New releases last four weeks: All genres

Review: The Milano Undiscovered series has been expertly overseen by Fred Ventura and now clocks up a third installment. It again delves into Milan's dynamic techno and house scene between the years of 1988 and 1992. Unveiling a trove of unreleased demos, it highlights the city's burgeoning underground culture during this period. Influenced by the pioneering sounds of Chicago, Detroit, London, and Sheffield, Milanese producers embarked on a creative journey, crafting their own distinct interpretations of electronic dance music. These demos offer a glimpse into the innovative spirit and diverse sonic landscape that defined Milan's contribution to the global dance music scene during this transformative era.

Review: The Veronicas' latest album, Gothic Summer, is a nostalgic journey that encapsulates the essence of their early 2000s success while infusing it with a modern twist. Produced by John Feldman and featuring collaborations with industry heavyweights like Travis Barker and Kerser, the album delivers a punchy mix of pop-punk, hyper-pop, and surf-rock elements. Tracks like 'Perfect' and 'Detox' exude energy reminiscent of Avril Lavigne and Operator Please, while 'Invisible' and 'Ribcage' showcase the duo's emotive vocals and songwriting depth. The album's anthemic closer, 'Jungle,' pays homage to psychedelic music of the past while offering a fresh take on the genre. With its blend of nostalgia and innovation, Gothic Summer solidifies The Veronicas' position as pop starlights while offering a compelling listening experience for both longtime fans and newcomers alike.

Review: Balkan Vinyl has a strong resume of releasing excellent 90s inspired IDM and electro since the first release in 2010. Veteran producers Posthuman (Cousins Richard Bevan and Joshua Doherty) own and run the UK label. For this release they call upon a legendary friend Luke Vibert, to make a staggeringly great, joint EP. 'Still In Love' kicks off the record and brings Luke's familiar acid techniques to the party while sampling classic 80s and 90s dance tracks and samples within it. 'Android Webber' is quintessential sound Vibert is known for that balances a quirky IDM grit and a downtempo slow jam. For the B-Side, Posthuman offers the futuristic electro stormer 'Grad' followed by the sexy, slow burner 'Forever Circles'. A match made in acid house heaven.

Review: The cheeky junglist mash-ups continue unabated on Vibez 93 as the Dutch label very clearly spells out its plans on the r&b vs d&b 12". On the A-side we're treated to some crisp and direct flips of Blu Cantrell's 'Breathe' and TLC's 'No Scrubs', and the original songwriting content of the all-time classics is kept well and truly intact. All you need is a snappy, rolling beat dropped into the blend, and crowd-pleasing dancefloor magic is right there in the palm of your hands. On the flip Mary J Blige and Queen Latifah get the treatment too, giving you lot of bang for your buck on this big bad and bold record.

Review: Spasibo Records present a fresh 7" by the Vicious Seeds, hailing from St. Petersburg. With vibraphonist Pavel Chizhik taking centre stage (Chizhik isn't usually a member of the band), 'Village Hassle' makes for a cleverly collaborative rare groove and instrumental reggae-soul release. The titular A-side flaunts Chizhik's vibraphone via the mix alone, fleshing out its low-end elements against a driven instrumental backbeat; 'Monthly Rainfall', meanwhile, goes for all-out slow-jammed soul by way of cross-sticked snares and offbeat chord plucks run through short-release springs.

Notes: Following "Vintage Music T-shirt Scrap", The long-awaited third instalment of the scrap series is Jazz!

Focusing on jazz, focusing on original vintage posters, From flyers to booklets, calendars, and magazines of performances at the time!

There are many jazz record jacket books in the world, but this is the first poster book in the world.

Ide started by searching for materials for his autobiographical book "Rolling On The Road". Ninety percent of the items in the collection were collected intensively by Ide over a period of about a year and a half. "

Binding: 376 pages / A5 format

Review: Spasibo Records introduces a new 7" vinyl by St. Petersburg outfit the Vicious Seeds, this time on yellow and green wax. In an unconventional move, vibraphonist Pavel Chizhik takes the spotlight and the result is that he truly enhances the band's signature sound. 'Village Hassle' offers a unique blend of rare groove and instrumental reggae-soul - the A-side highlights Chizhik's vibraphone prowess, intertwining it with a dynamic instrumental backbeat. On the flip side, 'Monthly Rainfall' delves into a soulful journey, characterized by cross-sticked snares and offbeat chord plucks which create an atmosphere reminiscent of slow-jammed soul with a contemporary twist.

