Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Two towering labels, Alternative Tentacles and Crispin Glover, break the mould for a momentary merger on this artistic collision of rogue planets: a new split reissued 7" housing that infamous syncretic, Patrick Fitzgerald, Motorpsycho and Jello Biafra, and their twin versions of Fitzgerald's original song 'Punch'. Fitzgerald is best known as a pioneer of folk punk, famously channelling his sardonic wit into a fleeting, light but somehow also epical sound. 'Punch' first surfaced in 2009 as a one-off single released under Crispin Glover's remit; it's now heard once more in both versions, tracking incendiary denunciations of politics on Fitzgerald's part, amid a suicidal, guitar-driven ascension into the air.

Review: Here comes Emotional Rescue and Konduko's last in their series of Noel Williams/King Sporty reissues, this time looking at later electro productions and the hip-hop/boogie influenced 'Sun Country'. Vocals and co-production come from Williams' long-time partner Betty Wright and as well as a vocal and instrumental mix there's a longform remix by Bay Area disco dub stalwarts, 40 Thieves.
By this point in his career, the godfather of Miami Bass had travelled a long way from his Jamaican roots in reggae and soul, paying homage to the warm climbs of the Sunshine State and laying down a much copied template using the TR-808 drum machine create the electronic emulations of the breakbeat, claps accenting the backbeat and trademark low frequencies shaking the floorboards. The instrumental stretches the arrangement, emphasising the interplay between electronics, bass, vocal samples, scratching and fx, the voice transformed into a percussive element in its own right. The flip sees 40 Thieves flexing their understated understanding of electro funk, making for a rounded, generation-jumping package.

Review: The Fabulous Courettes' 'Shake!' unleashes a whirlwind of retro-inspired rock 'n' roll energy in a compact package. This Danish-Brazilian duo ignites the airwaves with their electrifying blend of garage rock and 1960s girl-group aesthetics. 'Shake!' is a sonic explosion of fuzzy guitar riffs, infectious drumbeats and irresistible vocal harmonies that compel listeners to move. With its raw, unbridled energy and infectious hooks, this track embodies the essence of rebellion and liberation and makes for a sonic adrenaline rush that transports listeners to the heyday of rock 'n' roll, leaving them craving more of its infectious charm.

Review: Back in 2020, hip-hop, breaks and electro stalwart Freddy Fresh decided to turn his hand to vintage-sounding house and techno, self-releasing a set of tracks called The Harvest online. Rawax were impressed, with the popular label deciding to put the pick of the cuts out on vinyl. Title track 'The Harvest' sets the tone, with the veteran producer wrapping a house-tempo, post-electro groove in sustained organ chords, spacey synths and bubbly electronic melodies. 'House-Spanner' sees him doff a cap to The Middle of Nowhere-era Orbital (seriously, it's very reminiscent of the Hartnoll brothers' late '90s output), while 'Misunderstood' is a woozy, delay-laden chunk of early morning U.S deep house. Elsewhere, the deep house dreaminess continues on the interestingly swung 'Twain', and clonking, TB-303 speckled 'Horlywagon'.

Review: Andrea Ferlin is the Italian DJ and producer who heads up the Sleep Is Commercial label. His latest release however comes courtesy of Germany's Pleasure Zone, featuring two advanced and breakbeat-driven minimal cuts. On the first side of Crepuscular Beats Part 2 is the lean and subtle groove business of 'Thai' featuring enough atonal blips and clipped rhythms to soundtrack Sunday morning mischief, while the equally reduxed B-side cut 'Varia' is another hypnotic affair benefiting from a sparse and experimental arrangement.

Review: Winston Ready has played a big part in the evolution of reggae booth as a solo artist and as the mic man for The Cimarons. He has had plenty of hits in his time and is now a regular on this label, Room In The Sky, with a couple of tunes dropping this month alone. 'Cool It Amigo' is first up and is an earthy one with shakers and fat horns over deep bass. The Inn House Crew then appear as usual with a head-twisting dub and on the flip are two more cuts that rework the original, firstly Fawda Don's 'Warrior' then Barry Issacs's 'So Mi Get It.'

Review: This new one by Ferro cycles through three rough and buzzing acid techno cuts, beginning with the jagged-fanged track 'Shoulder'; middling on the attention-grabbing and muddy 'Ay'; and ending on the gyratory palette-cleanser 'Wrong Chocolate'. Most evident is Ferro's ability to mire their music in garbly rhythms and off-kilter slop. The middle tune especially sounds like a mud-covered fish flopping around on an MPC's button bank. It's an impressive EP, sure to bring any given rave back down to Earth with its overall dirty realist sound.

Review: Apogee Music's debut vinyl EP premieres this week. Italian melodic techno trio Folual's talent shines through four powerful tracks, accompanied by remixes from Italy's T78 (Autektone) with his pounding dub techno rework of 'Ghosts' and Swedish veteran Tiger Stripes with a peak time rework of 'Scanner'. The vinyl's exceptional sound quality adds to its allure. Don't miss this impressive release by Folual and Apogee. Tracks arranged, recorded, and mixed by Alessandro Bianchi and Luca Antolini at Apogee Music Studio, with production by Folual.

Review: Yet another addition to the pile of new music from a Penrose soul singer who has been active since the mid 1970s and has not stopped since, Lee Fields' latest 7" single 'Waiting On The Sidelines' is a paean to pining, a song for sad hollowness. The star sings heartbreakingly of having been reduced to 'waiting on the sidelines' while the object of his affection goes off gallivanting with someone else. It's a beautiful new one from the singer-songwriter and producer, effortlessly showing off his undying penchant for the 7"s format and neatly following up his 2022 album Sentimental Fool.

Review: Baltimore-born US songwriter Aaron Frazer's 'Bring You A Ring' has the sort of timeless quality to it that so much of the soul dropped on this label comes with. It is a superbly velvety sound that is both easy to listen to yet hugely emotive. Vocally it celebrates love and connection and is a real heart melter. On the flip side you get something just as groovy in 'You Don't Wanna Be My Baby.' This one has harmonies that float high in the sky and plenty of nice strings to add further richness.

Review: Following on from Running Back's much-needed reissue of their seminal, saucer-eyed early 90s deep house gem 'Mermaids', Ali Tillett's Re:Warm label has decided to serve up a fresh retrospective of the sprawling career of Hull twosome Fila Brazillia. Tillett has done an excellent job too - not an easy task given the sheer size of the pair's catalogue - opting to mix kaleidoscopic early favourites (the dreamy, sunrise-ready brilliance of 'The Sheriff') and bona-fide chill-out classics (the superb 'A Zed and Two L's' and 'Harmonicas Are Shite') with stoner funk numbers from later albums ('Throwing Down a Shape', 'Airlock Holmes') and lesser-celebrated treats (the dense, slow-motion excellence of 'Neanderthal'). There's even a previously unreleased gem recorded last year: the return-to-their-roots brilliance of 'Toro De Fuego'.

Review: First released in 1976, Never Gonna Leave You was the name of both album and single, both of which fell under the shared credit of Satin Soul and Maryann Farra (aka. De-lite-ful), an instrumental soul group and singer both signed to Brunswick Records at the same time, and whom together collaborated for the entire decade. This new Japanese reissue of the full album via Solid highlights the group's success as purveyors of proto-disco, with the title track returning to our ears in all its glory, and with all its best hallmarks - sultry syncopations for rhythm guitar, breathy exhalations for voice - while complements such as 'You Got To Be The One' also amount to a rare - and stellarly-mixed, might we add - prototype of the cross-section of disco and latter-day neo-soul.