Review: Just three months after its predecessor was released, the second and final part of Joe Armon-Jones' epic All The Quiet album series lands in stores. Entirely written, produced and mixed by the man himself - with a few friends and high-profile guests popping up to add instruments or take to the mic - the set offers atmospheric, immersive and perfectly-pitched musical fusions rooted in his various sonic influences (think jazz, funk, soul, hip-hop and dub). Highlights are plentiful, from the deep and dreamy jazz-soul shuffle of 'Another Place' (featuring significant contributions from vocalists Greentea Peng and Wu-Lu), to the warming, dubbed-out soul of top-tier Yazmin Lacey collaboration 'One Way Traffic'.
Review: Stockholm-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Art Longo impresses here with Echowah Island, a new album sure to wind its way into your affections. It was crafted over years in his home studio and is "psychotropical pop" drawing deep inspiration from late 80s music and dub. The album's lush soundscape evokes orange sunsets and ocean breezes and is layered with spring reverb, space echo and wah-wah effects that smooth out the edges as the steady pulse of vintage drum machines moves things on down low. A standout feature is Claudio Jonas, whose ethereal vocals recall classic French femme fatale singers of the 60s. Her poetic, kaleidoscopic lyrics add to a nostalgic dream world that gently bends reality and makes his both escapist and thought-provoking.
Review: After 15 years of live space-rock improvisations and jam sessions around Europe, Bambi Davidson finally got round to delivering their second LP last month. Warmly received by old fans and new, here we find the title track repurposed as an extensive 13 minute exercise in spatial expressionism. Dreamy, deep and full of endless twists and turns, this is the epitome of modern cosmicity. Claremont never cease to surge forward.
Review: Given that Paul "Mudd" Murphy, Ben Smith, Ursula Major and krautrock legend Holgar Czukay debuted their Bison project back in 2010, this debut album has been a long time coming. Happily, it was worth the wait. Recorded at Czukay's legendary Cologne studio and featuring mix-downs from Conrad Idjut, Travellers is a particularly dubwise trawl through hazy, krautrock-influenced disco and horizontal Balearica. By anyone's standards, it's a deliciously intergalactic concoction; a fearlessly atmospheric blend of low-slung grooves, delay-laden horns, quirky percussion, stargazing electronics and mesmerizing, eyes-wide-shut vocals. Pleasingly, this CD version also includes a pair of fine extended versions of former single "Mandy" by Mudd, of which the intoxicating Dub is particularly potent.
Review: Blending vapourwave haze with Balearic ease, while dipping into Italo house and post-disco playfulness, the debut Bar Part Time EP delivers four tracks that feel nostalgic but entirely fresh. 'Bath Bomb' with its cheesy synths and 80s flair are softened by lush pads and a groovy, laid-back rhythm. It's a hip, shimmering introduction that balances irony with sincerity. 'Morning Dew' is more club-friendly, mixing jackin' house energy with ambient textures to create a track that's as dreamy and driving. On Side-B, 'Blurry Moon' adds urban flavor and depth, led by a bouncy bassline and island percussion. Its gorgeous keys and loose funk make it a highlight. 'Wine 69' ends things with a tropical mood. African island-inspired rhythms, chant-like vocals and a shuffling groove lend it a transportive quality. Together, these tracks form a cohesive and adventurous debut.
