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Review: Tokyo-based post/math-rock noodlers Toe have a habit of cleansing the palette of each subsequent full-length they release with a follow up EP. Just like 2005's debut album The Book About My Idle Plot On A Vague Anxiety was followed up with 2006's New Sentimentality EP, the group would return three years on from their stellar 2009 sophomore effort For Long Tomorrow with 2012's The Future Is Now. From the twinkling emo-inflected shoegazing noodles of 'Run For Word' to the more acoustic-driven psych-jazz of 'Ordinary Days', the four cuts purposefully meander and fuse differing elements from the band's arsenal whilst somehow increasing the dense technicality to absurd, near impenetrable levels.

Review: A really cool concept from Expansion here; one side is a reissued seminal classic, the other is a contemporary version. And what a way to start the start the series; hard bop hero Johnny Hammond influenced pretty much every soul, jazz, rare groove and funk artist who've followed in his path, and the joyously unpredictable "Los Conquistadores Chocolates" is one of his best. Naturally Japanese jazz outfit Quasimode are an ideal remix choice. Known for their wildstyle riffage and signature switches, they've paid the utmost respect to Hammond.

Review: We've extensively covered the work of Greek electronic music project Neural Network for a long time now, thanks to their compelling fusion of experimental techno and industrial music with themes of malevolent AI and/or cyborg takeover. Mostly active during the 1990s, the trio were instrumental in bringing robotic ideas to EU techno. This reissue of 'Cybernetics' is a big curio, with four new alternate takes on classic neuromantic cuts including 'Authentic' and 'Mechanic'. For those who like to sprinkle a bit of dystopianism into their DJ sets, this EP littered with sinister vocal samples scraped from future-facing TV documentaries abut cyborgs.

Review: A 10" featuring the finest that highlife has to offer, Crentsil was a figurehead of Ghanian music during the 70s and 80s who was introduced to highlife music at the turn of the 90s - a combination of pop, jazz, disco, and funk. 'Obi Baa Wiase' and 'Sika Be Ba' are two tracks with a close-knit message of gratitude, hope and faith between them, with the former being the staple track of Crentsil's long career after being played at weddings, festivals, and live concerts by local bands. A pair of incredible tracks produced by Charles Amoah utilising limited equipment to create an authentic party atmosphere, jovial flutes and plucky strings are the accompaniment to A.B. Entsils's proclamation of joy - put this on at the party and the room are sure to start moving.

Review: A Very Spidey Christmas was first released only on digital platforms back in 2018. It entails five of the Christmas tunes that were first recorded for the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. There is the lovely holiday song 'Spidey-Bells (A Hero's Lament)' by Chris Pine, who is also behind the festive 'Up On The House Top'. Other cast members such as Shameik Moore appear on 'Joy To The World', with Jake Johnson doing a fine turn on 'Deck The Halls' and Jorma Taccone on 'The Night Before Christmas 1967'. These are fun tunes with plenty of warming festive cheer on crystal clear vinyl 10" picture disc that is going to send collectors wild.

Review: There is no messing when it comes to the techno served up by Umwelt's essential Rave Or Die. Over the course of 14 previous EPs the label has dropped rib-rattling, brain boggling bangers aimed squarely at the floor. This time out the boss himself steps up with Ancient Methods with each providing one solo track. This one comes on limited 10" picture disc so is an extra special one to add to the collection Ancient Methods's 'Accept Light' is a harshly textured industrial banger and Umwelt's 'Shades of Security' is just as caustic and hard edged.

Review: The Advisory Circle (Cate Brooks) is a central cog in the machine that is Ghost Box, one of the most compelling labels to operate in the genre of hauntology in modern times. Brooks' too-perfect muzik is uncanny, reflecting on the grey memories of attempted architectural utopias and 80s library music for TV. These are slow instrumental electro ballads that inspire something of a failed sense of wonder in the listener, and they form a perfect addition to Brooks' extensive catalogue.

Review: Brussels label By the Bluest of Seas is a secret gem of the free jazz and improvisation scene that should get plenty more eyes on it in the wake of this new album from Delphine Dora and Mocke. it is their second long player after one on Okraina Records and it invites you to slip into a dreamstate as languid guitar strumming and drawn out vocals stretch to infinity. Melancholic arpeggios gently rise and fall, there is both tension and tears and a churchy architecture to this which places you at the centre gazing up in awe - no shock really given that it was recorded in an old church in the village of Mauzun in the Puy-de-Dome.

Review: Finnish underground icon Sasu Ripatti returns under his most frequently used pseudonym, Vladislav Delay, for another bout of Dancefloor Classics. The series has already established a loyal following, and the fourth episode is enough to explain why, even if you've not encountered any of the preceding instalments. Music for imagined dancefloors is how the official release information puts it, it quickly becomes clear just how vivid that imagination is. Throwing down a string of footwork inspired cuts, the four tracks here are frantically upbeat and packed with filthy, jacking potential. But they're also deep, at times ghostly - or at least a little eerie - and ground in a desire not just to make people move, but also push sounds forward into new territories. Never an easy line to tread, the overall results hit as hard as the beats themselves.

Review: There's not a huge amount of background we can share on Mysterium, a startlingly beautiful and complex self-titled six-tracker on the always reliable Silver Arrow. A collection of music that lulls you with its blissful moments but still manages to maintain an air of uncertainty about it. A guitar-led dreamscape filled with achingly serene sections, yet underpinned with a real atmosphere that's neither relaxing nor intense, but is ever so-slightly unsettling at times. At least that's true of 'April Food' and 'I Am The Chaos', two tracks that open scoring here. Both seem to build a subtle darkness in comparison with closer 'Turn In', with its quietly rousing and affirming key changes. Taking elements of shoe gaze, beach pop, psychedelic rock, trip hop and more, it's an intoxicating ride through a spectacular unknown.