Back catalogue: Coldwave/Synth

Review: Let's get a few things clear before we start. This Heinrich Dressel is not the same German archeologist Heinrich Dressel who studied under the great Theodor Mommsen in Berlin during the late-mid 1800s. He is, however, the Rome-born electronic producer who takes a massive lead from the funky, glittering, but subtly chilling horror movie scores of the 1970s and 1980s, crafting highly detailed but lo-fi feeling tracks that are packed with pastiche but never parody.

Promenade is his latest effort, and instantly captures (or creates) the atmosphere this producer is best-known for. At a time when this end of synth wave has experienced a huge resurgence thanks to successive movie soundtracks that took a lead from the aforementioned era, not to mention TV series like Stranger Things, this couldn't be more appropriate, and what makes it so essential is that authenticity in audible - feeling like it belongs, rather than simply riding a bandwagon.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Slight tear and creasing to corner of outer sleeve, also the record has light surface marks/smudges, but otherwise in excellent working condition***

Review: A warm welcome back to perennial genre-benders Hot Chip, who return to stores after three long years with their eighth album, some 21 years after making their debut. Freakout/Release is no dramatic change in direction, but instead a further distillation of what has always made the band so appealing - a trademark fusion of synth-pop, loved-up house sounds, lilting and sometimes melancholic lead vocals, loose-limbed organic drums, nods to Prince and an ability to craft killer hooks. There are highlights aplenty, from the gravelly live hip-hop funk of 'The Evil That Men Do' (where rapper Cadence Weapon delivers a star turn) and the subtly post-punk influenced, saucer-eyed brilliance of 'Hard To Be Funky' (featuring Lou Hayter), to the classic Hot Chip sing-along flex of 'Time' and the krautrock-tinged 'Out of My Depth'.