Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: This essential collection compiles the complete recordings of early '90s San Diego emotive hardcore pioneers Forced Down, and none of it has been on vinyl before. Formed by Amenity's Mike Down and Pitchfork's Joey Piro, with members from Heroin and vocalist Rob Base, Forced Down delivered impassioned, politically charged hardcore. Their powerful sound and message still resonates decades on.A This collection features mastering by Brad Boatright, who has done a fine job of keeping the grit and grime of the original records so that you really get taken back to that era when listening.

Review: Let's face it, The Futureheads are at their very best when utilising choir-style vocal arrangements. This was arguably first made clear when they dared to drop that incredible cover of 'Hounds of Love' - treading where very, very few people have braved, into the world of enigmatic wonder-artist Kate Bush, and coming out with something that stood up on its own as a wonderfully unique cover. If you agree, this one's for you. Online blurbs will tell you Rant is a diversion from the usual Futureheads stuff. And yeah, maybe it is to some extent - this is an a cappella album after all. No guitars. No drums. No instruments other than the band's own voices. It also uses traditional folk as the main source material, with some pop and dance thrown in. Nevertheless, if you can't immediately identify this as the Sunderland group, and hook into the clear rhythmic signatures that would identify this as them, even without the voices, you've not been listening hard enough. A triumph of auteur theory in music.