Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Well Curated is a series of releases and parties that - in its own words - "reflects the ethnomusicology of the last 50 years of music" - and aims to reach into all genres, merging classic styles and breaking down barriers. Steve Spacek occupies the A-side with the breezy broken beat and soul-in-space of 'Alone In Da Sun', while Lukid's 'Hair Of The Dog' is a more intense counterpart, with wobbling sub-bass and swirling, surging atmospherics hovering above.

Review: Teddy Powell and Zee Desmondes are The Jack Moves, a contemporary disco and hip hop outfit who here link with unknown newbies The People Of Newark and Larry Hamm for this tidy new 7" on Star Creature. 'Horror Games' has a squelchy synth bass line that carries the loose drum work and bustling methane of background vocals and found sounds. A lead singer takes charge up top as various chatting crowds play out in the background. It's a busy tune that also comes as an instrumental for those who prefer the focus to be on the well crafted drums and bass.

Review: Berlin party crew Aller Ende Anfang presents their debut release, featuring five diverse and energetic tracks. The first side begins with the bass-heavy computer funk of 'Hyperdrive' by Icelandic producer Jadzia, followed by Bielefeld Murder Boys' peak time techno remix of Lord Pusswhip's 'Sveigth' and Unwucht's 'Back Da Fuck Up' - and catchy mixture of donk and ghetto house tropes. Over on the flip, Crouds goes for a bass-heavy and off-kilter UK sound on 'Splinters' and one more sci-fi beat programme courtesy of Hungary's LAU om 'Hangover'.

Review: Brit-boogie obscurity alert! You might not be familiar with La Famille - a short-lived group established by jazz guitarist Alan Weekes, whose members also included then future Soul 2 Soul singer Caron Wheeler and a pre-fame Cleveland Watkiss - but in 'Dancer', they made one of the loveliest jazz-funk/boogie crossover records of the early 1980s. Originally a white label-only release and near impossible to find since, the record has long been crying out for a reissue. It has all the ingredients you'd expect - squelchy synth-bass, soulful vocals, leisurely jazz guitars, drum machine beats and an overriding sense of musical sweetness - and is presented in equally essential vocal and instrumental mix variations.

Review: Lady Wray delivers a powerful two-sider here as she hooks up with Grammy-nominated producer Leon Michels of Clairo and El Michels Affair for another single as they put the final touches to her upcoming album. The A-side, 'Be A Witness,' features Nicole's soaring vocals gliding over deep drum machines and Nick Movshon's funky bass which makes it a smooth mid-tempo groove about destined love and good vibes. On the flip, 'Best For Us' explores love, commitment and perseverance with lush synths and harmonies floating over Homer Steinweiss' tight drumming. They provide the perfect setting for Lady Wray's standout voice and get us excited for the full length.

Review: Tommy Largo is a big deal in the world of jacking house and here he lands on Greenhouse Recordings with plenty of evidence to support that. His sound comes steeped with Southern influences on opener 'BBQ Ribs' with its noodling jazz chords and spoken word mutterings making for a lively atmosphere over funky beats. The Jam Funk Remix has a Chicago bump to it with the jazzy keys left in place over well-swung drums. 'On No Not Again' hints at new jack swing with its steamy sax lines and effortlessly catchy groove before 'BBQ Ribs' (Oddphonic remix) closes out with the deepest sound of the lot, perfect for when the sun has gone down and the party heads indoors.

Review: DJ/producer Philip Lauer from Frankfurt has teamed up with Berlin vocalist Dena to create a modern take on Julie Stapleton's soulful house classic, containing multiple versions. Lauer's Hotel Lauer EP on Especial in 2016 cemented his position in the scene, with albums for Permanent Vacation and Running Back. Dena, born in Bulgaria and raised in Berlin, has released electronic dance-pop stylings on Kitsune Music and K7. The EP features a Club Mix, a Demo Mix, a deep tech remix by DJ Slyngshot, and a drifting Balearic version for late summer nights and dawn.

Review: This second collection of edits from Italy's matter-of-fact Edits Collection label offers another quarter of superbly feel-good disco sounds. 'Slow Luv' has lush strings and plenty of Philly vibes, while 'Stranger Beat' layers up the jumbled percussion, sliding hi-hats and funky bass. Flip it over for 'Xpress Yourself' which is sure to weave its way into your soul with its hip-shaking groove and more funky bass frets than you know what to do with. 'Xpress Yourbeats' is a more raw and drum focused sound for amping up those energy levels on the floor.

Review: LIMC's Ramp EP is a perplexing thing. Released by Germany's Inch By Inch this year, it sounds like it was born in simpler times, while also being a complex piece of work by anyone's standards. Downbeat? Certainly in terms of tempo, but perhaps not so much when it comes to how you take in the contents, which are designed to keep you hooked rather than play easy on the mind.

IDM? Maybe, there are few genre labels more fitting, although to us it really sounds more like an accomplished, refined, and sophisticated retro-hued video game score looking for a home and finding one not in the colourful on-screen antics of some bright-eyed playable, but the sound systems of forward-thinkers everywhere. A great, if obscure, one to own.

Review: Two proper peaches from the melodic end of the house/techno spectrum from Samantha Poulter aka Logic1000. 'Perfume' sees the Sydney-born, Berlin-based DJ and producer adding several layers of bittersweet vocals to a chunky and lightly-embellished-breaks house groove. Flip track 'Blossom' comes up equally smelling of roses with a more progressive-slanted instrumental vibe that's equally playable. The sweet smell - and sound - of success.

