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Review: This 40th anniversary reissue of The Pop Group's seminal Y Live album is a timely reminder of what a game changer it was. Hugely inventive and original upon initial release in 1979, it is still an alarming and arresting record of experimental noise. Manic vocal samples, caustic guitars, detuned synths and dishevelled drums make it a tribal and dystopian fusion of unease and terror. It includes tracks recorded in New York, Manchester and Brussels and all re-cut to half speed vinyl, with a special 12" including "She Is Beyond Good & Evil" and "3'38" as well as a special poster.

Review: The music Venezuelan artist Alejandro Ghersi makes as Arca first came to the fore via UNO, the New York label who issued a trio of compelling releases in 2012. Arca's brand of glossy, high grade beat experimentation has seen him go on to work with Kanye West and FKA Twigs as well as release on venerated US indie Hippos In Tanks. An album deal with Mute may seem unexpected yet the UK label have a long and proud tradition of challenging conventions. Entitled Xen, Mute have described the 15 track set as full of "mercurial forms, fluxing unpredictably from smooth to spiked to sweet" and you wont get much of an idea from the soundclips. If you were charmed by the FKA Twigs set this is an album that will get your serotonins bubbling.

Review: "I resynthesized some vocals that almost sounded human, but not quite. That's why I decided to name the track after a monkey." Depeche Mode mainstay, and one of the UK's finest modern musicians and songwriters, on his website Martin Gore cuts to the quick in explaining his latest solo release, which takes its name directly from Jared Diamond's book about the similarities between animal and human behaviour, The Third Chimpanzee.

It's certainly a pretty wild experience. Like the preceding lone wolf album, MG, here MG the guy gives us five tracks of synth goodness made on modular consoles. Visiting post-ambient, IDM and industrial noise, or rather luring those elements out of their natural comfort zones and into an atmosphere that almost feels as though you're lost in nature, it's a real opportunity for escapism at a time when many of us have never needed one more.

Review: Stephan Betke has always pushed musical and conceptual boundaries with his work as Pole, perfecting a trademark sonic style that's both unmistakably his and fiendishly tricky to pin down. 'Tempus', his latest full-length excursion, is reportedly his attempt to "consider the connection between the past, present and future" and sees him pepper hazy, minimalistic electronic dub rhythms with a combination of classically fluid jazz instrumentation, enveloping ambient chords, wayward synthesiser sounds and heavily manipulated and processed instrumentation. The result is an album that sounds more human and emotionally rich than some of his more out-there excursions, whilst retaining the heady, dub-wise pulse that has always been one of his aural calling cards.

Review: Mute Records expand their indie major empire with the announcement of yet another album by Stefan Betke aka. Pole, 'Tempus'. The title of the album refers to the Latin word for time, which was later co-opted into the German language to refer to grammatical tense - thus, Pole's seven-suite album is literally a meditation on linguistic time. In comparison to his earlier albums, Pole's sound is unusually urgent on 'Tempus' - implicitly urging us to reconsider our warped notion of time through effects like dub delay - and incorporates more motifs from jazz than ever before.

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: 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: RECOMMENDED
When electronic hero Richard H. Kirk returned in 2020 under the Cabaret Voltaire moniker - changing band to solo project for the first record in 26 years, Shadow of Fear - it couldn't have been more apt. Known for exploring darker and more visceral ends of synthdom, the musical boundary-pusher delivered a record that was alarming, challenging and completely unique, confirming that old habits really do die hard.

12 months or so later and the world is still trapped in the chaotic mess it was when that LP dropped, but Kirk has clearly opted to explore new ideas and break yet more new ground. Dekadrone lives up to its name, offering four lengthy movements that showcase the effectiveness of refrains and the musicality that can be created, or found, in extended notes and ongoing atmospheres. Another work of staggering genius.

Review: Richard H Kirk was rightly praised for 2020's Shadow of Fear, his first album since turning Cabaret Voltaire into a solo project back in 2014, and his recently follow-up EP, Shadow of Funk. Both distilled the essence of the Cabs' club-friendly industrial funk sound, re-formatting it for the 21st century. Dekadrone, though, is a different proposition altogether. Focused not on clubs but on immersive home listening, the four-phase, single track set removes Kirk's clanking, often paranoid beats in favour of dystopian aural textures (think dark, droning tones, abstract electronics, apocalyptic ambience and dirt-encrusted samples). Those who prefer the Cabs' more experimental, ambient-leaning works will love it.

Review: A Certain Ratio have returned with their most tight and funky album, possibly ever, recently, and it is steeped in 40 years of ACR DNA. Now you can grab two of the standout singles on this fine, limited edition white 7" thanks to Daniel Miller's essential Mute. Opener 'Berlin' is the second single from that album, ACR Loco, and has breezy vocals and Trillin riffs over tight drum work. 'Dirty Boy' is riddled with squelchy synth funk, with popping drums and a great vocal performance that will get any party vibing.