Back catalogue: All genres

Review: This new, limited green vinyl version of Live At The Record Plant '73 captures the reggae legends Bob Marley & The Wailers in a dynamic and intimate live performance. Recorded at the famed Record Plant studio in California, the album exudes the essence of Marley's charismatic stage presence and the Wailers' tight musical prowess. The setlist features iconic tracks like 'You Can't Blame The Youth' and 'Get Up, Stand Up' all of which showcase the band's ability to merge reggae's rhythmic heartbeat with socially conscious lyrics. This live recording serves as a testament to the enduring legacy of Bob Marley and immortalises a pivotal moment in reggae history.

Review: Bobo is Mr. Burns's beloved teddy bear but it is unlikely that the same bear is also a dab hand at crafting weighty bass music. Although born in Sweden, this Bobo is now based in Manchester and this is his debut album on Erbium. It's a work that draws on all forms of electronic sound from bass to dubstep as well as ambient, house and electro. The resulting melting pot is a triumph of both dance floor clout and home listening richness. 'Beyond This Realm' is tinged with old school rave energy, 'Rebellion' is eerie and empty bass music and 'Nowhere' is a deep jungle excursion with cuddly bass pillows.

Review: Simon Greene aka. Bonobo is set to put forth yet another album from his own personal ether; 'Fragments' was born from actual sonic 'fragments' that were later repurposed into twelve full 'sonic affirmations'. A later escape into the wilds of California's deserts formed the bulk of this album's downtempo magnum opi; watch out for collabs with a foray of world-downtempo electronica acts including Jamila Woods, O'Flynn and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. One of his most heartfelt albums, expect all from lilting future garage ('Rosewood') to rave-nostalgic slow builds.

Review: Tel Aviv-based band Boom Pan marks their 20th anniversary with an album that mixes up cinematic atmospherics and high-powered surf rock. It is their first for the Batov Records label and has eight tracks of global sonic tripping that go from Middle Eastern exotica to scores to an imagined Spaghetti Western and on to sandy beach parties by the Mediterranean. It's all made with a mix of catchy guitar riffs, tuba basslines and big drums that immerse you in engaging sounds and great musicianship that is always pushing at the traditional genre boundaries.

Review: Discom continues to unearth genuine gems from the former Yugoslavia. The dusty-fingered reissue imprint's latest pick comes from 1983. It's the sole, self-titled album from Boom Selekija, a relatively short-lived eight-piece made up of funk and soul musicians from other Belgrade bands, who disbanded shortly after the LP was released. Musically, the album pairs vibrant and authentic disco-boogie instrumentation - with some Eastern European flourishes - with impassioned Serbian-language vocals. It's a quietly impressive set all told, with our picks including the spacey and loved-up stomper 'Studentski Stan', the rubbery bass guitar, rock-style guitar solos and intergalactic synth textures of 'Vladina Gitara', the subtly jazz-funk-infused, slap bass-propelled 'Juljaz Me', and the almost beat-free jazz-funk sleaze of 'Frizerka Naja'.

Review: David Bowie's legacy lives on years after his death - that is if it hasn't even grown since the great artist's sad passing. This unique live album was recorded in 1990 at the Milton Keynes Bowl and saw the cute singer performing songs on his Sound+Vision tour. This gig was the first leg of his return to Europe so found him full of energy and vitality and turning in superb tunes like 'Rebel Rebel', 'Ashes to Ashes' and 'Life on Mars'. All of this was in front of a massive 60,000-plus crowd and it still makes for spine-tingling listening all the years later.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Heroes Just For One Day is a superb document of just how extraordinary David Bowie was in the live arena. In 1990 he was taking new paths to rejuvenate his creativity and before he embarked on it fully he headed out on his 1990 Sound+Vision Tour which was to be one final goodbye to many of his most famous back catalogue hits. It's a superb swan song that was captured in all its glory and is now presented here on multicoloured marble vinyl. As far as greatest hits go, it's as great as they get.

Review: Those with a penchant for Latin disco pop will be in their element here, with the debut album from angel-faced Chilean-Norwegian falsetto Boy Pablo serving up a particularly generous helping with its title track. Accompanied by a worth-checking-out video helping tell its semi-autobiographical take of a young kid falling in love and playing football, it's enough to make some swoon.

Similarly slick, but heavier on the synths, 'I Hope She Loves Me Back' should make it clear that the overall theme here as anything amorous, wistful and smooth, with guitar licks and playful beats ensuring the artist is walking the walk, not just talking the talk. Which, at times, is more cocky than bashful - "Hey girl, do you like me? I guess that's a stupid ass question." Enough said.