Review: Make Your Own Meaning continues to convey its unique techno message with a new statement of intent from label head Lurka. The artist has been busy of late and continues to be on a roll with another fascinating four tracker that genuinely serves up some original sounds and rhythms. 'Trip' gets things underway with organic percussive patterns stacked up over drilling bass to make for a prickly groove. 'Airlock' is similar but darker and heavier and 'Sick Flips' keeps the nimble feel going with dancing perc, rigid synths and scratchy sound effects all coalescing over broken drum patterns. Last of all is another dense, busy and multi-layered melange of tiny percussive sounds, synths and clipped rhythms that will make any floor move.

Review: Lurka ended the year on a high with a kick-ass new EP on his own new label Make Your Own Meaning. He is now set to start 2023 in an equally strong fashion with four more futuristic bass fusions. 'Wire' is a minimal stepper with bursts of bass and flitting percussive lines. 'Molten Drum' is another twitchy mix of malfunctioning computer sounds, refracted vocals and fizzing synths that keep you on edge then 'Machine' picks ups the pace with jumpy rhythms and militant snare work. 'Zone (Packet)' rounds out with a double-speed workout and juke patterns that head out on a cosmic journey.

Review: It would seem we're back on the Christmas card list... 2000 Black supergroup comprising the likes of Dego, Mensah and original Bugz members Lord and Tatham have been slowly ramping up their releases again and this year has seen their largest output yet. Following "Two Way Here One Way Go", "Simmering" proffers three more sublime and silky instrumentals from deeply decorated foursome. "Simmering" is a tight jazz funk jam with a sprung guitar groove spine and a blissful switch into soothing flutes midway, "Private Life" flips for a sunnyside digidub, all spacious and rippling with its breezy keys while "Climb The Sun" brings us back to the funk root note but with rising synth insistency that's bruk to the bone. Simmering now, boiling tomorrow...

Review: Mike Lazarev drops his first album on Past Inside the Present and it's one that reminds us why he has such a great reputation as being one of modern ambient and classical's finest composers. After exploring notions of time on previous records, for this one, he embraces the here and now and that lends itself to a record steeped in mindfulness and meditation. As such, Sacred Tonalities is a perfect accompaniment to introspective moments with textural soundscapes placing you at the centre of them. The harmonics range from soft to gritty, the moods occasionally hint at trance and the layers of bass, piano and arps bring subtle and ever-shifting rhythms.

Review: DJ, curator and producer Dave Lee (fka. Joey Negro) continues to celebrate his 30-odd year long career in music with his second curatorital comp release. The 'Produced With Love' series charts all of Lee's original productions in soulful house and disco, and this second edition includes choices songs by the likes of Destiny II, Leroy Burgess and Andreya Triana. Always collaborative and with effortless attention to funking detail, Lee brings it once again.

Review: With the tragic, untimely passing of lead vocalist Chester Bennington in 2017, it naturally appeared to be the end for nu-metal/alt rock juggernauts Linkin Park, until recently shocking their fans with the confirmed news that Dead Sara vocalist Emily Armstrong would be taking Bennington's place, while new drummer Colin Brittain would step in to replace Rob Bourdain who decided not to join the reformation. Serving as the follow up to 2017's pop focused One More Light, the band's upcoming eight full-length LP From Zero takes its title from their original early day name Xero whilst highlighting this newly defined creative origin the members have found themselves cornered into, bearing clear signs of a desire to celebrate their nu-metal beginnings without undoing the decades worth of progression they have accomplished since. With 11 tracks and just over a half-hour runtime, it's evident the project appears to be prioritising brevity and a succinct introduction to this new era without losing site of what sonically drew their legions of fans to them in the first place. It's a brave, delicate time for Linkin Park with From Zero championed as the heralding of this new chapter, aiming to hopefully bridge and appease listeners from all spectrums of their back catalogue.

Review: Lowfish originally released his 'Burn The Lights Out' LP in 2007 on the US label Satamile but we have found some copies of it in the warehouse. Synth-pop meets breakbeats in an electrifying fusion of emotive melodies and bass-heavy beats across all four sides of the long player with ten then-new tracks and two classics from his Sat.31 EP. They all show that his music, complex yet accessible, evokes images of Blade Runner, Wave Noir, or William Gibson. It is post-modern in approach as it skilfully blends past and present styles to create a sound uniquely his own, seamlessly bridging the gap between eras while pushing the boundaries in his own way.

Review: While punk imprint-turned-electro and bass outfit Bunker Records specialises in 'dark electronic music for mutants' (as they put it), the Den Haag-based imprint is not averse to offering up oddball excursions and releases that are formidably hard to pigeonhole. We perhaps shouldn't be too surprised, then, to find them offering up a first label outing from Lunatika, a trap and drill rapper from the Hague whose Split Second Origins Part 1 LP is restlessly brilliant and impossible to describe. His raps - sometimes doused in auto-tune - are a constant, as is a lo-fi sound that pushes booming basslines and lo-fi beats to the fore. Bolted onto this framework are nods to mutant hip-hop, chopped and screwed R&B, dub, UK bass and his beloved drill and trap.