Music On Vinyl Vinilo y CD

Review: The US' Music On Vinyl always provides the quality reissues, and best of all, they do it quietly, leaving the diggers and owners of the original copies still relatively chuffed with their treasures. As such, it's the Yellow Magic Orchestra that receives the reissue treatment this time, a Japanese electro-pop outfit formed in 1979, and which includes the great Haruomi Hosono on bass - producer of the timeless and mind-bending "Hosono House". Solid State Survivor was the band's second album, and although it was released before the start of the '80s, it already contains remnants of electronic dance music as we know it today. The glassy opener is called "Technopolis", for example, and the majestic synth twists of "Rydeen" are a pleasure to our ears even today. There are slower, more magical moments such as "Castalia", but the winner for us is probably "Insomnia", a great piece of drunken drum machine drums and wonky melodies. An absolute must, even for the non-Japanese heads.

Review: Paul Young had already spent plenty of time in the game fronting The Q Tips before he broke out solo in the early 80s, but it was this album which took him to the top of the charts in 1985. Finding a unique niche between soul, funk, rock and pop, it was the gravelly bite of his voice which hit home with the fans, yielding hit after hit. 'Every Time You Go Away' and 'I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down' are the big bangers, but the rest of the album is packed full of classics too. This special extended edition of the album comes with extended versions, live tracks and other obscurities to delight the fans.

Review: Dhafer Youssef is one of the catalysts who helped bring the eastern and western worlds of music together. The Tunisian oud player and vocalist released his solo long player in 2016. Diwan Of Beauty And Odd was recorded with Aaron Parks, Ben Williams, Mark Giuliana and Ambrose Akinmusire and for its unique fusion of Arabic and Western sounds it was highly praised by fans and critics alike. Standout tracks such as 'Fly Shadow Fly' and 'Diving In The Air' now get include on this heavyweight vinyl pressing on audiophile magenta. A truly spiritual listen.

Review: You don't have to be a film score obsessive to recognise the name of Hans Zimmer; the man who has practically created a monopoly out of the craft. While his work on the recent Denis Villeneuve adaptations of Dune has currently ended his creative partnership with auteur filmmaker Christopher Nolan (who has since enlisted the exceptional Ludwig Goransson in his stead), during their collaborative tenure, no particular score garnered the adoration and passionate praise that still continues to be heaped upon 2014's sci-fi spectacle Interstellar. Featuring some of Zimmer's most mercurial work to date, swaying from lilting hues of delicacy to bombastic, palpable, otherworldly dread, without ever veering into alienating sonics; the pieces still receives copious applause, instigate enthralling discussion and continue to be repressed to vinyl. In short, the Interstellar score is the outlier soundtrack for every collector.

Review: The Zodiac's Cosmic Sounds is an album from November 1967 that very much reinvented the psychedelic rock blueprint. The basic idea for it was one by Elektra Records head honcho Jac Holzman who was inspired by the commercial success of the debut album from The Doors which was released on his label. He enlisted some top people to get involved with the record from composer Mort Garson to lyrics written by Jacques Wilson via produciton from Alex Hassilev of The Limeliters. Lots of spaced out Moog sounds define the record and some interspersed folk poems add another edge entirely.