Back catalogue: All genres

Review: A little slice of rock history for RSD 2025, taken from the encore from US indie faves The Killers' encore at New York's Madison Square Garden on October 1, 2022, when a certain Mr Springsteen joined them to Boss proceedings. We get versions of two of Springsteen's calling cards - 'Badlands' from his Darkness on the Edge of Town album, often cited as a proto-punk classic - and the ubiquitous 'Born To Run', with The Killers' raucous 'Dustland', seemingly heading up and up in intensity without ever quite hitting the ceiling, as the meat in the musical sandwich. The clear parallels between both acts are laid bare, as is the spontaneity and excitement of a true one off moment.

Review: A collaborative EP between 2 Australian rock giants, this limited one-sided collectors disc comprises the 19 minutes long 'Satanic Slumber Party' split into three sections. 'The Chairman's Portrait' intro is a dark, heavily distorted spoken-word piece backed by dark rumbling guitars that explodes into the head-banging electronic banger 'Midnight in Sodom'. The angry lyrics are paired with awesome melodic guitar solos and chiptune noises, before shifting into noise rock territory. 'Hoof and Horn' takes up most of the runtime at a hefty 12 minutes, in which ambient drone begets experimental sound effects that are reminiscent of the liquid bass and synths favoured by producer SOPHIE. The track evolves into a demonic lullaby that wouldn't feel out of place in an episode of American Horror Story, and fans of 2 Mello's 'Atmospheric Horror Music Vol.1' will greatly appreciate this track. The EP is all-in-all a camp experience. An Avante-Garde, quintessentially fun blend of two incredible groups.

Review: K's Choice released their ten-year retrospective compilation back in 2003. It drew together all their finest moments from the proceeding decade but gets the full reissue treatment here with limited numbered gatefold 180 gram and coloured wax. The Belgian rock band hail from Antwerp and in their heyday mixed up alt-rock, post-grunge and folk rock on a series of albums that went gold and platinum in various countries around the world. This collection has all the big, stadium-sized tunes as well as the more quiet moments of introspective calm. It's a great reminder of a band that had a big impact at the turn of the millennium.

Review: The second solo releases from Edward Ka-Spel to appear on the Lumberton Trading Company label offers eight spectacularly original compositions from the outsider artist. These are tracks that bore their way into the heart and mind through startlingly personal moods and meanings. The atmosphere is often tense, and, when it's not, 'surreal' is the word that springs to mind - albeit more unusual hallucination than comical experiment. 'Platform 5' might be the best example of how unnerving things can get, the low, rumbling synth bassline underpinning spoken word, distant, almost inaudible harmonic refrain and eerie chorus. 'No Show Tomorrow' asks "what if they had a war and nobody showed up' to seemingly disconnected tones, notes and noises. 'They Seek Her Here' ups the tempo with a synth-wave-breaks trip through dystopian spaces.

Review: Few stadiums involve the same level of America-ness as Fenway Park. Home to the Boston Red Sox, whether or not you believe baseball to be pointless and mundane, the fast food equivalent of cricket which is, somehow, also a slow cooked nothing, it's impossible not to appreciate just how much atmosphere there is in heritage sports arenas, and how much these places mean to the town that built them. For anyone to perform a concert at Fenway, then, is a privilege that betrays status. So does the deafening noise of tens of thousands singing along to the anthems on this Noah Kahan tour recording. Born in Vermont, but with strong family ties to the Boston area, the roaring and soaring folk-pop hitmaker - whose roots are as much in rock & roll as country and bluegrass - is quite simply commanding, even heard via the replay medium of vinyl or CD. Something to remember next time you consider tickets to see him in the flesh.

Review: While they are those who moved on from Kaiser Chiefs the mere moment the hype dissipated around their iconic 2005 debut Employment; the committed faithful have stuck by through six more eclectic full-lengths, now ultimately leading to the aptly titled Kaiser Chiefs' Easy Eighth Album. Produced by Amir Amor (formerly of Rudimental), and boasting co-writing credits from Chic's own disco legend Nile Rodgers on 'Feeling Alright', the material here feels less pre-occupied with where the Chiefs currently reside within the zeitgeist of modern indie-rock, and instead prioritises hooks, wit and instantaneous composition to deliver some of their tightest earworm bangers to date. Ten cuts of joyous, life-affirming, whimsical mayhem, with the horn-centric throwback 'The Job Centre Shuffle' casting attentive ears back to a time where landfill indie wasn't a death knell or even a coined term.

