Back catalogue: All genres

Review: In 2007 Juno Records is ten years old, and we've decided to celebrate by releasing 10 singles throughout the year. Each one is a classic dance track featuring new remixes from the some of the most exciting and established names in the business, including Julien Jabre, Spirit Catcher, Dimitri from Paris, Lindstrom, Troy Pierce, Cobblestone Jazz and many more. These releases will initially only be available from www.juno.co.uk and www.junodownload.com. To launch the series we have pulled out all the stops with the re-release of the timeless "In The Trees" by Faze Action, featuring remixes from the legendary Carl Craig and Jerome Sydenham & Tiger Stripes, as well as the brilliant 1996 original mix. A genuinely huge release, this could be the first of 10 future classics! ***Stop press 19/12/07: the Carl Craig mix has been voted #3 in residentadvisor.net's "Top 5 Remixes Of 2007".

Review: The hype machine may have kicked into overdrive at the announcement of a new Aphex Twin EP, but after all there's a reason we all get so excited. Richard D. James is just a rare sort of artist - one who can wrench untold depth, detail and feeling from the oddest of angles and still keep it rave-ready in the process. It's been a while since we had some new material from the Cornish wonder, but now he's gifting us four fresh slabs of braindance par excellence which bristle with his distinctive touch. Those subtle microtonal shifts in the melodies, the particular flair with which the drums are dissected, the overall head-spinning tapestry of the whole thing - no one does it quite like Aphex, and this CD single gives you his considerable skills in the highest definition.

Review: If you've caught either Khruangbin or Leon Bridges live before, or indeed listened to anything by either band or producer-singer-songwriter, you'll know where this 20-minute EP is heading. The sleeve art, which gives more than a nod to the 1960s hippy movement, also offers a major clue.

Tripped out, smoked out, lackadaisical, bliss-infused overtures, honied and syrupy, easing you in so far that you don't quite realise how hard it is to crawl back out of the sugar-coated opiate haze. A collection of heady, hallucinogenic work for 21st Century high plains drifters, it's jazzy, psychy, lush soulful fare you'll be wanting to hear again and again, capturing the heat and slow pace of America's southern states with heartfelt songwriting from genuine masters. The result is something very special indeed.

Review: There's likely no holiday single that's as endlessly catchy as Last Christmas. Released by Wham! on the run up to Christmas 1984, as radio stations spun the single repeatedly they became increasingly aware of its seasonal power and the fact that its relevance would fade into the new year. An ace up the sleeve of the duo, the label and radio stations the world over came in the form of the flip double A-side single 'Everything She Wants' which would make it to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming an equally massive hit for the pair. Finally repressed to 7" vinyl in its retro form, with this companion CD edition boasting two exclusive dancehall meets disco remixes, now you no longer have to rely on radio rotations to hear your guilty pleasure Chrimbo banger.

Review: Past Inside The Present welcomes back accomplished and prolific ambient master zake, this time alongside Oss and Fax who released the original featured track, 'Polymorph' on Module. Here it gets revisited by a top contemporary team after the hazy and absorbing extended mix kicks things off. ASC then goes dark with his mood rework and Zake himself remixes with a more optimistic sense of crepuscular synth lushness. Aural Imbalance layers in some fizzing and malfunctioning electronic sounds, Ossa suspends you amongst his heavenly rays and Influx brings gently broken beats. Fax shuts down this varied offering with a more edgy ambient sound.

Review: It won't have passed you by that the world's longest running (and most commercially successful) rock band is back. The big news, of course, is that the Rolling Stones have recorded their first album of new material in 18 years, Hackney Diamonds, which will appear in stores and online next month. To whet the appetite of fans old and young, they've served up 'Angry' - a one-track CD single that has been manufactured in relatively limited numbers. To be fair to the old timers, it's genuinely 'prime' Stones fair - all gnarly rhythm and blues riffs and sprawling solos (courtesy of Keith Richards, of course), yelp-along vocals from the effervescent Mick Jagger, and a suitably sturdy rhythm section. A return to form, as many critics have already pointed out.

