Back catalogue:

Review: Fresh from the release of two tip-top twelves on Handy Records and Wolf Music, Malik Kassim brings his trademark Retromigration sound to the freshly minted LYAM label. Typically warm, woozy, bass-heavy and with plenty of intricate musical details - think Ron Trent, with a dash of the Burrell Brothers and the Detroit deep house swing of Andres - all four cuts are superb examples of the Dutch producer's approach to dancefloor dynamics. Highlights include the laidback, club-ready bump of 'Heat it Up', where undulating acid lines and synth-sax catch the ear; the shuffling, broken house sparkle of 'You Want That' (a genuinely sumptuous late-night delight smothered in spacey synth solos); and the mid-tempo, jazz-funk style title track, where loose-limbed live instrumentation and emotive solos come to the fore.

Review: O Terno's evolution from 60s-inspired rock to their latest album shows a bold departure from mainstream expectations. While their earlier work hinted at potential commercial success akin to Los Hermanos, the band chose a path less traveled, embracing subversive melodies and instrumentation. Their latest offering is a perfect example to this artistic evolution. seamlessly blends intimate arrangements with a full-band approach, resulting in a captivating sonic experience. Tracks like 'O Bilhete' exude a raw, close-up intimacy, while 'E no Final' delivers cinematic grandeur. Lyrically, the album navigates diverse themes, from sociopolitical commentary to introspective musings. A standout collaboration with Devendra Banhart and Shintaro Sakamoto on 'Volta E Meia' adds depth, exploring themes of romance and self-discovery. Overall, is a beautifully crafted record that defies genre conventions, cementing O Terno's status as innovative trailblazers in the Brazilian music scene.

Review: She might be more well known these days for her open letters to Miley Ray Cyrus or public struggles with mental health, but this So Far The Best of reminds us just why Sinead O'Connor is so famous in the first place. It brings together the very best tunes from her four albums and was originally released in 1997, so of course, includes her ubiquitous and global smash Number 1 'Nothing Compares 2 U' is included, as are earlier singles 'Troy' and 'Mandinka', all of which showcase her fearless style and a rich array of emotions. 'Heroine' and 'Just Like U Said It Would B' are included for the first time having in the past only been available on the US version.

Review: Tara Jane O'Neil's latest album, The Cool Cloud of Okayness, is a poignant reflection on transformation amidst adversity. Recorded in the aftermath of the devastating Thomas Fire, the album embodies resilience and renewal. O'Neil's ethereal vocals and spectral guitar work are complemented by a talented ensemble, including drummer Sheridan Riley and multi-instrumentalist Walt McClements. Together, they craft a sonic landscape that blurs boundaries between genres, challenging easy categorization. The album's themes of grief and hope are palpable, underscored by deft production and rock-solid bass lines. Each track feels like a journey, offering both solace and introspection. The Cool Cloud of Okayness is a powerful album of music used to heal and inspire, reminding listeners that even in the darkest moments, there is light and possibility.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Tear on the spine of the sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


You can't help but be impressed by the trajectory evident in Agnes Obel's work since she first stopped us dead in tracks on 2010's debut, "Philharmonics". Instrumentally, she's still a maestro capable of grabbing you by the tear ducts with stunning, graceful melodies. But lyrically, she might be on course to becoming one of the most expressive we've got. And that's something to treasure. "Myopia" doesn't feel celebratory, mind. In fact anything but. It's an atmospherically dark, nocturnal journey into equally dark themes, told with nighttime language. From asking corpses what the other side is like, ahead of their physical bodies being lowered into the lightless ground ("Island Of Doom"), to the pain and frustrations of insomnia (the appropriately-named "Broken Sleep"), it's not an album that will ready you for the arrival of spring, but it's easy to find yourself falling for its understated melancholia.

Review: The latest missive in the evocative and open-minded Late Night Tales series comes from Agnes Obel, a Danish singer/songwriter whose fragile, pastoral songs seemingly join the dots between traditional folk music, neo-classical and early music. Fittingly, Obel's selections, while more diverse than many may have expected - see the soulful reggae throb of Nora Dean, the creepy jazz of Yello's "Great Mission" and the whispered synth-pop shuffle of Lena Platanos - are every bit as atmospheric and ethereal as her own work. It helps that she's included several of her own compositions, alongside inspired cuts that touch on Berlin School ambient, hazy easy listening, neo-classical, psychedelia, lo-fi art rock and, of course, folk.

Review: Osamu Okuno's first album Osamu Okuno, which was independently produced by Himico Record in 1972 in a limited edition of 100 copies, is now available on LP for the first time in 52 years, cut from 6mm open tapes owned by Mr. Okuno himself. Capturing the impact of alternative rock in Kyoto in the early 70s, Osamu Okuno was quickly hailed as a modern classic in the veins of psychedelic folk and rock music, though it nonetheless did not lead to any further career developments for Okuno until much later in 1980. Infused throughout with tape hiss and bare recordings, this is an honest and reflective album, received best in the form of a single listen-through; the highlight for us has to be the penultimate ballad 'B?3????', whose arresting four chords and quivering playing and delivery, are gripping.

Review: Sewn the Name is a hugely evocative new record from Old Saw that has a brooding atmosphere and darkly alluring mood throughout. Candle lit sounds flicker in a dusty wood hut, creaking joints groan and moan and a prickly banjo plucks out a post-country dirge. It's an album of heavy laments, emotional pain and drone fiddles finished off with an array of pedals, tape machine textures and lo-fi effects. The music is dense and claustrophic as well as lush and expansive in its outlook and it makes for an unforgettable listen.