Review: No prizes for guessing the kind of sonic avenues we're invited to explore here. Less obvious is the fact Kandodo is actually Simon Price, a name many psych lovers will recognise from British heavyweights The Heads - a group that have spent the last few decades bending minds to their will, or at least sound, and opening up third ears with far reaching cosmic tones. Here you can expect similar wormholes to open, but dark matter reigns supreme. Introverted to the point of collapsing in on itself, Theendisinpsyche feels sludgy, deep, heavy and all the things that make us look down and then inside ourselves. With the B-side taken up by 22-minute long epic, 'Swim Into The Sun', you should hopefully know just how intense and inescapable things get - which should only ever be taken as a strong recommendation from us.

Review: This marks the first re-press since the 2019 release of Lux Prima, which is the critically acclaimed album by Yeah Yeah Yeahs' lead vocalist Karen O and renowned producer Danger Mouse. Hailed as a "dreamy and poignant collaboration" back then, the album featured the single 'Woman' which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance and a Spike Jonze-directed performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The reissue includes original artwork and a 16-page booklet highlighting their interactive exhibition, An Encounter with Lux Prima, which featured a 360-degree soundscape mixed at Skywalker Ranch.

Review: Karlowy Vary are rather legendary amongst alternative and new wave fans. They formed in Zagreb, Croatia and played widely across the former Yugoslavia throughout the 80s. They had a rather rotating line-up of musicians and one replacement frontman Milan Manojlovi?-Mance was often prone to inventing all new lyrics live on stage. This reissue is of their best album, La Femme, which is a potent and fresh now almost half a decade on as it was back in the 80s. It comes on sky blue 180 gram vinyl and fact fans will note the band's name is taken from the Kubrick film 'A Clockwork Orange.'

Review: French electronic duo KaS Product were proper enigmas. Their first decade of activity, from 1980 to 1990, was marked by carving out their own niche within a fertile and noisy corner of music close to punk, early cold and minimal wave, and indie-electro. Compared by some to Kaleidoscope-era Siouxsie and The Banshees, Soft Cell and Suicide, it's no stretch to say that without this pair -the late Spatsz (Daniel Favre) and Mona Soyoc - the likes of Prinzhorn Dance School would sound different. By Pass was up there with their finest hours and most defining creations. Arriving in 1983, it's packed with a kind of dark, back-room-of-a-dive bar venue edge that is at once anarchistic, surreal, and beautiful. 'Tina Town', for example, will raise the hair on the back of your neck, 'W Infatuation' seems to belong in some batshit Broadway musical, 'Mingled & Tingled' is all about groove and seduction. Excellent all round.

Review: The past two years have been tumultuous for every band on the planet - the old you-know-what rendering all except the biggest streaming stars and those still holding up on the sales front commercially unviable. Kasabian likely faired better in those stakes than many, but nevertheless the past 24 months or so have been northing short of challenging, with leading figure Tom Meighan's 2020 departure swiftly followed by a conviction for assaulting his partner.

Enter the new and improved incarnation of an outfit that has always straddled a line many falter on - one foot in lad rock for the Stella crew, another dipping its toes into higher concept, more daring and experimental waters. Main man Serge Pizzorno, largely responsible for the more out there moments in the back catalogue, no longer has to compromise with Meighan and it shows. The Alchemist's Euphoria is packed with plenty of ideas, from Latin-ish opener to the grand overdue of 'Scriptvure'.

Review: It's been almost 15 years since Kasabian were awarded the Q Awards 'Best Act in the World Today', and 27 years since the Leicester lads first got together. Rising to fame through their riotous version of boisterous indie rock, informed by electronica as much as Britpop's ferocity, we always knew they would eventually soften and become less swagger-ish, a transition that seems to be in full effect on Happenings, their second record without the presence of lead singer Tom Meighan. Their poppiest effort to date is still powerful stuff - there are choruses and chords here big enough to fill six Wembley Arenas, and other mammoth venues they've packed with lager-throwing disciples. More than enough to keep the old guard onside, Happenings also has plenty to win over new followers befitting the band's new era.

Review: It's safe to say Happenings is the least Kasabian sounding record we've ever had, although realising that makes you start to wonder what Kasabian ever really sounded like. Experts at hybridity, they've built an enviable reputation - and huge following - from mixing a kind of lager indie rock with more experimental elements, nodding to synth, post punk, electronica, even nu rave at times. But we can't think of many times they've come as close to sugar-coated MGMT territory as on 'Darkest Lullaby', the second track on this latest outing. Things don't stay there, though. 'GOAT' is a strange mash up of grit and candy floss with guitars and keys blazing, 'Passengers' threatens to take flight with its soaring (and decidedly sing-along) pop chorus, 'The Hell Of It' introduces growing bass music tones, 'How Far Will You Go' approaches a kind of jump up nu-metal.

