Review: Cliff Martinez's soundtrack is a full realised musical world that is defined by eerie synths and pulsating rhythms, all of which perfectly capture The Neon Demon hypnotic and unsettling atmosphere. Martinez is well known for his work on Drive and Only God Forgives and here once more delivers a score that is both haunting and seductive while mirroring the neon-lit world of fashion and obsession. The soundtrack weaves dreamy, ambient textures with dark, throbbing electronic undercurrents that draw you in and highlights include 'Neon Demon' and 'Mine' which pulse with icy beauty and mean this one stands as one of Martinez's most evocative and chilling compositions.
Review: Swedish progressive groove metal legends and djent pioneers Meshuggah have always been in competition with themselves, nearly eclipsing all prior output with 2022's ninth full-length Immutable; a near 70-minute beastly display of ludicrously technical, poly rhythmic mayhem that served as both their lengthiest work to date as well as one of their most critically acclaimed, combining the unhinged aggression of 2008's ObZen with the post-prog hypnotism of their 2002 fan-favourite Nothing. The Indelible Edition offers a unique sonic enhancement and total remaster, redefining the album's depth and clarity, while including three bonus live tracks captured over the course of their 2023/2024 world tours. A very on-brand reissue from a collective known for their painstakingly detailed commitment to their vision and craft, whether you prefer the term "indelible" or "definitive", this is the version of Immutable the band finally appear content with sharing with their fanbase almost three years after initial release, almost like the Kanye West of progressive metal but without all of the antisemitism. Complete with updated artwork and gold foil intricacies for the aesthetically minded fanbase.
Review: An exciting, previously unreleased live recording of the iconic US jazz bassist Charles Mingus captured in Buenos Aires in June 1977. The performance features a stellar lineup with Ricky Ford on tenor sax, Jack Walrath on trumpet, Robert Neloms on piano and Dannie Richmond on drums, and now comes transferred from the original tape reels, recorded by engineer Carlos Melero, having been meticulously mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab. This limited-edition triple album set is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Le Vinylist, and comes with an elaborate booklet featuring newly commissioned liner notes and interviews with artists influenced by Mingus. Released in with the authorisation of the Charles Mingus Estate, this is an exclusive offering for Record Store Day 2025.
Review: Renowned DJ and selector MURO is a Jedi-level compiler and this new collection of his delves into Victor's extensive archives to spotlight a world of Japanese jazz, fusion and AOR. It take sin plenty of internationally known names like Yasuko Agawa on the sunset sounds of 'L.A. Night', Sadistics who offers the more psyched out guitar leans of 'On the Seashore', Yuji Ohno's neo-Balaeric bliss-out 'The Dawn of Seychells' and Hiroshi Fukumura's soul soothing Ry Ayres-style melodies on 'White Clouds.' These are luxurious sounds and timeless tracks with MURO's signature funky perspective making this a brillaint choice for brighter, warmer days.
Review: It's been a long time since Halo: Combat Evolved revolutionised the word of first-person shooter video games. Graphically superior to anything that had come before it, the franchise also benefits from a spectacularly gripping storyline in which humans are outgunned and out-teched by a ruthless and uncompromising alliance of superiorly equipped alien races united as The Covenant. The titular Halo adds a kind of Prometheus air of uncertainty, as nobody really knows what it does until attempts to activate the galaxy-destroying weapon reveal something worse than death - a parasitic breed called the Flood. If all that was enough to blow everyone away in 2001, 2004 brought us to a whole new level of immersion in this future scape. Just like its predecessor, a big part of the impact was the visionary score by gaming soundtrack masters Martin O'Donnell and Michael Savatori. Now here it is in all its Gregorian chanting glory.
Review: Laced Records and Halo Studios partner up to bring the epic soundtracks of the original Halo trilogy to vinyl for the first time, remastering and revamping 83 original scores from Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3. the music that defined a franchise is thus ethered in perpetuity. Weaving orchestral elements, prog rock, drum corps marches, and heavy metal, Halo presents a perfect bottling of angst and militancy; owing to its popularity with a certain teen gamer cohort, Halo 2's score especially made history as the first video game OST to chart on the Billboard 200. Now, each soundtrack is presented in its own sleeve with custom artwork, and comes in a collector's box adorned with a debossed Halo logo and silver laminate finish.
Early archives from the collection of Roger Miret, chronicle the beginning of the New York Hardcore scene, and the DIY ethic that created the sound and feel of Agnostic Front
Notes: With Time | The Roger Miret Archives
"Agnostic Front was a product of one of the most notorious and dangerous times of New York City history. The band captured those times sonically and visually. An image and sound that could have only risen from the grimy streets of old New York City. A time when the struggle fuelled incredible branches of creativity not only sonically but mainly within the underground wave of Artist clashing with Punks evolving into an inspirational era fuelled by the New York City Punk boom that bridged and reached the world in many inspirational ways."
"These are some of my archives that I have cherished my whole life. A time capsule of an era where life presented the darkest days of my life with light at the other end of the tunnel and that light was ambient even though it all seemed in black and white there was that one colourful rose rising from the concrete grime of the New York City streets. That colourful rose was my life, my soul growing and reaching my maximum being and my purpose and path in life."
-Roger Miret
Early archives from the collection of Roger Miret, chronicle the beginning of the New York Hardcore scene, and the DIY ethic that created the sound and feel of Agnostic Front.
348 pages of Early Flyers, Art, photography, and tour stories.
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