Review: Hot on the hells of the epic work Stasis Sounds For Long Distance Space Travel Part 1 comes the second instalment, seeing 36 and Zake "continue their journey through the outer reaches of space in hypersleep" as they have it. There's a healthy 18 track selection to lose yourself in, as these experts of the sublimely chilled ambient get to work - in a typically gentle fashion, obviously.
Review: Hailing from London's East End, there's few Oi-punk outfits who were as quintessential or authentic as The 4-Skins. While only releasing a small handful of albums with their definitive 80s line up, this live/demo/unreleased cuts compilation offers an aural fly-on-the-wall experience of being confronted with their signature brand of seething anti-authoritarian, anti-police brutality, anti-fascist, football loving, skinhead sporting, Doc Marten stomping punk in real time. Packed with cuts pulled from radio sessions, Bumper sessions, demos and even two tracks from a previously unreleased 7" 45, including the ska-punk-inflected 'Seems To Me'; offering a more subdued side to the OG Skins than most long-time fans would be accustomed to.
Review: Aaron Fletcher and Tim Parkin are 77:78 and they dropped their debut album back in 2018 during a heatwave. It was perfect timing for a record that is scorched and red hot throughout with its throwback 60s beat pop sounds all rich in big hooks and English psychedelia. There are an array of deep and beautiful harmonies throughout the record, elements of tumble down dub and plenty of fragile vocal sounds. Standout include the likes of 'Papers' and the most metro of the lot, 'Love Said (Let's Go).'
Review: With summer gone, this album is the perfect soundtrack to remind you of the warmer season. It's a lush blend of tropical disco grooves, deep house, Balearic vibes, smooth jazz and Mediterranean cool for sipping cocktails and dreaming of a blissful escape. Each track features dreamy textures, fresh rhythms, shimmering chords and rich melodies enhanced by delightful percussive details. It's a majestic work by A Vision Of Panorama with a carefree atmosphere.
Review: Modular synthesizer fetishist Luke Abbott apparently got the inspiration for this sophomore set during time spent as the "musician in residence" at the Wysing Arts Centre in Cambridgeshire back in 2012. Named after a piece of woodland close by, it sees Abbott using live analogue electronics to try and create a "natural life cycle" over the album's nine tracks. Interestingly, it differs from his impressive debut album in a number of ways; while Holkham Drones touched on krautrock, drone and intense ambience, Wysing Forest doffs a cap to spiritual jazz, Terry Riley and ambient explorer Pete Namlook. It's a beguiling set, all told, and one that constantly veers between crunchy bursts of intense IDM and becalmed, breathtaking ambience.
Review: Jazz Room reissue the infamous first mini-album by Abacothozi. Formed in 1973 by bassist Berthwel Maphumulo, Mac Mathunjwa on organ, Innocent Mathunjwa on drums, Joe Zikhali on guitar, Thema Maboneng was released in 1975, before being almost immediately forgotten. However, a recent rediscovery by diggers and curators Kon & Amir, for their lauded Off The Track Volume Two: Queens compilation, sparked a renewed interest; the South African four-piece shared equal responsibility in writing and arranging these six instrumentals, which are tight and full, and come replete with Hammonds, well-surrounded guitar, and cross-sticking snare hits.
Review: In October 1977, Australian rock titans AC/DC were set to enjoy a night off in London following two successful shows at the Hammersmith Odeon, before they were tapped by The BBC at the last minute to replace The Sensational Alex Harvey Band who had cancelled their scheduled appearance on the Sight & Sound In Concert show at the Hippodrome in North London's Golders Green. While the likes of Queen, Jethro Tull, The Kinks and Roxy Music would perform at the 3,000-capacity venue over the years, no band or set has ever rocked the Hippodrome like Bon Scott and the boys did on this fateful evening. Ripping through a truncated, all bangers setlist of seven tracks in just 40 minutes, including 'Problem Child', 'Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be', 'Whole Lotta Rosie' and 'T.N.T.', while Angus Young would run rampant whilst shredding through the balcony section, this performance has gone down as one of most iconic from this early definitive era of the band.
Review: Action Pact were a punk rock band from Stanwell, an isolated village right under the flight-path of London Heathrow Airport, inspiring this compilation album's title. Consisting of two formerly unreleased John Peel sessions as well as a David Jensen session - totalling 16 tracks - this retrospective charts the band's history, from their formation in 1981 by guitarist Wild Planet, bassist and lyricist Dr. Phibes and the then 15-year-old drummer Joe Fungus and singer George Cheex, still school-kids when their Heathrow Touchdown EP was released in October 1981. BBC DJ John Peel played the single many times and booked them for the first session to appear here, recorded in February 1982. The second Peel session was recorded and broadcast in 1982 and a David Jensen BBC session in 83.
All Night Parking (with Errol Garner - interlude) (2:37)
Woman Like Me (4:54)
Hold On (6:06)
To Be Loved (6:44)
Love Is A Game (6:38)
Review: Now announcing her latest album 30, it's been Adele's longest ever hiatus between albums. Biting back at media hype earlier this year, our worries that 30 would be a "drum and bass record to spite you", in Adele's own words, have been assuaged; its lead single 'Easy On Me' is rather a dramatic, roomy, noir piano ballad. And now that the tracklist has been revealed, we can expect more of the same - belting emotion is, of course, what Adele does best. Watch out for interluding and ending collabs with Erroll Garner and Chris Stapleton, as well as the intimately titled 'I Drink Wine'.
Review: It would be fair to say that great Italo-disco albums are few and far between. Ago's 1982 debut album, "For You", is undoubtedly one of the rare examples of an Italo-disco artist getting it right across an entire LP. As this timely reissue proves, the artist (and his production team) was more heavily influenced by U.S disco, boogie and early electrofunk than many of his synth-pop and new wave-loving peers, giving the set an authenticity and warm instrumental feel often lacking in similar Italian exercises. You may find the accented vocals a touch tongue-in-cheek, but the choruses are great, the instrumentation brilliant and the production spot on.
Review: Laurel Aitken's High Priest of Reggae album is an early classic of the genre from 1969, and it captures the ska pioneer at a pivotal moment when he was blending his Jamaican roots with the evolving UK reggae scene. It came on Pama Records and shows Aitken's versatility with cuts like 'Jesse James' and 'Landlords and Tenants,' both a testament to his storytelling lyrical prowess over inventive rhythms down low. Songs such as 'Haile Selassie' reflect his engagement with the burgeoning roots reggae movement, while the classic crossover jam 'Skinhead Train' nods to his influence on the skinhead subculture. This album earned Aitken the status of the "Godfather of Ska" and it's easy to hear why listening back to this reissue.
Review: RECOMMENDED
It's not hard to hear where this album title is coming from. Fatima Al Qadri is a Senegal-born, Kuwaiti musician and conceptual artist who has definitely taken some inspiration from the timeless feel of Arabesque. A patient sense of spatiality and gradually evolving atmospheres that feel as though crafted over the course of several millenniums, Medieval Femme feels both rooted in tradition and forward thinking.
You won't be surprised to learn, then, that this collection of powerful tones finds inspiration and source material in aeons-old poetry from the Arabic world. Some of that even forms the lyrics of the vocal numbers, while it all helps inform the overall feel of the record. It's deep and meditative, but never loses itself too much in structureless ambience, instead choosing to offer some incredibly well formulated tracks that are as challenging as they are instantly enjoyable.
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