B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition
Down By The Cove (5:47)
Mountain Mover (feat Alex Cosmo Blake) (4:38)
Maintaining My Peace (feat Novelist & Stephanie Cooke) (2:59)
Tears (feat Saucy Lady) (2:55)
Brain Gymnasium (3:28)
Wanna Tell Somebody (feat Josh Milan) (5:53)
Otaki (feat Finn Rees) (5:26)
Love Language (feat Nathan Haines) (4:35)
A Deeper Life (feat Isaac Aesili) (8:00)
More Time (feat Lee Pearson Jr Collective) (3:56)
Tongariro Crossing (feat Nathan Haines) (5:17)
Barefoot On The Tarmac (4:11)
Marlboro Sounds (6:03)
The Eternal Checkout (feat Cenk Esen) (5:36)
Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***
Given that even their most dancefloor-focused tunes are remarkably deep, immersive and sonically detailed, you'd think that Chaos In The CBD's music would suit the album format - it's just that until now, they've not recorded a full-length. A Deeper Life, then, marks a big step forward in the Helliker-Hales brothers' career. Predictably, it's borderline brilliant. Made with the assistance of a cast of collaborators and guest performers (flautist Nathan Haines, boogie revivalist Saucy Lady and original NJ garage-house hero Josh Milan included), it sees the Kiwi duo sashay their way through enveloping, musically expansive cuts - many downtempo and home-listening focused - that variously mix and match elements of deep house, nu-jazz, dub, 80s soul, hip-hop, trip-hop, Latin soul and much more besides. A genuine triumph, even by their high standards.
Review: Renato Cohen has been kicking out jams of all shapes and sizes for many years, but this new outing on French house classicists Skylax amounts to some of his best work in ages. 'Roaring' is a disco-tech cut with dazzling arps loping in sugar, pixelated circles over the striking beats. 'We Desert' then gets more loose with synths spraying about with a mind of their own and plenty of cosmic colour. On the flip, the open gets reworked twice, first into a more heads down and bendy acid workout for the afters and also as a hands-in-the-air piano Balearic classic.
I Can Never Say Goodbye (Paul Oakenfold 'Cinematic' remix)
Endsong (Orbital remix)
Drone:nodrone (Daniel Avery remix)
All I Ever Am (Meera remix)
A Fragile Thing (Ame remix)
And Nothing Is Forever (Danny Briottet & Rico Conning remix)
Warsong (Daybreakers remix)
Alone (Four Tet remix)
I Can Never Say Goodbye (Mental Overdrive remix)
And Nothing Is Forever (Cosmodelica Electric Eden remix)
A Fragile Thing (Sally C remix)
Endsong (Gregor Tresher remix)
Warsong (Omid 16B remix)
Drone:nodrone (Anja Schneider remix)
Alone (Shanti Celeste 'February Blues' remix)
All I Ever Am (Mura Masa remix)
I Can Never Say Goodbye (Craven Faults rework)
Drone:nodrone (Joycut 'Anti-Gravitational' remix)
And Nothing Is Forever (Trentemoller rework)
Warsong (Chino Moreno remix)
Alone (Ex-Easter Island Head remix)
All I Ever Am (65daysofstatic remix)
A Fragile Thing (The Twilight Sad remix)
Endsong (Mogwai remix)
Review: Robert Smith has always treated remixing less like revision, more like ritual i a habit that's followed him since his days in Crawley, West Sussex and then surfacing officially on the first Cure remix album, 1990's Mixed Up. This triple-disc release of reworkings from the band's latest LP Songs of a Lost World feels assembled with obsessive care, mapping out every possible mood lurking beneath the surface. There are club-ready flips, yes i Sally C, Danny Briottet and Gregor Tresher all push the rhythm forward i but they sit beside glacial pieces that feel more like haunted sketches than reworks. Mura Masa's take on 'All I Ever Am' is disintegrated almost beyond recognition, its vocal a flickering memory. Mogwai's 'Endsong' feels like the end of the world in slow motion. Even Chino Moreno turns in something striking i 'WarSong' morphs into a sludgy howl with heat-warped edges. But it's the sequencing that surprises: these aren't bolted together, but grouped in arcs, as though Smith were arranging the bones of an old idea into something still alive. Four Tet's version of 'Alone' is a high point i deeply textured but featherlight. Like all The Cure's output, what really matters is the feeling of being drawn somewhere, and Smith's hand never letting go.