Review: Chase Smith aka the W.T. Records and Apartment associate and documentary filmmaker Christa Majoras are back as brainwave research center with their second full length, Mosaic. Once again the sonically inquisitive pair mix up analogue synths with electro-acoustic experiments, epic and adventurous soundscapes and plenty of raw texture, hooky pop melodies and innocent rhythms. Along the way the duo take influence from their heroes including Ennio Morricone, John Carpenter and Kraftwerk on a record that was laid down in the back of Smith's synthesizer repair shop. It's an absorbing listen once more from this increasingly vital pair.

Review: With a sound that was honed in Las Vegas, there's a distinct showbiz flavour to west coast funk band Breakaway. Disbanded in 1980, this is the band's long-lost debut LP, and it's full of surprises and stunning moments of mesmerising production. For example; "My Symphony" comes on strong like an ABBA record while the track before it - "Everything's Been Said About You" - comes with a smoky Hendrix style riff while the track that follows it - "There's A New Group In Town" - is a psychedelic funk jam. With a tight sense of musicianship and funk throughout, Breakaway were truly unique and, thanks to BBE, their work is about to get the attention it deserves.

Review: No longer simply the nearly-man egomaniac chronicled in the movie Dig, Anton Newcombe is now viewed with the kind of reverence he probably always felt he deserved, a modern master of classic psychedelia with a glint in his eye, having carved out a trademark sound that transcends retro trappings by its constantly questing and adventurous nature. The Spacemen 3-referencing sleeve of this new effort - his third work in the last two years and 15th BJM album in total - somewhat belies a sound that could come from no other maverick, its widescreen sweep locking horns with synapse-shredding experimentation.

Review: If you weren't already in love with Conor Oberst (with or without Bright Eyes) then this special outing on Dead Oceans is sure to change that tune, perhaps almost as much as the band changed theirs for a good proportion of the tracks on here. I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning was the outfit's landmark sixth studio album, unveiled in 2005 on the same day as their seventh LP, Digital Ash In A Digital Urn (how's that for confidence?) and is also available in a new issue today.
Sticking with what is essentially a side note on the era that birthed those records-proper, here Bright Eyes go all out on reworking Digital Ash tracks, retaining the sweetness of the first incarnations, but adding a sense of mayhem, chaos, and outright deviance to the score. The result is folk, boozy, woozy, and heady stuff. A little like walking into a bar on a cold winter's night to find familiar friends in full song.

Review: Erased Tapes, London's purveyors of the new garde in ambient music, take on one of the legends in revered Oregon folk experimentalist Peter Broderick. On the Partners LP, he starts out with the spoken word poetry of the title track, then the sombre piano piece "In A Landscape", complete with eerie tape hiss lurking in the background. Other highlights include the emotional and bittersweet "Carried" and the awe inspiring closing track "Sometimes" where Broderick's vocals come gloriously come into the fold, on a price which is truly captivating and special.

Review: Always brimming with partystarting energy, Brooklyn Funk Essentials' motto "funk is what you make it" has carried them for three decades. Coming up in Brooklyn and finding a local fanbase for their electricity on the big smoke's live stage, said electricity later translated to a deluge of full-length LPs showing off the best way to represent funk in the present day. Intuition is their latest album, released by fellow fun-lovers Doraodo. Reflecting a recent line-up change (Alison Limerick and Desmond Foster now pairing up on lead vocals) this project is boundlessly bouncy and confident, spanning bog-standard freak funk to headsier nods to styles like bossa nova and dub.

Review: Roy Brooks was a staple of Detroit's jazz scene - a gifted drummer who worked with Chet Baker, Charles Mingus, Horace Silver and more besides. He recorded Beat for Berry Gordy's short-lived Workshop Jazz label in the Hitsville USA studio, joined by George Bohanon, Hugh Lawson, Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook and Eugene Taylor. Given the interwoven shared history of these players, Beat manifested as a cohesive fusion of hard bop and soul jazz which left a mark when it came out in 1964, and it still packs a punch in the modern era thanks to this high-grade reissue courtesy of Third Man, making this a true Motor City product.

Review: The late Joanna Brouk's legacy as an electronic music pioneer is a mysterious one, given her rejection of industry conventions in favour of a more heartfelt connection with her craft. Her run of new age releases in the early 80s were landmarks of the genre, and now Numero Group are reissuing one of the finest of them now. Sounds Of The Sea originally came out in 1981, and it's never been reissued since. Making its first ever appearance on vinyl, this captivating, mysterious album remains wholly out of time and place, existing in its own sphere inhabited by flute, drones and whale song alike.

Review: One spire of the trident that is Tri-Force, Mansur Brown is a guitarist and producer whose presence is felt across the modern jazz spectrum. NAQI Mixtape follows up an impressive EP released earlier this year. With tracks like 'No Way' and 'Rise' occupying the space between Latin guitar and dancehall, while bringing an extra dreamy element (like a divine blessing from Khruangbin), it's clear that Brown is more than deserving of his indifferent looks and cool demeanour. He's earnt it.

