Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Having celebrated his 50th birthday late last year, Ryan Adams has naturally been in an introspective mood. It makes sense, then, that the long-serving rock/country fusionist should offer up an album made up entirely of covers of songs by other artists that have in some way inspired him over the years. Generally gentle, with string-laden, largely acoustic arrangements, Changes features some genuinely brilliant interpretations - as well as some surprise ones. For proof, check his piano-and-strings wander through 'Panic' by the Smiths, a wonderfully heartfelt rendition of 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' by Simple Minds, a country-folk take on the Rolling Stones 'Sympathy For The Devil' and a lilting, poignant Prince cover ('When Doves Cry', which comes complete with extended harmonica solos and some genuinely lilting strings).

Review: Just three months after its predecessor was released, the second and final part of Joe Armon-Jones' epic All The Quiet album series lands in stores. Entirely written, produced and mixed by the man himself - with a few friends and high-profile guests popping up to add instruments or take to the mic - the set offers atmospheric, immersive and perfectly-pitched musical fusions rooted in his various sonic influences (think jazz, funk, soul, hip-hop and dub). Highlights are plentiful, from the deep and dreamy jazz-soul shuffle of 'Another Place' (featuring significant contributions from vocalists Greentea Peng and Wu-Lu), to the warming, dubbed-out soul of top-tier Yazmin Lacey collaboration 'One Way Traffic'.

Review: Geir Jenssen (Biosphere) marks his AD93 debut with The Way Of Time, wrapping elucted echo and looping synth drift around spoken fragments of Elizabeth Madox Roberts' great 1926 novel The Time Of Man. A Midwestern gothic literary staple, Roberts' novel is about the daughter of a Kentucky tenant farmer, and Jenssen's haunting use of Joan Lorring's voice from the 1951 radio play adaptation readapts his usual icy predilections for suitably huger desert horizons. Rather than treating the vocal as ornament, he folds it deep into the mix, letting it dissolve into the melodic architecture.

Review: A case of 'Paranoid' by name - and paranoid by nature. At least by the time the Brummie founding fathers of metal had reached 1975 and their sixth album Sabotage, the foursome felt attacked from all sides, blighted by wrangles with both management and record company alike. Those troubles have been 'blamed' for the particularly searing, angry musical form that the band hit at the time, something that's subsequently endeared the period to fans of all things heavy ever since. This radio broadcast would certainly seem to back that theory up, from a devastating opening salvo of 'Supertzar' from that sixth LP to trademark anthems like 'War Pigs', 'Paranoid' and a lurchingly fantastic 'Iron Man'. The stress and ahem, other lifesyle factors, would lead to this classic line up finally splitting in 1979 - leading to Ronnie James Dio's replacement of Ozzy - but this rich mid-70s purple patch captures them between mania and ultimate collapse.

Review: Boston-based drummer and producer Terri Lyne Carrington reconvenes Max Roach's 1961 landmark with a sharp eye on both lineage and forward motion. Originally conceived as a civil rights-era protest suite, the project blends jazz, voice, and African-diasporic rhythm to address racial justice with clarity and force. This reinterpretation is not a soft tribute - it's a generational handover. Christie Dashiell takes on Abbey Lincoln's vocal role with arresting precision, while the ensemble (including Morgan Guerin, Matthew Stevens and Milena Casado) brings freshness without losing tension. Julian Priester, the sole surviving member of the original lineup, offers a subtle but weighty cameo. Tracks like 'Driva' Man' and 'Triptych' are stretched into wider shapes, drawing on funk, gospel and Afro-Latin idioms without softening the message. As Carrington puts it, this isn't just homage - it's a new freedom suite for now. The message, more than 60 years later, still burns brightly.

