Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Celebrating the extraordinary new biopic Bob Marley: One Love, Island/UMe releases a limited edition of Marley's timeless album Exodus. This version features the original album with an alternate cover, an exclusive 10" LP of rare bonus tracks and an essay by Jamaican music historian Herbie Miller, all encased in a gatefold design for the first time. Miller's liner notes illuminate Exodus as a profound document revealing Marley's contemplations, fears, and steadfast commitment to equity and spreading Rastafari spirituality globally. The alternate cover, designed by Marley's friend and creative director Neville Garrick, initially depicted a migrating bird symbolizing the parting of the Red Sea, with Marley and the Wailers under Haile Selassie's gaze. This original design is featured on the back of the new release. The bonus 10" LP includes dub versions of 'Exodus,' 'Jamming,' and 'Punky Reggae Party,' along with the rare track 'Roots,' making their vinyl debut after decades. These additions provide a deeper, immersive way to experience Marley's visionary artistry.

Review: The debut album Approach to Anima by Maya Ongaku landed originally in May 2023 but sold out quickly so is now being reissued. Initially available as a rare import, the album features Sonoda's fluid guitar and vocals, Takano's undulating bass, Ikeda's ethereal woodwinds and delicate synths and percussion to create a calm yet unsettling atmosphere. Tracks like 'Approach' and 'Water Dream' showcase their diverse influences by blending "Neo-Dada and Fluxus" with 1960s recording advancements. Based in serene Enoshima, the trio's music is free-spirited and reveals hidden depths and untamed vitality which reflect their ongoing creative journey.

Review: Marisa Monte's influence remains unwavering, and her 2021 return with Portas reaffirmed her legendary status despite a decade-long hiatus. Her first album since O Que Voce Quer Saber de Verdade in 2011 effortlessly blends romantic pop with occasional forays into samba, as heard in 'Elegante Amanhecer.' Standout tracks include the wonderful 'Calma,' the beautifully arranged 'Espaconaves,' and the bright 'Sal.' 'Vagalumes' is a highlight, merging Spanish flamenco chords with Modernist Brazilian poetry. Monte's voice, soothing and natural, brings tranquility amid Brazil's ongoing challenges. Collaborators like Arnaldo Antunes, Nando Reis and newcomers like Silva contribute to the album's excellence. Monte's daughter Flor de Maria and samba-rock artist Seu Jorge join her on the hopeful 'Pra Melhorar.' Portas exudes grace, offering an almost escapist positivity. It's an album for both the pandemic era and a hopeful future, showcasing Monte's timeless appeal and elegant self-assurance.

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: Recorded at the storied Slugs' Saloon in Manhattan's Lower East Side, this unified collection captures the Charles Tolliver-led Music Inc quartet in blistering form. New York runs through the musiciits restlessness, density, sharp corners. Tolliver, a Brooklyn-born trumpeter with a militant edge and lyrical touch, fronts a group that helped define the forward-looking jazz of the early 70s. Beside him are Strata-East co-founder Stanley Cowell on piano, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Jimmy Hopps, all embedded in the New York avant-garde at the time. On pieces like 'Felicite' and 'Wilpan's', they stretch out with blistering force, melting structure into raw, insistent groove. Even in quieter momentsi'Ruthie's Heart', or the shadowy 'Repetition'ithere's a tension that never quite releases, the sense that every note is carved in real time. This is the first time both volumes are presented as one continuous document, expanded with three previously unreleased tracks. It's a vital capture of a quartet thinking collectively, improvising with unrelenting intensity and total mutual trust. The sound, newly remastered, gives space to the grit and nuance of the live sessioniCowell's cascading runs, McBee's deep pull, Hopps' unpredictable propulsion. There's no studio polish here, just a direct line to the spirit of a time and place, when New York jazz burned fast, political and free.