Back catalogue: All genres

Review: France's faves Battle Weapons deliver two heady new edits, only for those ready. On the A comes an ingenious, probably never-done-before, almost laughably why-hasn't-anyone-else-ever-thought-of-this-until-now breakbeat rendition of Peter Bjorn & John's 'The Young Folks'. To be frank, they've not done much besides beef up the backbeat a little, but a simple sprucing up is sometimes all a tune needs. On the flip comes a phattened version of 'Forgot About Dre' mashed up with the Azzido Da Bass UK garage classic 'Dooms Night', also produced to hilariously, surreally arresting effect.

Review: Two more battle weapons handpicked from the eponymous UK armoury. Label motto ("You want this party started, right?!") and A-cut refrain ("la-di-da-di, we like to party"), converge in perfect sync here on this latest 7": the obverse samples Doug E Fresh & Slick Rick's 1985 mover, peppering slight but bright brasses over a punctuated beat mix. 'Tambou' on the B-side honours a historic canonical Swizz Beatz crunk bit with a re-edit of 'Tambourine', produced and released in 2006 for blase partystarter Eve.

Review: After releasing two 10" and 12" records in 2019 and 2020, Paris-based punk-jazz duo La Recre are back to complete their EP trilogy with this fresh 45 rpm. '137' brings together the worlds of jazz and electronica with shimmering, skyward and celestial synths bringing mysticism to shimmering jazz drums and warped synths. 'La Lune' is another intense and cinematic sound with spoken words from a spacecraft launch adding grandeur to the cascading melodies and ever-evolving beats.

Review: Lady Wray delivers a powerful two-sider here as she hooks up with Grammy-nominated producer Leon Michels of Clairo and El Michels Affair for another single as they put the final touches to her upcoming album. The A-side, 'Be A Witness,' features Nicole's soaring vocals gliding over deep drum machines and Nick Movshon's funky bass which makes it a smooth mid-tempo groove about destined love and good vibes. On the flip, 'Best For Us' explores love, commitment and perseverance with lush synths and harmonies floating over Homer Steinweiss' tight drumming. They provide the perfect setting for Lady Wray's standout voice and get us excited for the full length.

Review: Five years after her last album on the Big Crown label, Lady Wray is soon to serve up a follow up in the form of Piece of Me. That arrives in January next year and is proceeded by this taster 7" featuring two singles from it. They showcase Wray's take on classic soul: her vocals do plenty of heavy lifting, and the instrumental funk all around her is steeped in the classic traditions, but it all comes with an extra raw edge, an urgency and crispness that brings it right up to date. 'Through It All' is a confessional that is powered by tight drums, where 'Under The Sun' is a more blissed out vibe.

Review: Brazilian hip-hop star Laiz follows her breakthorugh Ela Partiu album from last year with a multilingual, percussion-heavy tribute to Jorge Ben Jor & Quarteto Em Cy, threading Brazilian hip-hop through Latin groove, Afrobeat and free jazz. Recorded at Nima Studio in Hildesheim with her 20-strong band dubbed the New Love Experience, the album sits between languages and borders, echoing Laiz's own migration from Jundiai to Europe in 2019. Shaped as much by cultural dissonance as it is by Babylonian joy, the record is sung in seven languages, leaning on lyrical mysticism and transitive instrumental interplay, telling particular stories of heritage, upheaval and diasporic unity.

Review: The Leonhart Brass Band, the latest project from trumpeter Michael Leonhart, was born out of the 2020 lockdown, an inventive response to the halt of his 18-piece orchestra performances at NYC's Jazz Standard. Stripped down to a brass-heavy ensemble that could perform outdoors without amplification, Leonhart took inspiration from classic brass bands like Dirty Dozen and Rebirth, blending in hip-hop and funk influences to create a unique sound. The opening track, 'Jabbar', is a tribute to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the basketball icon with a rich jazz background. Centred on an infectious bass riff in C minor, Leonhart's trumpet and Jason Marshall's bass saxophone deliver bold, brassy solos, conjuring the vitality and strength of the track's namesake. Another standout is 'The Iceman', a nod to George Gervin, the basketball great known for his unflappable demeanour on the court. The brass section splits into two distinct groups, creating counterpoint melodies that mirror Gervin's grace and intensity. Stuart Bogie's baritone sax solo, complete with tape echo, adds an unexpected texture, grounding the track in a deep, funky groove. With members from Antibalas, the Dap-Kings, and Red Baraat, the Leonhart Brass Band fuses tight musicianship with an exhilarating energy that carries the weight of New Orleans tradition, while forging its own path in the modern jazz and funk worlds.