Review: US veteran JT Donaldson makes the sort of killer tech house that immediately makes you want to move. This time out the Dallas, Texas resident lands on Dolfin Records with a deeper sound that is raw and heavy. 'Choose' rides on knackered-sounding kick with just deft synth smears for company. 'Don't Sweat' has a double-time rhythm with sombre chords adding the soul and 'Want Her Around' gets the hips swinging with its lovely claps, muted, softly glowing sustained synths and lumpy deep house drums. Flipping the script yet again. 'Sunday Drive' is a more nimble and jazzy dancer and 'Take 2' is a sunny house sound with hints of Metro Area nu-disco synth magic and a big fat bassline.
Chain Reaction (DoctorSoul You Can't Fake It - extended Re-Therapy) (6:49)
When Sly Calls (DoctorSoul Don't Touch That Phone - extended Re-Therapy) (5:33)
When Sly Calls (DoctorSoul' Don't Touch That Phone - radio Re-Therapy) (3:45)
Review: Second time around for Doctor Soul's terrific reworks of cuts by yacht rock, AOR, quiet storm and West Coast rock legend Michael Franks, which originally appeared - and rapidly sold out - earlier in the year. First to get the (virtual) scalpel treatment is 1977 jazz-rock treat 'Chain Reaction', which Doctor Soul brilliantly turns into a loose-limbed, hip-hop-break-driven slab of extended yacht rock sunshine. Arguably even better is his extended take on sun-splashed 1985 jazz-funk/jazz-fusion gem 'When Sly Calls (Don't Touch That Phone)', which Doctor Soul lightly toughens up while respecting the original's fine groove. Also included is a shorter radio-friendly re-edit of the latter rework, which is handy for those whose audiences demand short cuts and quick mixes.
Review: Ukrainian producer Volodymyr Gnatenko returns to Kalahari Oyster Cult with 'Mershiy' - a long-awaited follow-up that trades the drive of his last appearance on the label for something deeper and more exploratory. Spread across six tracks, it drifts between ambient dub, acid and pointillist electronics, with flashes of trance and IDM woven through. There's a widescreen, cinematic quality to it - detailed, immersive and immaculately spaced. Ushering in faded memories of 90s ambient, only re-imagined through a hi-def lens. Repeated listens reveal ever more off-world textures, insect rhythms and a creeping sense of unease. It's introspective, meticulous and beautifully produced.
Review: With a background playing in Swedish punk bands, the potent emotional force distilled within Jose Gonzalez's music suddenly makes a lot of sense. Hearing the ten songs on "In Our Nature" is almost like a palette cleanser. Even more starkly compelling than before, his approach is identifiably patient, methodical and focused on illuminating melodic details at unexpected angles. As a guitarist, he finds accord with players like Geoff Farina, and in the finger-picking style of Cuba's Silvio Rodrigeuz. Having worked on the songs at length on his own, the album was recorded to tape in two weeks in a studio in Gothenburg. Jose (guitar and vocals) is joined by Erik Bodin (percussion), Hakan Wirenstrand (keyboards) and Little Dragon's songwriter/vocalist, Yukimi Nagamo (backing vocals).
B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition
Body Singer (5:05)
Kinship (2:19)
Skinship (1:05)
Trippy Gas (4:11)
Mirror Of The Heart (4:32)
Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***
Still riding high from the success of his superb re-make of Manuel Gottsching on Test Pressing ('A Reference to E2-E4'), Alex Kassian returns to Pinchy & Friends - who released his similarly popular 2021 EP 'Leave Your Life' - after a three-year break. Beginning with the lusciously languid, Balearic, effects-laden and sonically layered title track ('Body Singer', where Jonny Nash style guitars and tumbling sax motifs rise above a sparse drum machine beat and shoegaze-esque aural textures), the Berlin-based producer offers up a loved-up mix of weightless ambient bliss (Kinship), kosmiche soundscapes (the sun-flecked 'Skinship'), revivalist Krautrock (the Can-after-several-spliffs headiness of 'Trippy Gas') and immersive, cinematic excusions (the gorgeous 'Mirror of the Heart').
