New releases last four weeks: All genres

Review: Germany's Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band's profile skyrocketed in 2024 when their hypnotic steel pan cover of 50 Cent's 'Pimp' became a surprise emotional core in the Oscar-winner Anatomy Of A Fall. So pivotal was the track that steel pans would here make their first ever Academy Awards orchestra debut. But for longtime heads, 'Pimp' first turned heads in 2008, where it was pressed on Bjorn Wagner's Mocambo label and was often mistaken afterwards for a 50s sample source. The 'Big Crown Vaults' series now swoops in to save and preserve the group's best contributions to the music world, in addition to and in excess of the 'Pimp' version. A true archive-delving if we've ever heard one, the tracks so preserved include Bob James' breakbeat classic 'Nautilus' and a thunderous take on Khruangbin's 'Maria Tambien'. Then there's the B's funked-up flips of the Jackson 5 and Billy Jones, plus one original, 'Kaiso Noir'.

Notes: Groovy Stylus Cleaning Fluid 2 fl. oz.

Use with Stylus Cleaning Kit ASCK.

Review: Constellation Tatsu welcomes US artist Brendan Principato aka Saapato for what is a hugely conceptual new album based around decomposition. It was sparked when Saapato saw a dead fox lying by the side of the road on his way home from a job in a local warehouse. He used that as a jumping-off point to interrogate "transformation, interconnectedness, and renewal" and the five stages of decomposition, namely fresh, bloat, active decay, advanced decay and dry/remains. Several collaborators help him on his way as he sketches out various instrumental textures which variously have occasional shards of light, lingering melancholy and a subtle sense of hope.

Review: Portland's Paul Dickow, the man behind the Strategy alias, is back with a new album that has been created with a 1989 model sampling keyboard. Exploring its limitations, he plays the sampler by hand and abandons sequencers for a more organic approach which apes a guitarist's connection to their instrument. The record delves into glacial, pensive soundscapes where experimental, ambient and dance music elements all come together with deliberate intention. Though Dickow crafts a sound rooted in ambient techno futurism it is one open to serendipitous, experimental outcomes which makes it a gently unpredictable listen and otherworldly charmer.

Notes: Synth Cables' braided quality 6.5mm to 3.5mm adapter cables.

Features

Braided stiffer cables, perfect for connecting synthesiser systems, mixers and EuroRack modules together
Quality Nickel Plated 6.5mm Male to 3.5mm Male Mono TS connection
Cables built to high specification 28awg *1C + spiral shielded wire
Planet friendly PVC, recyclable cables

Notes: Synth Cables' braided quality 6.5mm to 3.5mm adapter cables.

Features

Braided stiffer cables, perfect for connecting synthesiser systems, mixers and EuroRack modules together
Quality Nickel Plated 6.5mm Male to 3.5mm Male Mono TS connection
Cables built to high specification 28awg *1C + spiral shielded wire
Planet friendly PVC, recyclable cables

Notes: Synth Cables' braided quality 6.5mm to 3.5mm adapter cables.

Features

Braided stiffer cables, perfect for connecting synthesiser systems, mixers and EuroRack modules together
Quality Nickel Plated 6.5mm Male to 3.5mm Male Mono TS connection
Cables built to high specification 28awg *1C + spiral shielded wire
Planet friendly PVC, recyclable cables

Notes: Synth Cables' braided quality 6.5mm to 3.5mm adapter cables.

Features

Braided stiffer cables, perfect for connecting synthesiser systems, mixers and EuroRack modules together
Quality Nickel Plated 6.5mm Male to 3.5mm Male Mono TS connection
Cables built to high specification 28awg *1C + spiral shielded wire
Planet friendly PVC, recyclable cables

Notes: Synth Cables' braided quality 6.5mm to 3.5mm adapter cables.

Features

Braided stiffer cables, perfect for connecting synthesiser systems, mixers and EuroRack modules together
Quality Nickel Plated 6.5mm Male to 3.5mm Male Mono TS connection
Cables built to high specification 28awg *1C + spiral shielded wire
Planet friendly PVC, recyclable cables

Notes: Inside the brand new issue:

Cosey Fanni Tutti: The industrial music icon has been to Hull and back with her new album 2t2. By Claire Biddles

Quinton Barnes: The Montreal rapper and producer flips the script in a new project with free musicians. By Emily Pothast

David Van Tieghem: The New York percussionist who has played with everyone on the Downtown scene receives a dedicated collection of his own work. By Robert Barry

Happy Family: Over four decades the Japanese group have moved from rigorous prog to euphoric harmony. By Daniel Spicer

Amina Claudine Myers: Honing her skills on the old school nightclub circuit, the keyboardist is now forging ambitious suites for choir and pipe organ. By Stewart Smith

