Back catalogue: Pop

Review: Record Store Day Black Friday edition gifts us this unlikely pairing of artists as Different offers up some Pet Shop Boys remixes of Claptone's 'Queen of Ice.' The extended mix goes first with a nice pop-tinged and subtly Balearic rework with warming electronic drums and the original emotive vocals. Their Moody mix then breaks up the beast a little into tumbling affairs that are perfect for summer festival deployment. On the flip is the heart-wrenching dance pop nugget that is the original of 'Queen Of Ice' (feat Dizzy) before the best of the lot - a nice and breezy 7" mix that is clean and catchy.

Review: Emotional Rescue returns to early 1980s Manchester with the previously unreleased music of Michael James Pollard and his beautiful distillation of indie pop in Too Confusing and bedsit cover version of Ashford and Simpson's Surrender.

While studying photography at Manchester Polytechnic, (MJ) Pollard lived and played in a band in a ramshackle house in Walley Range. In the cellar studio he would write and record his own songs using their guitars, fretless bass and keys, as well as his own Casio VL-Tone VL-1 and Simmons Clap Trap to augment his drums onto a 4 track TEAC.

By 1983, and now solo, he was recording out of Dislocation Dance's studio (ERC111), had secured a Peel Session and via Factory Records' Lindsay Reade, was discussing with Fundacao Atlantica about releasing an album.

Working with singer Sioux Goddard as a duo, they put down 8 songs in 2 weeks in summer '84. However, Fundacao Atlantica's financial difficulties and soon closure meant the songs were lost until now.

Recovered off the original tapes and lovingly restored, Too Confusing captures the optimism of the sessions, a summer love melody of forlorn youth. Surrender accompanies, recorded back in that cellar in '81, with friend Stephanie Danziger on vocals, its lo-fi simplicity is a perfect take on an all-time classic, making this a newly prized gem of British indie pop history.

Review: Here's something we didn't expect: an all-star collaboration between two of the 1980s most potent synth-pop duos, Soft Cell and Pet Shop Boys. Long-term fans of both artists will love the original version of 'Purple Zone', a throbbing, arpeggio-driven synth-pop number boasting lead vocals from Mark Almond and chorus back-up from Neil Tennant. The latter and PSB partner Chris Lowe provide the various remixes scattered across the 12": a classic, Fairlight stab-sporting 'Extended Mix' that recalls Shep Pettibone's mid-80s mixes for PSB, a piano-sporting 'Club Mix' that gives the track a heavier Italo-disco-goes-house spin, and a pleasingly muscular 'Club Dub' that subtly pays tribute to David Morales' early '90s Red Zone dubs.

Review: The brand new record from Pale Waves is a high speed pop record laced with punk influences and rock energy that heads into bold new territory. It has proven a big hit with the rock press and fans alike and finds the band expanding their sonic palette as they explore new ways to connect with their die-hard followers. The Manchester group do so with big nods to 2000's punk-pop and lots of power chords, radio-friendly grooves and big choruses for festival sing-alongs. It might not be new to a certain age of music lover but for the younger generation this is sure to be a liberating listen.

Review: Fabiana Palladino's long-awaited debut album brings plenty of smooth and high gloss sound back to the fore. Following the end of a significant relationship, Palladino uses the album to delve into themes of love, loneliness, and relationship norms and in the process crafts a ten-track album that superbly blends r&b, soul, pop, and disco influences from the 80s and 90s with a contemporary twist. Self-produced and featuring collaborations with notable musicians like Jai Paul, Pino Palladino, Rocco Palladino, Steve Ferrone, and Rob Moose, the album is a classy journey through shapeshifting sonics and intimate introspection, marking a significant milestone in Palladino's musical journey.

Review: During their 1994 Discovery tour, Pet Shop Boys made their first visit to Brazil, performing in front of a huge audience in Rio de Janeiro. A video of the performance was released on VHS the following year, but never an audio version. This three-disc set corrects this error, offering the whole show stretched across two CDs, plus a remastered version of the concert film on DVD. The whole thing is a treat for PSB fans, with sparkling, pumped-up and often dancefloor-friendly versions of tracks from their then quite fresh Very album being joined by familiar favourites of old, a surprise rendition of their Comic Relief single 'Absolutely Fabulous' (we'd forgotten they did that, too) and some cheeky covers of dance hits of the period ('Mr Vain', 'Rhythm of the Night').

Review: Twelve Carat Toothache is the fourth studio album from multifaceted rap icon Post Malone. Aiming for a sound that both broadens his horizons and gives his fans a little uplift, Malone's contribution to the global tidal wave of pandemic-rooted LPs features Roddy Ricch, Doja Cat, Fleet Foxes, the Kid Laroi and the Weeknd. Digging into his confessional approach and teasing the possibilities of a pop-minded rap record on lead singles 'One Right Now', 'Cooped Up' and 'I Like You (A Happier Song)', Post Malone continues to evolve as an artist, leaving unique and compelling albums such as this one in his wake.

Review: Post Malone's Twelve Carat Toothache is said to be his 'sobering comedown.' It is the fourth album from the US rapper who is as well known for his face tattoos and various different aces as he is his work in the field of rap and hip hop. Here he gets more honest than ever with an intimate look at his life and plenty of shared struggles. Love and booze are big and reoccurring features - as are, however unlikely it may seem, the folk outfit Fleet Foxes who Post has cited as one of his musical heroes. In riding a middle ground between hip-hop and alt-pop, Malone strikes gold here.