New releases last eight weeks: All genres

Review: In October 1977, Australian rock titans AC/DC were set to enjoy a night off in London following two successful shows at the Hammersmith Odeon, before they were tapped by The BBC at the last minute to replace The Sensational Alex Harvey Band who had cancelled their scheduled appearance on the Sight & Sound In Concert show at the Hippodrome in North London's Golders Green. While the likes of Queen, Jethro Tull, The Kinks and Roxy Music would perform at the 3,000-capacity venue over the years, no band or set has ever rocked the Hippodrome like Bon Scott and the boys did on this fateful evening. Ripping through a truncated, all bangers setlist of seven tracks in just 40 minutes, including 'Problem Child', 'Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be', 'Whole Lotta Rosie' and 'T.N.T.', while Angus Young would run rampant whilst shredding through the balcony section, this performance has gone down as one of most iconic from this early definitive era of the band.

Review: Originally forming in 1982, Agnostic Front were one of the pioneers of New York City hardcore punk and they've left an indelible mark on the scene and movement ever since. Inspired by their dilapidated surroundings of Lower East Side Manhattan, then blighted by poverty, drugs, violence, and high levels of urban decay, the ugliness around them would help to chart a venomous new course for the sonic potential of hardcore as an urgent, abrasive form of catharsis. This incendiary compilation offers up recordings which date back to the very start of their career, including demos of cuts that would eventually appear on their 1983 debut United Blood 7", while also featuring other recordings from the period that were left unissued at the time; some of the material would later be included on 1995's Raw & Unleased CD, though several of these tracks are making their wax debut. If you're eager for more homeschooling, the band were featured as part of Showtime's The Godfathers of Hardcore documentary in 2017, while frontman Roger Miret's autobiography offers insightful and frightening lore to an already clearly tumultuous yet integral time in punk history.

Review: It would be fair to say that great Italo-disco albums are few and far between. Ago's 1982 debut album, "For You", is undoubtedly one of the rare examples of an Italo-disco artist getting it right across an entire LP. As this timely reissue proves, the artist (and his production team) was more heavily influenced by U.S disco, boogie and early electrofunk than many of his synth-pop and new wave-loving peers, giving the set an authenticity and warm instrumental feel often lacking in similar Italian exercises. You may find the accented vocals a touch tongue-in-cheek, but the choruses are great, the instrumentation brilliant and the production spot on.

Review: The new Bauhaus BBC Sessions release hears British goth pioneers Bauhaus at their most vital, documenting the three-year period that they swept the airwaves like vampire bats with a hearse's worth of recordings made for UK radio. Spanning early post-punk urgencies to the relatively more textured darkness of their later work, these sessions were recorded for shows hosted by John Peel and David Jensen, flapping through alternate takes of 'Double Dare', 'In the Flat Field', and 'Third Uncle'. Together with a recent vinyl reissue of a 1983 performance at the Old Vic in London, which snapped a shot of Bauhaus at the peak of their dramaturgic snarks, both releases provide a compelling, rough-edged, bouffant counterpart to their studio albums, before goth went bird's nest: Bauhaus live and direct, with all the mood, menace and momentum fully intact.

Review: As you can probably work out from the title, this one is the tenth album from Brazil's samba king and genre game-changer Jorge Ben (it makes a change from him calling most of his albums 'Ben' to be honest.) It came first back in 1973 and features a collection of his then-most popular songs. All of them come from the first decade of his career but were all rerecorded as medleys. They bring with them sunny melodies and his signature stuffing grooves, acerbic and witty lyrics and easy to get lost in rhythms.

Review: Mr Bongo look back to the damn fine Latin funk and rock-infused soul sounds of Coke's 197 self-titled opus for their next well-chosen reissue project here. It is their only album, sadly, but is a brilliant mix of Miami Latin-funk, psychedelic garage rock and gritty soul sung mainly in English. It blends bright funk drumming, flavourful organs and zesty horn with Paul Garcia (guitar), Ariel Hernandez (bass), Ruben Perez (drums), Jose Rubio (keys) and Peter Fernandez (vocals) all produced by Mato. The record was popular in Miami but faded due to limited promotion and a Coca-Cola trademark dispute but was later rediscovered by collectors, with standout tracks like 'Na Na,' 'Got to Touch Your Face' and 'Te Amo Mas' all became staples of Latin sets.

Review: Miles Davis' quintet was formed in 1955 and soon after began impressing the jazz world with the sort of invention that eventually saw them hailed as one of the greatest in history. Each member - including Miles on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor sax, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums - was a creative force in their own right. Cookin' proved that and came on Prestige as the first in a series of four albums, later followed by Steamin', Workin' and Relaxin'. These albums were recorded during two highly productive sessions in May and October of 1956 and the quintet's groundbreaking work explored a dynamic blend of improvisation, technical skill and innovative jazz exploration.

