Columbia Vinyl & CDs

Review: American rapper and record producer Baby Keem dropped his debut album The Melodic Blue over a year ago but only now is the vinyl landing. Back then it was a rather surprise release and it finds the enigmatic rapper expanding into a wide world of sound that builds on his love of trap and melody. There is plenty of intimate writing and lots of his trademark switching between singing and rapping with fun and propulsive moments next to more playful ad-libs and goofy beats. Kreem is Kendrick Lamar's cousin but has his own distinctive sound as this album proves.

Review: Grammy Award winner Leon Bridges returns with a third full length album. The record draws on classic soul sounds but Bridges reimagines them with a vibrant and luminous new aesthetic. This album is his first since 2018's acclaimed 'Good Thing' and the evolution is real but subtle, with tunes like 'Steam' built on a rich instrumental palate and packed full of colour. The artist's vulnerabilities are laid bare on 'Why Don't You Touch Me' which speaks of a breakdown on relations between two lovers. Immersive deep grooves define many other cuts which are all profound and musical with jazz flourish and the odd nod to trap sounds.

Review: Realistically speaking, we could write essays for years on the joy of Leonard Cohen's music, poetry, attitude, and poignancy. Without question Canada's greatest gift to music, and the world (Bryan Adams withstanding), Songs of Love and Hate was the iconoclastic artist's third studio album and remains a pivotal work, albeit one that clearly showed global divisions.

Released in 1971, it would fail to make much impact on the US charts, reaching a paltry 145 on the Billboard 200, but in other regions it was a different story. UK and Australian fans bought enough of it to hit number 4 and 8 in their respective album charts. Many European countries also embraced the record. Quite what America's issue was we will never be sure of, although this is certainly Cohen at his all is lost, all is doomed, that's the way it goes best - gentile instrumentation meets soft bombshell songwriting

Review: Cult American hip-hoppers and legendary stoners Cypress Hill played live at San Francisco's iconic Fillmore on August 16, 2000. Now available on vinyl for the first time, the set captures the legendary group's explosive live energy as the band were in top form and delivering raw, high-octane renditions of their biggest hits. What better way to relive classics like 'Insane in the Brain,' 'Hand on the Pump,' 'Cock the Hammer' and 'I Wanna Get High' than on vinyl? Those gems sit alongside deeper cuts such as 'A to the K,' 'Riot Starter' and '(Rock) Superstar' making this a great blend of those for singing along to and those for the head.

Review: Here comes a high-quality reissue of one of the greatest - Bob Dylan in the early days of his career setting a standard for acoustic folk which would be echoed for an eternity to come. Originally released in 1964, The Times They Are A-Changin' was the third album Dylan released after his self-titled debut and The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, and this one marked the first album to be made up only of his own original songs and no covers. There's a pervading darkness hanging over the album, as Dylan paints an unflinching picture of American society - it might have unsettled fans at the time, but with the passage of time it stands tall as one of his most arresting works, released here on 180g vinyl with an accompanying magazine, making it an essential edition for new listeners and long time lovers alike.

Review: "It's grown on me as well. I think this song has something to do with the classical world, something that's out of reach. Someplace you'd like to be beyond your experience. Something that is so supreme and first rate that you could never come back down from the mountain. That you've achieved the unthinkable." So said Bob Dylan himself in a 2020 New York Times interview when asked why 'When I Paint My Masterpiece', his 1971 sleeper hit, had made its way to the forefront of live shows in more contemporary times. Opening with that track, this album reflects the score of the 2021 concert movie, Shadow Kingdom, which in itself reaffirms the artist as one of the 20th, and 21st Century's greatest songwriters. There's really nothing more to say.

Review: Bob Dylan was offering up Another Side of himself as early as 1964. Famously this move didn't go so well when he went fully electric on stage at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. This album set a few tongues wagging about how he had "lost touch with people" because he deviated from his previous socially conscious style. But it was still largely a folk album in his traditional mold. He plays the whole lot including acoustic guitar and harmonica, and the album eventually went gold as well as hitting Number 8 in the UK charts.

Review: It's autumn 2017 and one thing is for sure - people are still allowed in concert halls and theatres, which are still hosting performances. Around 12 months ago, music had lost a true legend in the form of Leonard Cohen, and Swedish folk pop heroes First Aid Kit decided to pay tribute to the late-great artist's work with a show at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm.

Skip forward to today and this album, from that show, is as close as most will get to a theatre for some time, never mind Scandinavia. As the tracklist suggests, there's a range of Cohen's catalogue being interpreted, and we really do mean interpreted, with help from accompanying players Annika Norlin, Frida Hyvonen, Jesper Lindell, Maja Francis and Loney, Dear. Which was the only logical approach - recreation rather than replication is the most fitting tribute to such an enigmatic and unique artist.

Review: Calvin Harris has gone from house DJ to chart-topper to international celebrity over the last decade or more. In amongst his antics and supersized festival shows he has been busy crafting a long-awaited follow-up to his 2017 album Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1. Volume 2 is now finally here and it is packed with big moments of funky house, pop dance and plenty in between. Sure to bother the charts as well as provide many epic festival moments, it's just what fans will be wanting to hear.

