Back catalogue: All genres

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


Top up your Oasis CD collection with this new rerelease of 'Be Here Now', the band's third and "most colossal" sounding LP, in the words of one Noel Gallagher. Being one of the few major rock albums in history for which its PR persons actually feared overexposure, and sought to control its release, gag orders were signed by journalists to quell its premature hype. Far from the heyday of 'Wonderwall' or 'Definitely Maybe', the album went triple platinum, owing to lead single 'Do You Know What I Mean?', and the band's relentless, cocaine-fuelled pursuit of commercial success at the time.

Review: Nostalgia can be a dangerous thing. We don't need to cite examples why. In contrast, retrospect is important and retro sounds are, today, often capable of making us think about how we saw the future in the past. In some cases, that means staring down the barrel of the big question: did we heed any warnings, or has all the artwork and movies and music that sought to raise flags over the disappearance of humanity and individuality at the hands of 'progress' been for nought? Summoning the spirit of Depeche Mode, Eurythmics and more, Orphia present a stunning synth album which is at once catchy and poppy, even dance floor ready, but saturated in a kind of melancholy and juxtaposition of electronic and human. Robotic rhythms topped with organic emotions, there's a feeling of spiralling headfirst into lightning paced chaos and disorientation as the collection plays out. And that's about as apt as things get right now.