Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Get yourself geared up for festival season with some fierce party starters certified with the Glitterbox stamp. Melvo Baptiste leads the charge with 'Sweat', a sizzling disco house stomper with Dames Brown giving the biggest diva energy on her show-stopping vocal. Lovebirds bring unbridled joy on the Philly string swoon and slinky b-line funk of 'Burn It Down', while Art Of Tones & Inaya Day keep it peak time on the sassy strutter 'Give My Love'. Young Pulse & Fleur De Mur complete the set with 'Smooth Sweet Talker', another bright and bold vocal cut par excellence.

Review: Drop Music marks a quarter of a century of reliable and ever-on-point sounds with a special series of EPs that embodies what it's always been about, offering up both classics and never-before-released tunes. This one kicks off with 'Make A Move' which is chunky low-slung tech. It unfolds at a relatively slow tempo but that gives the fat acid gurgles time to really hit. Inland Knights then serves up the next three cuts, starting with the bass bin bothering sounds of 'Push It', the more silky tech loops of 'Long Time' and the vocal-laced acid-tech swagger of 'Same Talk.' Here's to the next 25 years.

Review: Known for his meticulous sound design and trippy, psychedelic approach, the Japanese producer gets key tracks from his 2023 Agartha album remixed with contributions from Kompakt veteran Michael Mayer and rising talent Philipp Stoffel. Opening the selection, 'Agartha (Wata Igarashi Sorcery Acid Mix)' plunges into heavy analog territory, channeling old-school acid trance with pulsing basslines and swirling synth layers. It's a trip that maintains a relentless and hypnotic momentum. In contrast, 'Floating Against Time (Wata Igarashi Shimmering Mix)' leans into atmospheric techno, unfolding with a celestial, meditative quality. The track's ethereal pads and evolving textures create a sense of weightlessness, staying true to Igarashi's deep, transportive aesthetic. Michael Mayer steps in with his version of 'Ceremony of the Dead', infusing it with an upbeat vintage techno feel. His remix brims with Kompakt's signature warmth, blending ravey elements with a steady, driving groove. Closing the set, 'Abyss II X Darkness (Philipp Stoffel Fusion Mix)' picks up the pace with rolling basslines and dubby, melodic layers. Stoffel's take is fast and fluid, balancing deep, introspective elements with club-ready energy. A refined touch for floor or sofa alike.

Review: EC Underground is back with more inquisitors of low-end heavy sounds on Bass Scene Investigation vol 1 and again digs deep into the worlds of electro, techno, breakbeat and IDM. The compilation kicks off with the skittish percussive patterns of Illektrolab's 'Making Heads Dip', then heads into moody ground with ADJ, Pablo Funk brings some menacing synth work and Errorbeauty gets all weird and trippy with some mad electronics. Francois Dillinger offers a dystopian electro sound full of irresistibly jacked-up drums. A fine investigation indeed.

Review: Toolroom's Fool's Paradise offshoot has done a good job in offering up fresh, disco-inspired material, but it also acts as an outlet for key crew member Michael Gray's 21st century reworks of classic disco cuts. On this 12", the long-serving Essex producer puts his slant on Inner Life's boogie-era gem 'I Like It Like That', a 1982 Salsoul single fronted by a then young Jocelyn Brown and produced by Leroy Burgess and Patrick Adams associate Stan Lucas. Gray begins with a lightly housed-up - but suitably reverential - full vocal remix, ensuring plenty of space for the studio band's squiggly synths, bold pianos and dextrous bass guitar. Arguably even better is the B-side 'Dub', which alternates between heavy groove sections, extended breakdowns and effects-laden showcases of Inner Life's piano, bass and synths.

Review: "Inokasira Rangers" translates from the Japanese to mean "Park Rangers". Living up to the name, this band's dub and rocksteady versions are like natural conservation efforts. Re-rendering their chosen songs in bobbing dub, Nirvana's grunge roll 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' is first revitalised, transformed into a sustainable form: "jello, hello, how low" becomes a relatively spooky perennation of Hammond, while Krist Novoselic's accompanying basslines become chop guitar, emblematic of the rocksteady movement. Meanwhile, Kool & The Gang's 'Summer Madness' is lent an eerier, dream-strung dub version, with an underwater wah effect providing an extra tchotchke on the windowsill of history.

