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Review: RECOMMENDED
It almost (almost) pains us to recommend this one - The White Stripes aren't really a band that should be releasing Greatest Hits albums. We'd much rather them give us a surprise record of typically groundbreaking, brand new theatric and infectious blues-tinged rock 'n' roll. But we are where we are, and after more than a decade without much activity from the siblings beggars can't be choosers.

One of our objections is exactly how you choose what to include on an LP like this. What defines a 'hit' from an outfit that are renowned for packing albums with nothing but stone cold gems, even if they failed to make it onto radio playlists or single format. In this case, though, the challenge has been met - with chart topping fare like Seven Nation Army notably absent, while more wildcard tracks such as 'I Think I Smell A Rat' and 'Dead Leaves On the Dirty Ground' given their deserving dues.

Review: RECOMMENDED
Let's face it, White Blood Cells is the moment when The White Stripes really broke the mould. It's a continuation of Jack and Meg's garage rock aesthetic as fine-tuned over two previous albums, and wholeheartedly a straight up rock 'n' roll album. But the elements are so perfectly primed it's impossible not to rank this as one of the greatest long form outings of this century, so far. And we're not alone - Rolling Stone even reckons it's among the best LPs of all time. Pity the fool who disagrees.

From the racing 'Fell in Love With A Girl', to the beguiling mystery of 'The Union Forever', 'I Think I Smell A Rat''s meld of mariachi riffs and mosh stomp and the emotional piano closer 'This Protector', to the innocent acoustic joy of 'We're Going To Be Friends', this is a masterclass of songwriting and arrangement, tracks that evolve, perplex, surprise, and - most importantly - entertain.

Review: This bumper collection of 12" singles features nine replicas of the singles from the original campaign around the Screamadelica album. It is now 30 years old and stands proud as one of the finest moments in the emergent acid hose scene, not in small part thanks to the late great and legendary producer Andrew Weatherall. The box set comes with prints by the album original cover artist Paul Cannell and some previous unheard mixes (and accompanying instrumental) of 'Shine Like Stars' by the aforementioned Lord Sabre as well as plenty of other great versions by fellow Boy's Own man Terry Farley and others.

Review: In 1991 the UK is in a very different place to the one it occupies today. One thing that hasn't changed in the 30 years between then and now, though, is how incredibly, unbelievably good Primal Scream's Screamadelica was. And still is.

It might have been the studio mastery brought to the mix by the late, great Andrew Weatherall. Perhaps it hit the nail on the head of a year when the country's rock and dance scenes finally met somewhere on the outskirts of Blackburn, or along the M25. Maybe, just maybe, it's because the tracks themselves are just great. Whatever your personal take, this album should be on everyone's shelves. From the hedonism of 'Loaded' to the pseudo-rave euphoria of 'Come Together', and the self love of 'Movin' On Up' always inspires, the record is of its time but resonates through the ages.

Review: This cutely entitled Demodelica double album brings together a load of different versions of classic cuts from Primal Schemas Screamadelica album, which itself has been the subject of a big anniversary reissue this year. All of the 16 tracks here are previously unreleased demo versions that offer a real insight into how the final album came together. The works in progress versions are just as interesting and the whole thing comes with some new notes from Jon Savage. Whether it's the rawness of 'I'm Comin' Down' (Isle Of Dogs Home Studio) or the intensity of 'Movin' On Up' (Hackney Studio demo), fans will be keen to hear this one.

Review: Since their early heyday of mammoth pop hits, electronic-indie duo MGMT seemed to sound gradually more and more conflicted, unsure whether to continue producing stadium-scale hooks or follow their eccentricities. It seems, with their fourth full-length 'Little Dark Age', that they've opted for the latter - sounding all the more confident and cohesive for it. 'Little Dark Age' sees the pair channeling their synthetic poppy psychedelia into their darkest, most serious and interesting songwriting yet. Anybody who panned 2013's self-titled album or 2010's 'Congratulations' should be pleasantly surprised by this return to form and new-found resolve. 'Little Dark Age' is a far cry from MGMT's definitive debut, but it's to the band's credit that exploring the more weird and wonderful corners of their pop-sensibilities has worked so well.

