Born Bad France Vinyl & CDs

Review: Jean Pierre Decerf's records have been sampled by top talent in the game (Wu-Tang Clan's RZA) and have also been massively inspirational to the likes of indie talent such as Air. However, the Parisian has always been something of a recluse and it's only now that his best moments have been collected into a definitive compilation by Born Bad Records. As both the cover and title suggest, this stuff is pure psychedelia from start to finish and tracks like "Like Flight" are simply stunning, where freaky guitar riffs meet with twisted synth patterns, funky percussion swings and seductive vocals. Not to exaggerate or anything but this LP might well be the best thing that's landed here at Juno HQ this week and you'd be silly not to pick it up. Essential electronic and discofied innovations.

Review: Among the figureheads of French disco, Bernard Fevre, better known as Black Devil, probably had the shortest-lived career, but was among the brightest minds of them all. Although his first album Disco Club, released in 1978, went unnoticed at first, it has since become a must-have, a collector's item which has led a lot of listeners to further investigate his extensive work. Fevre experimented with such a wide gamut of styles that it has been hard not to lose track; though perhaps one such aide l'equilibre is this newest compilation/lookback record, Space Oddities 1976-1985. Spanning a huge swathe of Fevre's records, some more touted and others more waylaid, this compilation can only begin to help us firmly grasp the cosmic breadth of the artist's work, some of which is indubitably club-bound, some of which is comparatively cinematic and scenic. Here's hoping Giordano Bruno was wrong about the open universe - Fevre's explorations are so expansive that they verge on boundlessness.