Back catalogue: Leftfield

Review: This package of remixes of tunes from Translations is a real gem for lovers of Future Sound of London. plenty of familiar samples and textures are worked into the five Yage remixes as are cosmic overtones, sitars, drones, backward guitars and more. 'The Big Blue' is a woozy intergalactic sound on slow-mo beats, 'Requiem' is a worldly dub, 'The Lovers' has psyched-out lead riffs that bring prog energy and 'The Great Marmalade Mama In The Sky' has drunken tabla drums and mesmeric strings for a perfect retro-future comedown. 'Wooden Ship' is a spine-tingling sound with choral vocals bringing the celestial charm.

Review: This 7" from Yao Bobby & Simon Grab is as esoteric as it gets. If you don't like noise, you won't like this, it's that simple. The two tracks are taken from their recent album 'Wum' on LAVALAVA. It is some of their most abrasive and confrontational music to date. 'Nyagblodi' is an attack on corrupt African politicians with a loud, guttural voice and frazzled synth over heavily distorted drums. On the flip, 'Church' has a broken beat rhythm, hardcore industrial texture and more powerful vocal chants. These are two hard-as-nails tunes with a powerful message.

Review: Those interested in Japanese cartoons should know Space Adventure Cobra. First broadcast in 1982, it is now considered one of the country's finest animated TV series. This triple-vinyl box set celebrates Kentano Haneda and Yuji Ono's music from the series, combining compositions featured on the show with unheard extended versions and tracks that never made the cut first time round. Musically, it's a mix of Japanese disco, sax-sporting lounge jazz, jazz-funk, neo-classical movements and eccentric interludes, all doused in layers of cosmic dust and stargazing colour. The release also comes packaged with a 12-page booklet telling the story of the series and the making of the appealing, endlessly entertaining soundtrack.

Review: Adalsteinn Gudmundsson aka Yagya has long been at the forefront of the dub world, He has a fantastically painterly style that fauna him sweeping long-tailed chords across wide-open vistas and laying down smooth basslines that lock you in. The changing seasons of his native Incline have often been his chief inspiration and that's the case again here on his most dreamy work to date. The record is divided into the distinct moods of Spring ('Vor') and Autumn ('Haust') and is brilliantly escapist and evocative.

Review: Dumb Type Theater have been at the forefront of Japan's performance art landscape since 1984, although the years between then and now have seen some significant changes - culturally and in terms of the group. The death of Teiji Furuhashi, one of the central members, is just one example. A pivotal player in performances, he was often tasked with translating the instrumentation and arrangements of musician Toru Yamanaka into on-stage directions. Removed from that context, Yamanaka and Furuhashi's sounds still work incredibly well. There are aspects of Plan For Sleep that evoke the US avant garde of the time, perhaps reiterating the fact that the late-20th Century saw a closing of distances and a shared vision of where the future was heading among broad communities. Sound art, in the most musical and listenable sense.

Review: It's not hard to see just how ahead of their time Dumb Type were. And still are. Founded in Kyoto, Japan, in 1984, the artist collective looked to interpret and portray the changes they could see beginning to happen around them in society - specifically the start of the (information) technology age. Presenting work that took a dark and cynical view of the increasing importance and prevalence of equipment and digital in the every day, they do this though art exhibitions, performances and publications. Audiovisual installations have always been particularly prominent, and Every Dog Has His Day - one of two Dumb Theater albums previously only available on tape, now issued on vinyl for the first time - makes it clear music was never an afterthought. Credited to Toru Yamanaka, who wrote much of their heard work, and the late Teiji Furuhashi, who translated that onto stage, it's an avant garde essential.

Review: The music from Michael Ondaatje's Booker Prize and 12-Oscar-winning film encompasses the original score by Gabriel Yared with the haunting vocals of Marta Sebestyen and Fred Astaire. It is a story which has successfully made its mark on every medium that counts a - a classic to beat all classics. It's a cathartic journey that explores identity, fidelity, and fate amid the chaos of World War II. Shot against the majestic backdrop of the Northern Sahara and Italy, Yared's score blends Hungarian folk tunes, baroque themes, and romantic orchestration and mirrors the emotion of the film's characters without relying on visuals. Period tracks by Fred Astaire, Ella Fitzgerald and Benny Goodman complement the emotional depth of the story.

Review: Music On Vinyl are our new best friends. With a wide range of music being reissued as of late, Yello's 1987 One Second is just spoiling us. Never being fully acclaimed when it was originally released, this is one album which really spans the full circle in terms of artistic ideas sonic experimentations. While being tagged primarily as a pop work, it's really more of a lesson in synth manipulations and nutty beat-making. "The Rhythm Divine" has to be out top track but do check the whole thing, it's magnificent...

Review: Hailing from Singapore and with a vivid and curious artistic identity swirling around them, Nat Cmiel releases their latest album as yeule in a swirl of hypermodern synth pop. There's a dreamy, slightly sad quality to Cmiel's songs, but that only adds to their charm as those sweet melodic refrains get under your skin. This latest album on Bayonet is called Glitch Princess - a fitting title for an artist who seems so vitally defined by the internet age. When so many fear the future and our tense relationship with technology, yeule appears to be OK with the state of play, recognising the flaws but embracing the positives as we slip into a digital way of being.

Review: As Radiohead tour the world and then regroup to record their new album, Thom Yorke releases his own record, 'The Eraser' on XL Recordings. A collection of nine new songs, the record was written and played by Thom and was produced by Nigel Godrich. Variously hailed as "The Best Band In The World" (Q Magazine), "Rock's Best Live Band" (Rolling Stone) and the band were placed at number 1 of Spin Magazine's 40 most influential artists, Radiohead has arguably become the most acclaimed and adventurous force in modern music. Over six studio albums the group have proved that it is possible to make massive creative leaps whilst continuing to grow in worldwide stature. Their records set new benchmarks for others to aim towards, whilst their live shows reach levels of intensity and exploration that few can match.

Review: It's not easy trying to pin down Yoshi, the Italian producer. Info is thin on the ground but we do know that parts of A Sunny Place for Shady People are clearly inspired, at least in part, by the legendary Ryuichi Sakamoto and other Japanese digital pop moguls, A Sunny Place is as exploratory and avant garde as it is universal, and steeped in a kind of authenticity that means it could quite possibly have been made at any point since the mid-1980s. A noteworthy achievement and a fantastic, instantly replay-able album.

Review: Club culture can be curiously misled at times. While the focus is so often on breakdowns, in reality it's the hypnosis of looped drums and hi hats that often captures our imagination. And while belters frequently steal the limelight, in doing so we're at risk of forgetting the unifying, open-armed foundations that are found in everything from techno to hardcore to jungle and beyond. Brutal Flowers certainly makes a strong case for rethinking priorities. "A no-airs and graces piece of cool future-proof ambience" the label puts it. We'd agree. YS's stunning record seems to speak to our inner dreams of what rave has been and could still be, it hits nail-on-head in turning the emotions of surreal walks home post-club with friends into beautiful, understated yet grand synth overtures. It never forgets that heads down and ethereality are not opposites, but instead two halves of the same passion, and thoughtfulness is really the only secret ingredient in the dance music spectrum.