Review: West Coast rave scene specialists Michael Kandel and Tom Chasteen are Voodoo Transmission and they have one again plunged deep in their vaults to serve up this reissue EP. One side boasts two dynamic dancefloor renditions that blend rhythmic layers with dubbed-out effects - 'Crazy Jane' channels Debbie Harry's 'Heart of Glass' on LSD. The flip side intensifies with downtempo gabba vibes with raging synths and abundant cymbal action. Three versions incorporate samples from Jimmy Stewart's 1946 monologue in It's A Wonderful Life to add another vibe entirely.

Review: Socio-political hardcore punk meets the authenticity of grime by way of the dynamic duo that is Bob Vylan. Following on from 2022's much lauded sophomore effort The Price Of Life, the two Bobs (not their real names nor do they cite their namesake as a primary influence) return with their most direct, succinct and instantaneous collection of bangers to date. Drawing on motifs of hip-hop, nu-metal, post-punk and rap-rock, yet all restrained beneath a banner of venomous hardcore bite and London-centric wit, the material touches on the pressures of fatherhood in an especially unjust system, while tossing around uncomfortable topics of poverty, gentrification, racism, classism, and knife-crime like they're volleyed footballs rather than hot-button issues, challenging listeners to ruminate for a little longer than it usually takes to peruse through another desensitised news article.

Review: Grime-inflected hardcore punk duo Bob Vylan follow up 2022's phenomenal The Price Of Life with yet another batch of scathing, witty, sardonic and severely pissed off bangers that distil elements from hip-hop, post-punk and metal into one cacophonous rallying cry for the working class. Touching on themes of racism, xenophobia, mental health and fatherhood, the hefty subject matter is balanced with energetic, banging compositions and a tongue-firmly-in-cheek delivery that falls somewhere between the smirking shitheaded-ry of IDLES and the intellectual fury of Rage Against The Machine.

Review: Waajeed is a top tier talent - a producer, DJ, expert beat maker and label head at Dirt Tech Rack who moved away from his deep house sounds to cook up this masterful hip hop record back in 2006. It now arrives on vinyl almost 20 years later but time has not diminished its quality. It finds the Detroit native, who thrives on breaking conventional boundaries, telling the story of the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst as an emblematic American tale that he pairs with a raw beat framework that taps into the vibes of artists like J Dilla and Slum Village. It is a serious work from a serious artist.

Notes: For the Fundamental Series, Walrus Audio challenged themselves to design a set of pedals with the tonal integrity that's required to live on a professional's pedalboard, but with simplified controls friendly enough for even the newest effect pedal users. Each Fundamental pedal has three faders for tweaking the sound and a three-way switch for changing pedal modes. The result is a line of pedals that will keep you covered from your first band practice all the way to a sold-out arena. Designed and assembled at Walrus Audio headquarters in OKC, OK.

Because vast ambient sounds shouldn't just be for larger pedals with vast price points, the Fundamental Ambient brings expansive pillowy reverb to the Fundamental Series with three atmospheric modes in a compact size. The Fundamental Ambient offers a great entry point into ambient exploration with the tonal integrity to live on a professional's pedalboard but with simplified controls friendly enough for even the newest effect pedal users. With Ambient's three reverb algorithms, you can experiment with deep, dark pad-like sounds to AM Radio-like lo-fi sounds with the flip of a switch.

The Fundamental Ambient provides three different atmospheric reverb algorithms to explore beautifully vast and lush soundscapes with plenty of decay time for pillowy soft pad-like decay.

Modes:

Deep - A dark ambient reverb with an added low octave, perfect for creating murky, cavernous sustain or adding a touch of moody atmosphere.
Lush - A breathy, expansive reverb featuring ultra-long sustain. Perfect for generating silky pads and immersive soundscapes with every note.
Haze - A textured, lo-fi reverb featuring distortion, sample rate reduction, and a resonant bandpass tone control, great for vintage or experimental tones.
Decay: Control the amount of reverb decay time. Left is the minimum and right is the maximum amount of time.
Tone: Shapes the overall tonality of the reverb. On Deep and Lush this controls the cutoff of a synth-style lowpass filter. On Haze this controls the width of a resonant bandpass filter, filtering both high and low end at the right, and allowing more high and low to pass through at the left.
Mix: Control the mix of the effect and the original clean signal. All the way to the left outputs only the fully clean signal, and all the way to the right outputs only the affected Reverb signal.
Slide Switch - The slide switch allows you to change between three distinct Reverb algorithms.

