Re:Warm Vinyl & CDs

Review: Aficionado has long been standing as an enticing oasis in the middle of an arid desert of mainstream club culture. And now, to mark its 25th anniversary, DJs Jason Boardman and Moonboots have curated a reflective compilation of 16 tracks that are equally cherished by them and attendees to their legendary parties. Exclusive to this release are J-Walk's 'Cool Bright Northern Morning' and Begin's remix of Canyons' 'Akasha', both of which stay true to the label's original mantra of "simply playing good records without concern for trends" and sit amongst many other mature and escapist delights.

Review: A quarter of a century has passed since Jason Boardman and Moonboots threw their first 'anything goes' Balearic Sunday session. Aficionado, as the event became known, is now an institution in Manchester, making this celebratory compilation a special one. It boasts two previously unreleased cuts - J-Walk's sparkling 'Cool Bright Northern Morning' and a deep Begin remix of 'Alaska' by Canyons - with the rest of the 16-track set being made up of records that "mean a lot" to the two DJs and their audience. The selections are simply sublime, with our current picks of a very strong bunch including the neo-acoustic brilliance of Stanley Clarke's 'Desert Song', the turn-of-the-Millennium nu-Balearic excellence of Mudd's 'Summer in the Wood', and the baggy 'global beat' fun of 'Can't Step Twice (On The Same Piece of Water)(New Version)' by Teachers.

Review: After being forgotten for a few years, a whole new generation of listeners has started digging into the vast back catalogue of Hull duo Fila Brazillia - a prolific outfit whose output of the 90s and noughties encompassed dreamy deep house, breakbeat-driven loved-up workouts, stoner funk and dusty downtempo gems. This fresh career-encompassing 'best of' showcases a mixture of stone-cold classics (early house single 'The Sheriff', confirmed chill-out classics 'Harmonicas Are Shite' and 'A Zed and Two Ls'), fan favourites (the decidedly Balearic 'Airlock Holmes', the undeniably funky 'Madame Le Fevre' and 'Throwing Down a Shape') and slept-on treats ('Bublehaun' and 'Little Dipper'). There's even a couple of relatively recent recordings ('Hush Hush' and the fresh 'Toro De Fuego', both of which return to the sounds explored in some of their earliest releases). In other words, it's a must-have celebration of Fila Brazilllia's often-unheralded genius.

Review: Paul Hillery is the curator and compiler behind 'Folk Funk And Trippy Troubadours', a brand new compilation series likening modern folk music with the natural world, and seeking out 'loner folk' by artists or from labels whose music is difficult to track down. Centred on balearic Americana and trippy acoustic folk sourced on an international basis, and often filtered through his blog FFTT, this album is the first in what is promised to be an important establishment of a new genre, described by Hillery as 'folk-funk'.

Review: From an ardent blogger to an in-demand compiler, Paul Hillery's obsessive approach to music discovery has taken him far. As well as working with the likes of BBE, he's been fostering a working relationship with Re:Warm which now yields a second volume of the fantastic Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours series. The title is instructive, and somewhere in the folds of private press joints and forgotten album cuts Hillery finds a thread which binds together seemingly disparate sounds. There's delicate singer-songwriter seances from the likes of Lucy Kitchen and psychedelic, roving magic from Stallions remixing Findlay Brown and much more besides.

Review: Following on from 2019's The Unforgiving Current, Horsebeach's Ryan Kennedy returns with his fifth record Things To Keep Alive. With The Unforgiving Current exploring the themes of isolation whilst living in Tokyo, Kennedy has since returned to the perpetual grey of Mancunia. But rather than viewing his return to Manchester as a step back, Kennedy has used Horsebeach as a catalyst to explore and make positive strides within his mental health. From Beatles-esque balladry, fuzzed out shoegaze and a lavish cover of a 00s pop classic, Things To Keep Alive still importantly retains the Horsebeach DNA and even has moments that will take fans all the way back to Kennedy's C86 inspired debut LP. In turn, this results in Horsebeach's most varied and rewarding album to date. A record that inspires and shows growth; a record that makes you appreciate the things you help to keep alive.

Review: Poole-based label RE:WARM reissue the album Don't Leave Me In The Rain by Small, a short-lived South African 'house-infused pop band' who in 1991 presented their one-and-only release. Hailing from the same townships of the country's pop, bubble gum, kwaito and house music scenes, it is a true zeitgeist-definer of the time. Officially licensed and remastered, it's limited to 500 vinyl copies. This highly sought after release will be a delight to many who considered it hard to find on the secondhand market, and will appeal to fans of the label's previous output by Lucky Mereki and Bibbi.

Review: In this collection, Luke curates music with the perfect blend, inviting listeners on an esoteric journey of enlightenment through sound. Exploring late-night, after-hours musings; Everything Above The Sky (Astral Travelling with Luke Una) is a new compilation by the enigmatic DJ, promoter, and cultural curator. Following the E Soul Cultura phenomenon, this compilation comes at a pivotal moment in Luke's career as he travels the globe. Avoiding any chance of his sound being pigeonholed, Luke has assembled a tracklist that feels transcendental, stepping off the grid and back to source. Luke's Everything Above The Sky manifesto describes the music as Astral Travelling in the meadowlands with acid folk, spiritual jazz, midnight hocus pocus, cosmic psychedelic soul, magical whirling love songs, Brazilian ballads of light into machine soul gospel dreaming, Balearic bossa and Outer Space ancient African drums. Expect something different and highly unique with this listen.

Review: There's so much to admire about the borderless musical inclinations of the one and only Luke Una. A longstanding standard-bearer for nocturnal eclecticism, he's made an art out of pigeon-hole dodging, via event series like Electric Chair/Elephant and Homoelectric, his Worldwide FM residency, and E Soul Cultura compilations. His latest comp sees him explore sonic transcendence, selecting a body of musical curios based on their ability to transport the listener to higher realms. As expected, the album bursts with delightful, lesser-known morsels that make it more than worthy of attention. Opening with the psychedelic guitar swells of John Martyn's masterful 'Small Hours' before meandering into the blissful meditations of Stephen Whynott's 'A Better Way', drifting into the staccato whimsy of Sylvain Kassap's 'Plancoe' and arresting with the aching soul of Michael Gregory Jackson's 'Unspoken Magic', there are too many standouts to mention. This is an album to savour from start to finish, a means of cultivating inner peace and astral escapism. When it comes to digging chops, there aren't too many who measure up to Luke, and this selection serves as a case in point.

Review: London DJ and selector Josh Mason-Quinn, better known as Somewhere Soul, curates a new collection mirrorring the ebb and flow of a full day's listening, mapping moods from early morning uplift to late-night release. Titled Rituals, this first volume is a birds-eye blend of jazz, soul and house of an international retinue, spotlighting lesser-known names together with a few more familiar underground figures. This first volume in a series offers a wide-angle snapshot of a scene in motion, built from the same crate-digging instincts and personal selection rituals that drive Josh's own work.