Reggae charts

Review: It's always a good day when Al Kent is back with new music. This one on Gamm, Welcome To The Dub, finds him dubbing out some lush disco sounds. The title cut is a loopy and jazz-funk-infused number with lovely hi-hats and noodling chords all radiating joy and uplifting energy. 'Dubanova' then takes a more low-slung route with a sleazy guitar riff and nice live drums embellished with smartly overdubbed vocals coated in echo. 'Happiness & Peace' is a quieter affair with echoing hits and a meandering lead that encourages your mind to do the same.

Review: With a catalogue that contains a mixture of mind-altering chuggers, deep house, disco and Balearic beats, second-guessing what Craig Bratley will release next has always been a tricky proposition. Even so, joining forces with Brooklyn maverick - and honey-voiced singer - Amy Douglas for a spot of bleeping revivalist synth soul was one of them. Douglas is at her emotive best on the B-side original mix, singing sweetly about complicated relationships over a thrillingly lo-fi low-tempo groove rich in squelchy bass and 8-bit lead lines. The A-side 'Ashigaru Dub' is arguably even better, brilliantly re-framing the track as a heady, intoxicating and sub-heavy dub workout of the sort that Mad Professor probably knocks out in his sleep. In a word: inspired!

Review: Manchester's Hidden Spheres becomes the latest artist to showcase his cosmic, percussion-heavy reworks and re-edits on Talking Drums' offshoot Drum Chums. As you'd expect, the sometime Lobster Theremin, Moods & Grooves and Rhythm Section International producer is in fine form from the off, delivering ear-catching, mildly Balearic reworks of genuine obscurities. The highlight for us is 'Stolen', a version of an early South African kwaito number that's big on proto-house bass, densely layered percussion, lo-fi synth melodies and fine lead vocals. Over on the reverse, 'You Better Dance' is a deliciously dreamy, reggae-influenced, mid-tempo Afro-Balearic treat, while 'Together' sounds like a re-wire of an eccentric bit of mid-to-late '80s bubblegum brilliance.

Review: Having devoted volumes three and four of the ongoing 'Heavenly Remixes' series to reworks by the late, great Andrew Weatherall, this double-disc follow-up offers a more eclectic selection of reworks drawn four almost four decades of Heavenly Recordings releases. As with its predecessors, it's a fantastic collection packed to the rafters with highlights, from the shuffling synth pop-goes-dubby nu-disco flex of Ewan Pearson's dub of Out Cold's 'All I Want' and the squelchy, acid-fired indie-dance excitement of Confidence Man's rework of The Parrots' 'Let's Go To Bed', to the psychedelic big beat brilliance of the Chemical Brothers 1996 take on St Etienne's 'Like a Motorway', the 80s new wave-goes-industrial funk excellence of Trevor Jackson remixing Raf Rundell, and the creepy late night techno hypnotism of Daniel Avery's inspired revision of David Holmes.