Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: Second time around for the Bees' terrific debut album, Sunshine Hit Me, which wowed critics and buyers alike on its initial release way back in 2001. The epitome of a surprise hit with admirably DIY roots - the duo behind it, Paul Butler and Aaron Fletcher, famously recorded it in a limited home studio built in the back garden of a residential house on the Isle of Wight - the album has lost none of its allure all these years on. Woozy, summery and lo-fi, with hazy horns and glassy-eyed vocals rising above backing tracks that variously doff a cap to soul, rocksteady, ska, 1960s dream pop, psychedelia and a wealth of subtle global musical influences, Sunshine Hit Me is a warming, smile-inducing treat. This edition also boasts a sextet of bonus cuts, which seem to be a mixture of B-sides and tracks plucked from the pair's archives.

Review: Malian singer, songwriter and instrumentalist Fatoumata Diawara has enjoyed a highly successful career, not just as a musician but also as an actor. Even so, it has taken a string of collaborations - including an appearance on Gorillaz album Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez - to bring her to a wider audience. London Ko, officially her third solo album, successfully highlights the open-minded, internationalist nature of her work, offering superb, immaculately produced songs that blend her Malian vocals, instrumentation and jangly guitar playing with nods to synth-pop, deep house, electronica, r&b and downtempo beats. Naturally, the album boasts several notable collaborations, with Damon Albarn guesting on 'Nesra', New York hip-hop-turned-soul queen Angie Stone lighting up 'Somaw', and Alberto Fomesca enhancing CD highlight 'Massa Den'.

Review: When announcing the release of their new album, G'D's Pee at State End - their first full-length missive since 2017's Luciferian Towers - Godspeed You Black Emperor attracted headlines by calling for the abolishment of prisons, police, imperialism and the rich. Given that statement - one that is totally in-keeping with their anarchic attitude and music - you'd expect the album to be angry and rage-filled, but it feels more poignant and melancholic, thanks in part to the long-serving band's use of strings throughout the four lengthy post-rock soundscapes that make up the album. Peppered with blasts of shortwave radio, and rising and falling melodic themes, it's a far more cinematic concoction than many may have expected - a kind of sighing, tear-soaked soundtrack to the end of days.

Review: Wow. To put it mildly. It takes about three minutes of this stunning contemporary classical masterpiece to realise just how breathtaking this contemporary classical masterpiece actually is. So hard is the task of conveying the depth of its beauty we might as well give up now, although there's no harm in trying. As tragic as it is uplifting, subtle but bold, we veer from the sunrise cinematics of "In The Shattering of Things" to mournful melancholia on "We Try To Make Sense Of It All". Strings soar, keys gently play, harmonies so emotive it's enough to break your heart seem to pour from the album. Completing a trilogy catalysed by the death of a loved one, logically - for those who have ever experienced grief in its purest forms - it's as much about the power of silence and what's not there as what's in the score.

Review: In 2015, Texas & London-based trio Khruangbin's debut album 'The Universe Smiles Upon You' garnered wide critical acclaim and captured attention for its seamless genre-blending and internationally shaped sound - one that evidently has deep roots in Thai-funk cassette culture. Similarly to their debut, sophomore record 'Con Todo El Mundo' is a cocktail of largely instrumental surf-rock, afro-funk, middle-eastern and far-eastern influences, mixed with warmth and soul. As if their pallette wasn't diverse enough, the additions of the pared back boogie on 'Evan Finds The Third Room', the widescreen dream-pop of 'A Hymn' and deeply intricate writing of closer 'Friday Morning', are illustrative of a band who have worked hard to broaden their horizons while keeping their roots in mind and, despite transatlantic bases, clearly remain a stunningly cohesive and well-matched outfit.

Review: While it would be fair to say that My Bloody Valentine's most celebrated works are by and large albums, their EPs - and particularly the four released between 1988 and '91 - are every bit as alluring and ground-breaking. For proof, check this fine collection, which not only gathers them together but also adds rare tracks and deep cuts that have long been fan favourites (see the full, 10-minute version of 'Glider', a cacophonous but strangely addictive psychedelic soundscape, and the baggy-but-ghostly 'Instrumental No. 2'). Over the course of the two discs, it's possible to chart the pioneering band's sonic development over a three-year period in which they went from visionary alt-rockers to a band that not only defied categorization, but also played by different rules to their contemporaries.

Review: Ace Records continue their series of compilations from Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, tapping into unique niches of British music culture under titles like English Weather and The Tears Of Technology to arrive at this latest joint, Fell From The Sun. This is a specific trip into the downtempo, after hours sounds prevalent in 1990-1991, as the acid house wave broke and Balearic selector ethics seeped into studio practice. The selections are absolutely on point, from The Orb's majestic remix of Primal Scream's 'Higher Than The Sun' to Saint Etienne's own moody roller, 'Speedwell'. It's bouncy and boundlessly optimistic as well as being supremely chill, absolutely of its time but still ringing with an eternal charm that feels ready for a revival. Let this compilation be your guide.

Review: Just when you thought all hope was lost along come The Strokes to fulfil the promises they made way, way back with their startling debut 'Is This It'. That was 17 years ago, and while the outfit have made plenty worthy of note in the years between then and now, we'd be surprised if we're the only ones thinking this latest is their best effort since that inaugural outing. Confident but also hungry, rather than bloated and lazy, there's plenty here that you won't be able to get away from in a hurry. 'Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus' might define the package best, delivering some powerful pop energy in an all-round homage to and critique of the 1980s, an era revisited again on 'Bad Decisions', which owes plenty to Billy Idol's Generation X classic, 'Dancing With Myself', with tracks like 'Why Are Sundays So Depressing' diverting to a synthdom route and 'Not The Same Anymore' throwing crooner styles into the mix. Exceptional stuff.