Review: While not the band's final album, there's a solid argument to be made that 1995's Worry Bomb was Carter USM's last hurrah - a top-ten set that marked the beginning of the end for the distinctive South London duo. This expanded 30th anniversary edition pairs a remastered version of the original album -which boasts typically gritty, soaring and powerful classics such as 'Young Offenders Mum', the punky 'Airplane Food/Airplane Fast Food' medley, the riotous 'Me & Mr Jones' and the introspective 'My Defeatist Attitude' - with a disc of B-sides and rarities and, most excitingly, a previously unreleased live album of their performance at the 1994 Pheonix Festival. Throw in a DVD featuring videos, Top of the Pops appearances and freshly recorded interviews, and you have an essential item for Carter fans.

Review: Brooklyn record distributor Atypical-dopeness offer the next edition in Joaquin Joe Claussell's Unofficial Edits & Overdubs series. Following a four-tracker of largely unnamed tracks released in 2020, Iboga continues the series, this time with an iterative avatar to top up Claussell's ever-moving house continuum. Claussell's output has lately taken on an ancestral turn, influenced by the hallucinations caused by chewing the roots of an iboga plant, a chemico-spiritual fixture of initiation ceremonies found across Central Africa (whether Claussell actually did take ibogaine isn't clear). What we do know is that, in dialogue with his heritage, Claussell found himself inspired by these initiatory rituals and so set about producing this eleven-track heart-rouser, fusing the overdubbed recorded sounds of Gabon, Cameroon and Congo with his own summative, spiritual, salubrious house sound.

Review: Throbbing Gristle co-founder and all round British experimental electronic institution, Cosey Fanni Tutti returns with 2t2, a new full-length set for release through her own Conspiracy International label. The new nine-tracker extends the tracked terrains of 2019's Tutti, blurring personal reflections on years of loss and upheaval into prosthetic electronic soundscapes. The record unfolds over two contrasting halves, one beat-driven, the other more introspective, yet it also keeps anchored to a certain ground point emphasising resilience and focus. Lead cut 'Stound' features overtone chanting, which Cosey describes as a way to channel inner strength: "allowing the sounds to permeate and soothe as well as create a sense of power."

Review: This first-ever CD anthology of Culture's earliest singles captures the trio in their purest, most incendiary form. Formed in 1976 by lead singer Joseph Hill, with Albert Walker and Roy Dayes, the Jamaican group emerged under the name The African Disciples before becoming Culture and signing with Joe Gibbsione of Kingston's most revered producers. What followed was a run of revolutionary 7"s and 12"s, including the seismic 'Two Sevens Clash', whose apocalyptic prophecy shook the reggae landscape. These recordingsinow collected in full, dub sides and allichart the group's 1977 to 1981 run with Gibbs, a period widely regarded as their peak. Tracks like 'Zion Gate' and 'See Dem a Come' show their power not just as writers of militant roots reggae, but as spiritual messengers, blending dread prophecy with hypnotic riddims. Even in dub form, these versions retain urgency and weight, anchored by Hill's unshakeable vocal tone and Gibbs's rich, bass-forward production. Later work with Sonia Pottinger would push their sound further afield, but what's here is raw, righteous and definitive. Eight tracks make their CD debut, finally doing justice to an era of singles that shaped both Culture's legacy and the wider trajectory of roots reggae itself.

Review: Robert Smith has always treated remixing less like revision, more like ritual i a habit that's followed him since his days in Crawley, West Sussex and then surfacing officially on the first Cure remix album, 1990's Mixed Up. This triple-disc release of reworkings from the band's latest LP Songs of a Lost World feels assembled with obsessive care, mapping out every possible mood lurking beneath the surface. There are club-ready flips, yes i Sally C, Danny Briottet and Gregor Tresher all push the rhythm forward i but they sit beside glacial pieces that feel more like haunted sketches than reworks. Mura Masa's take on 'All I Ever Am' is disintegrated almost beyond recognition, its vocal a flickering memory. Mogwai's 'Endsong' feels like the end of the world in slow motion. Even Chino Moreno turns in something striking i 'WarSong' morphs into a sludgy howl with heat-warped edges. But it's the sequencing that surprises: these aren't bolted together, but grouped in arcs, as though Smith were arranging the bones of an old idea into something still alive. Four Tet's version of 'Alone' is a high point i deeply textured but featherlight. Like all The Cure's output, what really matters is the feeling of being drawn somewhere, and Smith's hand never letting go.