Review: Tokyo's Inokasira Rangers have been crafting lo-fi reggae since the 1990s, yet remained a rather hidden gem outside Japan. Their release 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' finally changed that when it dropped initially back in 2023 and sold out in quick time so now gets reissued. The A-side reimagines Frankie Valli's classic with a laid-back reggae twist while the B-side takes on Crystal Waters' '90s dance anthem with surprising charm. Infused with a subtle Shibuya-kei flair, both covers feel fresh yet timeless. The Waters rendition, in particular, sounds like a forgotten folk tune-so natural it's hard to believe it wasn't always this way. A breezy, nostalgic delight from a band overdue for global recognition.

Review: Rocksteady revivalists Inosikira Rangers have built a long and successful career out of unlikely cover versions, delivering killer reggae style interpretations of everything from 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', 'Anarchy In The UK' and 'Creep', to 'Born Slippy', 'Like a Virgin' and 'Happy'. Here, two of their most popular and potent covers are brought together for the first time on one "45". On side A they handle New Order's 'Blue Monday', re-casting it as a Hammond-heavy slab instrumental rocksteady, with Bernard Sumner's vocals being replaced by extended organ solos. Over on the flip, they slow down and skank out Kraftwerk's 'Autobahn', throwing in nods to krautrock and a dash of robotic vocoder to keep things fresh.

Review: Japan's best covers outfit, Inokasira Rangers, once again scores another knockout in dub. This time the instrumental group have procured a jaunty Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong ballad and a Glen Campbell re-blend respectively. Both songs have been lent a warm, clear-cut rocksteady flavour, substituting trademark vocal lines for instrumental renderings (both originals contain bittersweet legatos and leaping intervals, and deal in themes of gratitude and nostalgia, making it an extra challenge for the Hammond and electric piano to replicate them). But the task is nonetheless won, and pristine clarity achieved!

Review: Established in the UK in 2009 as master-builders of disco-house builds in the late naughty noughties, Instruments Of Rapture first cut the red tape with Ilija Rudman's 'Part Four' and lasted for just three years until 2012. And while the early axing was a shame, we think real works of art are those which are short-lived but profuse in quality. Now kicking back into gear after almost 15 years, the label now return to double up as both label and moniker, humorously titled 'You're Cured Mate'. Described as a "soundtrack more hypnotic and deadly than ever", this new one follows 'The Formula' of cut-short, hypno-loop lyrics and carnal felid whispers (especially in '7 Grams Of Funk'), marking an EPs' worth of subtle libertinage in 2025, the year of the snake.

Review: Intrallazzi and Dario Piana have been friends and Milanese scene contemporaries since 1981, when they both fell in love with the distinctive Afro-Cosmic sound of local DJ (and later Piana collaborator) Daniel Baldelli. Since then, they have both made records aplenty under a variety of aliases, but this EP on Leng marks their first joint release. The headline attraction is opener (and lead cut) 'Out of Control', a dubbed-out cosmic disco chugger propelled by echo-laden percussion and a deep, low-slung bassline, smothered in psychedelic synth and guitar sounds. Fellow Italian producer LTJ Experience remixes, offering up a stripped-back and acid-flecked interpretation. Elsewhere, 'Lazise' is a TB-303-sporting cosmic shuffler and 'Saocraffen' is a Baldelli-influenced fusion of Afro-cosmic funk and ethereal Balearic sounds.

Review: Emmanuel's ARTS is a Rotterdam-based indie techno label that quietly pushes at the boundaries. Introversion has released here before with his 'Hush' 12" back in 2022 and since then has landed on the likes of Fundaments and Makatoo, always adding to his reputation. This one opens with 'Laeddis', which is cantering, full-throttle techno funk with big, oversized hi-hats. 'Found Footage' is a scruffier cut with underlapping kicks and muffled trance chords up top, then 'Tesseract' gets slicke and turbocharged for a fresh future assault. 'Signs' closes with supple, mind-melting synth patterns that intertwine with wispy percussion and thudding rubber kick for pure techno perfection.

