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Review: It All Comes Down to This is the album latest release from Manchester icons A Certain Ratio, and it's a record that is helmed by producer Dan Carey from Speedy Wunderground. Somewhat returning to their origins, the record presents ten concise tracks with a hint of the group's signature electronic flair. Notably, it's the first recording featuring the core trio of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop, and Donald Johnson, without any additional collaborators. From their celebrated 1982 album and right up to their dynamic last EP in 2023, this album shows the band's still evolving and still committed to new musical advancements. A testament to their enduring legacy, It All Comes Down to This solidifies A Certain Ratio's place among Manchester's finest.

Review: While Ben Frost's work has long been marked out by deft-touch dark ambient, experimental instincts and clandestine aural textures, he's always thrown in surprise excursions and drawn on musical inspirations that other like-minded producers would fear to embrace. This latter characteristic comes to the fore on Scope Neglect, his first solo set for six years. Remarkably, it utilises the moodiness, weight and ten-ton guitar licks of metal - played by Car Bombs guitarist Greg Kubacki and bass-slinger Liam Andrews of My Disco fame - as a starting point. Frost naturally puts these through the sonic wringer, combining them with his own skittish, IDM-influenced beats, dark ambient soundscapes and razor-sharp electronics. The results are unusual, impressive and emphatically enjoyable, sitting somewhere between timeless electronica, Nine Inch Nails and experimental metal.

Review: In celebration of its 25th anniversary, Looper's cult classic Up A Tree receives a deluxe reissue that breathes a little new life into the indie favourite. Marking a milestone in the band's career, this edition on limited and translucent green vinyl (including a one-sided organ flexi-disc) offers remastered tracks that showcase Looper's signature blend of electronic experimentation and infectious melodies. Packed with nostalgic charm and still-innovative production, the record which reached #21 on the UK Independent Album chart continues to captivate audiences and comes with remixes, reworks, new sleeve notes and alternative artwork.

Review: Forged in the darkness that exists beyond shadows, Scope Neglect opens up a new chapter in the storied career of cult producer, musician, and artist Ben Frost. A record of almost-unfathomable ferocity, taking inspiration from the blackness of industrial and metal, core elements of these scenes are untethered, taking us to a stylistic unknown - abstract, brooding and unflinching. Seven years after his last LP, at which point he told The Guardian 'I don't know if I have any more records left in me', the enigmatic polymath - a celebrated underground icon whose work spans film, visual art, and opera - proves his own doubts were unfounded. Scope Neglect is a spectacular powerhouse of sound that feels made for spaces bigger than any room, hall, or stadium. Left unrestricted, it could be capable of reaching the ends of the universe itself.

Review: Manchester mavericks A Certain Ratio have been on a rare run of form of late, with 2023's 1982 counting as one of their most vibrant and endlessly entertaining albums for decades. Of course, all their albums are of a consistent quality, but It All Comes Down To This genuinely crackles with energy. From the word go, the veteran band's inherent funkiness is present, but this time it comes cloaked in fuzzy funk-rock guitar riffs, acid-fried effects, and vocals that are amongst the most forthright they've committed to wax (or, in this case, CD). In many ways, it is - as the band and producer/Sopeedy Wunderground boss Dan Carey intended - a 'back to basics' sound that focuses on the key aspects of ACR's sound. When those 'basics' are so strong, it's no surprise that the results are this impressive.