Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Italian label 4Weed Music is all about music you might want to smoke to, as the title suggests. It's an ever-expanding indie that deals in serious sound system, dub and bass tackle. This new one 'Wonderful was originally produced on the Japan riddim which was composed and arranged by Dread Lion Hi Fi following Japan's 2011 T?hoku Earthquake and the ensuing tidal wave that struck. He wrote it in Italy and it features the line "From Milano Italy to Tokyo Japan" in honour of that over hefty low ends, steely mid-range leads and ricochetting hits. A fat dub is found on the B-side of this release which was for years thought lost until a hard disk turned up the treasure.

Review: Underground Resistance likely owe much of their mythology to the Interstellar Fugitives series; a classic series telling the tale of the UR clique fighting oppression and music-industry corruption on a cosmic scale. It's certainly an experimental delight for most newcomers to the techno genre and/or those who want to trace the history of the sound. DJ S2 (aka. Suburban Knight) and Von Floyd (aka. Gerald Mitchell) are infamous members of the UR gang; both of them have enjoyed success in the genre, and as part of the clique, since at least the late 1980s. 'Post Emancipation Psychosis' is a classic slab of UR's anarchic, ironic militancy. With its orderly drum machine march, the eponymous track by S2 describes the paranoia and loss of mental clarity one might after having been freed from the coercive clutches of a former master; meanwhile, Floyd's 'Geiger Counter' is a super-early electro classic, channelling a bursting, radioactive soundbank even few producers today could replicate.

Review: A year after dropping his acclaimed album 'Billy Valentine And The Universal Truth' with Flying Dutchman and Acid Jazz Records, Billy unveils a fresh take on a soul classic. Recorded at LA's prestigious Henson Recording Studio, alongside producer Bob Thiele Jr. and a stellar band including Larry Goldings, Pino Paladino, Jeff Parker, James Gadson, and John Philip Shenale, he introduces three new tracks. His rendition of Gil Scott-Heron's 'Lady Day & John Coltrane', debuted on Gilles Peterson's BBC6Music, mesmerising live audiences. This special edition 7" includes a unique edit of 'Home Is Where The Hatred Is', not previously available on vinyl.

Review: Cold Busted ventures into downtempo and Balearic territory here with Vanilla offering up a limited but 7" full of hazy and lo-fi beat sketches that make you ache for a sun lounger and a warm day. The gentle beats of 'Pointbreak' are offset by wonky and detuned chords that bring a sense of irreverence and 'Surfin' Summer' then casts you adrift on nice lazy sax motifs. 'Remember' keeps the grooves slow and low and 'Breeze' shuts down with another cathartic and open-skied sonic excursion. A perfect accompaniment to some mental escapism, then.

Review: Lewis Bennett is a fine producer who has a knowing following and here, for the third time now, he joins up with Burning Bug Records. This time it is alongside J.A. legends The Viceroys, who provide some super steamy and loved-up vocals over a spacious, roomy and atmospheric dub that is simple, economical yet effective, with some lush strings providing a melancholic hook. On the back side is an excellent dub that adds some low end heft and trips things out a little.

Review: This latest addition to the Legofunk series is sure to precipitate somatic reactions, whether floorbound crowds like it or not. On the A, Voodoocuts pins down a massive Latin / Afro-funk boogaloo edit for 'Ray's Delight', topped off by trilling trumpets and palm-outstretched piano chords. On the B, Tommy Manero gets samplier with it, collapsing the spatial-temporal plane between breakdance and salsa for 'B-Boy Chunga'.