Back catalogue: All genres

Review: If you don't know Acid Mothers Temple, get to know. This terrific psychedelic rock band is part of the quintessence of Eastern counterculture, self-defined as a "freak-out group for the 21st Century", led by Kawabata Makoto. With most of their albums centring on a ten minute long prog-haze freakouts, Paralyzed Brain here is no exception, with its three star pieces - 'Cemetery Orbital Drive 0011', 'Paralyzed Brain' and 'Magic Bohemian Has Gone' - adding up to a whopping deluge of consciousness-expanding rock. Now reissued on LP after its first, limited edition CD-only version as part of 'The Electric Dream Ecstasy Tour' in 2018.

Review: After the success of the first Alessandroni Proibito box set, which sold out in pre-sale before it even hit the stores, Four Flies is proudly back with Volume 2 of the compilation. This new release too features five exclusive 7" singles, housing a total of ten seriously rare tunes. All previously unreleased in physical format, the tracks have been carefully selected from the soundtracks of five obscure Italian films from the late 70s - sexy flicks that flirted with the line between erotic and explicit, and which are now largely forgotten, having been out of circulation for decades. As was the case with the previous volume of the compilation, Alessandroni's music rises above the films' flimsy plots, improvised actors, and amateurish production, exuding his distinctive touch thanks to the (typically Italian) artisanal approach he took to his musical craft. The composer let his creativity run free, playing with his instruments at home as if he were in his own little amusement park; trying to have fun and produce something entertaining and captivating with just the few means at his disposal.

Review: Canadian soul and boogie man Goldie Alexander dropped his most well-known hit 'Knocking Down Love' in 1981 on the TGO label. It now lends its name to this longer collection of his work which takes in all the tracks off his one and only studio album - 1983's Fool In Love - as well as various different club and dub mixes of those tunes. It makes for a heartwarming mix of disco, electronic grooves and smoochy soul sounds with Goldie's, well, golden, tones front and centre. A great one to have for more intimate dancefloor moments.

Review: Half a century old and still kicking raw ass like it's still 1972, Alice Cooper's School's Out gets a deluxe reissue treatment befitting of such an iconic album. On this whopping triple-vinyl edition, Rhino have had the original album remastered so it's sounding better than ever, but of course there's heaps of bonus material to enjoy as well. You get the single versions of 'School's Out' and 'Gutter Cat vs. The Jets', an alternate version of 'Alma Mater' and an early demo of 'Elected'. On top of all that is a recording of the band's concert in Miami in 1972, recorded just before they stepped into the studio to lay down the album.

Review: Fans of Marc Almost rejoice! Tenement Symphony, the Soft Cell singer's seventh solo album, returns via an impressive box set containing little less than six discs of music. The original 1991 album, a thrilling fusion of synth-pop, strings, piano house motifs and muscular dance grooves produced by the great Trevor Horn, sits on disc one alongside B-sides and seven-inch mixes, with disc two collecting extended versions and further B-sides. The remaining four discs showcase the songs contained on the album in various stages of development, with demos and work-in-progress versions aplenty, alongside live recordings and a swathe of previously released - and a smattering of never-released - club-focused remixes. Throw in a DVD of videos and BBC appearances, and you've got a genuinely brilliant box set.

Review: Lo-fi, low budget and low key, The American Analog Set's suite of hypnotic, neo-psychedelic, Texas sloth-kraut LPs appeared briefly on Austin's Emperor Jones label and slunk quietly into the sprawling indie underground as the old millennium crested. Gathered here are The Fun Of Watching Fireworks, From Our Living Room To Yours, and The Golden Band albums, garnished with period B-sides, outtakes, and demos. Remastered from the original analog tapes, this early-career spanning 5xLP box includes lyrics, photos and ephemera from the before times.