Review: Lenxi's debut album, Did You Get the Dream I Sent You?, is a cultured blend of IDM, indie pop and techno that is laid out across 10 deeply personal track. The London-born, Amsterdam-based producer channels a period marked by heartbreak and isolation into the music, which means the album emerges as an emotional escape shaped by paintings, sketches and synth lines all crafted in studios from London to L.A. It balances vulnerability with resilience while weaving nostalgia and hope into the mix. Ultimately, Lenxi transforms pain into empowerment here and takes you from sounds of solitude to the dancefloor with a powerful, dreamlike narrative.
Review: Gothenburg, Sweden, is a hotbed of diverse and escalating musical talent, now boasting the dynamic, organically soulful pop sounds of Little Dragon. Featuring radiant vocalist Yukimi Nagano and her close high school friends Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrick Kallgren (bass) and Hakan Wirenstrand (keyboards), Little Dragon stepped into the spotlight with releases on Peacefrog. "Little Dragon" is their debut album.
B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition
Beginner's Luck
Kingdom
Turnmills
Nervous Tics (feat Holly Walker)
Glasshouses
Part Time Glory
Feel Good (feat Khruangbin)
Slow Heat (feat Holly Walker)
Vale
Kama
Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***
British duo Maribou State are back with their first full-length since 2015's breakthrough debut album Portraits, and was a result of a two year long journey to find their sound. Story has it that upon returning to the UK to begin work on new material, they relocated their studio at the back of their home in Hertfordshire to London - only to struggle in finding their creative flow. They began to look outward, making regular excursions out of the city, setting up temporary studio spaces throughout Asia, Oceania, the Middle East to North America and beyond - the result of which is this tremendous LP. Highlights include "Turnmills" their tribute to the now defunct but legendary clubbing institution, the dreamy lo-slung pop of "Nervous Tics" which continues their long standing collaboration with vocalist Holly Walker, and another fabulous hook-up with Houston based purveyors of exotica Khruangbin - on the sublime "Feel Good".
B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition
Endless (3:25)
Thank You For Recording (2:40)
Family & Friends (2:53)
Obvious (2:12)
Ict (3:21)
Choke Enough (3:56)
Track 7 (0:53)
Take Me By The Hand (feat Bladee) (2:50)
Plague Dogs (1:46)
Forces (1:00)
Harvest Sky (feat Underscores) (3:52)
Want To Wanna Come Back (2:46)
Blade Bird (3:19)
Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***
This French artist, who has captivated audiences with her collaborations alongside Mura Masa, Pomme and Flavien Berger, returns with a deeply personal album that explores the complexities of self-discovery and the search for meaning in a world obsessed with self-improvement. The album's title track, 'choke enough', is a poignant reflection on the need for connection and the pursuit of intense emotions. Oklou's warm, beautiful productions, a signature of her sound, conjure a liminal space where the boundaries between introspection and euphoria blur with delicate synthesiser arpeggios and found sound samples. 'family and friends', the album's first single, delves into the search for answers and the desire to escape from intangible memories. Oklou's lyrics, delivered with a vulnerable yet defiant honesty, capture the anxieties and uncertainties of a generation navigating a world where virtual and physical identities are inextricably intertwined. After gaining international acclaim with her collaborations and her critically acclaimed mixtape 'galore', Oklou's debut album marks a turning point in her artistic evolution, a bold yet introspective work that challenges listeners to confront their own anxieties and desires.
Review: Surreal, scratchy, corkboard dub dance beats for the in-betweeners and misfits of the world, laid down by Merseyside producer Ali Omar for Efficient Space AUS. Suitably named after that potently compressed and chunked form of cannabis known as hashish, the music here sounds about as sedatively stoned as is often the affective result of the drug. Omar brings a psychedelic, sample-based approach to the fold, with strobe-lit, basement smoke-clouds of kalimba, gong, vocal and async-bass all colliding on 'The Last Straw' and 'On Release', veering into floaty dub and red-eyed downbeat by the time of 'Poor Man Beggar Thief'.
