Back catalogue: All genres

Review: RECOMMENDED
If 2020, and the coronavirus pandemic, did anything good for music it was forcing a long overdue reevaluation of the role technology plays. Video games had a bumper year, and it didn't take long for the historic relationship between computer entertainment and contemporary musical compositions to start finding favour with content-starved editorial teams.

They say there's no turning back, ever, and as such the smart money is on albums like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice not just becoming more commonplace, but taken more seriously going forward. Soundtrack to Activision's critically acclaimed video game of the same name, in which players take on the role of a shinobi in feudal Japan, as you'd expect it's a deeply atmospheric collection that invokes misty mountaintops, shadows dancing off bamboo and patient heroics. An OST equal to any major movie.

Review: In the midst of a slew of high-end reissues of New Order's classic material (including represses of the singles, no less), here comes a mouth-watering deluxe edition of their 1985 album Low-life. It's always a bold statement to call a release 'definitive' but it's hard to imagine topping this lavish box set with a 180 gram pressing plus a double CD, double DVD and accompanying book. There are full live performances from 1985 in Japan and Belgium, and every possible remix, outtake and demo version you could possibly dream of. And that's not even saying anything about the original album itself - a true totem of 80s synth pop in all its glory.

Review: New Order's fourth studio album Brotherhood was the LP that saw the Mancunian innovators transition from massive underground cult heroes to part of the mainstream furniture, sparking a Glastonbury headline and a top ten album chart placing. The electro-meets-clunky bass ofd lead single 'Bizarre Love Triangle' definitely played its part, but the album in general sees them effortlessly bringing the indie and electronic sides of their sound into harmony via tracks 'Angel Dust' and the frenetic 'Weirdo', while the album's closer 'Every Little Counts', complete with sometimes sniggering vocal from frontman Bernard Sumner, is an endearingly accomplished leftfield pop moment. The remastered album - which comes on vinyl and CD - comes with a treasure trove of extras including rare mixes - the silky Stephen Hague mix of 'Bizarre Love Triangle' and an 'AOR' version of previous standalone single 'Shellshock' are particularly fine nuggets - an additional CD containing nine unreleased tracks and demos from a 1985 recording session in Japan plus a DVD of previously unavailable live footage and European TV shows.

Notes: This 732-page, two volume set chronicles over 3200 artists, 1200 record companies, and 10,000 individual releases between the years of 1960 and 1990. From Chicago to Cairo, East St. Louis to Kankakee, from The Accents to Ze-Majestiks, Soul Music Of Illinois serves as discography, field manual, atlas, telephone directory, and coffee table book, all presented in glorious full-color and wrapped in handsome woven linen.