Back catalogue: All genres

Review: A repress of Innershades & Betonkust's 2018 new beat sensation 'Forever In Boccaccio!' has long been requested by hardcore record collectors. And now it has become available and has been fully remastered and housed in a new sleeve design, limited to just 300 copies. It was first made, according to the two being it, in January 2017 "under grey Belgian skies," when they had been consuming lots of acid and new beat, which of course shows. The title cut is brilliantly dark and gothic but is backlit by haunting vocal harmonies and underpinned by a menacing bassline. The three other cuts explore similar moods and grooves with great authenticity.

Review: Ed Black, aka "edbl," is an increasingly prominent hip-hop and R&B artist and composer who has emerged from South London's indie music scene alongside luminaries like Jorja Smith and Jamie Isaac. His sound, a blend of lo-fi soul and hip-hop akin to Jordan Rakei and Tom Misch, garnered attention when Spotify UK featured him on their New Music Friday cover. Additionally, Music Business Worldwide Magazine nominated him as one of The Hottest Independent Artists In The World and now he backs up that potential with 'The Way Things Were,' featuring the mellifluous vocals of Isaac Waddington.

Review: The iconic North London dance music duo Idjut Boys are famed for their nostalgia fueled offerings of dub, disco and house and join forces again for this 4 track single featuring 4 completely different takes on the track 'Speedball'. The 'Full Whip' version is an 80s powersynth with powerful kicks and synth perfection, an authentic use of a commodified sound used in the past couple of years. 'Severe Itching' takes the party downstairs into an acid techno rave, the liquid bass seeping through your ear canal into your skull - an utterly extraterrestrial experience. 'Strip Off Dub' is just that: a stripped back dub version of 'Full Whip'. Focusing on the heftier synths and bass, with the rushing wind effects that compromised 'Full Whip'. 'Whizbang Mix' invites you back into the bassment for another slice of acid house pie, the meeting point between 'Full Whip' and 'Severe Itching' that feels like trying to listen to the former after the laters aforementioned liquid has blocked your eardrums. This one's for the messy afterparty.

Review: In the early 1980s, Britain had a vibrant cassette culture that now gets spotlighted through a limited edition 12" featuring multi-instrumentalist Kez Stone's project, Imago. He was a notable name in Cornwall and the West Country's music scenes with previous projects, Artistic Control and Aaah! which have come back via reissues many times in the last ten years. Imago was a new one-ff project that first emerged with one track on the Perfect Motion compilation curated by NTS Radio's Bruno and Flo Dill and now the full LP, originally released in 1985 on the local label A Real Kavoom, has been remastered and added to with three additional gems. Stone's teenage punk influences sit next to Imago's eclectic approach to sound that blends new wave and psychedelic elements into something irresistible.

Review: Fans of mechanical techno-not-techno sounds will be all over Minimal Wave's latest transmission from 80s French underground heroes In Aeternam Vale. Having reissued several essential lost works from the outfit last year, most notably the proto-Sandwell sound of "Highway Dark Veins", Veronica Vasicka delivers another two tracks from the vault. Stylistically mirroring that previous two track release the title track is an equally brilliant synth-techno beast which could easily pass for a Function track today, while B-side "Calling Somewhere" sounds like a cold wave version of proto-halfstep. Needless to say, the fact that these tracks are 22 years old literally left us speechless.

Review: If the greatest bands evolve over the course of their career, IDLES are clearly on the right track. While the Bristol-band rose to prominence via a raw, noisy and aggressive sound that sat somewhere between post-punk and alt-rock, Tangk - their fifth album and first for three years - represents a genuine (and deliberate) tearing up of their previous trademark sound. Inspired specifically by a desire to "make people dance and make people feel", it feels like a successful attempt to move into the punk-funk/rock-rave territory previously defined by LCD Soundsystem. It's fitting then that James Murphy and company feature on standout (and recent single) 'Dancer'. The nods to the glory years of DFA Records continue throughout, with further highlights including the moody, low-slung brilliance of 'Grace' and the righteous heaviness of 'Gift Horse'.

Review: Despite being at the centre of one of rock's tensest social media dramas in recent history - having been called out by Fat White Family for being too middle-class for their own image - Idles are back on top, thanks to their new album 'Crawler'. Taking a chance on their own criticisms, this album is more introspective than 'Ultra Mono', revealing the band's various wrestlings with addiction and desperation. In true post-punk fashion, it's an emotive sophomore development from lead brain Joe Talbot, spanning plod-rap grungers ('Car Crash') and dark disco-rock ('When The Lights Go On'), all giving off his signature brand of hopeful nihilism, with the ultimate message that 'the show must go on'.

Review: Onsen Music isn't just the title of Shoko Igarashi's second album, but rather a manifesto of sorts. The name refers to a "genre" of music the saxophonist, flautist, and vocalist has created. A strange, bouncy-yet-angular corner of the electronic music universe that feels like it's inviting you to a party thrown by Mr Soft and a flying unicorn. Sounds extend themselves, curve, wobble, warp, float, glitter, and do everything else in their power to make sure you know this is a safe listening space that's equally danceable. Ever bubbly and colourful, 'Rainy' represents the full blown nu disco end of the record's vast spectrum, while the likes of 'Ukigusa' come over far closer to Ryuichi Sakamoto's clean, crisp and cuddly pop excursions - staunchly leftfield and out there, but strangely familiar and universally likeable.

