Back catalogue: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz/Nu Soul

Review: Four artists with a taste for classic deep house infused with more than a touch of house line on the Silver Walker label's sixth release. Following releases on the likes of Local Talk, Balance, Traxx Underground, Mate, Quintessentials and upcoming projects on Nervous and NDATL, Shaka opens proceedings with a flurry of Hammond and plenty of exotic percussion, lie Alan Hawkshaw riffing with Underground Resistance. Glenn Davis (Wolf, Yore Records, Deeper Groove and Selections Records) delivers a deeper house workout on the A2 house track, the jazzy keyboard chords, fluttering flute and restless synths working real magic. One of the masterminds behind the Silver Walker label, Diego aka DFRA, comes on all perky with the saxes and soloing Rhodes, on the second side's opener, 'Nitewax'. Then we close with Damien aka Keymono (founder of several labels including Monocturne Records and Funkyshirts) laying on the handclaps of classic disco strings, the snippets of funk guitar and vibes the cherry on top.

Review: While the Reflex was the first to forge a career out of multi-track re-editing (which would have been called remixing back in the disco era, since you are rearranging using the original parts), plenty of producers have followed in his footsteps in recent times - not least popular disco and funk party-starter Smoove. Here he serves up a ninth instalment in his excellent 'Multitrack Reworks' series. On side A he does a stellar job in reinventing Depeche Mode's 'Enjoy The Silence' as a squelchy, synths-and-slap-bass sporting mid-tempo disco anthem, complete with spine-tingling vocal breakdowns. He opens side B with a stripped-back, dubbed-out take on Al Green classic 'Let's Stay Together', smartly emphasising the bittersweet beauty of the original version's orchestral accompaniment, before delivering a sweet, head-nodding take on the Emotions' 'Blind Alley'.

Review: This is one of the most ambitious 7"s we've ever come across - it is an EP with 11 'tracks' that all play out like a beat tape with interludes crafted by SNDTRAK. It has everything a good beat tape should have - dusty drums, ill samples and a rich sense of soul and storytelling. It moves at pace through the different moods and grounds with gorgeous pianos, sunny vocals, lush strings and mellifluous melodies all grabbing your attention at various points as it plays out. A wonderful and cultural trip through sound.

Review: Brothers Emanuel and Gerardo Cedillo are the family duo behind the Soul Of Hex pair and here they deliver a rich EP of essential house music on the ever more esteemed Mexican label Kilometro 4.5. Featuring top-tier collaborations with Kuniyuki and Underground Resistance's techno titan and "Mad" Mike Banks, this four-track release is alive with soulful l creativity and genre-blending energy. Infused with jazz, electro, soul, gospel and funk influences, each track channels those elements through a timeless house perspective and makes a great mark on the 'floor.

Review: Galaxy Sound Company has become one of those cop-on-sight labels thanks to is cultured 45rpm edit series. This time, label staple, bedroom B-boy beatmaker and Michigan native Strictlybutters drops a sweet duo of beatstrumentals that skate, stomp and groove with great style. Side A's 'Espresso Con Panna' flips Salt of the Earth's 1984 gospel-funk banger 'Love Light II' into a bass-thumping, sax-smooth hip-hop gem that will enliven any party. The second offer is just as sweet: 'Pain Au Chocolat' is a Detroit-inspired and buttery groove dripping in jazzy Axelrod-esque flair. Pure head-nod gold.

Review: JKriv's classic Bukom Mashie Rework gets a deluxe revival in a delectable 7-inch package having long been hard to find if not out of print entirely. And now what's more it also features a fresh acid dub. The original eight minute opus has been expertly trimmed for a streamlined A-side stomper, while the B-side showcases a brand-new version with a reimagined arrangement. This edition is embellished with vibrant 303 acid lines and live flute by the talented Domenica from Underground System all of which ensure that it is sure to become a big summer anthem once more in 2024.

Review: Memories in Beach House by Seaside Lovers is one of those much sought-after city pop gems. It comes from 1983 and on now is it reissued on vinyl. The album features three iconic Japanese musicians of the 80s - Akira Inoue, Hiroshi Sato, and Masataka Matsutoya (who is the husband of Yumi Matsutoya) and as master keyboardists, they deliver a lush, harmonically rich collection of island fusion sounds that blend jazz and electronic influences into new forms. The mostly instrumental tracks are occasionally accented with light Balearic vocals and so although summer may be over, this album transports you to the sea with its relaxing beachside vibes and smooth atmospheric sound.

Review: Renowned producer Shuko is back with Jazzterfield 3, another masterful blend of hip-hop, soul and jazz that continues his celebrated series in fine style. This third instalment fuses classic jazz influences with modern beats and soulful rhythms and draws on the experiences the producer has gleaned by collaborating with artists like Anderson .Paak, Kanye West and Chance the Rapper. Shuko also brings his own signature style to tracks that are perfect for intimate listening or lively playlists. Fans of golden-era hip-hop with lush jazz textures and soul-infused beats will find Jazzterfield 3 a perfect soundtrack this winter season.