Review: Past Inside The Present is at it again, and by 'it' we mean both releasing great music and also doing so on unusual formats. This new single 'Cadere' is taken from Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea's forthcoming long-player, which will arrive in the Spring of next year, and it comes on a rather unusual glass-mastered 3" mini-CD which includes a download link and code. It's a lush and widescreen ambient single detailed with subtly uplifting chords coated in lo-fi hiss and hum. Also included is a live version of 'Alpha' which in its original form was on a previous album of the same name. It's from James Bernard and Kevin Sery and was recorded live at the Gothic Chapel in Indianapolis so has a decidedly spiritual edge.

Review: The title of veteran singer-songwriter Jonathan Richman's latest EP, Yatasamaroun, is an Arabic word that, roughly translated, means 'lovers talking softly together in the moonlight'. It's perhaps fitting, then, that the title track is a gorgeously exotic, steamy and moonlit affair that fuses North African, Andalucian and Middle Eastern instrumentation with spoken word monologues and Arabic singing. It's a fine, intoxicating musical brew that makes an even greater impact in the included 'Extended Mix' form. Elsewhere across the CD single, 'En La Discoteca Reggaeton' is a jangling, bluesy chunk of global musical fusion that's bold and infectious enough to suggest that it could work on open-minded dancefloors, while 'I'm In a Dancing Mood' sees Richman add his David Byrne-esque lead vocals to a Flamenco-inspired workout.

Review: Being a 'supergroup' - as Boygenius trio Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus are commonly described - has its pitfalls, one of which is finding time to record and promote your music. It was for this reason that it took the threesome almost five years to record their debut album, The Record, which was released to critical acclaim (the NME called it an 'instant indie classic') earlier this year. The fact that 'The Rest', an EP of unheard songs (literally - no previews were available online prior to release), has followed so quickly suggests that it was recorded at the same time. Either way, it was produced by the band alongside a team of six producers) and delivers more memorable songs in their now familiar American indie-rock style. A treat for fans, all told.

Review: Ever-changing Slovenian collective Laibach seems to have mellowed with age, with the band's inherent desire to court controversy (see their 2015 performances in North Korea for a relatively recently example) currently curtailed. Love Is Still Alive, which marks their first new music since the release of last year's well-received album Wir Sind das Volk, is actually an "extension" of the music they wrote to soundtrack the 2019 film 'Iron Sky -The Coming Race'. It is, they say, a "trip through space music genres of recent decades" (albeit with bonus nods to country, pop and so on) that loosely tells the story of a spaceship full of post-apocalyptic survivors making their way across the solar system. It's a lot of fun, all told, with the band expertly showcasing the breadth of their musical knowledge as well as skip-fulls of imagination.

Review: Santa Cruz based hardcore upstarts Scowl follow up their blistering 2021 debut full-length How Flowers Grow with the genre-bending EP Psychic Dance Routine. Channelling riot grrl spirit and embracing influences from the likes of X-Ray Spex, The Breeders and L7, these five new cuts showcase the true range of frontwoman Kat Moss who trades in her feral bark for a sultry cadence, with results landing somewhere between Hole or The Distillers if they were at a dingy basement show. Following on from an appearance at Coachella (the first instance of the festival ever offering their expansive platform to hardcore acts), it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to see Scowl branching out and diversifying their sound in such brazen fashion. What is surprising is just how naturally they've managed to bridge the gap between hardcore and hook-laden anthems, resulting in a tight snappy display of where their artistic intentions lay for the promising future ahead.

Review: Sheffield-based experimental label Another Timbre is reissuing some of their most sought-after CDs, starting with this collaboration between Berlin-based Japanese composer and reeds player Michiko Ogawa and cellist, composer and noted classical-electronic fusionist Lucy Railton. Designed as an exercise in creating musical magic using just three musical elements - cello, organ and sho (a Japanese reed instrument) - Fragments of Reincarnation is an evocative, atmospheric and at times hypnotic piece that sits somewhere between cutting-edge modern classical, ambient and immersive sound design. The interplay between the cello and sho, gently dancing atop a bed of sustained organ chords, is particularly impressive.

