Now Vinyl & CDs

Review: Having previously celebrated dance and pop hits of the 1980s, the long-running Now That's What I Call Music series - itself established that decade - has turned its attention to "alternative". It's a catch-all term that basically includes anything with indie roots, meaning a mix of goth, post-punk, indie, new wave, indie-dance and skewed synth-pop that emerged from the underground rather than the A&R departments of major labels. There's plenty of big hits and iconic cuts stretched across the four discs (think The Smiths, Simple Minds, Joy Division, REM, The Jam, New Order, Pixies, Sisters of Mercy etc), alongside lesser-celebrated favourites from the likes of Pop Will Eat Itself, Tom Robinson (the decidedly Balearic 'Atmospherics', which was co-written by Peter Gabriel), Sugacubes, Kissing The Pink and Big Audio Dynamite.

Review: Having delivered a string of loosely themed collections of extended mixes and 12" versions from the 1980s, the long-running NOW compilation strand has launched a new series focusing on music released in specific years across the decade. 1980, the inaugural collection, is relatively light on pop, 'alternative' and new wave extended mixes (though OMD, Spandau Ballet, Sparks and UB40 all appear), but big on soaring disco hits, crossover club classics and chart-bothering dance numbers from the dawn of the decade of Thatcher and Reagan. That means outings for the likes of Tom Browne's 'Funkin' For Jamaica', Teena Marie's exceptional 'Behind The Groove', Grace Jones' low-slung cover of Roxy Music's 'Love is the Drug', Tom Moulton's peerless version of Loleatta Holloway's 'Love Sensation', an Odyssey's addictive 'Use It Up & Wear It Out'.