Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Dub & Sound International returns for a third time and this one welcomes legendary Jamaican trombonist Vin Gordon who is rightly 'Digging The Vibes.' The title track kicks off and pairs his playful patterns with a Dubsetters rhythm and some nice sunny and soothing melodies from Trommie aka Don Drummond Jr.. After the horn-led, organic and unhurried instrumental comes a dub that is fleshed out with a little more echo and is a sublime bit of roots. A second version adds another perspective to the original and we already look forward to hearing more from this project.

Review: Beth Gibbons has never saturated the market with her distinctive approach to singing and songwriting, choosing to leave the power of her contributions to Portishead and solo hanging in the air. That makes Lives Outgrown a truly exciting proposition, some 20 years after her last solo outing and simultaneously unique but naturally leading on from the magical Out of Season. The sonic content is layered differently, less folky and more like art rock embellished with electronics, but the melancholic, wistful melodic makeup feels absolutely rooted in Gibbon's approach throughout the years. This is the CD edition of a very welcome return from a truly unique treasure in British alternative music.

Review: Harmonics, the new album from Hot Chip founding member Joe Goddard, is a warm, instinctive, and empathetic journey across 14 tracks of left-of-centre dance music. The album explores UK garage, house, hip-hop, pop, and disco, featuring a diverse array of collaborators. Eno Williams of Ibibio Sound Machine shines on the afro-house groove of 'Progress,' while UK rapper Oranje delivers on the starry-eyed boom-bap track 'When Love's Out of Fashion.' Former Wild Beasts frontman Hayden Thorpe brings his unique vocal to the low-slung house track 'Summon,' and Goddard's Hot Chip bandmates Alexis Taylor and Al Doyle appear on the gleaming half-step ballad 'Heal Your Mind.' Additional guests include Tom McFarland of Jungle, Bronx-raised singer Fiorious on 'New World (Flow),' Guinean vocalist Falle Nioke, and UK jazz musician Alabaster DePlume. Available with a mini gatefold, a 16-page booklet, and a signed Polaroid, 'Harmonics' neatly captures Goddard's inclusive and collaborative spirit.

Review: It's been a long time coming, but there's a genuine buzz about Peggy Gou's long-anticipated debut album, I Hear You. It delivers an accessible, entertaining and well-executed journey in which Gou's rarely discussed pop instincts are balanced out by music that nods to current club trends and nostalgia for the 1990s and earlier acid house era. So while opener 'Your Art' is weird, trippy, psychedelic and chugging and '1=1=11' is a Balearic neo-trance workout of the sort Salt Tank used to knock out in their sleep, 'Back To One' sounds like a lost '90s NYC dance-pop anthem, '(It Goes Like) Nananana' is an insanely infectious and piano-heavy slab of rave nostalgia, and 'I Believe In Love Again' (with Lenny Kravitz) sounds like a long-lost, hip-hop tempo Red Zone remix by David Morales.

Notes: The first instalment of David Gedge's 'memoir-in-comic-book-form' will be released in paperback for the first time by Scopitones books. The stories featured in this stunning 176-page, matt-laminated, graphic novel have previously only been available to readers of the tales from the Wedding Present comic book series. This collected edition comes with forty pages of never-before-seen additional material and an introduction by Ian Rankin. David has written this autobiography together with long-time musical associate Terry de Castro, and the stories are illustrated by virtuoso artist Lee Thacker. It's in chronological order, beginning with David's childhood in England and South Africa and continues up to the inception of the Wedding Present. On the way we learn about some of the romantic experiences that may have informed his writing, how he first met the legendary BBC presenter John Peel, and the true story behind the classic Wedding Present song 'My Favourite Dress'.

Reviews "An autobiography of the wedding present would be great on its own. An autobiography in beautiful graphic novel form? Even better!" Dan Vebber (writer, The Simpsons)

"This is brilliant! It's like the storyboard for a Wedding Present biopic." Marc Riley (broadcaster, BBC)

"As informative, funny and essential as David Gedge himself. Can I be in the movie when all this is franchised?" Tony Gardner (actor)

"This is the graphic novel indie music mash up that we have all been waiting for and only David Gedge could deliver. It's amazing!" Stella Creasy (member, British Parliament)

"This is a Wedding Present fan's dream come true. Pure unfiltered Gedge; the inside track on what makes him tick and anecdotes aplenty. Essential!" Mike Gayle (author)

"It's very typical of the wedding present to do an autobiography differently to everyone else... But the stunning illustrations in this book really bring David's stories to life." Louise Wener (writer, musician)