Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: We aren't sure who Inner Space Quartet are be we are sure you will like them. This is the second new music from them this month and it follows a busy 2022 in which they put out three head-turning 7"s on different labels. They seem to be settling for Funk Night as their home this year but soundwise are harder to pin down - there is Thai funk, space rock, jazz, psyched-out guitars and much more all contained with these two expansive and immersive sounds. 'Paranoia Party' is the really 60s-tinged narcotic opener then 'Delay' brings more rock guitar sounds as if from some secret and tripped-out Stones concert in the desert back in the day.

Review: Ahead of their European tour, Turkish electronic group Islandman share their EP 'Popsicle Obstacle', the new material on which tracks a heady musical pathway from archaic folk traditions and regional acoustics right through to the modern-day tonic-sonics of the electronic sequencer. Having made headway from the spiritualist dream of primitive past to the glossy utopia of a digital future, Islandman's core members are multi-instrumentalist & producer Tolga Boyuk, Eralp Guven (percussion) and Erdem Baser (guitars). The title is a misnomer, if not for the fact that the six tracks here are hardly obstacles at all; rather, they're hugely well-produced, flavoursome treats, chief among which has to be the incredible track 'Simple Man', which - take it from us - just gets cooler and cooler, timbrally and tastefully.

Review: Incomparable post-punk Bristolians IDLES return with their highly anticipated fifth "love album" Tangks, following on from the internal viciousness and midlife malaise of 2021's Crawler, with a collection of rough-throated, anthemic bursts of earnest gratitude. Re-uniting with exceptional hip-hop desk-man Kenny Beats, this time sharing production credits with Nigel Godrich (who's worked with the likes of Radiohead and REM) as well as the group's own eccentric former dentist-turned-crossdressing or perpetually half-naked guitarist Mark Bowen, the work exudes a creative camaraderie and sonic confidence only achieved over time through hard graft. Take one earful of disco-punk lead single 'Dancer', which features both James Murphy and Nancy Whang of LCD Soundsystem on backing vocals, and the post-punk-positivity balance the band are striving towards on LP5 should begin to take shape. As gravel-voiced vocalist Joe Talbot summarises their latest endeavour - "Love is the fing".

Review: Now approaching a half-century of artistic life as the closest we have to a living personification of rock 'n' roll, Iggy Pop nonetheless also continues to carry himself with more class and style than most any lifer that springs to mind. Yet it has to be said that few were expecting the cadaverous king to make his greatest album for thirty of those years, and this is what 'Post Pop Depression' his collaboration with a dream team involving luminaries such as Josh Homme, Dean Fertita and The Arctic Monkeys' Matt Helders is exactly that - a wry, restrained and ice-cool meditation on carnality and mortality without cliche or rehash, this album is all primal satisfaction and righteous revelation.

Review: Dark Entries takes it back to New York City in around 1982 for this previously unreleased record from Ike Yard. This cult crew was made up of Stuart Argabright, Michael Diekmann, Kenneth Compton, and Fred Szymanski and they worked in their own realm somewhere between proto-body music and No Wave peers in New York. They disbanded just a year after forming having dropped an EP on Les Disques du Crepuscule in 1981 and then a self-titled album for Factory in 1982. Using the Korg MS-20 and the Roland TR-808 they cook up plenty of hybrid electro-acoustic sounds and ramshackle rhythms that are underpinned by moody baselines and perfect to get bodies moving in the club. Whether you're a post-punk fan or lover of weird electronics, this is well worth checking out.

Review: Try Googling Influenza Pods in 2022 and you're unlikely to find the work of Bruno De Angelis and Giovanna Gulinello anywhere close to the top of the results. Add Memoire, the title of this LP, and things get even worse, with scores of pandemic diaries on offer for the grisly-minded. However, do a little digging and you'll soon realise these guys were among the pioneering electronic outfits of the late-1970s and 1980s, with this particular record a case in point.

Together the pair became a couple after moving to London, stayed there for a bit before heading back to Italy, where things began to formalise in terms of studio output. Often using recordings of dialogue from British soap operas, strange sounds and funky noises, they create heavily textured, subtly rhythmic and resolutely leftfield pieces that don't immediately invoke other artists and outfits. And there aren't many people you can really say that about.

Review: Inhaler have been a long time coming. Causing significant groundswell after emerging from a Dublin scene re-energised some time ago across all walks of music, they placed fifth on BBC's Sound of 2020 poll, only to contend with a pandemic that tore out the industry's heart, replacing it with record streams for Tracks We Used To Love and dashing the dreams of many young contenders. Not these, apparently.

The expectations go much further back than that, though. They began life around 2012, and frontman Elijah Hewson's dad is Bono. Say what you will about him, if anything tips someone for future fame it's that paternal figure. Now onto their second album, none of that comes close to being as important as what you hear on the record. Channeling more jangle but with extra thump, influences from Joy Division and Stone Roses to The Killers and The War On Drugs are audible, making this easy to love and guaranteed to leave a mark long after play.

Review: Interpol's seventh album sees the long-standing NYC indie rock giants teaming up with the legendary production team of Flood and Alan Moulder for a trip into sadness, darkness and introspection. For devoted fans of the band, those themes should ring true and spell out another record to be cherished for those downcast days. Daniel Kessler's serpentine guitar work cuts an imposing, but ultimately graceful figure on 'Into The Night', while Samuel Fograino's propulsive drumming continues to explore meters beyond linear motorik drive and Paul Bank once more speaks from the deepest reaches of his soul.

Review: Uganda: Dawn Of Rock is a great collision of creative talents from Akira Ishikawa and Count Buffaloes who combine to deliver a captivating exploration of rock music's emergence in Uganda. A classic since it was first issued, the album showcases Ishikawa's masterful drumming and Count Buffaloes' dynamic instrumentation. It overflows with infectious rhythms and soulful melodies and each track immerses listeners in the vibrant music scene of Uganda where rock and local African sounds are fused into something new. As such this is a record that offers a perfect glimpse into a pivotal moment in Uganda's musical history.