Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: New Orleans funk outfit The Wild Magnolias were active in the mid 70s, releasing two albums and then regrouping in the 90s. Their sound is in step with their more renowned Louisiana peers, but certainly running hotter than the likes of The Meters. "Handa Wanda" is a stirring, effervescent call and response epic that shows the band at their best, rocking a wall of sound approach that keeps the pressure up the whole way through. "(Somebody Got) Soul, Soul, Soul" is a more fluid track, but it's certainly no slouch in the energy department either. This is hi-octane funk to get people shaking and sweaty.

Review: Let's face it, Jack White has never really stood still, with the stream of solo projects put out since The White Stripes days proof of just how relentless his creative spark is. However, as many have pointed out in reviews of Fear of the Dawn, there's not been that much of a stylistic shift since his joint venture with Meg. As such prepare to be blown away with this latest effort. Although we're not going to say whether that's in a good or bad way.

To call the tracks here obscure is nothing short of horribly reductive. A strange, at time obnoxious and jarring fusion of blues, theatrical rock, prog, and plain weird, it's nothing if not consistently unexpected, and wholly unique. Often huge in sound, but then occasionally minimalistic, it's the noise made by a man who has always threatened to throw the kitchen sink at fans, and has finally found the muscle to do it.

Review: One of history's prominent art punk, post punk, experimental and alternative rock groups, at least one Wire record should sit on everyone's shelf, their richly detailed and deeply atmospheric sound helping lay foundations not just for all the outfits that have picked up the mantel and took the aforementioned styles forward, but also genres such as noise and drone. There really is just so much going on in the often chaotic crescendos and pared back moments alike.

As the title suggests, Not About To Die takes early studio demos from the crew and also correctly makes it clear that, when all these were recorded, the troupe still had decades of creative output ahead of them and weren't going anywhere. That said, by the end of the decade they would disband, before regrouping again, disbanding again, and regrouping. Those details aside, dive in and soak up the unbridled and unapologetic raw creativity at play here.