a promising start to what is sure to be a much loved series.

Review: A new spate of Tele Music library classics reissues from the 70s houses this one from 1976. Once more, legendary composer and drummer Pierre Alain Dahan hears his timely work reissued - this time in collaboration with his eternal guitar colleague Slim Pezin, a many-timed collaborator with Dahan. Contrasting to Dahan's many more experimental works, such as the prototypical 'Rhythmiques' album (which is far more out-there, almost primordial-sounding) 'Neo Rhythmiques' is an absolute killer of scorching, uptempo jazzy soul-funk, demonstrating what humanity as whole has achieved since, by harnessing said rhythmic primordium for its own funky ends.

Review: Talk about a time capsule. While the obvious nostalgists out there scour and share their cassette eight packs, desperately converting the mixes they contain to digital files before the inevitable unspooling renders the original recordings obsolete, here comes Death Is Not The End - a record label that lends its name to (well, hosts) a show on NTS Radio - with the ultimate trip back to a time many weren't lucky enough to live through.

As the name suggests, this is literally a collection of no less than 40 radio adverts that appeared at some point or other on London's once-plentiful pirate radio stations between 1984 and 1993. Many are poor quality in terms of production, a good number use samples from some of the biggest dance tracks of the day, loads namecheck some legends of the UK rave scene, and every single one would be loads of fun to drop into a mix or use as a sample for productions. Not that we're recommending doing anything without license.

Review: All Bad Boy & All Good Girl is a fascinating mixtape, first released in 2022, documenting the few and rare radio broadcasts that propagated a now-elusive, but decade-long, Mancunian form of street soul. Lasting from at least the mid-1980s to the mid 1990s, this exciting ream of 'extracts', here on the vinyl version coming as a playlist of nine, transports us right back to this scratchy, no-holds-barred chuggers' sound. Featuring DIY cassette recordings of bands such as Broadway, Stereo Dan and Soul Control playing live at dances and blues parties in south & central Manchester from 1988 through to 1996, Death Is Not The End do a stellar job as ever of compiling the most exquisite forgotten tracks in the style, as though they'd been beamed into the present through a trans-temporal airwave. Packed with the radio phase distortion, hiss, vocal and SFX interjections, dub sirens and delay-outs, this is much more than just a functional soulful soundclash.

Review: The man behind the Death Is Not The End label and archival NTS radio show got plenty of people talking earlier in the year when he presented the music on this record on the airwaves. It is a brilliantly authentic document of a very special time in the history of British music culture. Pirate radio was the voice of the underground, the mixing pot for the musical sounds and scenes of the time with their famous phone-ins, shout-outs and adverts all adding to the atmosphere of each broadcast. Relive it now as often as you like with this brilliantly assembled collection.

Review: The brilliant Death Is Not The End has always done a great job of digging into niche scenes and serving up great albums that document them. Here the label presents a mixtape-style collection featuring live recordings from London's Notting Hill Carnival, spanning 1984 to 1988. Originally aired on NTS Radio in August 2018, this release marks a milestone in their 10th-anniversary series and it now comes on cassette. Highlights include sounds from renowned systems like Jamdown Rockers, Saxon, Java Nuclear Power, Killerwatt Turbotronic, Stereograph, Sir Coxsone, and Volcano Express. The audio, meticulously curated by the Who Cork The Dance crew, features contributions from Jayman, Ruff House, Keimo, Omar, Gee Wizz and Jah Humble.

Review: DJ Muggs brings his latest instrumental hip-hop tinkerings to Madlib and Egon's Invazion Music Library Series, which allows the two beatmaking legends' friends the opportunity to experiment with the form in whichever way they choose. Taking after the mood and feel of library music pieces, Silver Cloud adds to the many additions to the label to pay homage to the Piero Umilianis and Alan Hawkshaws of yore, albeit through a hip-hop lens. From 'No Time' to 'Calm Down' to 'Fast Arp', Muggs takes a functional approach to beatsmithing, crafting everything from tempo-synced, two-tone moody piano expositions to full-blown lo-fi whackers.

Review: Japan's revered DJ Muro has put together his first ever compilation for BBE. Diggers Dozen is a real gem with 12 tracks of Japanese jazz-funk and Latin-jazz goodness that fuse traditional instrumental with traditional melodies. These tunes were originally made for the 70s for Nippon Columbia by legendary composers of the time such as Kiyoshi Yamaya, Tadaaki Misago & Tokyo Cuban Boys, Kifu Mitsuhashi, Toshiyuki Miyama and more. Finding these cuts on their original pressings is rare and expensive so don't sleep on this real collector's essential.

Review: Demon Records presents the complete narrated TV soundtrack of Doctor Who: The Crusade on double 140g green and yellow translucent vinyl. This release offers fans the chance to experience the classic 1965 story, with William Russell providing linking narration. Set in 12th Century Palestine, the Doctor (William Hartnell) and his companions find themselves in the midst of a conflict between English Crusaders and Saracen forces led by Saladin. When Barbara is captured during a Saracen ambush, the group encounters historical figures such as King Richard the Lionheart, played by Julian Glover. Though only two of the original four episodes survive, this vinyl edition captures the full audio experience, bringing the adventure to life once again. The release includes beautifully illustrated sleeves with Radio Times-style billings for each episode, offering a nostalgic touch.