Back catalogue: All genres

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


For a four track electronic music EP, there's a lot here. Opening with 'Burning Fields' by Aphonia, the uninitiated might expect the whole package to nod to that classic electro sound, highly detailed but lo-fi, packed with dark atmosphere but all about dance floor energy. Skip to track two, though, and Angles of Pompeii present mutant indie-punk-dance in the vein of Detroit Grand Pubahs at their most guitar-y, and minimalistic.

Elsewhere, 'Retreat' is a slow mo maximalist triumph, acid lines flailing over the top of a muffled cacophony of noise that places the emphasis on a lunging, head-nodding bassline. Add 'Athma', Odopt's sinister low end and drum machine tune up that could almost be an accidental piece from the movie They Live and you've got not only a complex release, but one boasting replay value set to last for years after the investment.

Review: NX12X is the first in a new series of experimental records from this label and the artists given the keys for the inaugural release are Goldsmiths student and modular synth maestro Sam Hostettler and electronic innovator La Leif who tackle a pair of tracks each. Hostettler's sounds are the moody, heavy ambient atmospheres of 'Pointalims' and the more light and airy li-fi soundscapes of 'Opalescence.' La Leif offers broken beats with a skeletal feel and a burial-style synth aesthetic on 'Kyoto' and then crunchy breaks and fizzing, distorted synth malfunctions of 'Kimochi.'

Review: This is one of those disco holy grails that doesn't even need to convince you of its worth, and its no surprise original copies have been so coveted for so long. Chicago's Magic Touch label was a low key affair, but jams like this ensure its impact remains strong to this day as LaJohn and Sheela lay down the feeling in no uncertain terms. 'Too Far Gone' is a smouldering, bittersweet track which deserves to reach as many soulful heads as possible, so this tasty remaster courtesy of Numero couldn't come soon enough.

Review: LaJohn and Sheila's 'Too Far Gone' is an otherworldly disco cut from the Chicago label Magic Touch, which is benefitting from a reissue spotlight courtesy of Numero. The track was unearthed by Mr Peabody for a BBE compilation a long way back, but finally the tune is getting its own proper outing thanks to this tidy little 7", which comes in clear blue on this edition. Some tracks are holy grails for more than their scarcity, and this is truly one of those perfect records that everyone will want in their lives for all time once they clap ears on it.

Review: Tape Reworks Vol. 2 is the new 12" remix edition of the 2021 album Tape Works Vol. 1 (2021), by the UK's leading musique concrete ensemble Langham Research Centre. With the latter album following up the introductory Tape Works Vol. 1 (2017), which recollected the group's earliest experiments, the second album focused entirely on more recent, original splicings, cuttings and respoolings of the former modernist statement. Now, in turn, come two new remixes of the project by Kara Lis Coverdale and Beatriz Ferreyra, the former of 'Movable Fields' and the latter of 'Nachholbedurfnis'. Coverdale's version is an arresting, looming abstraction, capturing a sense of cosmic loneliness through exoplanetary whistles and deep subs gleaned from the original album's pickups of brutalist buildings; Ferreyra's is jerkier and stranger in palate, utilising glassy transitional sound effects and rapid, sped-up-slowed-down warbles.

Review: Tommy Largo is a big deal in the world of jacking house and here he lands on Greenhouse Recordings with plenty of evidence to support that. His sound comes steeped with Southern influences on opener 'BBQ Ribs' with its noodling jazz chords and spoken word mutterings making for a lively atmosphere over funky beats. The Jam Funk Remix has a Chicago bump to it with the jazzy keys left in place over well-swung drums. 'On No Not Again' hints at new jack swing with its steamy sax lines and effortlessly catchy groove before 'BBQ Ribs' (Oddphonic remix) closes out with the deepest sound of the lot, perfect for when the sun has gone down and the party heads indoors.

