Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Let's face facts, the trilogy of releases that ACR:EPR completes have helped win over a new generation of fans for the band while reassuring established followers that A Certain Ratio can still do the business. They've been heartfelt and honest, truly innovative and - when all is said and done, at some point in the near future - destined to be considered collector's items.

The final chapter is certainly winding things up triumphantly. '$ouls In The City' seems to go straight for the mind's eye, an enrapturing track that chugs its way through layers of funk groove, with acid details just about audible on top. 'Night People' is a far more sticky, treacly affair, while 'Big Boy Pants' ushers in a kind of nocturnal seduction, brass and rolling breakbeats setting the scene perfectly for the ska-infused melodies of 'Downtime Vibes' that follow.

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.

Review: Most of the time you expect Terence Fixmer to deliver a steely strain of techno which reliably moves monolithic crowds in any temple you care to mention, but on this album for Novamute he's purposefully opened his palette to the EBM and industrial sounds which sparked his imagination as a teenager. It's instantly apparent on the abrasive jackhammer sonics of opening track 'Test of the Times', while 'In Synthesis' comes on with the sort of tough but sexy arpeggios you'd readily associate with Nitzer Ebb or Front 242. There's still a dancefloor functionality in these tracks, but pure techno is not the order of the day, and the results are thrilling from start to finish.

Review: Known for their cover versions - having re-read Sly Stone, Plastic Bertrand, Les Chats Sauvages, and many more over the years - Telex managed to tread a fine line between comedy and innovation. Focusing heavily on a lo-fi synthesised sound, the Belgian alt-poppers would use plenty of humour in their work, but never allowed this to outshine or overshadow the musicality of it all. Released in 1980, Neurovision is a case in point. According to the band, this was their tongue-in-cheek entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, for which they were chosen as representatives for their home country in the same year. Deliberately banal lyrics, mostly referring to the competition itself, married to the glittering wonder of a proto-electronic soundtrack, mark it as a work of bold daring and a little genius. Sadly, it failed to secure them last place in the tournament, as they hoped, forcing them to settle for 17 out of 19.