Review: An intense exercise in duality, 'Know Your Enemy' was actually born as a mission by Manic Street Preachers to record two albums in quick succession. 'Solidarity' and 'Door To The River' were simultaneous early-noughties left and right brains, channelling completely different ideas in some ways, and the same ideas in others. Now, the compiled album gets a full restoration, and includes two previously unreleased tracks 'Rosebud' and 'Studies In Paralysis'.

Review: Where do you start with a band like Depeche Mode? Easily up there with the most influential British live acts of the late-20th Century, and early-mid-21st - a term we specifically use because their work spans so many genres, from synth pop and new wave to alt and dance rock - the fact just one of their records can garner the kind of reverence that can produce 33 remixes by some of the most respected names in electronic sounds says more than we ever could even if this paragraph went on forever.

Here we have it, then, definitive collection of repurposed and rethought songs from the 2001 LP, Exciter. Veering from the deep proggyness of Danny Tenaglia's take on 'I Feel Loved', through Dave Clarke's breakneck sledgehammer-yet-spacey techno interpretation of 'Dream On', broad sounds would be putting it mildly indeed. Other highlights including the lucid downbeat of Bertrant Burgalat, epic dance metal of DJ Muggs, and sparse, stargazing atmospheres of Isan Falling Leaf.

Review: When vital bandmember Andrew Fletcher suddenly passed away at the start of the sessions for 'Memento Mori', even Dave Gahan and Martin Gore wondered aloud whether Depeche Mode would continue. Yet somehow, Gore and Gahan put their much-discussed differences aside, knuckled down and produced something fittingly special: an album that may well be the iconic outfit's most consistent and impressive body of work for decades. Naturally, darkness abounds, with opener 'My Cosmos Is Mine' - all evocative vocals, distorted electronic beats, dark sonic textures and mutilated choral vocal samples - setting the tone for a set that once again brilliantly blends dark synth-pop, gnarled guitars and the kind of lyrical melancholia that stays with you for days. Highlights are plentiful, with our picks including 'Ghosts Again', 'Soul With Me' and closing cut 'Speak To Me'.

Review: Like owning a little piece of history with a bonus memoir, The Clash's Combat Rock was - is - the band's best selling album of all time and highest charting in both the US and UK. This was also the last time Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon would record together before the lineup changed, and the track list contains at least two of the outfit's most recognised songs - namely 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' and 'Rock the Casbah'.

The original version of the LP was less expansive than this special edition released to mark 40 years since the long-player went on sale. The addition of The People's Hall offers fans a chance to relish in no less than 12 extra tracks, including collaborations with the legendary Ranking Roger - 'Rock the Casbah' and 'Red Angel Dragnet' - the iconic late-frontman of The Beat more than ideally suited to the crew's sound.

Review: Album number five from legendary British post-punk and New Wavers The Clash was first unveiled on 14th May 1982. 40 years on it finds itself the centre of attention once more, re-released both in this original version and an extended edition with bonus record The People's Hall. Sticking to this outing, fans will likely already know that the record as it was first intended remains the band's most successful of all time, outselling all that came before or after and charting higher than any other in the US and UK alike.

Respectively hitting number seven and number two in the charts of the day, and spending 23 weeks in the top 40 albums in Britain and a mammoth 61 weeks in the LP league tables Stateside, today it's a double-platinum testament to just how potent the combination of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon was. The last record to feature that iteration of the outfit, tracks like 'Rock the Casbah' and 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' remain utterly timeless.

Review: This sixth studio album by Arcade Fire is as anticipated as any in the seminal indie band's long career. It was produced by esteemed Radiohead associate Nigel Godrich in many different locations around the world from El Paso to New Orleans. The band say it was the longest they have ever spent writing together and is focused on the forces that threaten to pull the world apart and how we must resist. WE has a big narrative arc that makes for a real rollercoaster of seven tunes that go from light to dark and back and with plenty of joy expressed amongst the tensions.