PIAS Vinyl & CDs

Review: Aside from Coldcut's incredible 'Journeys By DJ' mix, we can think of few mix albums that have been quite as celebrated as Soulwax's 2002 outing as 2ManyDJs, 'As Heard on Radio Soulwax Part 2'. While of its time in terms of some of the track selections - it was the era of fuzzy electro-house and electroclash - the album's genius lies in its' breathlessly brilliant eclecticism and the no-holds-barred, party-starting insanity that marked out the Belgian duo's DJ sets at the time. Out of print for many years but now back in stores in limited quantities to mark its 20th birthday, the mix remains a peerless advert for creative DJing, with the Dewaele brothers giddily mashing together acapellas, tracks, grooves and song snippets in a breathlessly brilliant, endlessly entertaining way. If you missed it first time around, you need this edition in your life.

Review: It would be fair to say that Melanie de Biasio may not be single-handedly keeping Belgium's jazz tradition alive, but she's certainly spearheading a revival of sorts. This third studio set arrives some four years on from her sophomore set, and 12 months after her most adventurous work to date, the 25-minute Blackened Cities. It's a largely upbeat and hugely atmospheric affair, mixing her usual Nina Simome style jazz workouts with drowsy, piano-laden torch songs, evocative accapella interludes and, in the case of the brilliant "Gold Junkies", dubbed-out, four-to-the-floor fusions of trip-hop and dark soul. Throughout, her superb voice provides a stunning focal point.

Review: Alongside fellow Belgians Front 242, The Neon Judgement are widely regarded as pioneers of electronic body music (EBM), a synthesised slice of underground noise that incorporates elements of electro and industrial to often disorienting and intense effects. Led by Dirk Timmermans and Frank Vloeberghs, the pair combined synth pop and post punk with more abrasive tones, unusually, for EBM, bringing guitar work to the fore. Marking 40th years of the Play It Again Sam (PIAS) imprint, a veritable institution in its own right that has itself influenced many bands and scenes, some of TNJ's most triumphant efforts and attempts at pushing the boundaries of genre and style forward are collected here. A selection of tracks that showcases exactly what they were about very well indeed, and why their legacy is so significant, albeit subtle.