Review: Described by their label, Dais, as "a stirring new chapter" in their musical story, 'An object of Motion' has its roots in a coastal break main man Deb Demure made back in 2021. It was material recorded there, largely using a vintage, bowl-shaped 12-string guitar, that formed the basis of the four-track mini-album. These recordings were then expanded on with help from collaborators Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Justin Meldal-Johnsen and Ben Greenberg. It's a decidedly psychedelic set all told, with Demure and company blurring the boundaries between neo-folk, psychedelia, the Cure, shoegaze and the sort of saucer-eyed, turn-of-the-90s bagginess associated with the Stone Roses. Most impressive of all, though, is 'Yield To Force', an undeniably cosmic, layered and effects-laden instrumental that ebbs and flows over 15 magical minutes.

Review: Leapfrogging conventional rock sounds and hop-scotching conformity, these unassuming young gentlemen yell "Up your pigeon-hole!" to an industry obsessed with format and repeated musical templates. In the humble surroundings of a quaint English seaside village, the members of Odd Shaped Head reside in chaotic harmony: Paul (bass/vocals), Ricky (guitar/vocals), Rob (drums) and Andrew (guitar); from childhood chums to grown up geeky misfits. The quirky quartet release their new single "Egomatic Annie". Their eclectic brand of energetic, rhythmic, funk-punk, jerky bass popping, powerful scatterbrained drumming and stabbing guitars bursting into vibrant melodies draws more fans along to venues already packed with a collage of characters. This is not to be missed.

Review: Second time around for Sneaker Pimps' Six Underground, the lesser-celebrated follow-up to the duo's renowned 'Spin Spin Sugar' single (famous, of course, because of Armand Van Helden's influential 'Dark Garage' remix). While the revisions included here - all initially released in 1996 - did not make as big an impression, all four have stood the test of time impressively. The headline attraction is a pair of Two Lone Swordsmen rubs, which are amongst the earliest reworks Weatherall and Tenniswood laid down under the alias. The vocal and instrumental takes are low slung trip-hop tracks overlaid with heady electronic elements. Elsewhere, Nellee Hooper channels the spirit (and sound) of his work with Massive Attack, and Hull boys Fila Brazillia lay down a typically deep, dubby and slowly evolving downtempo workout.

Review: Emotional Rescue label boss Stuart Leath is particularly excited about this release, and it's not hard to see why. While Spanish singer/songwriter Javier Bergia is not widely known in the UK, his releases - either solo, or as part of the Finas Africae and Arium Musicae groups - are held in high regard by those of a Balearic persuasion. Eclipse is something of a treat, gathering together the best of Bergia's solo work from 1985 to the present day. Featuring Bergia's spoken and sung vocals atop a mix of gentle acoustics, atmospheric strings, delay-laden percussion and subtle global rhythms, Eclipse impresses from start to finish. It should be essential listening for anyone with even the tiniest interest in Balearica.

Review: The last ten years have seen no shortage of bands with their delay pedals set to stun intent on capturing an aura of dreamlike radiance. Yet Texas 'pop-noir' troupe Cigarettes After Sex are no ordinary shoegazers, for a variety of reasons - frontman Greg Gonzalez' androgynous and dulcet tones may be part of the appeal, yet moreover it's the quality of the songwriting here, which never falls prey to the style-over-substance traps of their peers. Indeed, this debut is more than enough to justify the considerable hype around this outfit, being a collection of ditties as sultry as they are atmopsheric.

Review: Lazare Hoche doesn't release that much music, but what he does put out is invariably excellent. Following a smattering of singles and an acclaimed collaborative album alongside Malin Genie - 2013's I Don't Sync So Volume II - he's decided to put together a compilation featuring his own productions and those by music industry mates. Access, then, is a lesson in warm and luscious deep house, with significant contributions coming from Luke Solomon (donning the Jean Caffeine guise on the dreamy and rolling "Jean Afterthought"), DJ Gregory's Point G project (the ultra-deep pulse of "La Lampe Du Vizir Adjane"), and pals Skymaster and Mandal. Hoche's own contributions rank amongst the compilation's highlights, with the title track delivering a pitch-perfect lesson in the seductive powers of dreamy, dust-encrusted deep house.

