Search results: Blue Bamboo

Review: Has it really been 10 years since the last album from Belgian art-rockers Deus? Well, it would seem so, but now they're back with their eighth long player and sounding stronger than ever. The band's sound has always been committed to finding that sweet spot between off-kilter experimentation and strong melodic sensibilities, and they continue to make that approach their own with 12 superlative new tracks, no less than 28 years since they first emerged. It's no small amount of time for a band to keep going, but Deus sound as vital as they did in the beginning on the album, pressed up here on clear vinyl.

Review: Yusef Lateef's brand of jazz is surely some of the easiest to love. That's not to say it's simplistic in any way, but rather than his affinity for groove and melody is just an instant pleasure - a smouldering mood which takes you somewhere far and fantastic without the need to raise the pulse. 1965 LP Psychicemotus is another masterpiece from a man whose career is nothing but masterpieces, leading in with the winding wonder of the title track led by Late's signature flute and backed up by Georges Arvanitas on piano, Reggie Workman on bass and James Black on drums. Whether you're a completist filling a gap or a jazz-curious bystander, this album will never let you down.

Review: U.S label Light In The Attic has hit gold with this hugely popular series. It has done three volumes by now but here comes a welcome reissue of the first from a few years ago. After compilations exploring various Japanese takes on Western music, most notably folk, rock, ambient and new age they switched tack, curating a brilliant double-album set that showcases the best Japanese synth-pop, AOR and boogie recorded between 1976 and '86. The quality threshold remains impressively high throughout, from the blue-eyed-soul breeze of Taeko Ohnuki's 'Kusuri Wo Takusan' and the Chaz Jankel-meets-Thompson Twins style throb of Haruomi Hosono's 'Sports Men', to the talkbox-sporting late night AOR-pop flex's Hiroshi Satoh's 'Say Goodbye' and the glistening, Latin-influenced jazz-funk brilliance of Masayoshi Takanaka.