Back catalogue: Psych/Garage Rock

Review: Discodelic comes correct again with a new 7" that features a pair of rather lesser-known and brilliantly obscure Latin psych-rock gems. Conjunto Raza' 'African Dream' is all crackly and immediately nostalgic because of it, with noodle acoustic guitar sounds making way for a more upbeat and driving 60s garage rock sound but all in loveable lo-fi. Add in a red-hot vocal and you have a flame cut full of funk. On the reverse, The Scepters 'Message' is another well-aged jam that brings rawness and emotion in equal measure.

Review: The Scepters, formed in 1967 in Paraiso by guitarist Celso Spencer, were a popular Panamanian band known for their energetic performances across military bases and high school dances in the Canal Zone. Alongside Lionel Best and Jose James, they covered Top 40 hits and iconic rock bands like Santana and Jimi Hendrix. They released two 45s, including 'Message,' which debuted at Panama's first National Soul Music Festival in 1971 and features next here to a jam from Conjunto Raza, another project led by Agustin Leiro, this one with rotating musicians. They released a single 45 on Onda Nueva in the mid-70s and it blends Zonian and Panamanian talent with aplomb.

Review: "The world's greatest two person rock 'n' roll ensemble, the next big thing - out now!" You can hear the delicious wit and parody in the copy sitting on The Courettes website, a band that have managed to do the unthinkable, swerving all trends to come up with music that simultaneously sounds self-aware in its retro nostalgia, yet incredibly fresh. Hailing from Denmark and Brazil - another curveball in many ways, California, which welcomes the additional vocals of La La Brookes, is a case in point. Jangly yet snarling garage rock, seductive art pop aimed at the charts, beach guitar stuff that supplants realism and experimentation for the doe-eyed dreaminess of, err, beach guitar stuff. Original as ever, it's more evidence that these guys may well be on the money with that description of themselves.

Review: Discodelic and Groovie Records unveil a pair of rare 1970s Panamanian gems here with forgotten tracks from The Meditators, and Los Misticos. Originally recorded for radio and left in storage, these Latin psych funk bombs capture the underground spirit of Panama's vibrant music scene from more than 50 years ago. Licensed through Tamayo Records, these songs have been beautifully mastered and now the long-lost recordings, which barely made it to vinyl the first time around, become available for all who are keen to drop the heat and learn about Panama's hidden musical treasures at the same time.

Review: A collaborative EP between 2 Australian rock giants, this limited one-sided collectors disc comprises the 19 minutes long 'Satanic Slumber Party' split into three sections. 'The Chairman's Portrait' intro is a dark, heavily distorted spoken-word piece backed by dark rumbling guitars that explodes into the head-banging electronic banger 'Midnight in Sodom'. The angry lyrics are paired with awesome melodic guitar solos and chiptune noises, before shifting into noise rock territory. 'Hoof and Horn' takes up most of the runtime at a hefty 12 minutes, in which ambient drone begets experimental sound effects that are reminiscent of the liquid bass and synths favoured by producer SOPHIE. The track evolves into a demonic lullaby that wouldn't feel out of place in an episode of American Horror Story, and fans of 2 Mello's 'Atmospheric Horror Music Vol.1' will greatly appreciate this track. The EP is all-in-all a camp experience. An Avante-Garde, quintessentially fun blend of two incredible groups.

Review: It's hard to side with anyone that goes in hard on enigmatic epic metallers King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. When a band releases 24 studio albums you know they're sure of themselves and cult followers are almost guaranteed to support every release. When those releases come with names like PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation you also know the band don't really care for people who take things too seriously. There's always been an interesting juxtaposition between the Gizzard's tongue in cheek persona - even the band name smacks of wry humour - and the music itself, though, and this outing is no different. Sprawling guitar-fuelled arrangements that owe as much to post punk as psychedelic and prog reign supreme, making for another powerhouse outing you can love or feel indifferent towards, but never legitimately hate.

Review: RECOMMENDED
There's always been an air of mystery about The The. Look through the band's history, which stretches wayyyyy back to the late-1970s, and the list of collaborators alone is enough to convince you they've been making moves in the right places for many, many years, striving to innovate and carve out their own space in the unarguably busy post punk landscape.

Everything Matt Johnson touches seems to turn to gold. Albeit a particularly scuzzy gold that exists solely in the darkest rooms of the least kept venues. Even on this accolade - a group getting a spot at The Royal Albert Hall is no mean feat - there's a sense of yellow-hued street lights and rain falling on concrete. But this is combined with a poetic element that's up there with the finest literary Romantics, and a commentary that will tell you all there is to tell.

Review: There's a lot going on here, and a lot of pure goodness at that. Fans of the Soul Jazz imprint rarely shut up about the label's output quality, and this latest LP from Trees Speak - their second to date - is a case in point. A record that sounds as though it was raised on some of the finest outsider music from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, the whole thing is saturated in pop references but doesn't come across forced or lazy.

You don't have to listen hard to hear the kind of proto-electro and Krautrock that came from the likes of Can, Popul Vuh and Neu!, John Carpenter's movie scores or traits of the No Wave movement that took subterranean New York by storm a few decades ago. Stylistically, the result is a sonic place that has as much attitude as it does edge, equal parts grit and groove, funk and rock, soul and sleaze.

Review: Much contemporary and so-called cosmic American music lacks true cosmic essence, appearing more as imitation than innovation. Trummors' fifth album, 5, defies this norm with refreshing originality and exquisite execution. With lyrics akin to Robert Creeley's poetry and melodies that feel timeless, songs like 'Hey Babe' captivate with fatalistic beauty. Lerner and Cunningham's harmonies, complemented by skilled musicianship, create a captivating atmosphere and subtly blend genre conventions. Despite its rapid creation amidst uncertainty, 5 exudes both weight and airiness, ancient resonance and contemporary charm. Trummors' achievement in transcending tradition with confidence and immediacy is truly remarkable.