Review: This 1992 live album captures the iconic UK rockers as they toured their final album On Every Street, wielding a setlist that balances hits and deep cuts. Side-A kicks off with the iconic early breakthrough hit 'Sultans of Swing', instantly impressing listeners in Mark Knopfler's signature fingerpicking guitar work. The energy continues with the ever-joyful 'Walk of Life', its infectious rhythm bringing an undeniable feel-good vibe. 'Heavy Fuel' rounds out the first side with its gritty, tongue-in-cheek take on rock star excess. Side-B opens with the smooth jazz-inflected 'Your Latest Trick', complete with haunting saxophone melodies that add emotional depth to the performance. The epic 'Telegraph Road' follows, serving as a masterclass in dynamic storytelling through music, with Knopfler's guitar work shining throughout its extended runtime. The album closes with 'Solid Rock', a fittingly energetic finale that evidently leaves the 65,000-strong audience at the Bedfordshire stately home wanting more. As the years go by, Dire Straits set themselves aside as one of the most talented, versatile and different bands in rock music.

Review: Another BBC Sessions edition compiles nearly two decades of live-in-studio performances from Echo & The Bunnymen, tracing the Liverpool legends' rise from wiry post-punk outsiders to accomplished songwriters. John Peel and Janice Long oversaw the sessions with eagle's eyes, as production polish from classics such as 'The Killing Moon', 'Rescue' and 'Lips Like Sugar' reveal the band's skeletal brilliance and moody immediacy. Something of a guide to the band's career arc as a whole, we hear the way paved for a more expansive, melancholic texture in the later years, despite an ever morphotic, modulable lineup. The Cult Legends reissue set offers longtime fans and newer listeners a chance to hear the Bunnymen with studio intimacy and live spontaneity; less theatrical than their stage shows, but just as haunting.

Review: Canadian-born, German-based producer Ash Luk is best known for his work in Minimal Violence, a band that used electronics to create raucous, vivid punk-rock style live experiences, as well as his role as one half of 'doom electronic' duo S.A.T.I.N. alongside Ireen Amnes. Under the Infinity Division moniker he's created more impressively dystopian sonic adventures that channel a suitably wide array of extreme music styles, from isolationist ambience at the start of 'No Reason' - which then twists into industrial junglist madness - to breakbeaty Sisters of Mercy-style coldwave on 'Weather Prophets'. Fans of Alec Empire's notorious Digital Hardcore Recordings label and its output should find this entertainingly terrifying and twisted up musical vision very much up their street.

Review: Alex "Landy" Hill was the producer for and founding member of the 80s r&b and disco group Timex Social Club. This gem is the result of a deep dive into his archives and is an unreleased 1990s Bay Area demo project. The collection features nine original tracks created in collaboration with vocalist Jordana and songwriter John Pruitt all written and recorded in Hill's modest apartment studio. As you would expect of him, the tunes capture the raw, soulful energy of the era's underground r&b and funk scene with a nice lo-fi edge and plenty of analogue sounds from the time. Long tucked away on ageing cassette tapes, the recordings have now been carefully restored by PPU to offer a great look at Hill's post-Timex era.

Review: German-Spanish duo Lisa Michele Lietz and Jordi Arnau Rubio unite as Luna Soul, making a swashbuckling Ruy Lopez with their debut album First Move. Lietz, a musicologist with roots in Schwerin and a musical education under Ernst Ulrich Deuker of Ideal, brings a thoughtful lyrical sensibility, while Rubio - originally a dancer from Barcelona - compositionally channels a lifetime love of blues, jazz, soul and funk. Already having toured widely across Germany, Spain and France since 2019, the duo rewires that same live energy into the recorded unit, producing a modern Med soul nostalgia record whose temporality we'd find difficult to place on first listen. Such moments are anchored by cuts like '1979', 'Hold On', and 'City Lights', where reflections on grief, resilience and fleeting connection find vivid expression.

Review: After a string of viral hits as well as a standout live performance documented in front of the iconic Panorama Hotel, which served as the visual centrepiece of their breakthrough album Etazhi, Belarusian darkwave band and viral sensation Molchat Doma now present the vinyl edition of said live performance in vinyl form. Known for their distinct Soviet-era, gothic post-punk, this new live record vivifies three beloved tracks from Etazhi and their subsequent record Belaya Polosa: 'Toska', 'Sudno' and 'Cherne Cvety'. Bleak, washed out and yet never sacrificial of a moment's performative energy, Egor and company weave compelling synth and guitar arrangements about blurry mixes, evoking the desolation of the backgrounded Slovakian landscape captured in the live video. The limited one-time pressing 12" includes the three live tracks on side A and the etching of the iconic hotel on side B.

Review: At the close of 1991, Seatlle grunge gods Nirvana were well on their way to becoming the biggest rock band in the world, but the massive show in Del Mar, California, captured here actually featured them appearing in support of Red Hot Chili Peppers, although Pearl Jam had the prvilege of opening up the show. They'd spent much of the year touring, famously making the first of their two Reading Fesival appearances half way up the bill back in August 1991, and are evidently on peak form here as they wield a setlist dominated by Nevermind album highlights including 'Come As You Are' and 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. Ending on a raging rendition of 'Territorial Pissings', the trio prove not only why they managed to definite the zeitgeist of the age, but also the fact that however finely tuned and honed they were, the all-important feel of impending anarchy was never far from the surface.