Review: Numero are taking a look through the cult Chicago label Magic Touch and dusting down some of the most coveted releases from their archives, starting with this smokin' hot joint from Light Touch Band. It's a record of two halves which kicks off with the laid back rap of 'ChiCAGO (Is My Chicago)', a funky-as-hell jam which pays tribute to the Windy City in fine style. The flip is the real gem though, as 'Sexy Lady' swerves into P-funk flavoured waters with dazzling results. The OG copies of this record were changing hands for crazy money, so don't hang around while this one's in reach.

Review: Take a trip back into the underground of early 80s Chicago and the raw, brilliant sound of the Magic Touch label. Numero have taken on the task of picking up some of the label's most sought-after jams and giving them a fresh pressing, and this sure shot from the Light Touch Band is a fine place to start. This is a record which offers two very different vibes depending on what you're after, as the A side slips into a feel-good, funked up rap joint celebrating all things Windy City and the B side takes a surprise turn into wild-eyed P-funk territory. The diggers and sharks have been circling this one for a long time - let it reach the people so they can all get down to the unreal sounds.

Review: Los Sospechos first dropped 'Jano's Revenge' on Colemine back in 2010, and it's since gone on to become a stone-cold classic of heavy funk played by the most discerning DJs. Now it's finally getting a limited repress on green marbled vinyl, giving you a fresh opportunity to savour the sweet, soulful sound and share it with the world. There's a timeless quality to this instrumental and its spiritual cousin 'Mirror Door' on the flip, where the brass section takes the leads and hammers out hooks to sink your teeth into.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


The Lounge Society has been hotly tipped for a while, with plenty of Ones To Watch declarations coming their way at the start of 2021. They have served up super quick selling 7"s like 'Generation Game' which touched on the unrest in American society and then their follow up headed into edgy punk-funk territory, sneering at culture wars and decrying the impact of a class divided society. Now comes 'Cain's Heresym' which takes aim at the negligent political class as well as highlighting the danger inherent in the spread of misinformation and their disdain for celebrity-worshipping. The young English band are heirs apparat to the throne of protest music.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Record warped, but in working order***


Lovers' rock down the yapper. First released on the Brixton-based reggae and dub distributor Studio 16 circa 1980 - as part of a series of releases by the Love & Unity alias, an in-house project of producer Winston Edwards - 'Can't Let You Go' is a joyous number to jab into the dial. With singer Sandra Cross on vocals, we're assured "I am yours and you are mine", doulbing up nicely with the resampled voicemail that appears at the start - "I just had to call you to tell you that I'll never let you go." it's an expansively melodic sound, and well deserving of its new reissue by the label, who are still going on strong.

Review: Some undeniably classic reggae here on this reissue from Duke. It is a red hot double sider that was originally recorded in 1968 by the one and only dub legend Lee "Scratch" Perry and taken from a solo 7" box set that was assembled a few years ago by the name of People Funny Boy. The A-side What A Botheration' is a rhythm from his legendary band The Upsetters with Perry's typically esoteric vocal style up top. On the flip is The Inspirations with the seriously warm and soul-drenched tune 'Stand By Me' which radiants sun rays and earthy grooves.

Review: Gustav Ahr, better known as Lil Peep, was one of the pioneering voices of the emo-trap movement that ballooned out of the underground over the past decade, with its insidious influence stretching to the mainstream with the likes of Machine Gun Kelly, Olivia Rodrigo, Willow (Smith) and even Demi Lovato embracing punk and emo compositional motifs in their most recent output. With Peep's tragic passing at the end of 2017 due to an accidental fentanyl overdose cutting short an immensely promising career which had seen him just release his debut album Come Over When You're Sober on Columbia; efforts have since been made by the late artist's mother and extensive team to clear the sample rights to his extensive back catalogue of highly influential mixtapes. Most notable of all is 2016's Hellboy, released right around the time of his joining the GothBoiClique collective, and boasting features from several of its most prominent members such as Lil Tracy and Horse Head, while the project distilled the young artist's knack for consistently sourcing a unique sonic intersection between the swagger of hip-hop, the unhinged energy of trap, the aggression of punk and emo's earnest, almost uncomfortably honest vulnerability. In essence, an underground internet classic that's been in dire need of physical media ever since it first reared its seminal head on Soundcloud almost a decade prior.