Review: Manifest drumcode signee Mha Iri shares her latest 'Neon Storm', where geometric blitzes and "get-down" vocals excoriate the dancefloor. The lead track screams with colossal, sinking-feeling synth design, as though a War Of The Worlds tripod were heard stomping on skyscrapers a city away, and that this could possibly an exciting, not terrifying experience. 'Moving Machines' firms the bio-mechanoid vibe, with its added chord crimps, glottal mids and ultra-processed kick centres.

Review: Berlin's Exit Strategy began their 12"s game releasing EPs in browned sleeves, shortly before branching out into digital-vinyl combo releases with original artwork in the 2020s. Now with over ten years of experience under their belts, they welcome five new artists for a playful bricolage in deep and minimal techno, privileging elite, razor-sharp additive sound design and future-soulful vocal tasters. Ivory's opener 'Rain' epitomises this, while Jimi Jules squelchifies the same formula, and Aera's 'Future Holdings' rolls out the same logic to its ultimate conclusion, veering towards complex, 3D-graphic melodic techno composed entirely of climbing saws.

Review: From Chicago to New York via the UK, Freedom Party rack up mega phono-mileage on this retrotextual deep house steamer. The label have set foot on this bold, folk artistic sound-quest since 2023, when the first V/A emerged amid black-and-yellow steams of equably danceable produces from in-house charcutiers Look Once, Mederic Nebinger and Steal Vybe. Now a completely fresh crew is welcomed aboard, with just three new mates added to the original four: Vick Lavender deals in impossible erotism on the long out-of-press vocal jam 'The LOVE Song', with anachronistic beat tech and sampled, 1930s-feel vocals. Funkey Munkey follows up with 'Make Me Feel It', an ambitious retro-rave sound-splay, and In House Ii offers to take us home on 'Love To Love You', a sultrier refit of an all-time-classic, Donna Summer surestarter.

Review: For the latest must-check missive on their self-titled label, London twosome Make-a-Dance have decided to pay tribute to the formative 'garage-house' sounds made for, and played at, New York clubs in the mid 1980s. Rising star Magari steps up first with 'Mars Bar', a Larry Levan-friendly affair where soulful, reggae style vocal samples ride a Boyd Jarvis-esque bassline and warm synths. It's very authentic to the sound being paid tribute to, as is Mark Seven's accompanying (and lightly freestyle influenced) 'Parkway Power' rework. Over on the reverse, Ilija Rudman takes over with 'Danceteria', a proto-garage house affair whose title offers a nod to the infamous NYC venue of the same name. Manuel Durquart remixes, retaining the nostalgic vibe while adding extra trippy layers of sound, a sturdier early NYC house groove and mazy synth solos.

Review: Intime Anthem is a new label that makes a suitable impressive debut here with a various artists offering that explores a leftfield disco sound. Ramozel's 'Nomentum' has deadpan indie vocals and stark mechanical drums with cold wave synths. Parker Bjoske wars monads with twisted synth modulations and slow, purposeful kicks on 'Tempo.' Naimer then switches the mood with a more playful and 80s-inspired sound, bright retro synths and euro-dance grooves on 'Wildejoe.' There is a supple acid-laced majesty to Ivaj Odnode's closer 'Atillol,' which makes this as vital as it as varied.

Review: The Ethiopian Ibex Band's 1976 album Stereo Instrumental Music is being re-released as a cornerstone of Ethiopian music. This record is credited with shaping the modern sound of Ethiopian music and the band's enduring influence can be felt in the works of legends like Aster Aweke, Girma Beyene and Mulatu Astatke. Created by Giovanni Rico and Selam Woldemariam, Stereo Instrumental Music is part of a significant legacy that challenges the idea of a "golden age" of Ethiopian music and highlights the constant evolution of the sound. The Ibex Band, later known as The Roha Band, has remained central to that and Ethiopia's wider scene.

