Caroline Vinyl & CDs

Review: He may now be a bona-fide global celebrity with a string of books, TV shows and film appearances to his name, but Action Bronson remains a fine rapper - even if we don't hear those skills as much as we once did. If you still need convincing, check out Only For Dolphins, his first album on two years. His love of trash talking, tall tales and classic boom-bap style flows has not changed, but his subject matter is more varied. The beats he raps over have evolved significantly, too. Over the course of the album, there are fewer bog-standard "golden era" type backing tracks; instead, you'll find killer beats that offer nods towards Brazilian samba and MPB, reggae, smoky jazz and Latin music.

Review: He may now be a bona-fide global celebrity with a string of books, TV shows and film appearances to his name, but Action Bronson remains a fine rapper - even if we don't hear those skills as much as we once did. If you still need convincing, check out Only For Dolphins, his first album on two years. His love of trash talking, tall tales and classic boom-bap style flows has not changed, but his subject matter is more varied. The beats he raps over have evolved significantly, too. Over the course of the album, there are fewer bog-standard "golden era" type backing tracks; instead, you'll find killer beats that offer nods towards Brazilian samba and MPB, reggae, smoky jazz and Latin music.

Review: He may now be a bona-fide global celebrity with a string of books, TV shows and film appearances to his name, but Action Bronson remains a fine rapper - even if we don't hear those skills as much as we once did. If you still need convincing, check out Only For Dolphins, his first album on two years. His love of trash talking, tall tales and classic boom-bap style flows has not changed, but his subject matter is more varied. The beats he raps over have evolved significantly, too. Over the course of the album, there are fewer bog-standard "golden era" type backing tracks; instead, you'll find killer beats that offer nods towards Brazilian samba and MPB, reggae, smoky jazz and Latin music.

Review: These are buoyant times for leftfield hip hop rooted in experimentation and lo-fi sonics, and here comes Denzel Curry returning with a serious lesson for all newcomers. Hailing from Carol City, Florida, Curry has been dropping pure fire for more than 10 years, but his current form is pushing him even further into the global rap conscious. Kenny Beats is taking no prisoners on the production, while Curry's righteous anger gets processed, re-pitched and mashed up and still it lands every blow. Moving through skits, mad samples and heavyweight tracks, this is everything a visionary hip hop LP should be.

Review: Following the release of Iggy Pop's last full length, Post Pop Depression, the much loved punk professional has teamed up with pioneering electronic dance musos Underworld (think "Born Slippy") via the request of Rick Smith. Album opener, "Bells & Circles", sees Iggy relive the days when you could smoke on an aeroplane, and in his case pick up an air hostess, while a rich and throaty yet somewhat forlorn 'hey' in "I'll See Big" offers a classic, almost narrated number of nostalgia, with a hint of reverb adding a sweetness to a not so bitter regalement of times gone by. Meanwhile, "Get Your Shirt" pitches the bliss of 80s new wave with mid-90s rave to create a glittering, electro pop jam fit for the stadium or Soho club. The glory years may be a memory for this formidable tripod however their sounds, combined, still hit the sweet spot.

Review: Following the release of Iggy Pop's last full length, Post Pop Depression, the much loved punk professional has teamed up with pioneering electronic dance musos Underworld (think "Born Slippy") via the request of Rick Smith. Album opener, "Bells & Circles", sees Iggy relive the days when you could smoke on an aeroplane, and in his case pick up an air hostess, while a rich and throaty yet somewhat forlorn 'hey' in "I'll See Big" offers a classic, almost narrated number of nostalgia, with a hint of reverb adding a sweetness to a not so bitter regalement of times gone by. Meanwhile, "Get Your Shirt" pitches the bliss of 80s new wave with mid-90s rave to create a glittering, electro pop jam fit for the stadium or Soho club. The glory years may be a memory for this formidable tripod however their sounds, combined, still hit the sweet spot.

Review: French techno stalwart Vitalic has flipped the script on Voyager, his first full length for five years. Whereas his previous sets focused on gnarly, club ready techno and ragged electro, Voyager draws inspiration from the music of his youth. In practice, that means a range of tracks influenced by the muscular electro-disco of Patrick Cowley and Giorgio Moroder, the soaring dancefloor camp of Cerrone, tongue-in-cheek Italo-disco, and even the cheeky productions of Bobby Orlando. It's a little bit of a departure, but there are still heavyweight dancefloor cuts to be found throughout, alongside collaborations with David Shaw & The Beat and old pal Miss Kittin.