Melodies International Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Melodies International is a real favourite label here at Juno HQ, headed up famously by Floating Points and finds including Mafalda. The third volume of their Melodies record Club is as good as anything the label has put out to date: it features a trio of jazz cuts selected by the one and only Hunee. First is Digital Justice's 'Theme From "It's All Gone Pearshaped"', a 13 minute live jam packed with synth action. On the flip is a spiritual piece from harpist Dorothy Ashby and Frantz Tuernal's 'Koultans'. Says Hunee, "these three distinct pieces of music tap into different layers of my memory."

Review: During the funk era, heavyweight boxing champ Muhammad Ali proved a great source of inspiration for many musicians and bands. Dig hard enough and you'll find tons of singles recorded in tribute to the legendary fighter. Le Stim's 1980 disco-funk tribute to "the king of the fighters" is not one of the better-known examples, but it's certainly one of the most scintillating. Here, the sought-after gem - all rousing horns, Clavinet-heavy grooves, spacey synths and starry-eyed vocals - is given the reissue treatment by Melodies International. Like the hard-to-find original, it includes both "long" and "short" versions, with the former - a sweaty, nine-minute workout straight from the top shelf - standing out.

Review: Mad Professor (Neil Fraser) is renowned worldwide for his dub recordings, captivating live sets showcasing the creativity of dub sound engineers, and his collaborations with both reggae and non-reggae artists alike such as Lee Scratch Perry, Jah Shaka, Sade, The Orb, Massive Attack and Grace Jones. Above all, he is celebrated for his prolific output in the genres of dub, lovers rock, reggae; now this reissued version of this original 1984 release for Ariwa Sounds is sure to turn just as many heads as his originals do. Known to be the yield of the label's first ever collaborative effort - after Fraser set up his South London studio with no prior experience - 'The Early Session' is one of the purest incarnation of the Mad Professor sound we know today and set the tone for the label thereafter.

Review: Legendary dub head Mad Professor manage to turning his mixing desk into an instrument in its own right. He coded all manner of heady and futurist sounds of it it by twisting nobs and playing with faders in a way no one had before and fee have managed to recreate ever since. He has turned his hand to reworking countless classic albums as well as turning out his own heart works, not least this album that was originally released in 1984. Ariwa Sounds (The Early Sessions) captures his work with artists like Errol Sly, Rock A Way & Sister Audrey and Sergeant Pepper, all of who he left with his magic dub touch.

Review: The high class Melodies International reissue label co-run by Floating Points and Elliot Bernard is back with the seance in its Melodies Record Club series. This time it is blistering club DJ Ben UFO who gets his pick after Four Tet had his go earlier in the year. The two tunes he pick have long been staples in his set either though on the surface of it neither are typical club tunes. They have never before been available on vinyl for that reason but we're glad they are now. 'Drums' is off Laurie Spiegel's 1980 experimental album The Expanding Universe and is all oscillating synths and computer generated percussion while Olof Dreijer from the Swedish band the Knife offers 'Echoes From Mamori' on the flip, a more tropical and whimsical cut of new age licked house made from arpeggios and frog samples.

Review: The much loved Melodies International label takes another step away from its usual remit here by reissuing a second bit of classic house music following on from the excellent Hanna 12" late last year. It comes from cult London pair Synchrojack aka Dean Slydell and Greg Wheeler who first put it out on Ferox in 1995. "Daylight" is high speed, high class house with bubbling drums, bass and synths all making for a powerful yet fluid groove that is underpinned with punchy kicks that won't fail to make you move. Flipside "900th Lifetime" is similar in its full flavour grooves and tightly knotted bass. Both cuts are sure to be everywhere this summer.