Review: Dark Entries takes it back to New York City in around 1982 for this previously unreleased record from Ike Yard. This cult crew was made up of Stuart Argabright, Michael Diekmann, Kenneth Compton, and Fred Szymanski and they worked in their own realm somewhere between proto-body music and No Wave peers in New York. They disbanded just a year after forming having dropped an EP on Les Disques du Crepuscule in 1981 and then a self-titled album for Factory in 1982. Using the Korg MS-20 and the Roland TR-808 they cook up plenty of hybrid electro-acoustic sounds and ramshackle rhythms that are underpinned by moody baselines and perfect to get bodies moving in the club. Whether you're a post-punk fan or lover of weird electronics, this is well worth checking out.

Review: RECOMMENDED
The fact Imagine Dragons tangibly slowed things down in the past year or two has nothing to do with the deadly virus that single-handedly stopped life as we all knew it. The outfit had done four albums in six years, records arriving between non-stop touring schedules and each giving birth to a series of big hit singles. It's a story of runaway success, but those almost always lead to burnout.

With this in mind, Mercury: Act 1 is the band refocused, re-energised and musically reformed. Enlisting the services of super producer Rick Rubin, a guy known for switching things up in terms of an artist or band's style, he certainly lives up to those expectations here. Yes, it remains staunchly pop driven by tribal, fist pounding drums and choruses that should be sung in rainstorms, with elements of heavy rock and hip hop thrown in for good measure. But it's also their best to date thanks to the variety and ideas at work.

Review: Imagine Dragons' sixth studio album, LOOM, makes another great step in their artistic evolution and could well be their most accomplished work to date. Produced exclusively by Imagine Dragons and their longtime collaborators Mattman and Robin, the record, which comes on limited gatefold translucent curacao vinyl, strikes a harmonious balance between the signature sound that catapulted them to fame and a newly inspired creative spirit. Across nine fresh cuts including the standout single 'Eyes Closed,' LOOM bring notes of anticipation and optimism around new beginnings. There are singalongs specials like 'Nice To Meet You' next to raw vocal deliveries on 'Take Me To The Beach' and more sentimental sounds like 'God's Don't Pray'.

Review: There are some records you buy simply because you love the name. Or maybe that's just us? Either way, from where we're sticking stuff into the shopping cart, Index For Working Musik's second long form is one of those examples. Which Direction Goes The Beam more than lives up to the quality of the band name, and then goes and adds artwork which can only be described as 'stunning' into the mix. Angular, jerky, harsh, and artsy rock noises that run between the savage and distorted to the rousing and rollocking, the five piece should be ranking up there with the most innovative, imaginative and inimitable guitar outfits out there at the moment. Chamber-esque arrangements, strange murky mystery, and the overall feeling that we're in uncharted territories and nobody - but nobody - wants to find their way home

Review: Interpol's seventh album sees the long-standing NYC indie rock giants teaming up with the legendary production team of Flood and Alan Moulder for a trip into sadness, darkness and introspection. For devoted fans of the band, those themes should ring true and spell out another record to be cherished for those downcast days. Daniel Kessler's serpentine guitar work cuts an imposing, but ultimately graceful figure on 'Into The Night', while Samuel Fograino's propulsive drumming continues to explore meters beyond linear motorik drive and Paul Bank once more speaks from the deepest reaches of his soul.

Review: Since parting company with alt country/Southern rock combo Drive By Truckers in 2007, singer/songwriter Jason Isbell has built a successful career as a solo artist. While he initially explored a punky and bluesy sound, by 2015 he'd pivoted to a softer sound inspired by folk and Americana. Ten years on, following a period spent touring extensively, Isbell is finally ready to drop another solo album. Wonderfully stripped-back but no less evocative or lyrically rich than his earlier work, Foxes In The Snow comprises 11 songs in which Isbell accompanies himself on acoustic guitar. There's no hiding place with such a sparse sound, but Isbell genuinely nails it. In fact, it could be his strongest and most startling solo album to date.

Review: If you've managed to tune out of society's collapse and the reorganisation of global orders for a second this week, it might have become apparent that Jason Isbell has swept up countless Album of the Week column inches. It's not hard to hear why, either. Finally, then, something we can all agree on - Foxes In The Snow is a breathtaking slice of Americana, folk, country and unplugged rock that's very timely really. Proof, if it were needed, of the vulnerability, thoughtfulness and feelings that can define humans if they stop shouting and shooting each other. An all-acoustic recording, Isbell played a 1940 Martin 0-17 guitar and nothing else to make this record. As so many critics have pointed out, how exposed he is throughout is why this feels like an artist unleashing their true superpowers. It's raw, it's honest and there is absolutely nowhere to hide here. For anyone. Expect few dry eyes in any house when this plays out, then.

Review: There's something uniquely Japanese and slightly off-kilter about the pop-making prowess of Eiko Ishibashi, a singer-songwriter, improvisational drummer, pianist and all-round experimentalist that counts Editions Mego and Oren Ambarchi's Black Truffle as labels she has released on. She returns to Drag City, an all time Chicago label famous for records by Pavement and Stereolab to more recently music from Ty Segall and the all-talented John Mulaney. Ishibashi's music here, however, sways from heavy industrial beats to future, funky and avant pop numbers like "Iron Veil". It's a record that will take some getting used to but there's no denying you will get used to it too; if you can keep up with its modernity that comes from way out leftfield.