Review: Very little is known about the collective of musicians behind the SAULT project, but their music in many ways speaks for itself. Earlier in the year they delivered Untitled (Black Is), a heartfelt, angry and righteous set of soul, funk, drill and spoken word tracks that provided a brilliant commentary on what it means to be black in 2020. It's a contender for album of the year, for sure, and the good news is that this speedy follow-up is every bit as essential. It's undoubtedly more celebratory than its predecessor, but every bit as musically detailed, combining cutting-edge electronics and all manner of infectious rhythms with enlightening vocals and all manner of live jazz, soul, punk-funk and jazz-funk instrumentation (as well as some seriously evocative orchestration).

Review: Omar S has always been something of a maverick, but even by his own high standards, surprise second album It Can Be Done, But Only I Can Do It is something else. Like much of his work, it's an album of acute contrasts: tough and aggressive on one hand (the ragging acid of the opener and "Ganymede"), soft, calming and blissful on the other ("Nite's Over Comption"). Along the way, highlights are plentiful, from the heady deep house of "You Wish", sparse porno beatdown of "Look Hear Watch" and hypnotic rhythms of "Bobien Larkin", to the next generation Motor City techno of "Over You Two" and near-anthemic simplicity of "Here's Your Trance, Now Dance".

Review: Theo Parrish's masterful Sound Sculptures Vol 1 on triple LP format gets a timely repressing!! In total here there are 9 of the 27 tracks from the full double CD version but these still run the gamut of Theo's inimitable talents, from rough and tumble disco edits to saccharine soul, raw beatdown and leftfield esoterica. Be sure to check the Omar S- featuring "Synthetic Flemm" and long time Juno favourite "Flotation Device". If ever there was a selection of tracks that fully showcased the incredible breadth of production talent this man has, this is it. Not to be missed!

Review: classic 2010 Theo Parrish album Sketches back in stock on CD.

Review: Of all DJ duos currently operating in British dance music, Belfast boys Bicep might be the hardest to pin down (Optimo aside, of course). Certainly, this debut album is not easy to pigeonhole, though it is an enjoyably cohesive listen. This is largely down to two factors; the frequent use of deliciously colorful and loved-up synthesizer parts, and the duo's innate ability to utilize beats tailor-made for dancefloor devastation. So while keen dancefloor historians may notice sly (and not so subtle) nods to '89 rave, U.S house and garage, Italo-disco, late '90s progressive house, jungle and early British hardcore, the album never sounds anything less than a fine set of Bicep tracks. Expect it to be one of the biggest albums of the year.

Review: Over the years, Sam Shepheard's work as Floating Points has become increasingly ambitious, moving further away from his dancefloor roots and closer to spiritual jazz, new age and neo-classical. Even so, it was still a surprise when Shepheard announced Promises, a 46-minute piece in 10 "movements" featuring the London Symphony Orchestra and legendary saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. It's an undeniably remarkable piece all told; a constantly evolving fusion of neo-classical ambience, spiritual jazz and starry, synthesizer-laden soundscapes notable not only for Sanders' sublime sax-playing and Shepheard's memorable melodic themes, but also the intricate, detailed nature of the musical arrangements. It's a stunningly beautiful and life-affirming piece all told, and one that deserves your full attention.

Review: After recent releases on the Save Fabric album, Alola & Jack Trax, Mr.C has delved deep into his musical psyche to deliver an acid master-class that's influenced by Ska, Dub, Electro, Italo Disco, Acid House & Tech House, bringing his roots up to date with this massive modern production. Incidents is about things that can happen while clubbing. Down-tempo tracks Entry Search, A Civil Dose & Quick Exit will dub you out. Slightly quicker Acid Fever & Stand Up will completely groove you & dance tracks Do It For Me, Disco Rebellion, Shape Your Dreams, Raid, Ripple Effect & Master Of The Universe will make you dance like no-one's watching. Incidents is the complete electronic album that pulls all the punches, gives a nod to the past & yet has it's feet firmly embedded in the future. This is easily Mr.C's best solo work to date & essential listening.