Review: More than four decades after he first appeared in smudged eyeliner and a mop of jet-black hair, Robert Smith is still finding new ways to pull his music apart and stitch it back together. This new remix collection i assembled and curated by Smith himself i feels less like a victory lap and more like a restless dissection of a legacy he's still actively shaping. The collaborators here are hardly incidental: Four Tet, Orbital, Ame, Chino Moreno, Mura Masa, Trentemoller, Mogwai. It reads like a list built by someone still hungrily tuned into the present, not stuck in the past. And true to form, the results are all over the place i a feature, not a flaw. Some tracks lean into grandeur: Paul Oakenfold's take on 'I Can Never Say Goodbye' opens with all the sweeping melodrama you'd expect, while Daybreakers stretch 'WarSong' into widescreen synthwork. Elsewhere, Shanti Celeste and Ex-Easter Island Head bring a strange intimacy to 'Alone', teasing out its ache with a different kind of spaciousness. At times, you wonder if Smith enjoys seeing how far his work can be bent before it breaks. But it never does i even filtered through others' hands, his sense of tension, drama and deep emotional unease holds everything together.

Review: The Doobie Brothers make a triumphant return with a revitalised lineup, uniting founding members Patrick Simmons, Tom Johnston, John McFee and Michael McDonald for their latest release. With a legacy built on infectious harmonies, impeccable musicianship and a genre-blending approach, the band has long been a staple in American rock and pop. Their newest project, produced by John Shanks, reflects both their storied past and evolving present. The album touches on personal themes of growth, recovery and a deepening understanding of life's essential truths, each track showcasing the band's uncanny ability to weave Americana, rock and soul into an expansive yet cohesive sound, while collaborationsiincluding a stirring appearance from Mavis Staplesiadd emotional depth. Tracks like 'Angels & Mercy' and 'Learn To Let Go' embrace themes of growth and recovery, while the title track, featuring Staples, offers a sense of hope and unity. As ever, the Doobies navigate complex emotions with timeless ease, proving that their distinct blend of optimism and introspection still resonates deeply, even after decades of musical evolution.

Review: Composed in New York by the Baltimore-born minimalist Philip Glass and released in 1971, Music With Changing Parts was the album that put his vivid, colour-rich sound on the map, marking a shift away from the ultra minimal 600 Lines (1967) and Two Pages (1968). Performed with free instrumentation, the piece allows musicians to switch between eight staves at specified cues, generating abrupt shifts in texture and timbre. Though its melodic material remains tightly looped and minimal, changes in orchestration continuously refresh the sonic landscape. Most striking is the psychoacoustic illusion Glass observed during rehearsals: when multiple players repeated the same short patterns, sustained tones seemed to emerge on their own. He eventually formalised this in the score, permitting long notes to enhance the effect. What results is a hallucinated resonance that pulses and flickersian early indication of the harmonic depth he would later bring to works like the miestone Einstein On The Beach.

Review: Following 2020's acclaimed Women In Music Pt. III, which earned GRAMMY and BRIT nods, the LA-based American rock trio and sisters HAIM return with their bold fourth studio album on Polydor. Produced by Danielle Haim and Rostam Batmanglij, 15-tracker I Quit leans confidently into their noted classic rock influences while introducing fresh textures, including warped samples and stripped-back ballads. It's a record made for the stage as it is raw, dynamic and deeply rooted in their chemistry as live performers. The record reaffirms HAIM's place as modern rock trailblazers and is familiar yet evolving, so it will appeal to old fans and new ears with its fine balance of swagger and soul.