Review: RECOMMENDED
The remix album is probably pretty hard to crack in terms of putting it together. On the one hand, you want a broad selection of producers to take the work and make it new again. But there's also a very real risk of winding up with a bunch of random tracks with no real coherent thread to ensure the LP is actually going to get enough people buying to warrant engineering, mastering, and pressing costs.

Khruangbin have certainly cracked it with these takes on tracks from their most recent and perhaps most lush long form outing to date. We have sophisticated micro house, percussive slo-mo disco, slick-to-the-touch downbeat grooves and surrealist pop, all of which work both individually and together, the result being a record that not only knows its own mind, it can easily convince others, too.

Review: Khruangbin might be the most logical and fitting choice for a Late Night Tales compilation in recent memory. The Texan psychedelic chill artists have always had a sense of the exploratory and unknown running through their blissful grooves, and the fundamental idea behind this series was always about opening up doors to new musical discoveries for listeners.

In many ways, the Houston trio have gone above and beyond. Melding a breadth of sounds that have emerged from an equally diverse set of cultures, we visit Hindi-disco, South Korean rock, African bass, Belarusian folk. Capped off with an exclusive version of Kool & The Gang's 'Summer Madness' conceived by the compilers themselves, it's a case of 15 gateway tracks all of which belong to artists and genres that are crying out for you to dive in.

Review: It feels like every couple of years a new reissue of Kikagaku Moyo's magical 2013 album Forest of Lost Children comes around, but we are not moaning. This group is "a musical union between five free spirits" or in less poetic terms, band founders Go Kurosawa (on drums and vocals) and Tomo Katsurada (on guitar and vocals) plus bass by and Akira also on guitar. Their sound is as unique as any, with psychedelic, folk, prog-rock, psychedelic-folk-mixed-with-prog-rock and more all collided into one another on an album that keeps you on your toes and guessing at what might come next even within each track, let alone across the whole album. If you're a new interested party this is a great primer for what the band is all about.

Review: The Killers have long-since divided opinion. Yes, tracks like 'Mr Brightside' will still fill dancefloors slick with WKD each and every Saturday night, beer boys and party girls and lost freaks and first-timers all joining together in one of the most memorable choruses of the century so far. But then their penchant for OTT pomp and pageantry has always been something of a stumbling block for many 'proper rock fans'. With that in mind, Pressure Machine could do wonders for breaking down barriers.

We're not in Kansas anymore, that's for sure, but instead Utah, and the small town of Nephi, where lead singer Bradley Flowers grew up. The album effectively takes us on a tour of what was and what probably still is, by way of a more salt of the Earth, somewhat intimate and narratively-driven collection of rock 'n' roll tracks that invoke a timeless sense of American guitar storytelling, albeit with some theatrics still intact.

Review: It's hard to believe Archy Marshall, the 'real' name behind King Krule, is only 28. Not only does his back catalogue smack of wisdom and experience, a goldmine of resonant and reflective twisted punk jazz, dark wave, pop and trip hop, it often feels as though he's always been here, inviting us to share in disillusionment, anger, melancholy and honest reflections on being human. Since arriving into the musical conscious as a very young looking teenager, initially using the pseudonym Zoo Kid, there has always been this startling juxtaposition between fresh faced adolescent we see and the wizened master of observation we hear. Things have waned in terms of intensity, with Space Heavy a fine example - fragile and vulnerable in so many moments - yet the overwhelming power has actually increased.

Review: King Pari is an LA-via-Minneapolis duo who creatively blend influences from Prince and psychedelic dub into a new sound they have described as "bedroom funk." Their infectious lo-fi tracks are rich in emotion and brimming with funky grooves so make for a catchy listen. This group actually picked up props from Prince himself before the late Purple genius passed in 2016 and since then jazz innovator Kamasi Washington has also annoyed himself as a fan. This full length is only sure to win the pair ever more accolades for this new take on classic funk.

Review: Kyle Thomas is the name of the singer-songwriter who records and performs as King Tuff. During the pandemic lockdowns he had something of a realisation about who he was and what he wanted to be and then "set out to write a love letter to those cherished moments of inspiration and to the small town that formed him," namely Brattleboro, Vermont. This is that love letter and it is an album of musical magic with uplifting and spiritual joy found in every hook and verse. There are gorgeous orchestral tones, tender moments of violin and cello and plenty of thoughtful sax lines on a gem of a record.

