Back catalogue: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz/Nu Soul

Review: UK-based United Freedom Collective unites a throng of talents from Jordan Stephens, Falle Nioke, Eliza Shaddad, Labdi, William Rees and Facesoul, emerging from a collective yogic and breathwork practice before mutating into a full musical outing. Debuting on Maribou State's Dama Dama label, they now return to Multi Culti for a psychedelic five-tracker documenting the euphoric somatic states reachable by the confluence of entheogenic therapy and progressive house production. A through-composed odyssey in many keys, 'Bright Patterns' opens the proceedings with piano-led vocal house, complete with sliding leads and oceanic feels, continuing in this way until a steel-panned sunriser takes form on 'El Yo', and 'Moonshine' brews its own blissful future garage vat.

Review: Nanel keeps things anonymous again here but delivers another fine release with a brace of tracks that cater to both DJs and discerning listeners. On the A-side, 'Farfor' brings groovy basslines with punchy breakbeats and atmospheric pads while a hella catchy piano melody brings some colour and emotional uplift. It strikes a fine balance between classic and modern sounds and then on the flip is 'Ready' which dives into deeper, dub-influenced territory with a big fat bassline, crisp percussion and hypnotic vocal cuts. Its layered rhythms and immersive textures reveal a more introspective side that makes a lasting impression.

Review: Check classic dance music books of the 1990s - and even some later music texts, such as Richard King's The Lark Ascending - and you'll find plenty of praise for Ultramarine's work of the early 1990s, which added pastoral and folk-rock inspired sounds to the sample-heavy pulse of dance music. What you won't find is any reference to their final album of the decade, A User's Guide. Yet it may well be their best album. A conscious exploration of techno and IDM shot through with references to Detroit, Berlin and Sheffield (well, Warp Records at least), it reportedly took the duo almost two years to record. A largely unheralded British techno classic, it has been painstakingly remastered for this first ever vinyl reissue and boasts extensive contextualising liner notes from UK techno historian (and sometime Juno writer) Matt Anniss.

Review: Hydeout Productions continue their full comprehensive recataloguing of Nujabes' work, not only those of his immediate productions, but also the works of the lives of others whom he'd touched through collaboration. Saxophonist Uyama Hiroto was a frequent collaborator of Nujabes', appearing as early on in the latter's storied career as 1996's Modal Soul; it may be said that this mere fact was enough to launch Hiroto's career in his own right, and his debut record A Son Of The Sun is a testament to this fact, evidencing Hiroto's preoccupation with themes of freedom and heliophilia. This debut has Nujabes' unmistakable mix thumbprints all over it, but the headspace is decidedly polished and yet more expansive, and is all produced by Hiroto despite the association and similarity; his saxophone shines best and most brightly non-hip-hop cuts such as 'Climbed Mountain'.

Review: It's been seven years since Freeform Jazz was released as a new frontier for Uyama Hiroto. Now hearing Japanese label Roph return to the jazz and hip-hop artist receive a second round of recognition, we get a thorough reminder of the directions in which jazz can be taken when not mired neither sophistry nor overcomplexity; the liners on this one remind us, likewise, of the reversals and flip-sides of every substance on Earth, that "If there is no movement, there is no stillness, and on the flip side, if there is no stillness, there is no movement." Hiroto's last record, Freeform Jazz, was his obverse side to Breath Of Love; one is duskier than the other, but the works are inseparable - so make sure you listen to the former too. Here though, we hear Hiroto synergise with participating artists Substantial and J Soul, both based in Virginia, as well as Marter and Reinaria; all the artists reign supreme over one wax side each, casting a healthful vocal light over Hiroto's otherwise impeccable recordings, as though they were each happily-ever-after kingdoms anointed in sound.