Back catalogue: Library/Archive

Review: Kay-Dee Records comes at us with a 45 double-hitter, presenting Bert Hector's 'The Phoenix' and 'The Kraken' with Kenny Dope on remix duties. On the first record, we're treated to 'The Phoenix', a sure-fire funk gem with a super-warm sound - beat is as cool as it gets, with a laid-back and funky attitude sitting beneath a joyous intermingling of sitar, flute, brass and guitar, all performed at expert levels. 'The Kraken', meanwhile, channels a killer groove, strutting at 85 bpm and incorporating a huge brass section which pumps loud, while flute solos and funky Wah-guitar chops take things up a notch.

Review: Library music maestro and original member of The Shadows Brian Bennett has a raft of sought-after records to his name, but this is surely one of the most prized. As with the best library music, the execution of the compositions is impeccable - like slipping on silken luxury leisurewear for your ears. The record has been a rich source for sampling over the years, so half the joy is in spotting licks and loops from your favourite tunes, but equally these disco-fied delicacies funk all on their own. Lovers of the Black Devil Disco Club vibe will be more than happy getting down to these tasteful cosmic groovers, unbelievably repressed for just the first time on Isle Of Jura since the original release in 1978.

Review: Following the recent release of the outstanding 'Top Brass' single, Matt Berry releases a further unique collaboration with esteemed Library Music label KPM: the full-length album Simplicity, on which he follows in the footsteps of library music giants such as Keith Mansfield, Alan Hawkshaw and John Cameron, and presents a worthy successor album to complement them. Embodying the form of KPM's original LPs, geared towards film and television pitching, the album consists of 11 sharp and vibrant instrumentals, all of which will no doubt be heard in productions for many years to come.

Review: Danielle Boutet's Pieces is a mysterious artifact of Quebecois marginalia, self-released in 1985. Seeming to land squarely in the French no wave niche, yet nonetheless defying it through sinister inversions of the form, the reissued album comes as a reminder of Boutet's impressive command over atmosphere and narrative. Arabesque monologues in her native French soar over warblingly warm arpeggios, which sound ready-primed for traversals of Transylvania, while the more languid cuts make use of impressively synthetic emulations of what could otherwise sound like affectedly acoustic instruments, such as the "harmonica" on 'En attendant l'aube'. This is a welcome unearthing of an otherwise unconscious album, made in the space between REM sleep and authentic, out-of-the-limelight living.

Review: RECOMMENDED
If you're interested in this record then you're interested in this record. Even if this is your first encounter with Burroughs, it takes only a few lines to understand not only his command of language, but his ability to convey the despicable, maligned, dejected and disillusioned in truly evocative ways. If this isn't your first encounter with Burroughs, then this twisted revenge tale audio book comes with a back story that will make you fall in love with the author all over again.

First published in 1971, Ali's Smile was released as a one-sided LP in a run of 99 copies. It was sold with a hardback copy of the audio, and in the UK there was only one store you could buy it from - Brighton's Unicorn Bookshop. As far as we've been told, the owner was a guy called Bill Butler and was paying off costs from a previous obscenity trial. Boroughs gave him the rights to this recording.

Review: Avid Discogs fiends are likely to be already aware of Nothing Here Now..., the esteemed collection of audio recordings made by classic writer William S. Burroughs, known for macabre classics like Junky and Naked Lunch. First laid to record in the 50s and 60s, the rare recordings were later picked up by Throbbing Gristle members Genesis P-Orridge and Peter Christopherson, who sensitively compiled Burroughs' already spectral murmurings into a comprehensive and listenable final LP. This reissue comes via Dais, and once more provides a window into the troubled personal life of the writer, who desperately sought to escape city life.