XL 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Burial drops his latest two-tracker on XL, two chaotic breakbeat balancing acts firmly rooted in rushy UK 'ardkore and day-glo 80s freestyle respectively. The A is a nail-biting, cavernous tweak out, which Burial pipes out into the darkest, most paranoid corners of the rave, exhuming frazzled dancers and inducing a queasy euphoria that any seasoned hedonists will recognise all too well. 'Boy Sent From Above', on the other hand seems to chart the passage of an obsessive, icy winter graff mission, with tinny drum machines, saccharine squarewave arpeggio hooks and spraycan samples harking back to the heyday of B-Boy electro, Miami freestyle and NYC breaking with devastating efficacy, albeit seen through Burial's unmistakeable misty-eyed LDN gauze; chrome and black over day-glo. Dreamfear marks yet another welcome switch up in Burial's artistic direction, and makes for one of the most evocative, moving and transporting entries in his much pored-over catalogue.

Review: To mark the 15th birthday of Friendly Fires' breakthrough song, 'Paris' - a nu-rave-era chunk of sing-along indie dance hedonism - XL has decided to offer up a gold vinyl 12" reissue featuring the two most celebrated remixes of the track. Belgian nu-Balearic and nu-disco outfit Aeroplane's much-loved revision - a big club anthem at the time - sits on side A, offering a near perfect blend of loved-up vocals, jaunty synth stabs, kaleidoscopic chords, disco inspired synth-strings and rolling beats. It remains one of the best nu-disco/synth-pop crossover tracks of the last two decades. Over on the flip, there's a chance to admire Kompakt regular Justus Kohncke's tactile, dreamy and similarly colourful revision - a ten-minute blend of deep synth-pop and deep house that's just as good as Aeroplane's better-known mix.

Review: Peggy Gou has long since broken out of niche dance music circles out on to the wider world thanks to her pro and well crafted DJ sets and earned ties with plenty of high-end fashion brands. Including this, she does have some fine music making credentials as her hit single '(It Goes Like) Nanana' shows - its an inescapably catchy house cut with an iconic hook that is easy to sing along to. It now arrives, having first come via her own label, on XL which will only make it reach even higher levels of ubiquity. All hail the Gou!

Review: 'Love Story' is one of the most classic tunes in all of house music. It was written by Layo & Buschwaka who heard the original 'Finally' by Kings of Tomorrow and wanted to tweak it to their own ends so mashed it up with further samples from Dave, Nina Simone and Tati Quebra-Barraco. It's a rousing, heartwarming dancefloor trip of the highest order and who better to remix it than the always on fire Paul Woolford. His extended 2023 edit brings all the best bits to the fore and ensures we will be hearing this one all summer long. No complaints here.

Review: Baltimore's gothic synthpop golden child Nourished By Time (Marcus Brown) has made a wonderful name for himself so far, flaunting a blithe, nigh ghostly vocal talent, usually paired with a lo-fi alt-pop aesthetic. The 'Catching Chickens' EP, his debut record for XL Recordings, continues this trend with a brand new five-track EP, following up 2023's equally great LP Erotic Probiotic 2. Written between 2022 - 2023 in his home studio in Baltimore and along his world travels this past year, Catching Chickens is derived from the film Rocky, and the iconic scene in which Rocky's trainer makes him chase and catch a flock of chickens as a test of agility. Channelling Brown's per usual contemplation of late stage capitalism and post-pandemic loneliness, every song here is indicative of a well-earned artistic progression.