Review: American rapper JPEGMAFIA's latest is a sprawl-furious, funny and brutally confessional. It plays like a barrage of psychic snapshots: voice notes, demos, diss tracks, gospel flips and pixelated trap dreams. The first half (ending with 'ALLAH') forms a pummelling, meticulously sequenced core-'Jordan Rules' and 'JPEGULTRA!' crackle with fury, while 'i lay down my life for you' and 'Don't Put Anything on the Bible' show his growing mastery of melody and space. Vince Staples, Denzel Curry and Buzzy Lee slide into the chaos without diluting it. The second half loosens its grip: raw sketches like 'tour idea feb 1st 2025' and 'JIHAD JOE' stretch the project's limbs outward. It's unfiltered but not aimless-his vision is lucid even at its most erratic. From the title down to the tracklist, this is a record that dares you to look away and dares him to reveal more. It's the most complete JPEGMAFIA has ever sounded-uncompromising, contradictory, and fully locked into his own frequency. A closing chapter that reads like a manifesto.

Review: By the time Load landed in 1996, Metallica were unrecognisable from the denim-and-leather thrash band of the early 80s. Coming off the back of the colossal success of The Black Album (1991), they had gone supernova: stadium tours, chart dominance, and a sudden place in the mainstream they once seemed sworn to resist. Now their mid-90s pivot hears a squeakier-fresh round of polish through this UMR reissue, as Reuben Cohen handles remastering duties under the eye of longtime collaborator Greg Fidelman. Then and now: at the time, Bob Rock returned on production, as he had fo The Black Album, and again drew out a widescreen sound framing 'Until It Sleeps', 'Hero Of The Day' and 'King Nothing' for mainstream impact. This ed also finally restores the full-length version of 'The Outlaw Torn', which was shaved from the 1996 release due to CD length restrictions (the only time a Metallica album track was edited for format).

Review: As they prepare to squabble, rock out and reprise their infamously hooky riffs at a series of sold-out reunion shows, Oasis have decided to reissue their official best-off collection, 2010's Time Flies...1994-2009. Now presented in remastered, souped-up form, the two-disc set showcases all 27 of their UK singles (including non-album cuts 'Whatever' and 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down') as well as a hidden bonus track ('Sunday Morning Call', which appears two minutes after the final cut on disc two). While plenty of high points and fan favourites are missing, it does a great job in reminding us that Oasis were, at their very best, an iconic indie-rock band - as highlights such as 'Supersonic', 'Cigarettes & Alcohol', 'Some Might Say' and the epic 'All Around The World' emphatically prove.

Review: If you're like us you've probably listened to Seattle grunge legends Pearl Jam's Vitalogy repeatedly and love the songs but think what could take this experience to the next level and reinstill that adrenaline that you had when you played it the first half dozen times. Well, this special audio blu-ray version makes it more realistic and immersive - and give you closer listening experience than you'd probably get even at a gig. With tracks such as 'Corduroy' and 'Better Man' easily in their top ten tracks, Vitalogy is Pearl Jam on top form and offers a sweet alternative to the more frequently championed Vs and Ten, whilst being arguably just as strong.

Review: "Make some noise for more love in the world" says drum & bass legend Ray Keith before tearing into a high-octane tribute to three decades of jungle culture on The Renegade Live at The Jazz Cafe. This double CD was captured during his sold-out March 2024 performance in London and word is there is no digital version planned. Along the way, Keith blends classics like 'Terrorist' and 'Dark Soldier' with live covers of scene-defining anthems from Top Buzz, MC Fats and Splash. This electrifying set honours the genre's past while pushing it forward with assistance from vocalists Juiceman, Elisa and Miss Klair. Keith blurs the lines between studio power and live performance with unique charm here.

Review: This exciting new compilation is a richly layered celebration of reggae's instrumental foundations. The second chapter in the Roots Architects project, this dub album gathers over 50 of Jamaica's most revered session musicians to breathe new life into rhythms rooted in reggae's golden era. Produced by Swiss keyboardist Mathias Liengme and dubbed by Roberto Sanchez, the record is a journey into the sonic textures of Kingston's legendary studios during the late 70s. Each track pulses with the timeless craftsmanship of players like Lloyd Parks, Fil Callender and Earl "Chinna" Smith. The dub treatments are both spacious and inventive, recalling the spiritual haze and echo-drenched brilliance of King Tubby and Lee Scratch Perry at their peak. Sanchez handles the desk with deep respect and balances fidelity with creativity. From Dub 'Til Now is a historical tribute of reggae's enduring history.