Trails Mode - The Fundamental Ambient Reverb comes with trails mode active by default, to disengage trails mode hold down the bypass stomp switch when applying power to the pedal. Once the LED flashes it indicates that trails mode is turned off. To re-engage trails mode, repeat the process, and wait for the LED to turn dark, indicating that trails mode is back on. With trails mode active, your reverb decay will fade off naturally after turning the pedal off. With trails mode inactive, the decay abruptly cuts off when you turn off the pedal.

Review: Due to persistent demand and soaring prices for the original pressing, this reissue of 'Why Don't You Go Home' on striking red transparent vinyl could not be more essential. Featuring the dynamic vocals of Diane Ward, the title track delivers a powerhouse performance echoing the King and Federal r&b sound. On the flip side, 'Cocktail De Medianoche' serves up a delightful blend of Boogaloo and Northern Soul, a cherished favourite among aficionados of Latin grooves and Uptempo Soul. With two phenomenal tracks, this reissue promises a perfect double-sider experience! for lovers of soul.

Review: The 1985 boxset is a comprehensive collection of The Waterboys' musical endeavors during that year. It features a diverse range of materials, including unreleased tracks, demos, outtakes, and live recordings. The set also includes a remastered version of their acclaimed album This Is The Sea. The boxset offers a glimpse into the band's creative process, with numerous alternate versions, song sketches, and covers. It also showcases the band's eclectic musical influences, ranging from traditional Irish folk to experimental rock. Despite its length, the boxset is a cohesive and engaging listen. The remastered This Is The Sea is a highlight, with Tom Verlaine's guitar playing adding a new dimension to the classic album. Other standout tracks include the previously unreleased instrumental 'Meridian West' and a cover of Bob Dylan's 'Sweetheart Like You.' Overall, the 1985 boxset is a valuable addition to the collection of any Waterboys fan. It provides a comprehensive overview of the band's creative output during a particularly fertile period. The boxset also offers insights into the band's musical influences and their commitment to their craft.

Review: Wave Arising is former Spiral Tribe man Sebastian Vaughan with vocalist Kynsie and they are a duo that likes to eplxore body, mind and soul "through intuitive listening of senses and inner energies by means of music , workshops and gatherings." This is their debut album and is an otherworldly mix of deep grooves and occult sonic landscapes. It has been made from various improvisations and avoids there use of sampling and as an album, this is one that feels very much alive. There are cinematic dub techno workouts, cascading synths and alien sound designs, menacing low ends and moments of majestic melodic beauty such as on 'Ronde Cinetique'. A brilliant debut.

Review: Chicago outfit Wavelength tap into the funk traditions of bands like Parliament here with a seductive and rather sleazy new EP for Soulistic 360. The whole thing has been arranged by Windy City soul innovator Rahaan and comes on white marbled vinyl 12". Opener 'Can You Handle This Funk' is slow, steamy, sensuous with its languid kicks, live, raw drums and drawled vocals all luring you into the groove. The remix is a subtle teak of the original and on the flip is 'Kemetic Dance Party' which brings more Afro style drums and some bold sax lines to get things going in a more energetic way.

Review: 
Jane Weaver's Love In Constant Spectacle stands as a pivotal moment as it presents the artist's most heartfelt, direct, and personal collection yet. Bursting with vivid imagery, the album captures the very essence of the artist, pushing her distinct sound and poetic vision to unprecedented heights. While evoking the nostalgia of her early work, it boldly explores new realms, weaving intricate tales with vibrant hues, shapes, and languages. Teaming up with acclaimed producer John Parish, renowned for collaborations with PJ Harvey and Aldous Harding, the album strikes a delicate balance between familiarity and innovation. It's a surreal odyssey through the human experience that showcases the artist's ceaseless evolution.

Review: Following on from her latest Fenella project The Metallic Index, genreless folktronica oddity Jane Weaver, returns from the land of muted synth lines and hypnagogic instrumentals to deliver the first full-length baring her name since 2021's exceptional Flock. Her 12th album overall, Love In Constant Spectacle offers up Weaver's most succinct, direct and straightforward compositions in well over a decade, with the the beauty of these cuts lying in their simplicity. Motorik synth patterns, fuzzed out neo-psychedelic guitar lines and lush bubbles of digital fizz bounce around Weaver's melancholic musings on the trials and tribulations, big and small, of everyday life and love.