Review: Here we have a welcome reissue of the Lee Perry-produced Conscious Man from The Jolly Brothers. Recorded in the late 70s but only released as an album in 1992, it shares its name with the standout title track, which became a massive hit when released as a single in 1977. The music still hits with that unmistakable Black Ark magic. Perry's production is loose, heady and live i tape hiss, endless reverb trails and all. The Jolly Brothers' harmonies are rough-edged but full of heart, delivering roots messages with an unmistakable mellow. 'Conscious Man' rightfully pulls focus, with its soulful vocals, phasing guitars and gorgeously lo-fi feel. It's dubby even in its vocal form. But there's plenty more to enjoy here, with a dusty optimism running through the whole record. As spiritually inclined as it is streetwise, it presents soul and roots in equal measure.

Review: Grand Central Records founder and Manchester mainstay Mark Rae is back with New Town Ghosts, a powerful novel four years in the making that is set during the sweltering summer of 1976. This emotionally rich coming-of-age story is told through the eyes of ten-year-old boys navigating friendship, responsibility, and growing up and is paired with a nostalgic soundtrack of ten original songs performed in four-part harmony with strings, horns, choir and live instrumentation. The music evokes the warmth of a radio playing in a sun-drenched garden with themes of nature, wheels (ie via skateboards, wheelchairs and prams) and youthful rebellion echo throughout.

Review: Rico Rodriguez, all-round brilliant Jamaican horn and and trombonist, played a pivotal role in shaping the sound of ska, rocksteady and reggae. Born in Kingston in 1934, he began his career in the 1950s then joined the Skatalites in the early 1960s, and whether one chalks this lucky break up to birthrights, shrewd decisions or chance sliding door moments is up to the historian. But his talent cannot be denied: over the years, Rico worked with Toots And The Maytals, Bob Marley, and The Specials. His masterful trombone solos lent parping bombast to a scene which abhorred tinniness, and the Man From Wareika album exemplified this. This dub edition is a crucial pre-release dub edition from the 1976 classic, in which we hear a full instrumental brass-and-bass dive-bombing across nine formerly unreleased Island Records trinkets.

Review: In 1962, a chance convergence of historical contingencies in Dartford, Kent, would set the stage for the formation of one of the world's best-known rock and roll bands, The Rolling Stones. After Mick Jagger and Keith Richards took inspiration from rock icons Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, not to mention the comparatively sentimental Chicago blueses of Brian Jones and Ian Stewart, the group's had laid the mac for their own sound. The Rolling Stones' love for early blues legends would define their success; this compilation The celebrates those roots, from Muddy Waters' 'Just Want to Make Love to You' through to Chuck Berry's 'Memphis, Tennessee' and Robert Johnson's 'Love In Vain'. Special bonus tracks include the jazz-infused 'Key To The Highway' by Jazz Gillum, further proving Jagger and company's far-reaching inspirations.

Review: Scruscru and Los Protos hook up on the former's ever-reliable label for some more funk-fuelled and sample-heavy madness. This eight-tracker draws on the best of Library, jazz, hip hop and soul and collides elements of all of those together with some raw, and what sounds like, MPC beats, all tapped out with a lovably loose vibe. Some like 'Local Sugar Diggers' look up towards a sunny, cloudless sky, others like 'Dreams Of Sonora' are swaggering broken beat workouts with sensuous sax lines setting a steamy tone. 'Por Do Sol Em Shelekhmet' is another highlight with its aloof, angelic vocal tones.

Review: In the 1970s, UK reggae band The Cimarons were an in-demand backing act who worked with then-iconic Jamaican artists like the Wailers and Jimmy Cliff. During a 1975 tour of Japan with the Pioneers, they found time to hook up with guitarist and vocalist Toshikatsu Uchiumi of the rock band The Carol. This is the result - a fusion of different reggae perspectives that also folds in mid-70s Japanese rock and blues, with Uchiumi singing in Japanese and contributing lead guitar. Produced by Sidney Crooks, this one-off release showed how adaptable and brilliant the The Cimarons' were and has a broad appeal to fans of both reggae and rock.

Review: Originally released in 1981 on the Clocktower label, this killer compilation does a fine job of harnessing the raw magic of Lee "Scratch" Perry's legendary Black Ark era. Although the sounds are mostly drawn from mid-70s sessions, it also features two standout early cuts from the late 60s, namely Perry's gritty versions of 'Tighten Up' and 'Serious Joke'. Elsewhere, highlights include Johnny Lover's deep DJ take over Devon Irons' 'When Jah Come' and the rootsy energy of Ricky and Bunny's 'Bush Weed Corn Trash.' This reissue is a crucial document of Perry's genre-defining production, masterful take on vintage dub, toasting and spiritual reggae heat.