Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: The soundtrack to Jon Savage's monumental history of LGBTQ influence on popular culture is an essential double CD compilation that traverses the clandestine alongside the openly celebrated. Featuring artists from Joe Meek to Buzzcocks, Patrick Cowley, Tom Robinson Band, Lesley Gore, Billy Fury and Little Richard, it encapsulates the hidden and overt narratives of LGBTQ life in post-war music. Starting with the groundbreaking success of Little Richard in 1955, the compilation captures the coded expressions of the 50s and 60s, mirroring the societal secrecy and oppression faced by the gay community. As the music progresses into the early 70s, it reflects the era's burgeoning openness, marked by the influence of icons like David Bowie. The tracks span pop, Tamla, soul, glam rock, and the early funk and disco sounds that dominated underground New York clubs, ultimately leading to the disco explosion of the late 70s. This compilation is a tribute to freedom and the intertwined worlds of music and sexuality. Some artists identify as LGBTQ+, others are included for their impact on or by the gay aesthetic, making a heartfelt homage to the diverse and rich history of music shaped by the community. A vibrant and significant cultural journey.

Review: Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs have more than proven their music knowledge across a stellar run of prior compilations, including The Daisy Age, Fell From The Sun and English Weather. This time around, they're tapping into the freeform climes of the late 70s and early 80s, as punk exploded and a myriad of bands channelled the unique, downcast mood of Britain into wildly creative, nervously urgent songs. Across four sides we take in all manner of cult selections and outer limits largely in the loose fit realm of post-punk. It's flawlessly selected and programmed - another reminder of how immersive a proper compilation can be.

Review: On his latest compilation for Ace, St Etienne's Bob Stanley has chosen to evoke memories of the summer of 1976, when Britain sweltered under a heatwave and those under the age of 16 felt like the school holidays went on forever. Stanley's vision is undoubtedly a nostalgic one, with many of his on-point musical selections seemingly coming with their own opaque, easy listening-tinged sepia hue (see Lynsey de Paul's 'Sugar Shuffle' and Jefferson Starship's hazy 'Miracles'). Highlights are plentiful, from the jammed-out Clavinet solos of Simon Park's 'Stoned Out' and the soul sweetness of Shuggie Otis's 'Inspiration Information', to the Bob James style jazz-funk of John Cameron's 'Liquid Sunshine', and the bubbly Brazilian bliss of Azymuth's 'Montreal City'.

Review: Although most associated with punk thanks to his now canonical history of the movement, England's Dreaming, Jon Savage has always had far broader taste than most - not to mention an acute sense that the late 1970s were aa genuinely exciting musical free-for-all that paved the way for much of what came next. This excellent double-disc compilation gives a taste of what he was listening to in that period, moving between reggae, dub (the Revolutionaries, Joe Gibbs & The Professionals), throbbing Euro-disco (Space, Giorgio Moroder), American garage-rock (Iggy Pop), spaced-out spoken word eccentricity (John Cooper Clarke), formative new wave synth-pop (The Normal, The Human League), industrial (Cabaret Voltaire), punk (and lots of it), and much more besides.

Review: And the award for most apt compilation title of the year goes to... While on face value it may seem like the USA's Pacific North West and UK's English North West have very little in common, this collection of tracks confirm there are similarities. And they go further than the damp conditions both regions often have to endure. Cheshire-born Burgess and West Coast native Stanley have been friends for 30 years, and their respective homelands collide here. Tim Peaks Diner, established by the former as a festival pop up, apparently owes much of its stylings to "Twin Peaks", and that series-cum-movie-cum-legend has inspired much of the soundtrack to said eatery. New Wave (The Chills), opiate folk (Gwenno), psychedelic country (Blue Orchids) and plenty more help capture the mood of a fantastical waypoint on some fictional road trip.