Back catalogue: All genres

Review: It is now 23 years since Jeff Mills dropped his seminal Metropolis album, which was a shortened version of his electronic soundtrack for Fritz Lang's Metropolis movie from 1927. Mills is a famous futurist but his sounds work perfectly on this project which is a symbiotic mix of compositions that makes for a nuanced representation of the plot and storyline. It's a testament to his skill that his album is utterly timeless and wholly absorbing, and likely always will be.

Review: Last year Detroit techno stalwart Jeff Mills launched a new project, The Zanza, an ever-changing collective of jazz, Latin and electronic musicians who could help him explore his love of a wide variety of styles and genres. Following on from the project's debut release, Mills has now delivered a debut album that once again proves not only his versatility as a producer, but also the vivid, widescreen nature of his musical vision. Wonderland is not an ambient or techno album - though it does contain multiple nods to the latter - but rather a hybrid affair that draws great influence from Latin music (and samba in particular), jazz in many forms, dubbed-out electro, jazz-funk and, on the rushing 'The Time Is Tight', organ and piano-heavy gospel house.

Review: Minamo (Keiichi Sugimoto and Tetsuro Yasunaga) returns to 12k following 2020's Superstition where they paried up with singer/songwriter Moskitoo. On Tail of Diffraction the duo joins long-time friend Asuna. A new name to 12k but not to the world of ambient and experimental music where Asuna's 100 Keyboards has toured stages around the world. Minamo and Asuna have shared the stage many times in concerts and tours over years, however, this is their first recording together. These artists are well known for their mix of electronic and acoustic instruments. Minamo often employs guitars, melodicas and small percussion instruments and Asuna's recordings with toy keyboards and reed organs are phenomenal. But on Tail of Diffraction they exchanged instruments for each song and played those they weren't familiar with, approaching each one with a naivete that spawned new discoveries. The familiarity of playing live together combined with surprising new instrument combinations resulted in a freshness and excitement much needed to them in a world that has been so shuttered. There is a soaring, almost optimistic quality to Tail of Diffraction. The timbres are very present and alive. The pads arc through sunlight with glittering gold edges and the guitars are tactile and seem to be exploring hidden possibilities. The final track features Reiko Seizo with a flickering vocal performance that further feeds the idea that this album is a ray of hope. Visual artist Michiko Fujita, whose work with silk thread that expresses delicate light and shadow, provided the artwork for the album which encompasses both the playfulness and desire to search that Tail of Diffraction so beautifully embodies.

Review: Following the runaway success of his first fully orchestrated album, 2021's Reprise, Moby returns to legendary classical imprint Deutsche Gramaphon with a second set of sweeping and soaring covers of tracks from his catalogue. This time round, he's limited himself to covering tracks he originally recorded and wrote in New York between 1994 and 2010. It's a successful exercise all told, with some of his best-loved and most impactful songs sounding even more joyous thanks to a canny combination of electric guitars, funk-fuelled organic grooves (there's little in the way of electronic instrumentation), a choir and an orchestra. Vocals are provided by a genuine who's who of stars and talented newcomers, including Kaiser Chiefs' Ricky Wilson, sensational soul man Gregory Porter, Lady Blackbird and Nicole Scherzinger.

Review: Hot on the heels of the release of his critically acclaimed autobiography, long-serving pop experimentalist Momus delivers his 29th solo set, Vivid - an album that's already being praised as one of his finest in years. It's certainly an enjoyable set, with the Scottish singer-songwriter musing on a variety of topics - many related to the current global Coronavirus pandemic - over eccentric, soft-focus musical backdrops notable for their varied and in some cases unusual blends of instruments (think lo-fi drum machine rhythms, wayward jazz horns, snaking electronics, accordions, folksy string quartets etc.). It's a hard album to pin down, but with Momus on top form lyrically and vocally, that's no bad thing.

Review: Space disco might be a recognisable or at least widely acceptable genre term, but its long lost twin 'space jazz' is on the sidelines, relegated to nicher corners of musical history. Thankfully, its memory has been conserved thanks to the late great composer Ennio Morricone occupying one of those corners. 'Space: 1999' was British TV's answer to Kubrick - concerning a fictional account of what would happen if the moon were knocked out of orbit - and Morricone's soundtrack for the Italian theatrical version here forms a veritable part the Italian OST canon. Incredible cacophonous clang-jazz, modular workouts and tom-heavy unidentified flying drums make up this fast but lonesome paean for the cosmos.

Review: With the iconic Montreux Jazz Festival constantly working to offer the most dynamic respites from their jazz-centric billing, and showcasing their tastes for the best in outsider (anything other than jazz) music, it shouldn't come as too much of a shock that the legendary Motorhead ripped a mammoth set apart back in 2007. Featuring a plethora of tracks from their catalogue such as 'Killed By Death', and 'Ace Of Spades', while also serving as the first official release to feature the trio's much loved cover of Thin Lizzy's 'Rosalie', it's delightful and absurd in equal measure to hear Lemmy and his cohorts embracing an entirely different type of audience to deliver one of the most unique sets of their latter days.

Review: If you dig deep house - hell, electronic music full stop - then you should be rather excited by the arrival of Cerebral Hemispheres, the first Mr Fingers album for 26 years, and the first of any kind by Larry Heard since 2003. As you'd expect, the album is exceptionally good, with Heard's famous musicality and fluid keys-work coming to the fore throughout. While rooted in melodious, huggable deep house, Heard naturally uses the opportunity to veer off in the myriad of different directions, touching on jazz, dub, downtempo grooves, soul, samba, tech-soul, deep acid house and much more besides. It has the feel of a genuine future classic and could well be his strongest album to date. Given his track record, that's a bold claim, but Cerebral Hemispheres really is that good.