Review: Brace yourself for another blockbuster bout from the mighty Calvin Harris. His album series Funk Wav Bounces is an artful foil which might well prepare you for studio offcuts and casual noodles, but no, this is as premier league as electronic music can get. For volume two, Harris has called on a head-spinning cast of talent with lead single 'Potion' carrying Dua Lipa and Young Thug, while the rest of the record features people you may have heard of like Stefflon Don, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg and a whole lot more besides. Matching his production prowess with his undeniable ear for a hook, Harris is on track to become your favourite producer extraordinaire all over again.

Review: A mere 19 albums, not out. It's almost unfathomable how long Judas Priest have been making noise, with their first steps into heavy metal megastardom taken in the late-1960s, a time when the genre was really just a glint in the eye of hopeful upstarts, including this troupe. More than 50million LP unit sales later, and it's safe to say their legacy is more than written, yet the most defining aspect of their tenure - unstoppable, unflappable - is only really apparent in their continued output. Well, OK, this is the first we've heard from them since 2018's Firepower, but nevertheless, across five decades they've barely taken more than four years off before coming back with new material. In this case it's been six, but there was a 24 month pandemic in and among, meaning you can let them off. So, what does it sound like, this long-awaited 19th long form from the deities of power riffs and juggernaut rhythms? Well, Judas Priest, of course - as if there was ever going to be another answer.

Review: The past two years have been tumultuous for every band on the planet - the old you-know-what rendering all except the biggest streaming stars and those still holding up on the sales front commercially unviable. Kasabian likely faired better in those stakes than many, but nevertheless the past 24 months or so have been northing short of challenging, with leading figure Tom Meighan's 2020 departure swiftly followed by a conviction for assaulting his partner.

Enter the new and improved incarnation of an outfit that has always straddled a line many falter on - one foot in lad rock for the Stella crew, another dipping its toes into higher concept, more daring and experimental waters. Main man Serge Pizzorno, largely responsible for the more out there moments in the back catalogue, no longer has to compromise with Meighan and it shows. The Alchemist's Euphoria is packed with plenty of ideas, from Latin-ish opener to the grand overdue of 'Scriptvure'.

Review: It's safe to say Happenings is the least Kasabian sounding record we've ever had, although realising that makes you start to wonder what Kasabian ever really sounded like. Experts at hybridity, they've built an enviable reputation - and huge following - from mixing a kind of lager indie rock with more experimental elements, nodding to synth, post punk, electronica, even nu rave at times. But we can't think of many times they've come as close to sugar-coated MGMT territory as on 'Darkest Lullaby', the second track on this latest outing. Things don't stay there, though. 'GOAT' is a strange mash up of grit and candy floss with guitars and keys blazing, 'Passengers' threatens to take flight with its soaring (and decidedly sing-along) pop chorus, 'The Hell Of It' introduces growing bass music tones, 'How Far Will You Go' approaches a kind of jump up nu-metal.

Review: Six years ago, an iconic and emotional concert at Madison Square Gardens marked the end of LCD Soundsystem. The accompanying documentary 'Shut Up and Play The Hits' delved into frontman James Murphy's reasons for the decision, with self-examination, a need for change and a fear of old age playing a part. Fast forward to 2017, and the surprise release of three singles accompanying the announcement of a comeback album triggers anticipation and a sigh of relief from fans everywhere. 'American Dream' meets expectations and at times surpasses them, with the familiar driving disco rhythms, strutting funk basslines and heartfelt morning-after-the-night-before ballads feeling like a well-needed catch up with an old friend. The current musical, social and political climates provide Murphy with platforms for his self-effacing and acerbic witticisms. This strong return to form was needed now perhaps more than ever, but simultaneously feels like they never left in the first place.

Review: John Legend co-wrote and co-produced the bulk of his 2006 sophomore album, Once Again, alongside collaborators including Kanye West, Raphael Saadiq and will.i.am amongst others. The single 'Heaven' won the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and lead singles 'Save Room' and 'Stereo' also performed well at the time. The record saw Legend deliver fuller vocal performances and more adventurous experimentations next to plenty of his trademark understated sounds. Elegant and mature takes on R&B and neo-soul feature next to lounge cuts and Broadway gems. The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200.

Review: Declan McKenna returns with his third studio album What Happened To The Beach? and he manages to be both ambitious and restrained throughout. It is a hugely personal record that finds him tapping into an all-new creative language that allows him to dissect his sense of self while also encouraging anyone else to take more confidence in their own identities. There are many gorgeous moments here from the subtle brass and loose grooves of 'Mezzanine' to warming choruses on 'Elevator Hum.' They all make for an album that plots a real narrative journey with elements that are familiar to all along the way.

Review: Harry Styles comes back down to Earth with a more domestic, sophisti-pop sound, following his career-defining LP 'Fine Line' - whose imagery was helmed by weirdo fashion photographer Tim Walker. 'Harry's House' is far more chilled out. Lead single 'As It Was' has an A-Ha style instrumental flair that's been repurposed for the digital age; Styles sings of irreversible changes to relationships and drug-addled spates of loneliness.

Review: A new Quentin Tarantino film almost always equals a new and essential soundtrack. The celebrated director's ability to add humour to the darkest scenes with an odd tune, or to make light of a heavy situation with his juxtaposed sounds, is unrivalled. His latest is another classy mix of swing, Americana, psyche, rock and roll and folk that is a brilliant listen whether or not you have seen the accompanying film. The bumper collection clocks in at 33 tracks featuring Los Bravos, Neil Diamond, Jose Feliciano, Vanilla Fudge and more.