Review: Kiss Klassics is keeping all you party DJs supplied with the best tackle once more here as this time they spotlight a trio of standout tracks from Montero Lamar Hill aka Lil Nas X's debut LP. Montero came back in 2021 and these cuts haven't been available on wax before now. There is the celebratory pomp and hefty distorted low end of 'Industry Baby' as well as the more deep sounds of 'Montero' with its strings, finger clicks and Afro-tinged beats, then the high-speed party pomp of 'That's What I Want' with its epic chorus and summer festival feel.

Review: Two UK Battle Weapons fresh from the guys over at the eponymous edits label. On the A, we’re hit with a new one by a frankenstein whom we can only guess, by syllogistic intuition, is an invention of the label - LL Smooth K, with ‘Fix Up The Seed’, a rope-burning mashup incorporating acapella verses from Dizzee Rascal’s ‘Fix Up, Look Sharp’. Then there’s DJ Snatch’s version of Gregory Porter’s bluesy ‘Liquid Spirit’ on the B, a surprisingly pacy curveball compared to the cutthroat injunctions of the A.

Review: Launched in 2015, the aptly-named 'Limited White Label' are an outfit whose output focuses solely on, you guessed it, limited white labels. But they're a far cry from the usual styles released in the format; instead, these lot focus on ethereal, classical, jazzy and international dance sounds. This latest EP by the world's most coveted and mysterious artist, Unknown Artist, reworks two unnamed hip-hop motifs, as well as a swing-band-house rendition of 'I Wanna Be Like You (The Monkey Song)', a classic ditty from The Jungle Book.

Review: James Massiah and Lord Tusk team up for the fine Accidental Meetings label it this is actually their first official release together after years of collaboration in various forms. This highly anticipated project showcases their chemistry and creative synergy across one fresh new cut. 'Open Up' is a dense sound with dubby low ends but raw metallic drums and swirling pads next to the stream of conscious vocals. The record is mastered by Beau at Ten Eight Seven Mastering, ensuring a polished, high-quality sound and it comes in limited pressings with a more cavernous and melon-twisting version on the flip.

Review: Thai rapper and singer Lisa drops her debut studio solo album Lisa, marking her first RCA Records release after her split from South Korean entertainment group YG Entertainment. With breakout rockstar energies and edgy hyperpop production, Atler Ego is a culminant musing on what it means to be a popstar or rockstar in 2025: like Taylor Swift, Lisa explores many different eras, with the album moving in five phases, each one representing a unique personality: in turn, Lisa appears in front of: a monolithic black rock structure, an outer-space catwalk, an enchanted garden, a green laser-beam motorcycle track and a volcanic red runway.

Review: Since the release of her last full-length excursion, No Thank You, in 2022, much has changed in the world of Little Simz - both personally and professionally. These twin themes naturally shaped the sound of Lotus, not only her first album in three years, but also a first without her long-term studio partner InFlo - a producer she is suing for L1million in unpaid royalties. She goes in hard (lyrically, we mean) on her former partner on opener 'Thief', a cinematic and loose-limbed number that perfectly encapsulates the more stripped-back, often organic beats and surprisingly personal lyrics that mark out the album. Highlights are plentiful, with the post-punk/punk-funk fired 'Young', string-laden 'Free', heart-aching 'Hollow' and Afrobeat-inspired 'Lion' amongst the standouts.

Review: Three months after rapper turned singer Lizzo's major label debut first appeared on CD and digital download, Atlantic has decided to offer up a deluxe vinyl edition of the well-received set featuring three bonus tracks. Prior to release, Lizzo admitted she wanted to become "this generation's Aretha Franklin"; while she's not at the late soul legend's standard just yet, there's enough on "Cuz I Love You" to suggest that she's going in the right direction. Her vocals are variously confident, powerful, strutting and tender, with the accompanying backing tracks mixing hip-hop and R&B style beats with raucous guitars, bombastic basslines, Daft Punk style synth stabs (think "Robot Rock" and "Technologic") and occasional nods towards more pastoral, semi-acoustic sounds. Above all, though, the album is funky, forthright and hugely entertaining.

Review: Brooklyn don Joell Ortiz is back with one of his most potent partnerships to date. L'Orange is the kind of hip-hop producer who knows how to bridge the gap between sample-rooted nostalgia and head-twisting innovation, and so we're gifted with a full suite of beats that shock on first listen before burrowing their way into your subconscious before the second bar is finished. It's the perfect backdrop for Ortiz to lay down his crystal clear street tales, delivered with the perfect blend of venom, humour, sensitivity and stubbornness - gifts hard won on his rise to the top of the rap pile and deployed to devastating effect on this album.