Review: Mel Brown's Chicken Fat album is the latest to get the reissue treatment by the good folks at Verve. The guitarist's 1967 Impulse! debut is said to be one of the funkiest and most original the late ever put out. His signature picking style is clean and bluesy and was honed while he played with legends like John Lee Hooker's and T-Bone Walker's bands. There is also plenty of well swung soul-jazz in the great organ work and for this version the original audio has been transferred from the analog tapes to nice heavy vinyl.

Review: To Love Somebody is a great album from the rich cannon of reggae. It's the work of Bunny Scott and brings plenty of soul to Caribbean rhythms, and this is a first ever official reissue. Originally recorded in 1975 and produced by, who else, the great Lee 'Scratch' Perry, it rides through plenty of lovestruck laments, more upbeat and rump wiggling gems like 'I Am I Said' and slower, more heartfelt and tender tracks like 'Let Love Touch Us No.' Versatile and vital throughout, this is a richly rewarding reggae record from one of the greats.

Review: Cult beat writer, famous drug taker and frankly rather impenetrable mind William S Burroughs is a favourite of Will Self and hung out with Francis Bacon in Tangiers where many outsiders of that time would convene. Break Through In Grey Room is an album released back in 2012 that collects totters his cut-up speeches and recordings of performances between the years of 1960 and 1975. Some are pieces, some are discussions of pieces, all jump back and forth between the conscious to the subconscious are make for challenging but rewarding listening.

Review: Byron Lee was an important part of Jamaican music from his first appearance in the 60s and onwards. Amongst his bustling back catalogue is this cheery classic from 1980, which keeps the heart and soul of ska alive, with an emphasis on the soul. The rhythms are reliably skanking throughout, whether stopping by the melancholic 'Shoobe Doobe Doo' or the chirpy 'Bend Down Low'. This is ska in its truest sense, with an infectious energy which speaks universally to young and old, hip and square. You can also hear the strong US RnB roots of the music in Lee's songwriting, and it tugs at the heart strings in just the same way. Grab an immaculate album of honest, earnest songwriting magic with all the irrepressible joy of Jamaica coursing through its veins.

Review: Baby Buddha is the experimental new wave duo of Charles Hornaday (vocals, guitar, electronics, drums) and David Javelosa (vocals, electronics, clarinet). Born from late night improvisations of San Francisco synth-punks Los Microwaves with a rotating cast of musicians. Live shows would include music, projections, dance and performance art in both clubs and gallery spaces. In 1980, Howie Klein's 415 Records released their first single of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man". In 1981, 'Music For Teenage Sex' was their first full length album released via Poshboy Records. It featured Los Microwaves' Meg Brazill, Poshboy boss Robbie Fields, and Kathy Peck as "Tammy Why-not", who later went on to found H.E.A.R (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers). In January 1983 Kathy, Charles and David went into the studio with a couple of Kathy's original "country" songs and began working on a sophomore album. They also incorporated songs from a live multi-track recording of a concert at the Graffiti Club on June 6th 1984. The album titled 'Everyone Is My Age' sat unreleased until 1987 due to relocation to Los Angeles and eventually found a home on David's Hyperspace Communications, the original label for the first Los Microwaves singles. For this first time reissue we've added a previously unreleased bonus song "What's Going On," a Kathy Peck original. All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The vinyl comes housed in the original jacket featuring a collage by David Javelosa and includes an insert with lyrics, photos and liner notes.

Review: Tshona from Pat Matshikiza, Basil Mannenberg Coetzee and Kippie Moeketsi is one of the many celebrated jazz albums to have come from South Africa. Canadian Eric Warner's Wearebusybodies label has the rights to this latest reissue of it after the last one sold out and became nearly as costly as an original. It is a joyous affair with light, airy gores, keys and drums on the title tune, and something of a reggae swagger to 'Stop & Start' with its more conversational wind leads. 'Umgababa' is another blissed out and laidback summer soundtrack and 'Kippie's Prayer' end with a nice upbeat feel.

Review: Greek reggae producer Blend Mishkin here works alongside the equally talented female vocalist Sugahspank on a debut album for the Boom Selectah label. The limited run, heavyweight white vinyl features eight killer dubs made during lockdown at home in Athens. Elements of soul and blues colour the grooves, with funky rhythms and simple but effective lyricisms elevating each tune. The need for healthy relationships, love and motherhood in a mans world all come up and make for plenty of catchy moments.

Review: The Mellophonia label offshoot Fusion Sequence won us over with its well-presented and great-sounding first EP, and now a quick follow-up does the same. This one is another various artists affair that starts with some nice futuristic robot disco from Vanity Project. There is more organic and lush Balearic from Bobby Bricks and Pacific Coliseum follows that spine-tingling Ibiza sunset vibe. On the flip side, there is everything from late-night electronic house to lazy disco via Sorcerer's blissed out 'Just For Love' which would entrance any dance floor. There's as much quality as there is variation on this one, which makes it a useful EP indeed.