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Review: Beneath the grit and, err, grime of UK MC output, there's a highly fertile and imaginative artsy scene making underground stars in cities like London and Manchester. Names like Blackhaine, Icebox Violet, and Novelist have long-since flown flags - to various extents - for experimental tracks that marry rhymes, poetry, abstract musicality and heavy broken beats.

Coby Sey is another for that list, and like the rest, as he explains on 'Permeated Secrets', he "don't care if you like my work". Simply put, these sounds aren't for everyone, they were never intended to be. Instead, they showcase a staunchly British take on urban observation, packed with melancholy, hints of rave, and a love for exploring outsider ends of established art forms - often winding up in places few have been before.

Review: Anoushka Shankar's Chapter II: How Dark It Is Before Dawn is a riveting sonic journey that seamlessly blends eastern and western musical sensibilities. From the rocking piano motifs of 'Pacifica' to the dreamy textures of 'Offering' and the mystical ambiance of 'Below the Surface,' each track unveils layers of evocative dreamscapes. Shankar's sitar weaves enchanting melodies, complemented by the soothing sounds of waves and voices. The album's fusion of instruments and tonalities creates a healing experience, inviting listeners to relax and float downstream. With its profound depth and beauty, Chapter II transcends mere background music, resonating as a genuine artistic expression. Anoushka Shankar offers a compelling soundtrack for introspection and tranquility.

Review: For the first time ever, this new silver vinyl release combines the iconic music from all the three Hobbit films into a comprehensive collection all masterfully performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Howard Shore's award-winning compositions for this as well as The Lord of the Rings trilogy have captivated audiences worldwide, often accompanied by live film screenings. The meticulous attention to detail in bringing Tolkien's world to life through music is legendary, incorporating diverse musical styles and instruments to evoke the rich landscapes and characters of Middle-earth. From 'Song Of The Lonely Mountain' to 'Protector Of The Common Folk', this journey through cinematic composing is truly extraordinary.

Review: After a two-decade interlude, Jim O'Rourke's Moikai returns with Spectral Evolution, a major new work by Rafael Toral. Making his name in the mid-1990s with influential guitar drone platters like Sound Mind Sound Body and Wave Field (both reissued by Drag City in recent years), Toral has never been one to rest on his laurels repeating past glories. In the early years of the 21st century, Toral began his "Space Program", a 13 year investigation of the performance possibilities of an ever-expanding set of custom electronic instruments, played with a fluid phrasing and rhythmic flexibility inspired by jazz. Dedicated to honing his skills on these idiosyncratic instruments, Toral founded his Space Quartet, where his mini-amplifier feedback integrates seamlessly into the frontline of a classic post-free jazz quartet rounded out with saxophone, double bass, and drums. Since 2017, Toral's work has been entering a new phase, often still centred around the arsenal of self-built instruments developed in the Space Program, but with a renewed interest in the long tones and almost static textures of his earlier work; he has also, after more than a decade, returned to the electric guitar. Spectral Evolution is undoubtedly Toral's most sophisticated work to date, bringing together seemingly incompatible threads from his entire career into a powerful new synthesis, both wildly experimental and emotionally affecting.

Review: Zodiak Commune reaches right back into the early days of the Dutch acid techno and electro scene, and it remains an essential outlet for tough and gnarly rave gear for darkened souls. This new record is a split between Umwelt and Serge Geyzel, continuing a series of split discs pitting serious underground operators against each other. Umwelt's side kicks off with the blistering acid electro of 'The Wake Of The Anthropocene' and follows up with heavy but melodic pearler 'Cosmic Dancer'. Geyzel's 'Off The Ground' is a nervy slice of acid with sad-hearted undertones, and 'Hostage' completes the set with a moody, percussive throwdown.

Review: Mika Vainio's "Olento" is one of the key albums from his fine discography and now, finally, it is available on vinyl for the first time. The sophomore album first landed in 1996 and laid down a new blueprint for minimal techno that has rarely been bettered since. The album is also a fine summation of the Finnish artist's sublime and singular style - icy ambient tundra that are vast in scale but minute in detail, warped synth oscillations that sound at once futuristic but also somehow like field recordings from a lonely part of the arctic circle, and brain melting sine waves that lock you in a trance. Essential.

Review: Music From Memory's last epic compilation, 2017's Outro Tempo, did a terrific job in uncovering the dusty, rarely visited corners of Brazilian electronic music. Uneven Paths offers a similar service to those interested in the eccentric, often inspired fringes of European pop music. Of course, compilers Jamie Tiller and Raphael Top-Secret are not interested in run-of-the-mill or commercial synth-pop, but rather "deviant pop" - melodious, left-of-centre curiosities that some may describe as "Balearic". This is pop music from the outer limits, where tracks variously draw influence from spoken word, global rhythms, post-punk fusion, jazz, new age ambient and kosmiche. It goes without saying that the crate-digging duo's selections are spot on throughout, with genuine surprises around every corner.

Review: The NID Tapes is a collection of early Indian electronic music uncovered at the archives of the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad, India. The compilation includes works by Gita Sarabhai, I.S. Mathur, Atul Desai, S.C. Shama and Jinraj Joshipura, who worked at India's first electronic music studio founded at the NID in 1969, with support from the New York composer David Tudor. A throwback to the early days of analog composition, the compilation escapes the usual tendency towards Eurocentrism in championing this field, and showcases the collective's experiments with Moog synthesizer, tape collage, vocal techniques and field recordings - creating a unique fusion of Western and Indian avant-garde traditions.

Review: Coldwave excursionist Shari Vari aka Void Vision finally comes through with her highly awaited Sub Rosa LP on the gorgeously on-point Mannequin imprint. The taster EP "Sour" out earlier this year was a taster of what's to come from Vari in terms of diversity and quality. Sub Rosa contains a little of everything when it comes to the electronic dance edge, where "Everythin Is Fine", for example, takes a techno beat and slaps down some vocals all over its makeup, while "Hidden Hand" is a true Drexciyan electro number. Then there's more abstract moments such as "Slow Down", "Vulgar Displays" with its rolling stabs of percussion and "Queen Of Hearts" with that humungous swell of low-end and quirky, heady melodies. Yum.

Review: The second studio album from Yello was added to the pantheons of weirdo electronic pop some time ago. In fact, some 31 years ago to be exact. While not by any stretch the outfit's most famous effort, that belongs to fourth album, Stella, and in particular the 1980s movie anthem 'Oh Yeah', in many ways that track doesn't encapsulate the spirit of the band anything like the tunes here.

At times low slung ('Ballet Mecanique') and occupying a space somewhere between roots and fairground, in other moments tragically epic and approaching New Romanticism ('Quad El Habib'), while the music itself is wildly varied and unarguably original, the overall magic is still found in how much fun it sounds like they were having, and how much fun we have hearing it.