Review: In 2009, longtime collaborators Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper made their production partnership official via the Director's Cut project. This epic retrospective gathers together the best tracks and remixes the duo completed prior to Knuckles' death in 2014. Disc one offers up original productions, including ear-catching re-makes of some of Knuckles' most famous early works (we're particularly fond of the versions of "The Whistle Song", "Your Love" and "I'll Take U There"). On the second disc you'll find the best of their remix work, with standouts including a sublime take on Candi Staton's "Hallelujah Anyway" and a storming, previously unreleased version of Lou Rawls' "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine". As a bonus, the third disc mixes the best of the lot together in one suitably gorgeous, non-stop journey.

Review: Waze & Oddysey's W&O Streetracks imprint pulls together the likes of Eliphino, Ejeca, Citizen and XXXY for its first (unmixed) compilation released this Winter, W&O Streettracks Vol 1. Having clocked up eight releases on Street Tracks, it's the ideal time to throw down a milestone and document the sound of the label in one package and W&O Street Tracks does so with panache. The result of Waze & Oddyssey's plunge into their address book is a 12 track compilation that neatly reflects modern house music. Ejeca, Citizen and W&O themselves sit alongside newcomers like Mediman and Sage Caswell while the emergent talents of New Jack City and Eliphino make for a nicely profiled piece of work

Review: There was naturally much excitement when A Moon Shaped Pool, Radiohead's surprise ninth studio set, popped up on streaming and download services back in May. Here it gets a CD release, offering those who prefer physical products a chance to bathe in its' woozy eccentricities. Seen by some as a return to their arty rock roots following an extended period spend exploring electronics, the album's 11 tracks draw on a variety of influences (krautrock, ambient, Pavement, James Blake, Stockhausen, intense melancholia etc.), with predictably impressive results. Occasionally elegant, string-laden and grandiose, always beautiful, and sometimes intensely moving, A Moon Shaped Pool is undeniably up there with the band's best work.

Review: Of all the artists past and present who claim to let their music do their talking for them, Burial is one of the elite band of whom this truly is the case. In fact, so reluctant is he to engage with the cult-of-personality hoopla that surrounds almost every modern producer and musician of merit, that he remains a genuine recluse; he has never appeared live, only one obliquely-angled publicity photograph is known to exist, and the number of interviews he has given can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Yet despite this, his music speaks loud and wide, and the world has been listening ever since his 'South London Boroughs' EP debut on Hyperdub in March 2005. His eponymous album, which began life as a low-key release in May 2006, is now widely regarded as the benchmark release of the ever-widening dubstep genre, picking up unanimous critical acclaim along the way, and ending the year heavily featured in many 'best of' polls. Now Burial returns with 'Untrue', a new record of weird soul music, which lovingly processes spectral female voices into vaporised R&B and smudged 2step garage. Vocal lines are blurred, smeared, pitched up pitched down and pitch bent until their content is cast adrift from their original context and they whisper their saccharin sweet nothings into the void. The album continues with the debut's crackle-drenched yearning and bustling syncopations, haunted by the ghosts of rave, but also reveals some new Burial treats with a more glowing, upbeat energy. Kicking off with the skittering 2step syncopations and vocal science of 'Archangel', 'Near Dark' and 'Ghost Hardware', before long it descends into a space of radiant divas and ambience. Where 'Burial' first was humid, suffocating and unrelentingly sad, 'Untrue' is less sunless. Many of the tracks are so sweet, they become toxic, underscored by the almost geological rumbles of growling basslines. Unlike the overpoweringly melancholic prevailing mood of before, Burial's sound is now better defined as a downcast euphoria typified by the epic, muted optimism of the album's last track 'Raver'. Forget central heating the radioactivity of this album is all that you'll need to keep you warm this winter. 'Untrue' is available as full 13 track digipack CD, including recent underground hit 'Ghost Hardware', and 9 track DJ friendly double vinyl set, from which some of the beatless pieces have been edited.

