Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Dolfin keeps it as classy as ever with this floaty new 12" from Ben Hixon and Stefan Ringer, two quality operators if ever there were some. They offer up just one cut on this single-sided slab of wax but a fine one it is too - the dusty drums have a certain heaviness to them while the wispy pads and noodling bass lines keep you suspended in mid-air. The seductive vocals bring a hip-hop energy to the deepest of grooves and ensure this one is going to get some emotions flowing when dropped in the small hours of the night in a cosy back room.

Review: The upcoming second solo studio album by US singer-songwriter and guitarist Brittany Howard (of Alabama Shakes fame), What Now follows up Jaime and its Reimagined edition, striking out with a fierce, "truest and bluest", nigh "brutal" lyricism, in which Howard addresses the titular question - "what now?" - and how today's society might respond. Written, of course, during the height of the pandemic, when such doubts were excised and up in the air (and more so than usual), the album's sonic aesthetic spans full-bodied funk, psychedelic chord progressions, and a powerful bombast. The overall answer sounds to be: move through it; surrender to "the now", gracefully.

Review: The Madlib Invazion Music Library Series was created by Madlib and Egon over the course of the Pandemic, and was a chance to give their creative friends the ability to stretch out and indulge in whatever type of music they wanted for release on the label. The music had to be great and able to be presented as a standalone album, just like the best 'Music Library' releases of the past, be they on labels like Italy's Sermi, Germany's Bruton, France's MP2000 and the UK's DeWolfe. And, like those albums, it had to work as easy, one-stop clearance for background cues in film and television production and, as producers have been indulging since the 1990s, for sampling. Joe Harrison's top-up to the series is just one of many, and brings a heated, undeniably infectious array of instrumentals to the table, all of which we're sure will be put to good use in the decades to come.

Review: When Keyon Harrold lists the influences that he turned to during the creation of his rich and evocative new album Foreverland, he cites the likes of Radiohead, Fleet Foxes, Fela Kuti, John Coltrane, and, for a second, he becomes vulnerable; the list is too basic, too serious-music-listener-starter-pack. But, out of that moment of insecurity, he spins an indelible flex: "You are what you eat, and I have a pretty strict diet in dope shit. Taking in Keyon Harrold's career to-date, it's clear that the 'world-class trumpeter' (Essence) and composer is very serious about that diet. He's a jazz musician but in the most expansive sense, working with a list of dream collaborators: generational legends Keith Richards and Diana Ross; rap stars like Mac Miller and Nas; neo-soul icons Erykah Badu and D'Angelo; and modern soul stars Black Pumas and Leon Bridges. His circle of regular collaborators is formidable and includes his music industry mentor Common (who hired him for his first touring gig), his New School classmate Robert Glasper, and GRAMMY winners Maxwell, PJ Morton, Gregory Porter, and YEBBA. Even apart from its compositional intricacies and stylistic innovations, Foreverland is a triumph of resilience and empowerment. "What will be said when you're gone?", says Keyon. "If you're not living life - getting beat up, getting your heart broken, winning, losing - what are you doing? What about your life can people learn from? If you don't put yourself in the ring sometimes, there won't be anything." On Foreverland, Keyon takes life's challenges head-on - and emerges, in both music and in life, with a renewed sense of purpose.

Review: D.I.R.T. stands for 'Da Incredible Rap Team' and it is a gritty masterpiece from Heltah Skeltah that epitomises hardcore East Coast rap. Released in 2008, this sophomore album from the Brooklyn duo should sit right up there with earlier peers like Jeru The Damaga such is its lyrical prowess and razor-sharp delivery over haunting production. Sean Price and Rock deliver relentless bars filled with streetwise wisdom and unapologetic bravado that paint vivid pictures of urban life. With guest appearances from fellow Boot Camp Clik members and production from renowned beatmakers like Marco Polo and 9th Wonder, D.I.R.T. is a relentless onslaught of raw lyricism and head-nodding beats.