The first missive from the reissue-focused Throwdown imprint takes a deep dive into the bulging back catalogue of West Coast hip-hop legend Ice Cube. Side A offers us another chance to own 1992 hit "It Was A Good Day" a languid, sun-kissed Golden Era jam crafted from elements of a familiar slab of laidback jazz-funk. Over on side B you'll find 1999's "You Can Do It", another once high-profile single featuring additional verses and vocal contributions from Mack 10 and Ms Toi. For those who've forgotten it, the track is a punchier and heavy club cut that utilizes all three rappers' distinctive flows to ratchet up the intensity throughout.

There's something rather heartwarming about the ongoing friendship and musical collaboration between Leandro Fresco & Rafael Anton Irisarri. Since beginning to work with each other a few years ago they've barely met, yet they're able to create sweet music together by swapping sounds, samples, sketches and processed instruments online. This second collaborative full-length excursion was therefore produced in two different places (their respective home cities of Buenos Aires and New York) simultaneously, with each musician working alone in response to the other's ideas. It makes the completed tracks - spellbinding ambient and drone tracks that are variously ghostly, ethereal, intimate, spacious, hushed and becalmed - even more remarkable. It shouldn't work, but it does - and then some. In other words, it could well be the first great ambient album of 2020.

Between the late 1960s and early 1980s, Philadelphia's Curtis R Staten ran CRS Records as an outlet for his productions. It was never a prolific imprint, though the 15 singles and 2 albums the imprint is known to have manufactured remain sought-after sides and sets among Northern Soul, gospel, rhythm and blues and deep funk collectors. This fine TRAMP Records compilation tells the story of the label, gathering together highlights from the likes of George Johnson Jr. & The Mondells, Bonnie Blanchard, Andy Aaron & The Mean Machine, The Zodiacs and Midnight Madness. This limited edition version also includes a bonus seven-inch single of Blanchard's sublime Northern Soul classic "You're The Only One".

Last spotted on Artikal a little way back in December 2018 with the powerful "Systematic" EP, the deep trio LSN return to J:Kenzo's imprint with four more beguiling explorations. "AI" is loose, woozy and rolls with some fantastically off-grid breaks, "Spirit Dub" is a steppy odyssey waiting to crack heads while "Machine" is moody, muggy number with more loose kicks, wandering keytar leads and stacks for space for the space-bound vocals. Finally we hit the funkiest cut of the collection: "Breakin'". Dreamy, sleazy and guaranteed to take you to faraway places. Celebrate to automate.

Vinyl Fanatiks commence this excellent reissue series with Krome & Time's seminal jungle imprint Tearin. First up, a trip back to 94 for the duo's 001: "Brok Out" is exactly what the title suggests... Swashbuckling drums, a proper ragamuffin vibe and serious funk in those breaks. "London Talk" kicks with more of an edge. Again, those Krome & Time drums are some of the best of the era. So sharp, so rolling; real blueprint business. Brok and roll.

Immaculate drumfunk right here as Subtle Audio and Opposite Recordings buddy up for a trip back to some of both label boss's classics. First up is the evergreen jazz mystique of Dissident's "Universe Eat Universe". Haunted woodwind, epic spacious drums; this is the Russian enigma at his deepest and most Subtle. Code's "Dark Nights" follows on a much more paranoid, fast-lane vibe. Creepy arpeggios over ever-mutating, rolling breaks and eerie tension textures; Code had his eye on the future when he wrote this.

After only one outing on his own Synkro Musik imprint last year, Synkro bites hard into a new decade with this deep dive into Egyptian mythology. Two sides, one tale: "Osiris" pays homage to the ancient murdered king in two ways. Firstly as a sweeping, steppy sojourn laced in classic Synkro fashion - roomy, springy, ageless. The resurrection on the B lives up to its name, too; stripping away the drums and bass and letting the pads shine, it's a dense weave of sombre ambient textures that will work perfectly for intros and creative mixing. Synkro's starting the 20s as he means to go on.

Syko and Mak go Badger trapping all the way back to the original source material. Total rave business from the original era, juiced and flexed up properly for the modern age, "Underground Mayhem" hits with more classic samples than you could possibly list (and a euphoric hit that still kicks like a mule all these decades later) "Needs More Bass" on the flip take us back down the more house-influenced rave routes with a 4x4 so strong it'll shave your moustache off even if you haven't got one.