Review: Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly, the Compton-based rapper's first album since 2012's major label debut, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, has been receiving rave reviews. In truth, it's not hard to see why. Imaginative, soulful, and blessed with the looseness of live performance (a result of the use of jazz-minded live players as much as anything else), it sounds like the kind of album that may one day be hailed as a hip-hop classic. Sure, there are big name guests - Dre, Snoop, George Clinton and Thundercat included - but the focus remains on Lamar's distinctive flow and almost cinematic tales of life on L.A's streets. Given the quality of his lyrics, that's no bad thing.

Review: Alex Green and Damon Kirkham's debut album has been a long time coming. It follows an action-packed decade that's seen them morph from drum & bass punishers to dubstep fusionists and, more recently, bass music experimentalists. With such experience behind them, it's perhaps no surprise that Resolution 653 is an eclectic set. What's more surprising is the expansiveness of their approach. Within the album's 13 tracks lies glass-clear electronic futurism, brain-warping acid tracks, murky dusbtep, slo-mo 4/4 sweetness, hard edged electro bounce, off-kilter IDM and, naturally, 140 BPM bass bangers. As a summary of where British bass music's at in 2011, it's unsurpassed.

Review: Twenty years ago it sounded like an oddly poignant evocation of pre-millennial tension. Two decades later it stands as an eerily prescient glimpe into the technological alienation and dislocation of of a new era. Yet more importantly, OK Computer is no more or less than a sparkling, dramatic and moving collection of songs that haven't lost any of their impact in the interim. The sound of a band stubbornly refusing to follow up the stadium-strafing stylings of its predecessor The Bends - and instead bursting headlong into experimentation and wild creativity -is portrayed in still more vivid colours by the alarmingly strong collection of out-takes and B-sides collected herein, Yet there's no getting away from the chill and spark that marked out OK Computer from everything surrounding it in the post-Britpop malaise, and continues to do so in the pre-Brexit counterpart.

Review: Until he quit the music industry in the mid-1990s, Shep Pettibone was the most in-demand remixer on the planet - a position he'd held since the late 1970s. This four-disc compilation does a great job of showcasing some of his greatest remixes, all of which are presented in full-length form. There's naturally plenty of versions of big pop singles of the '80s - see the epic 'Mastermix' of Pet Shop Boys' 'West End Girls', as well as rubs of Duran Duran, New Order, Whitney Houston and Belinda Carlisle - as well as a sprint through his celebrated disco and boogie reworks (see disc four). In addition, you'll find versions of some lesser-celebrated gems from the freestyle-era, including heavyweight revisions of Sinammon, Alisha, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam and The Flirts.

Review: Given their famously militant approach to music formats, it's a surprise to see Paranoid London's previously vinyl-only 2014 debut album finally being issued on CD. For those who missed out first time around, it's well worth checking. As you might expect, it makes great use of both vintage analogue equipment and similarly old skool influences, in turn doffing a cap to Phuture-style Chicago acid, Inner City, hip-house, Green Velvet, Dance Mania style ghetto-house, and stripped-back, dancefloor-friendly machine soul. Despite the ragged nature of some of the material, it's both hugely listenable and hangs together impressively - no mean feat given the DJ-friendly nature of the tracks. It all adds up to a retro-futurist treat.