Review: A new standard black 5xLP box set to complement an alternate bicoloured deluxe version; The American Analog Set's formative first three albums - The Fun Of Watching Fireworks, From Our Living Room To Yours, and The Golden Band - are here gathered together under the name New Drifters, making up a great account of experimental breadth of the late 1990s Texas scene, and its utlimate expression in the work of this fivesome set of slowcorers. We hear a long take, as the band deliver a slow burning power-of-three for local monopolist Emperor Jones, all while quelling the thrums of fin-de-siecle angst by way of soft-sung tenors, emo catharses and sawn-off math rhythms. Notably but disputably described as "sloth kraut", there's a sepia-toned feel to the whole thing, but it's anything but lethargic; rather, it's beautiful. Remastered from the original analog tapes, this early-career spanning 5xLP box includes lyrics, photos and ephemera from the before times.

Review: Was anyone ready for one of the most talked-about albums of the year to be Andre 3000 going ham on the flute? Probably not, but in a post-reality world New Blue Sun just slots right in. Of course the legions of Outkast fans are going to be split when an artist of such prominence takes a wild swerve into experimental musical pastures, but for those with an open mind or a pre-existing appreciation of ambient and leftfield music, this album is an easy sell. Teasing the tension between acoustic and electronic, ancient and hypermodern, grounded and ethereal, Andre has been bold and honest in presenting this album to the world and his gamble has paid off.

Review: Armand Hammer is the New York-based duo of ELUCID and Billy Woods and now they are back with their first new album in two years. We Buy Diabetic Test Strips is a debut long player for Fat Possum and it is their biggest work yet with plenty of high-profile guest spots from the likes of JPEGMAFIA, EL-P, Kenny Segal, Black Noi$e, Preservation, DJ Haram, Child Actor, Sebb Bash, August Fanon, and more. Since they were last recording together, ELUCID and billy woods have both released critically acclaimed solo albums but show that they save some special magic for when they join up in the studio.

Review: Kirk Degiorgio's As One project continues to be a beacon of inspiration within the annals of deep, melodic UK techno. As a true pioneer of the sound from the earliest days, it's impressive to see his inspiration maintain, and there's no better home for his work than De:tuned, a label dedicated to preserving the rich expression and invention of that foundational sound. On AsOne2 we're treated to an extended excursion into widescreen machine soul of the highest calibre, where melancholic chord progressions collide with restlessly original drum programming. It's quite simply exquisite, produced with an impeccable ear and loaded with sincere human feeling. This limited pressing of the album comes on red marbled wax too - highly recommended for the collectors out there.

Review: Some 14 years in the making, Les Jardins Mystiques Vol.1 comprises 52 tracks of music composed, arranged and produced by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson; with contributions from 50+ friends including Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Carlos NiNo, Austin Peralta, Bennie Maupin, Gabe Noel, Jamael Dean, and more. If that wasn't monumental enough, just know that this lengthy classical-experimental-jazz album is certainly Miguel's intended magnum opus, having been written and recorded entirely as a result of his own uncompromised, self-funded efforts. Such an extensive time period reflects an album of longstanding personal growth for the artist; an attitude of continual evolution and innocence, of constantly coming of age and reinventing oneself.

Review: Scottish funk and r&b group The Average White Band had a fine series of disco and soul hits back in their heyday in the 1970s. As well as originals like their best known smash hit 'Pick Up the Pieces' they also served up superb covers like 'Let's Go Round Again.' AWB is their most successful album and it now turns a full half a centre old so gets a special reissue on Edsel across no fewer than 15 CDs. The album was number two for three weeks to Elton John's Greatest Hits upon release in 1974 and will no doubt do big numbers again all these years later.

Review: The third and most especial edition in the latest selection of versions of the reissued LP by Alonso Toro, Paul Desenne, and Pedro Vasquez - Alzheimer. Coming hot on the heels of an original, as-it-was reissue as well as a gemmy Ricardo Villalobos rerub, this deluxe edition comes in a beautiful yellow and lilac LP box, and features the latter's two remixes as well as an exclusive Wetsuit Je Me Souviens version. A curio of the Venezuelan vanguard, the album was recorded between January 1997-99, and hears the fabled trio of musicians "forget everything" that came before, enlisting the recorded help of every member of the animal kingdom - from mammals to insects - and shooting squarely for a whole new sound-world-order in the process. Sonically flowing between heritage Latin music and minimal electronica, the purpose is to confuse and the effect is indeed confounding, though no less dazzling.