Review: Originally tucked away on a 2020 12", Quiroga's 'Snaporaz' EP gets the treatment it always deserved with this expanded, four-track edition from Balearic archivists Archeo. Based in Naples, Quiroga stretches his original into a languid, Rhodes-soaked jazz-house glide on the A1ifull of crackling percussion, soft-focus pads and a bubbling low end that carries the melodic line into increasingly heady territory. A loose hand drum finale seals it with flair. 'Escorpiao' on A2 is subtler but no less vibrant, a slick fusion jam where keytar and cowbell meet over a featherlight grooveibalancing restraint and virtuosity in equal measure. The B-side belongs to Rome's Francesco de Bellis, appearing under his L.U.C.A. alias. Known for his Edizioni Mondo material, he warps 'Snaporaz' into a dreamlike new age dancer, slowing the tempo and steeping it in hazy atmospheres and woozy melodies. His 'Quirky Beat' version strips it further, letting skeletal drum edits carry the mood alone. Bridging Neapolitan warmth and Roman oddball finesse, this is a limited edition reissue that more than earns its second life.
Review: Horizon finds Matt Gold and Will Miller - respectively the guitarist behind Midnight Choir and the trumpeter/producer steering Resavoir - merging their shared love for Brazilian classics and Chicago's collaborative spirit into something slow-burning and broad-eyed. Orbiting nylon-string guitars and gradated with reeds, horns, strings and synths, 'Canopy' opens with bright chords and unfurls into shuffling groove and soprano sax; 'Diversey Beach', meanwhile, written during a whiteout, pairs NYC songwriter Mei Semones with a string section heard to drift like tidewater. Additions from Macie Stewart, Eddie Burns, Carter Lang and more hear the album bob through chamber jazz and dreamy orchestro-pop.
Review: Sleepdial's debut for West Mineral is a mesmerising dive into ambient dub that blurs the lines between vaporous texture and low-end weight. Across nine tracks, the producer crafts smudged soundscapes rich with submerged rhythms and fractal echoes while evoking the spirit of early Pole or Vladislav Delay. Tracks like 'Icarus Rising' and 'Blue August' balance sensual warmth with dubwise grit and maintain a steady pulse through dreamy abstraction. This vinyl-first release feels both aquatic and etheric, with dub used as a method of spatial exploration. It is seriously hypnotic and emotionally nuanced, so is a strong statement from a promising new voice in ambient electronics.
Review: Thornato's Bennu album was first released in 2021 and proved a quick hit. Wonderwheel now reissues it on limited translucent blue vinyl which is as mesmerising as the fusion of global rhythms and electronic beats contained within. From the infectious opening and worldly grooves of 'Bennu' to the darker vocals and heavier drums of 'Rhinoceros', each track showcases Thornato's mastery of blending traditional instrumentation with modern production techniques. Standout cuts like 'Shu Swamp' seamlessly weave together influences from around the world with claps, xylophones, chanting vocals and shuffling rhythms that exude vibrant energy. A truly global blend of bass and beats this album will bring plenty of warmth into your life.
Review: By now, we should all know what to expect from deep house legend Ron Trent. Over the years, he's fine-tuned his musically complex, emotion-rich sound to a tee. This fourth album, the follow-up to last year's more mixed up Dance Floor Boogie Delites, sees him at his most cosmic and melodic. Think smooth pads, darting synth doodles, hypnotic - and occasionally percussively complex (see "Atmosphere" - grooves, and twinkling piano melodies. For those who appreciate his slightly soft focus approach, it's a delight, with some genuine gems to behold. "Sweetness", "Space Dance" and the darker, clubbier "Blood & Fire" are arguably among his best tracks of recent years.
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