Review: [Emotional] Especial looks back at the first 9 releases since its inception to provide a
selection or "Eleccio" via a special dubbed out DJ meets studio mix from label stalwart
Jamie Paton. Ever since the first white labels appeared at the end of Summer 2013, [Emotional] Especial
has been busy putting out music that are their own warped take on club music. Mixing the
influences of dub, electro, disco, proto-house, house and techno, a sound appeared without any preordained plan. To celebrate the end of the first series of releases come EES10CD - a DJ meets studio
compilation mix created by label artist, remixer and even in-house designer, Jamie Paton. Freaturing tracks from every EP, including two unreleased remixes are the tight productions
of Richard Sen; the wiggle of Scott Fraser; deep, chugging Cage & Aviary dubs; the Eastern
influences of Baris K and newcomers Khidja; the quirky discoid wonk of Maurice & Charles and finally not forgetting of course, the stand out Timothy J Fairplay touches. Whether
alongside Mr Weatherall, Andy Blake or in solo remix mode, young "Junior"s skills (and name)
grows and grows.
All this is perfectly put together by Jamie Paton, the man who launched the label with his
Bizarre Feeling EP. As well as the inclusion of several unreleased cuts, Jamie has edited the
"selection", adding live studio dubbing, FX and the odd mega-mix to make it truly (E)special.

Review: Having built their reputation through 12" singles for the likes of Crosstown Rebels and Poker Flat, Dan Berkson and James What deliver their debut album, on their freshly minted imprint Modelmaker. Interestingly, Keep Up Appearances is an altogether warmer, melodious and more evocative set than you'd perhaps expect, with a smattering of rich downtempo cuts joining a solid selection of dancefloor-friendly deep house. You can hear a classic dub techno influence in cuts such as "Keep Up Appearances" and "Shadow Theory", while the acid-flecked, soul-soaked "Make It True" sounds like classic Osunlade. Best of all, though, are the more forthright efforts, with the ragged "Seraphim" standing out.

Review: The 1975's last two albums were, by their standards, quite experimental, with the band taking the opportunity that fame and success afforded has afforded them to try their hand at all manner of styles - many of them a bit more overtly dancefloor-centric than diehard fans were expected. There's no such widescreen vision on 'Being Funny in A Foreign Language'; instead, they've gone back to basics and turned in a set of strong, addictive, singalong songs that sounds like radio anthems in the making. For proof, check the glossy AOR synth-pop cheeriness of 'Happiness', the fragile, eyes-closed Americana of 'Part of the Band', the indie power-pop bounce of 'I'm In Love With You' and the sparse, slo-mo, lo-fi fuzz of 'All I Need To Hear'.

Review: There's a chance this Liverpudlian four piece will be familiar by now. This, their 11th studio outing, first unveiled as the 1960s slipped into the 70s, is a bonafide epic from an outfit that weren't lacking in epics; in many ways a culmination of their time together, marking the end of their active years and beginning of their legacy. By this stage, then, they've emerged from years spent on the inner journey and time on the outer, space cadeting to the hallucinogenic fuelled tones of "Sgt. Peppers" and "Revolver". Of course, there's still plenty of explorations happening, but the gritty blues rock of opening track "Come Together" really sets the tone. Five decades on, it still sounds great and maybe even better than you remember. Even if you own the original, this anniversary edition is worth having.

Review: There have been plenty of column inches devoted to this collaborative debut album from hyped producer Kamaal Williams (AKA Rhythm Section International sort Henry Wu), and fast-rising Afrobeat drummer Yussef Dayes. With such raw talent to choose from, it's little surprise to find that Black Focus is as good as the critics claim. Their sound is distinctive: a London-centric take on jazz-funk that's loose, rich, organic and shot through with soul. Their major influences seem to be the work of West London broken beat pioneer Kaidi Tatham, and his inspiration, jazz-funk legend Herbie Hancock. These touchstones, combined with Dayes' brilliant drumming and Williams' superb synth solos and jammed-out Rhodes lines, makes Black Focus a hugely alluring set.

Review: 'Mordechai is another blissed-out record from Texan party-chill-psyche trio Khruangbin. It's also among the outfit's most defined and driven, a smooth, sticky hot funk odyssey made for hazy afternoon soirees. Leader Laura Lee is, as ever, unfathomably siren-like on vocals, her bass grooves aiding the process of seduction no end. Even at the most upbeat and anthemic, 'Time (You and I)', it's hard not to feel woozy and intoxicated by the pared-back breaks and guitar lick combination. Dance floor ammo for sure, as is Pelota. Overall, though, it's an album best savoured slowly, allowing you to fully appreciate every lackadaisical moment of opiate goodness, with tracks such as 'Father Bird, Mother Bird', 'One To Remember' and 'Shida' summoning stunning sticky, heavy, deep atmospheres.