Review: Ten years after their brilliant sophomore LP Smoke + Mirrors, rock-radio-ready roilers Imagine Dragons (once celebrated as, among many, the biggest band in the world) mark the occasion with a fresh vault of 14 previously unreleased demos from the sequent album's recording sessions. While the original showed off the band's dynamic range, securing them many a number-one spot, this collection offers a raw glimpse into the creative process of the LV power-pop rovers. Much less polished than official chartists might expect, we still note of the band's seemly evolution out of an already rather anachronistic early-10s EDM-plated sound, primed for radi-a and stadia alike. Many of these songs were written for the road, so it's interesting to hear, and/or imagine, what might've been if the band had followed these songs to their glossiest conclusions at the time.

Review: There are some records you buy simply because you love the name. Or maybe that's just us? Either way, from where we're sticking stuff into the shopping cart, Index For Working Musik's second long form is one of those examples. Which Direction Goes The Beam more than lives up to the quality of the band name, and then goes and adds artwork which can only be described as 'stunning' into the mix. Angular, jerky, harsh, and artsy rock noises that run between the savage and distorted to the rousing and rollocking, the five piece should be ranking up there with the most innovative, imaginative and inimitable guitar outfits out there at the moment. Chamber-esque arrangements, strange murky mystery, and the overall feeling that we're in uncharted territories and nobody - but nobody - wants to find their way home

Review: The cult Slow Life label has always operated at the more cosmic end of the house and minimal spectrum with speedy grooves designed to make an impact both physically and emotionally. Now a member of the collective, Indi Zone who is half of the Ethereal Logic project, steps out with a solo debut album that flips the script and explores organic grooves and blissful harmonies. It's an escapist delight with supple downbeat drums and gorgeous synth work that ranges from wispy to starry, watery to smeared. It paints a vivid picture of a heavenly tropical wonderland with endless neon glows and soft edges in which to get lost.

Review: Rhode Island post-metal avant-garde duo The Body have made a name for themselves due to their caustic maelstrom of harsh, brutalist experimentalism as well as their prolific output and collaborative nature, releasing collab albums with the likes of Full Of Hell, Thou, Uniform, and most recently, Dis Fig. Their latest endeavour sees the pair link up with another duo of musical extremity, Toronto, Canada's recently reformed industrial two-piece Intensive Care. Was I Good Enough? has been on the cards since the artists first began making plans as far back as 2018, trading, warping and ruining mutual sessions with layers of loops, distortion, samples and even dubs, constantly striving to find the ideal haunting balance between both of their sonically hideous, oppressive worlds. For all of our ears' sakes, they just might have succeeded.

Review: Eiko Ishibashi, best known for her acclaimed soundtrack work, returns to original composition with this album named in honour of the feminist-facing, heroine from ancient Greek tragedelian Sophocles' Oedipus Trilogy. It's a world of shimmering jazz harmonies, pulsating electronica and ghostly musique concrete, 'October' opening with a haunting, alluring melody and the disjointed rhythms of 'Coma' creating a sense of disorientation. 'Antigone', the centerpiece, builds to a powerful and unsettling climax, but there's more than chilling soundscapes as Ishibashi injects moments of surprising warmth and beauty, like the delicate interplay between acoustic and electronic elements in 'Nothing As'. Comparisons with her soundtrack work will be made, but - not unlike Antigone herself - this stands alone as a work of bravery and strength.

Review: The second album from Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith on ECM is a meditation on resilience, sorrow and the human condition. Across four expansive tracks on Defiant Life, Iyer's piano and Fender Rhodes intertwine with Smith's haunting trumpet to create a soundscape that's both urgent and serene. From the solemn depth of 'Sumud' to the shimmering melancholy of 'Floating River Requiem' and the radiant close of 'Procession: Defiant Life' notions of suffering, resistance and hope are explored. The record was recorded in Lugano and produced by Manfred Eicher. It's a deeply reflective work of emotional and spiritual resonance.