Review: German DJ/production team Sash! stormed into the mid-90s with a turbocharged take on trance and Eurodance, dominating charts and countless club nights. The breakthrough came with underground cut 'It's My Life', but it was 1997's 'Encore Une Fois, first indended as a high-drama, French-vocal trance extra, that launched his career, precipitating a flurry of scene-shaping hits: 'Ecuador' with Rodriguez, 'Stay' with La Trec, 'La Primavera', and 'Mysterious Times' with Tina Cousins. This 30th anniversary CD digs deep into that golden era with full-length, remastered extended versions, and includes more experimental turns like the Boy George collab 'Run', plus the colossal streaming-era revival hit 'Rock My Body' with R3hab and Inna.

Review: First released three years ago and now receiving a deserved reissue, I Am A Tree I Am A Mouth is undoubtedly one of the most magic albums by Australian-American sprano and composer Jane Sheldon - an artist famed for her unique, voice-based works. While the album is not entirely made up of layered vocals and vocalisations - Sheldon employs long, languid ambient drones and textures throughout - they're naturally the focal point. Most of the lyrics (mostly sung, but some spoken) are taken from Rainer Maria Rilke's 1995 tome The Book of Hours (meaning Sheldon largely sings in German), and these are delivered in all manner of inspired ways. The results are uniformly dazzling, blurring the boundaries between chamber music, neo-classical and ambient music's experimental fringes.

Review: Back in 2008, Jethro Tull performed a now legendary set at the Basel Festival in Switzerland. Their "powerful and passionate" performance - as the accompanying press release puts it - was previously available on DVD, but this double-CD marks the first time the soundtrack has been made available as an audio release. It naturally stands up to scrutiny, with the effervescent Ian Anderson (switching as ever between vocals and flute) leading the way on a memorable trawl through their epic back catalogue and its notable blends of folk, progressive rock, jazz, hard rock and neo-classical movements. Expect to hear fine versions of 'Aqualung', 'Living In The Past', 'A New Day Yesterday', 'Locomotive Breath' and much more besides.

Review: This 2024 edition of Lament by Ultravox is a comprehensive, end-all-others 7CD + DVD deluxe edition expander including a (you won't believe) 72 tracks, with a newly remastered version of the album alongside a fresh 1980s-style extended remix. The seventh studio album by British new wave pioneers, Lament marked the final appearance of original drummer Warren Cann until the band's reunion in 2012 with Brilliant. But despite the name and the grievous context, the album was hardly lachrymose in sound, and it achieved much commercial success, owing to a prosperous prior experience with producers Conny Plank and George Martin, who drove its lush Chrysalis synthpop sound. Aforementioned remixes include contributions from Moby, Steve Wilson, Blank & Jones, and Midge Ure, while a newly mixed full concert recorded at Hammersmith Odeon in 1984 comes stapled in at the end. Mastered and cut by Phil Kinrade and Barry Grint at Air Mastering, London.

Review: Armin van Buuren is one of the most enduring trance overlords in the scene. He was there at the birth for the genre, and stayed with it through tough times right up to now, when it is very much back en vogue. Here ushers in a new era with the latest in his indefatigable A State of Trance series. The 2025 edition is a triple mix journey showcasing a full emotional and sonic range with 43 tracks across three themed segments, which move from the warm, melodic vibes of On The Beach-with cuts from Claptone x Chicane, AVIRA and OTTAGON-to the high-octane energy of In The Club, including bangers by Ferry Corsten, Andrew Bayer and Gabry Ponte. The final mix, Who's Afraid of 138?!, explodes with peak-hour intensity and is headlined by Armin's collaboration with Rob Swire. This is trance at its most euphoric.