Review: As he did to celebrate Claremont 56's fifth birthday, Paul "Mudd" Murphy has enlisted the help of the Idjut Boys to mark the passing of the label's first decade. This time round, the long-serving dub disco duo has put together a spellbinding, two-disc mix of specially commissioned material. Of course, they've gone to town, blending the label's 10th birthday tracks with oodles of dub delay, all manner of trippy effects, and a swathe of their own specially prepared dubs, DJ tools and re-edits. These intoxicating, mind altering versions are showcased in unmixed form on disc three, following two discs of horizontal Balearic bliss, slow-dance goodness and the impossible-to-pigeonhole antics of Can founder Holgar Czukay.

Review: Devoted fans of Abel Tesfaye were left in a spin when the latest The Weeknd album dropped out of the blue, offering up lead singles 'Sacrifice' and 'Gasoline'. The expansive reach of Tesfaye's musical world knows no bounds, straddling pop, rap, electro and much more besides on a quest for life-affirming, show-stopping songs that burrow straight into your heart. The cast of collaborators on this record is staggering, from Tyler, the Creator, Lil Wayne, Quincy Jones, and Oneohtrix Point Never to Jim Carrey and Swedish House Mafia, would you believe. Through it all, Tesfaye's dazzling persona shines through, making for another classic from one of the most unique artists in the premier league of contemporary RnB.

Review: Having previously impressed with their reissue of Patrick Cowley's brilliant, all-synthesizer soundtrack to obscure '70s gay porn flick School Daze, Dark Entries and Honey Sound System once again join forces to shine a light on the high energy disco pioneer's work for San Francisco's Fox Studios. Unsurprisingly, it's another impressive collection, and features material recorded for a number of different pornographic films. There are naturally more up-tempo moments - see "Somebody To Love Tonight", which would later be re-recorded with Sylvester, and the synth-weirdness-meets-jazz-funk brilliance of "5oz of Funk" - but it's the impressively cosmic and exotic ambient moments, such as the stand-out "Timelink" and "Jungle Magic", that really stand out.

Review: In line with the timely reappraisal of all things R&S related, the resurgent Apollo have seen the opportunity to bring one of their most celebrated records back for another round on CD. Aphex Twin's ambient recordings mature magnificently with age, sounding ever richer and more emotive as the rest of electronic music continues to play catch up all around. From the gentle breakbeats of "Xtal" to the aquatic techno lure of "Tha", the airy rave of "Pulsewidth" to the heartwrenching composition of "Ageispolis", every track is a perennial example of how far ambient techno could reach even back then. It's just that no-one quite had the arm-span of Richard D. James.

Review: On the latest volume in the Late Night Tales series, Don Letts has dug deep into his crates to present a selection of some of his favourite dubbed-out reggae cover versions, alongside dub style remixes of more contemporary covers. It's a simple concept, brilliantly executed, with Letts offering up some exclusive, dubplate style remixes amongst the classic cuts and recent gems. Highlights include, but are in no way limited to, the full vocal dub of Capitol 1212's take on Joy Dvision's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', Mad Professor's insanely weighty 2021 dub of John Holt classic 'You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine', Blackbox Recorder's oddball reggae-soul version of 'Uptown Top Rankin' and Easy Stars All Stars' deliciously mystical interpretation of The Beatles' 'Within You Without You'.

Review: It may have been released digitally six months ago, but Kanye West's "Jesus Is King" album - his 12th solo set in total - has finally made it on to vinyl. By now, most will have already heard it, but for the uninitiated "Jesus Is King" sees West meditating on Christianity, offering up a tight 27-minute set of tracks that draw influence from (or explicitly sample) gospel music in all its forms. It's still a hip-hop album of course, it's just that the beats, musical choices (gospel choirs, loops from killer records by gospel soul act The Whole Truth etc) and lyrics are closer to the black American gospel tradition than anything West has released before.