Review: Oliver Anthony Music’s Hymnal of a Troubled Man's Mind showcases his distinct and raspy vocals, shaped by hard-earned experiences that capture the struggles of small-town and rural life. His debut single, ‘Rich Men North of Richmond,’ was a number one hit on Billboard, a rare feat for an artist with no prior chart history. Produced by Grammy-winner Dave Cobb, the album presents eleven tracks grounded in acoustic arrangements, amplifying Anthony’s storytelling on themes of resilience, community, and personal trials with a raw, genuine sound.

Review: Pauline Oliveros' Accordion & Voice album was originally released in 1982. It has not been available on wax since then but now it is but only in very limited quantities of 200. Oliveros lived in Kingston New York and was an electronic music pioneer, accordionist, composer and educator who wrote her music in a meditative way. That works both ways intuit it was meditative for her to write and for us to listen. It resulted in this most unique record which was her first as a soloist. Says the artist of its inspiration, "I followed the feelings and sensations of my many experiences of the mountain - the changing colours of the season, the breezes and winds blowing through the grasses and trees."

Review: It is always good to hear from Maya Ongaku especially when it comes to a new long player. This one excels at blending the ambient vibes of their previous album Approach to Anima with vibrant electronic dance styles. The result is a fresh fusion of hypnotic soundscapes and infectious rhythms with nice uplifting melodies, all complemented by delicate Japanese vocals. The album creates a shimmering, sincere atmosphere that draws on Eastern synth exotica that is both beguiling and irresistible. With its blend of lush textures and optimistic energy, Electronic Phantoms is a smart evolution in Maya Ongaku's ever-enchanting sound.

Review: Hailing from Italy, Opez are specialists in a particularly dusky, understated brand of instrumental melancholia that they style themselves as 'Latin Desert and Funeral Party Music'. Whilst some listeners may be reminded of the likes of Ry Cooder's 'Paris Texas' soundtrack and Calexico, the truth is that the inspiration for 'Dead Dance' comes mostly from this duo's heartland home. With '50s tinges resonating alongside a richly orchestrated yet entirely acoustic palette, 'Dead Dance' is twilight music replete with style and grace Regardless of this outfit's origins, fans of Los Lobos, Cowboy Junkies and Angelo Badalementi will find themselves every much at home here.

Review: Bill Orcutt released his last acoustic studio recording The History Of Everyone a whole decade ago now. He has dropped some election and acoustic fusions in between times but now keeps it pure with another acoustic-only album. It is a collection of canonical pieces recorded with plenty of reverb. The pieces are sort and expressive - you can almost see Orcutt contorting his hands and fingers around the fretboard to bring out these sounds as the notes ring and strings twang. They are conversational and almost lyrical in the way each unfolds, every one with effortless flow and plenty of room to let each note land with real meaning.

Review: Experimental guitarist Bill Orcutt made a hearty appeal to analogue living on How To Rescue Things (2024), a new album from the artist forming part of a groundswell of interest in his work, affectionally dubbed his "rediscovery years". Taking its cue from Charlie Parker With Strings (1950), this record is a standout among many; for the first time, a string section is used, sore-thumbing an oeuvre otherwise untainted by horsehair. The strings are not mere kitsch but serve as a platform for Orcutt's intricate improvisations: 'Not Reconciled' blends quirky optimism with melancholy, embodying the spirit of a defiant, joyful mortality, and his complex playing, particularly on 'Requiem in Dust' and 'The Wild Psalms', draws inspiration from avant-gardists such as Sharrock. Dulcet pad sonics blend paradoxically well with a sense of modern horror, one which always seems to ready-packaged with abstracted, reverb-doused blues colossi such as this record. The sense is of a bindingly complex American life in need of urgent downshifting; a window into sanctity is teased, perhaps, on the choir-backed 'Requiem In Dust'.

Review: Folktronic singer-songwriter Beth Orton turns her focus inwards on her new album 'Weather Alive', manifesting a pathetically fallacious sound drawing on the natural environment and the use of a secondhand piano bought thriftily in Camden Market. Spring-boarding from the ambient, spoken word acoustic textures of her earlier projects, which used guitar and extensive production, this album is pure upright piano and voice. Just like Orton's righteous flight from London, this is cloud-floating music for nomads.

Review: Beth Orton's Trailer Park marked a solo debut album for the British singer and the start of an epic rise to the top of the world. It won her two BRIT Award nominations for its classy fusion trip-hop, folk and electronica all with her folky vocals from and centre. Beth wrote all the material herself but for the cover version of Phil Spector's I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine.' It is a delightfully English record that was later followed in 2009 by a two-disc Legacy Edition and special Record Store versions more recently.

Review: The first signees to legendary Irish traditional label Claddagh Records in almost two decades; OXN are a new breed of post-folk doomgazers featuring members of the acclaimed and Mercury Prize nominated Lankum. Recording with drone-loving producer John 'Spud' Murphy (recently praised for his work with Black Midi), Cyrm is a challenging debut that interweaves muted eons old trad motifs with churning, unsettling doom-metal dread, yet retained under the delicate visage of ethereal folk. It's ghostly, beautiful, haunting and cathartic, all often within the same breadth.

Review: There are debut albums, and then there are debut albums that stop you dead, force you to take note, and proceed to unfold in the most startling directions. Welcome to the world of OXN, an Irish folk band, of sorts, featuring two members of Lankum and an awful lot of fresh ideas. Operatic, theatrical, cinematic, experimental trad, anyone? If that sounds even remotely intriguing the best news is yet to come - we've barely managed to hit the hammer even close to the nail's head with our description. It's weird, it's unsettling, born from pure emotion and just a few sprinkles of the same magic that has blessed the Emerald Isle with so many evocative and highly original musicians.