Review: Nashville based bad haircut sporting, southern-tinged indie rock darlings Kings Of Leon were met with immediate acclaim and hyperbolic levels of high praise across their initial three-album run, yet when 2008's Only By The Night, and to a more specific extent, the 'Sex On Fire' phenomenon transpired, the same hipsters who one summer prior were burning everyone's ears off with endless recommendation were now lambasting the group for their expansive success. This shift in perception was clearly felt internally, as the next decade of output would suffer from aimlessness and a clear lack of spark, until timid signs of reignition would appear on 2021's When You See Yourself, which in retrospect, now seems to have been a sonic toe-dip back into folk-driven, neo-Americana while boasting enough wit and self-awareness to still appeal to their more mainstream followers. Going one further, Can We Please Have Fun feels like a plead to themselves and their core devout fanbase to return to a time before 'Use Somebody' was in every TV advert, when Kings Of Leon were a cheeky, bluesy batch of enigmatic rockers with questionable haircuts and charming southern drawls. They might still look like pop megastars nowadays, but on their ninth full-length, the Followills sound more self-assured, and joyous as ever.

Review: Now 21 years into a hugely successful career, you'd forgive Kings of Leon for resting on their laurels. That they've not done that with Can We Have Fun, their ninth studio album. Instead of dialling in alt-rock-tinged American rock anthems - their stock-in-trade - they've instead delivered a set that's as spiky, unpredictable and infectious as their earliest work, while also making space for moodier, slower and more atmospheric songs. So, on one hand you have recent single 'Mustang', an infectious slab of garage-rock funkiness, and the weighty Foo Fighters riffs and booming bass of 'Nothing To Do'; on the other the slow-motion beats, effects-laden ambient textures, soft-burn guitar solos and dreamy sonics of 'Split Screen' and the country-goes-indie flex of 'Actual Daydream'.

Review: Transporting us to a waking dream of Los Angeles, two enigmatic music makers from the City of (Fallen) Angels present a truly stunning journey into hazy half-memories, afternoon fantasies, borrowed recollections and thoughts of things yet to happen. In many ways, Salt & Sugar Look The Same feels incomplete; tracks, half-tracks, movements, bits and pieces feel like our minds often work. Was that what we think it was? Did this happen? According to the official release burb, these 18 brief but beautiful compositions combine finger-plucked guitar work, the lens flare of electronica, and warped samples to create a take on the American primitivism music movement. The result is something that transcends boundaries of sound, time and place, and exists in a world of its own creation.

Review: Opening on the grinding powerhouse of 'I', Kosmik Sun present three tracks of epic, cinematic heavy rock-metal which gives a nod to the likes of Mogwai and Explosions In the Sky. Albeit here things seem to have taken more of an influence from darker places, with each part of the triptych casting an eerie spell over the listener, transporting them to psychedelic, doom-laden otherworldly places. The side project of German aficionado Eugen Kohl, best known for the Crypt Witch project, Kosmik Sun also features members of Coven Spell and Devil Leaf, which, if nothing else, should let any newbies know exactly what they're in for. Steeped in deep stoner atmosphere, not to mention exceptional, gritty musicality, this is intensity for thinking people and it never lets up.

Review: Kreidler return to Bureau B and not without good reason. Their seventh outing on the highly respected label follows suit on previous exploits, exploring some outer limits of cosmic-leaning, guitar-led, electronically augmented stuff. Tracks that feel made for the hidden dancefloors of weird basements as much as the soundtracks to avant garde science fiction. And if that's too much of a stretch, let's just say 'mesmerising' and have done with it. Comparing and contrasting the warm bleeps and filtered hooks of 'Diver', for example, with 'Tanger Telex' and its strange, smoky brass trip into downtempo smoky heaven serves as a quick example of just how broad yet coherent Twists is. As does 'Arthmetique', a strange, patient thing of rhythmic licks and spoken word, when considered next to the fuzzy, dub-tech-meets-math rock of 'Mount Mason'.

Review: Japanese singer-songwriter Junko Kudo has released just two solo albums and one EP but has many more credits having built up a reputation for her vocals on the works of others including greats like Mimori Yusa amongst others. Her debut full-length Akaneiro No Carnival gets reissued here with an insert and obi-strip 40 years after it first arrived. It features Tetsuya Komuro and Daisuke Hyuga working on the arrangements and performance and is a delightful pop gem with hints of wave and synth-pop all drawing you in while the ephemeral whispering vocals from Kudo blend with melancholic melodies and wistful chords.