Review: Rahaan is an absolute don when it comes to disco done right and with genuine soul. He's been rolling it out in original and edit form for many years and none of it ever goes out of date. Here he presents Gregory Carmouche & Cherelle Cherisoul Sullivan on the second release on the Yellow Taxi label. 'It Is What It Is' is a lovely loose jam with noodling chord work, rolling drums and magnificent vocals that bring plenty of sunshine next to playful whistles. Those vocals are more centred on the B-side opener while an instrumental remixes peels them away entirely.
Review: Thomas Schumacher's latest project brings together a vibrant mix of artists, channeling the raw energy of contemporary techno. The first track strikes with unrelenting force, its driving rhythms and layered atmospherics creating a powerful opening statement. Franco Smith and TimiR take a slightly different approach, crafting a hypnotic blend of pulsing basslines and tight, percussive details that hit with surgical precision. On the flip, Mark Porter's contribution strips things back to their bare essentials, letting subtle, looping melodies glide over crisp, metronomic beats. Gonzalo Cavalli rounds off the collection with something more emotive, layering shimmering synths over a steady, groove-laden foundation. This release is as much about showcasing individual artistry as it is about exploring techno's evolving formsia versatile and deeply considered collection.
Review: Spooky Wooky return with a newly nourished Pandora's box worth of tunes, welcoming four new producers each for their own scare, as well as an opening fourfold fright. Joining forces only under the name Spooky Wooky, 'Cauchemard Ambulant' puns on the French term for "waking nightmare" terming it a "walking nightmare", with fidgety, motile synth snaps and pops aligned alongside bow can scrape samples and strange monstrous gurgles. Our faves among the solo cuts have to be Lazer Man's 'Fuck The Bass' and Gogo Gadgeto's 'FREAK', both of which seem to convey a sort of crazed elvish otherworld.
Review: Gale-force sonic apneas from Planet Rhythm, the label and unstoppable phonic force from Rotterdam. The imprint's latest V/A release in the Dubwars series this time takes on its own name, 'Minerals', and welcomes rambunctious techno troilers from the likes of Unknown Code, OFF / GRID, and Luca Accardi. Rhythmically dragged, diminished stab-chords define the A1 and A2 against metal girdered kick patterns, with 'Moment' especially nailing that ever-sought-after sweet spot of energy and anhedonia, a mixed feeling perhaps only achievable within techno's ambit. Dub techno inflections turn to infarctions, as Accardi's 'Minerals' sucks the sonic substrate dry with ballistic echoes, giving way to Gockel's minimal mountaintop NDE, 'Meditation In Tibet'.
Review: The Breaks and Beats label kicks on with a 31st instalment of magical sound that will inject soul and funk into any party and keep working DJs well stocked with heat this winter. First up on this limited 7" is The Webs with 'It's So Hard To Break A Habit', a slow and sentimental sound with aching v vocal harmonies and gentle rhythms laced with melancholic melodies. Gamith's 'Darkness' picks up the energy levels with some more bristling breaks and live drum sounds, funky vocal stylings and psyched-out guitar lines.
Review: Painter, musician, actor, director and producer. John Lurie has done a lot in his time, whether that's appearing in 19 movies, composing for 20 TV shows and films - including some of those he was the star of - or producing primitivist art work. Here, we get to engage with two of those back catalogues, even if only because these are scores to a pair of his most iconic flicks. Always cool and stripped, Lurie's stuff is the kind of experimental-leaning jazz that works so well when setting the scene. And this applies off screen, IRL too: pressing play here will only serve to create a mood wherever you are, no matter what you're doing. One of shadowy streets, yellow hued spots, smoky barrooms and dark backrooms, a sense of after hours exploration.
Review: Prog rock giants Genesis caught in live action in London in late 1973, a mere month after the release of their Selling England By The Pound album. This is what many claim to be the band at the height of their powers, with their highly celebrated Foxtrot album not long behind them, hitting their experimental, quirky time signature peak and with Peter Gabriel still commanding the microphone. Opening with the thrusting 'Watcher of the Skies', Tony Banks' keyboard stabs almost rave-like in their stabbing power, they hurtle through tracks from the latest offering ('The Cinema Show', 'Battle of Epping Forest' and the anthemic 'I Know What I Like') alongside Nursey Cryme album fan favourite 'The Musical Box' and a version of the epic 'Supper's Ready' that stretches to nearly 24 minutes here. 'More Fool Me', meanwhile, which sees drummer Phil Collins step forward to sing its folksy, almost Bee Gees-like pop strains, points to where the band would be in a handful of years' time.
Review: The first hard rock album to land at Number One on the Billboard 200 in four years, Swedish rock occultists Ghost make their grand return with sixth full-length Skeleta, serving as the highly anticipated follow up to 2022's acclaimed and super camp-by-design stadium-goth rock opus Impera. Still the singular vision of Tobias Forge, renowned for his charismatic vocals and immense versatility, but primarily for his adorning of different guises, characters and monikers for each album cycle, the Papa Emeritus IV who pontificated on empirical fallacies throughout their previous outing has since been usurped by Papa V Perpetua, who along with his band of Nameless Ghouls deliver their "most unflinchingly introspective work to date" while showcasing "distinct individual emotional vistas", touching on "demonic possessions" and the allure of succumbing to "dark forces". In other words, expect a gloomy gauntlet of anthemic riffage, epic refrains, gargantuan levels of cheesy theatricality, and Satanic Panic bell-ringing on-the-nose song-titled such as 'Satanized'.
Review: Originally dating back to 1961, this record by American jazz guitarist Grant Green wasn't released until 1980 by Blue Note Japan. It features a quartet with pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Louis Hayes who all back up Green's distinctive guitar work. Clark's soulful piano also does plenty to elevate this one and the synergy between the two musicians is a standout while creating a rich, harmonious atmosphere. Praised for its beauty back then by highly regarded by critics, in 1997 it was included in The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark, further cementing its significance in jazz history.
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