Quade: Landmark album. By Lucy Thraves

Milk Eyed Sigh: Let it bleed. By Misha Farrant

Liu Zhenyang: Language games. By Josh Feola

Invisible Jukebox: billy woods: Will The Wire's mystery record collection be recognised by Backwoodz Studioz's main man? Tested by Mosi Reeves

Global Ear: Bratislava's LGBTQI+ scene creates safe spaces amid repressive policing. By Chiara Rendekova

Unlimited Editions: LA's Colorfield label creates spontaneous studio magic. By Daniel Spicer

The Inner Sleeve: Circuit Des Yeux on Weyes Blood's Titanic Rising

Against The Grain: Jo Hutton celebrates radiophonic art as a unique field of creative endeavour

Epiphanies: Daniel O'Sullivan steps outside of himself via the ambiguous, understated moods of library music

Soundcheck: Al Karpenter, Anika, Black Arches with Sexton Ming, Blind IO, Ivor Callin, Rex Casswell, Nels Cline, Coffin Prick, Cosmic Ear, Angel Bat Dawid, Angel Bat Dawid & Naima Nefertari, Demonologists, Deradoorian, Peter Evans & Petter Eldh, Adam Fairhall & Johnny Hunter, Fatboi Sharif & Driveby, Flying Lotus, Mary Halvorson, Jenny Hval, IOM, Evan Johnson, Eleonora Kampe, Kelan, Phil Langero, Ingrid Laubrock, Annea Lockwood, David Longstreth/Dirty Projectors/s t a r g a z e, Lullahush, Sue Lynch & Regan Bowering, Mamuthones, Gabriele Mitelli: Three Tsuru Origami featuring Camila Nebbia, Mopcut, Moundabout, Bill Nace & Evan Parker, Maggie Nicols & Dan Johnson, Paal Nilssen-Love Circus with The Ex Guitars, Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet, Kory Reeder, Marc Ribot, Crystabel Efemena Riley, Scanner & Nurse With Wound, Ferdinand Schwarz, Nadah El Shazly, Sleep Unhealed, Alan Sparhawk, Spellling, Stereolab, Surgeon, Territorial Gobbing, Luca Tilli/Sebi Tramontana/Steve Beresford, Julia Olehla & Dalava, Kamasi Washington, Water Damage, billy woods, Youth Code, Various Marc Urselli's Best Of Ramones Redux, Various Marc Urselli's Ramones Redux, Various Only sounds that tremble through us, Various Planet Mu 30

The Columns: Avant Rock by Tony Rettman; Dub & Reggae by Steve Barker; Electronics by Emily Bick; Hiphop & R&B by Richard Stacey; Jazz & Improv by Bill Meyer; Modern Composition by Julian Cowley; Noise, Industrial & Beyond by Raymond Cummings; Size Matters by Byron Coley

The Boomerang: Ash Ra Tempel, Henry Badowski, Cindytalk, Julee Cruise, Purple Trap, Various Born In The City of Tanta: Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore & Bedouin Shaabi From Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75, Various Eli Roth's Red Light Disco: Dancefloor Seductions From Italian Sexploitation Cinema, Various Roots Rocking Zimbabwe, Various Secret Superstar Sounds: Scraping Bubblegum Off My Soul 1977-80

Print Run: America's Greatest Noise by Frans de Waard; Music In Orbit: Satellite Radio In The Streaming Space Age by Brian Fauteux; The Capitalist Imaginaries Of Popular Music by Charles Fairchild; Feel Like Going Home: Portraits In Blues & Rock 'N' Roll by Peter Guralnick; Krautrock Eruption: An Alternative History Of German Underground In The 60s And 70s by Wolfgang Seidel; Dub: The Sound Of Surprise by Helmut Phillipps (translated by Ursula Munch); Studio Electrophonique: The Sheffield Space Age From The Human League To Pulp by Jamie Taylor; To Hell With Poverty! A Class Act: Inside The Gang Of Four by Jon King

On Screen: Harmony Korine Baby Invasion; isold Uggadottir Cornucopia

On Location: Tribute To Maryanne Amacher, Paris, France; Hamid Drake & Michael Zerang Winter Solstice Concerts, Chicago, US; Rewire, The Hague, Netherlands; Only Connect, Stavanger, Norway; TLF Trio + CTM/Frederik Worm, Los Angeles, US; Wendy Eisenberg & Ryan Sawyer, London, UK; Counterflows, Glasgow, UK; From The Lips To The Moon, London, UK; MaerzMusik 2025, Berlin, Germany; Maher Shalal Hash Baz, London, UK; Big Ears, Knoxville, US

On site: Kathe Kruse, It's All Good Now, Berlin, Germany