Back catalogue: Coldwave/Synth

Review: You had us at Sakamoto. Or rather you had us at "excerpts from Ryuichi Sakamoto's time working under Nippon Colombia's label, Better Days. First released in 1992, this 12-track compilation runs from tracks that appeared on the Japanese synth legend's debut album, Thousand Knives, first released in 1978, through to songs written with the iconic session group KYLYN, featuring celebrated guitar great Kazumi Watanabe. Ever the auteur, even if you didn't know this was Sakamoto in proper landmark mode, there's no chance the sounds here could really be confused for anyone or anything else. It's mature and intelligent, yet strangely - and typically - fun, childlike and a little cartoonish, sharing as much in common with experimental electronica that was emerging during the 1970s and 1980s as video game scores from the 1990s.

Review: Are there more consonants in this EP title than any other you will see this year? Probably. Does that make it even more essential? Definitely, because musically it is packed with goodness as Schlammpeitziger explores a world of loose but engaging rhythms. These subversive sounds play with exotic vocals, dubby hi-hats, new-age flutes, motorik grooves and spoken word samples. It's experimental but never forgets the magic of melody and rhythm to hypnotise, all with a twist of pop fun.

Review: Factory Records has retained a cult following well into the 21st Century. The imprint lent at least part of its name to a L250million arts centre in its Manchester hometown, opened in 2023, and those famous yellow and black stripes from the Hacienda appear everywhere from property developers to cookie cutter bars in the city. Section 25 may not be the first band that springs to mind when thinking about that legacy, but in many ways represent just how deep the talent ran through the roster. Outliving Factory itself, the Preston, Lancashire group reformed after a 13-year-hiatus in 2001, partly driven by just how much interest there was in their back catalogue. In 2007, they releases Part-Primitiv, a spellbinding collection of weird electronica, spooky synthdom, Roland pop, and forward-punching post-punk. A vital reminder of the outfit's quality, the impact remains on this reissue.

Review: There's a real sense of urgency underpinning Animal Mentality. You can hear it the moment opener 'Sticky Fingers' kicks in, the inimitable 1980s dream team of dark synth refrain and propellant kick-snare percussion invoking the feeling of forward momentum, driving through the rain at night into a strange, unknown underworld. To say it sets pace for this album as a whole would be an understatement. As Selofan, Joanna Pavlidou and Dimitris Pavlidis have built an impressive fan base, their dark-coldwave, retro-hued sounds are at once niche but universally familiar, epic yet intimate, brooding and explosive. Now on album number seven, we could drop references like Lebanon Hanover, Nico and Xmal Deutschland, but that seems a little lazy considering the bold vision at work here. Simply put, then: buy this record.

Review: Luis Vasquez is the artist behind The Soft Moon and on his latest album we find him in his most confessional and self-reflective mood to date. An array of his inner most feelings are laid bare here for all to wallow in on this cathartic and soothing fifth full-length album. It brings all new emotion to post-punk industrial with two standout collaborations with fish narc and Alli Logout of Special Interest adding further greatness to this instant classic. It is now 12 years since Luis debuted his first album, but this might be his best work yet.

Review: Dean Honer and Kevin Pearce - a pair of musicians and critics enmeshed in the British music landscape since day dot - grew so sick of the manufactured children's songs they'd heard on vinyl and CD over the years that they decided to create their own version, albeit with a twist. 'The Sound Of Science' is a tongue-in-cheek rendition of this unique utility music format, designed to bypass its tendency to quickly "become a form of torture" for the adults in each other's families. Instead, this album is fun for both the kids and the parents, with science and astronomy forming the bulk of its themes.

Review: Originally released as a bonus CD accompanying The Space Lady's Greatest Hits, The Space Lady's Other Hits arrives as a special release for Record Store Day and makes its debut on vinyl. Culled from the same 1990 recording sessions that birthed the original, this limited clear vinyl edition offers yet more otherworldly sonic journeys from the cult figure. The Space Lady's street performances, captured live and in one take, transport you into a unique musical dimension. Here she covers the likes of Elvis Presley's 'All Shook Up' and Irving Berlin's 'Puttin' On The Ritz', but each track undergoes a transformative reinterpretation with ethereal vocals and accompanied by mad effects manipulation. A real cult classic.

Review: .It has been 12 years since Still Corners debuted via the ever-strong Sub Pop label, presenting themselves as an archetypal dream pop band at a time when the sound was experiencing something of a resurgence. More than a decade later, so much has changed about the world and its genres du jour, and while this lot have developed their style evolution might be going a little far. Still, if it ain't broke and all that. Ultimately, as Strange Pleasures proves, theirs wasn't even fractured. Indeed, this is gorgeous, fluffy, inviting stuff that seduces without being overtly sexy, and invites us to jump on white fluffy clouds for the duration. Of course, there are more commanding elements, occasional edgier synth pop interludes interspersed throughout, but for the most part this is wonderfully opiate stuff.

Review: Born and raised in Bern, Switzerland, Michael Antener spent most of the 1980s concerned with interpreting the subconsciously and overtly apocalyptic discourse of that time through the medium of industrial-edged, dark feeling music. "I found a niche where I could express myself, along with other people who were not afraid of dark themes," he's quoted as saying in retrospect, before going on to explain that singing about love would have been more difficult than using "cries of pain taken from horror movies". This triple vinyl collector's item celebrates that fertile, if angry and dystopian period in Antener's life. Bringing together work from two of his formative projects, The Stranger of the Swamp and Bande Berne Crematoire, what's here is captivating. Electroclash with groove, distressed collages of noise, a certain sense of sonic expressionism - all brooding shadows, menacing arrangements and deeply unsettling moods.

Review: Alan Vega & Marty Rev's career as Suicide spanned an incredible four decades. During those years, they rarely if ever got much credit for their work but as is often the way, once time passed they started to get deserving plaudits and an ever growing status amongst fans and critics. Now said to be one of the most inspirational outfits of the 70s, they influenced everyone from Depeche Mode to Soft Cell. This brand new, remastered collection takes in tunes from all across the band's career and has plenty of big, raw, energetic and eclectic sounds with track from their first album in 1977 and most recent in 2002.

Review: NTS Radio host Francesca Macri aka System Olympia presents her second full-length album titled Racing Heart, a neon-lit soundtrack for an evening drive in a Mercedes Benz that she's released on her Okay Nature imprint. Highlights are the sensual, late-night boogie-down vibe of 'All Mine Now', the slo-mo synthwave of 'Link Of Truth' and the saccaharine '80s pop aesthetic of 'War Of The Hearts' could have been in a John Hughes film.