Review: Jimmy Lacy's first missive as Sip, a highly limited cassette put out by Chicagoan "small press" specialists Eye Vybe Records, captured him performing synthesiser soundscapes live on a local radio station. Since then, he has put out a debut studio album - the synth-wave, new-age and Radiophonic Workshop-influenced Leos Naturals - and a collaborative cassette. Here he makes his vinyl bow with another distinctive collection of synth-rooted recordings, Leos Ultras. Like much of his previous work, it seems to exist at the intersection between Stereolab, 1970s new age synthesiser recordings, lo-fi Balearica, experimental movie soundtracks and the vintage synth-powered cheeriness of Plone. It's an enticing, entertaining and pleasingly pure proposition whose occasional nods to jazz surprise and delight in equal measure.

Review: Konrad Sprenger, as any real heads will know, is a moniker of Jorg Hiller, who works in many fields including composing, producing and instrument building. His work seamlessly blends scientific exploration of sound with pop sensibility and humour. From the diverse instrumentation of albums like Miniaturen and Versprochen to the electric guitar explorations of Stack Music in 2017, Hiller's evolution is ever-captivating. Here he unites these elements into a playful, infectious epic performed by Hiller and the enigmatic Ensemble Risonanze Moderne with guest Oren Ambarchi weaving swirling harmonics into its vibrant soundscapes. These two side-long pieces feature polyrhythmic frameworks blending shimmering guitar harmonics, horns and synthetic bursts into a mix of avant-garde and techno wonderment. Hiller doesn't release very often but when he does, it's worth taking note.

Review: Macie Stewart's debut on International Anthem finds the multi-instrumentalist and composer, in her own words, writing a "love letter to the moments we spend in-between," all while returning to her first instrument, the piano. Through prepared piano, field recordings and string quartets, she creates a cinematic, transient world that reflects her musical journey. Featuring collaborations with artists like Lia Kohl and Whitney Johnson, the album weaves a sound collage of memory and movement that is inspired by her travels. When the Distance is Blue muses on themes of change, longing and the beauty found in the unknown.

Review: International Anthem continues to serve up inspired debuts from some of the more intriguing members of Chicago's jazz and experimental music communities. The latest comes from multi-instrumentalist, composer and improviser Macie Stewart, who has delivered what's being dubbed "a companion piece for moving through life". At the heart of the album is Stewart's use of both piano and 'prepared piano' (a technique where various items such as coins and pieces of felt are attached to the instrument's strings). These picturesque and occasionally melancholic musical motifs come wrapped in atmospheric field recordings and sensitive string quartet arrangements. The results are rarely less than memorable, mesmerising and magnificent.

Review: You don't need to know that Craobh Haven was made during a one week residency at a tiny cabin in a remote Scottish village of the same name. One play through of the latest stunner to land on the ever-excellent ambient institution SWIMS and it'll feel like you were there in person. A witness to the creation of this strangely natural-feeling, highly technically-crafted, six tracker. Everything about the work by London-based musician and visual artist Loz Keystone and Glaswegian synth explore and jazz trumpeter Christos Stylianides feels in the right place. Its warm and fuzzy but vast and windswept. It's avant garde and abstract, but rounded and complete. It's incredibly inviting and slowly hypnotic. Distant samples of inaudible chatter and looped melodic refrains. Distorted walls of noise masking the patient power of aching brass. You get the point.

Review: In classic jazz style, this collaborative three-way debut album brings together three musicians at the top of their game: SML members Gregory Uhlman (guitar and effects) and Josh Johnson (saxophone and effects), and sometime Louis Cole, Sam Gendel and Chaka Khan collaborator Sam Wilkes (bass and effects). Musically, what the trio offers is undeniably unique, with International Anthem describing the album as "a jazz-informed take on progressive electro-acoustic chamber music". Certainly, there's much to enjoy, from the tracked bass, guitar and sax loops and subtle changes of 'Mavis' and the dreamlike ambient jazz of 'Arpy', to the bubbling cosmic jazz of 'Frica' and a stunning, off-kilter instrumental cover of Magical Mystery Tour-era Beatles number 'The Fool On The Hill'.

Review: Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes is the debut album from Gregory Uhlmann, Josh Johnson and Sam Wilkes, a collective of three versatile improvisers, arrangers and producers whose work spans jazz, rock and experimental. Across 11 instrumental tracks, they explore a jazz-informed take on progressive electro-acoustic chamber music that brings beauty, melody and rhythm to the fore. The record was conceived during live shows and a home session in Los Angeles and features Uhlmann's mournful fingerpicked guitar, Wilkes' bass chording and Johnson's effect-laden saxophone. Their arrangement-minded improvisation results in some nicely otherworldly textures as they push their instruments to create a spacious, lyrical sound.