Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Founded in 2023, Category 1 Music (C1M) builds on deep roots in house music, focusing on soulful house vocal productions on a fine international scale. Beyond digital releases, they're now diving into vinyl with a series of exclusive drops; the first is a Category 1 Music Sampler, a 12" of four standouts by Terry Dexter, Michael Gray, Dr Packer, Richard Earnshaw, and DJ Spinna. Organic but still well cooked Ibiza house predominates the set menu, whether by way of the ultrasoul wateriness of Terry Dexter's 'You Saved Me' or the tighter but still dreamy entreaties of Shawn Christopher's 'He's Got It', both translated in exquisite mashup form by the likes of Gray and Packer.

Review: Kero Uno has been kicking for almost two decades, credited with reviving jazz sensibilities in hip-hop almost three decades since it, unfortunately, fell out of fashion around the turn of the century. K1 introduces city-pop and jazz-hop to two of Kdots biggest tracks, 'Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe' and 'Love', the former of which was put on SoundCloud almost a decade ago now and created nothing but buzz. K1 skyrocketed to fame, having his album crowdfunded by excited fans and catching the attention of Kendrick's own mix engineer Derek Ali. The 'Don't Kill My Vibes' mix flips the 2012 hit into a vibraphone-led synthy jazz slice of heaven, while the 'Love' flip, 'Vinyl Love', is a chill, wavey city-pop banger, with subtle brass and airtight percussion coming together in perfect matrimony.

Review: Jacopo Latini returns to Altered Circuits with a four-track EP that sharpens his minimalist approach while maintaining his signature melodic touch. Focused squarely on groove, each track explores subtle yet impactful progression and opener 'Sharp' sets the tone with eerie atmospheres, vocoded vocals and fluid 303 squelches. 'Impulse' rides a hypnotic FM bass and sharp percussion for a dramatic yet refined journey. 'Bright Sound' balances modulated leads and deadpan vocals with euphoric touches and closing track 'Rave Harvey' bursts with '90s trance energy which marks a bold shift toward high-intensity club euphoria and minimal design with maximal impact.

Review: The legendary David Holmes returns under his new alias The Light Brigade, with a brilliant outing on Mystic Arts, which follows up his appearance on the Sounds From The Flightpath Estate compilation. Side A, 'Shuffle The Deck,' was made with electro don Keith Tenniswood of Two Lone Swordsmen and is a fiery, bass-driven sermon laced with gospel, acid loops, Arthur Russell-style cello and a sample of the late great Andrew Weatherall reflecting on rave as spiritual ritual. On the B-side, 'Only Love Can Save Us' is an expansive, kosmische-inspired collaboration with Michael Andrews that is chiming, soaring and deeply emotional. A moving and transcendent tribute to dance music's past and future.

Review: Kendrick Lamar aka. K Dot is hip-hop's all-time crown-bearer for the 2010s. Last time we checked, the same was true for the 2020s too. Bridging both decades came To Pimp A Butterfly, which saw mammoth success upon its 2015 release. Though perhaps prematurely slapped with the "classic" label all too soon (and though this wasn't wrong), one good index of an all-time great album is the prevalence of affectionate initialisms among diehard fans: in no time at all, it became known as "TPAB". The Compton rapper had had a firm social conscience ever since the release of Section 80 and Good Kid, Mad City, and TPAB would continue to restitute the many racial and consumeristic ills of American society; unforgettably, a White House mutiny is depicted on the original front cover. Songs like 'I', 'Sing For Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst', 'King Kunta' and 'Institutionalized' revolutionised rap through every motif from G-funk bounce to freeform jazz. Now, after a recent Super Bowl Halftime Show backed by vexingly ironic American flags and pyrotechnics, we hear a newly emerged butterfly: Kendrick's meliorative flows and butterfly-effect cogitations resound with the utmost clarity on this grey UMR edition.

Review: Celebrating the tentth anniversary of a release that redefined the possibilities of hip-hop both as music and message, UMR share a brand new edition of Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly. Though a tanked camo butterfly now takes centre stage on the front cover, the tracklist remains unchanged; an unusual move for anniversary editions indeed, though perhaps the observation should be made that the sheer stylistic variety Kendrick offered us back in 2015 should keep us grateful well into the 21st Century. Besides, who'd want to tamper with the tracklist of a 10/10 record? They sure know how to keep the purists happy. From the explosive urgency of 'The Blacker the Berry' to the introspective poetry of 'u' and the cultural rallying cry of 'Alright', Lamar's vision remains as urgent and layered as ever.