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Review: John Frusciante of Red Hot Chilli Peppers fame has always had a fine outlet to explore his passion for electronic music courtesy of the Los Angeles label and 303 lovers at Acid Test. He's turned out plenty of EPs and LPs now and 2023 kicks off with his latest offering I. It is a double album with the scones part II also forming his first new solo material since 2020. He has said of the rather sculptural album: "This music was made from sequences which never exceed a single note, many of these pieces being made on a single pattern."

Review: Keyboardist, singer, and songwriter Bruce Hornsby is back on his own label Zappo Productions with latest album Flicked. It was co-produced with Tony Berg with extra contributions from Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, Danielle Haim from Haim) and Rob Moose from Mumford & Sons. The record is the third in a series of collections of songs based on music made for the famous filmmaker Spike Lee. It has an upbeat feel as Bruce heads into new musical territory and experiments with rich sonic textures and rhythms and deep, contemplative lyrics. Dance music, hip hop and plenty of in between sounds are explored on this adventurous record and it will come with a big run of tour dates.

Review: The Microcosm: Visionary Music Of Continental Europe, 1970-1986 presents works from 'cosmically-taped' artists; legends like Vangelis, Ash Ra Tempel, and Popol Vuh through to more obscure names in the form of Bernard Xolotl, Robert Julian Horky and Enno Velthuys. According to Washington State label Light In The Attic, the compilation aspires to present these these works of "ambient, new age, neuzeit, prog, krautrock, cosmic, holistic stuff, whatever one calls it - as a pulsating movement unto itself", and they've done a fine job of that when you hear how well curated this album really is. From major label recordings through to limited obscure cassette editions, it unearths some truly captivating and oddly inspiring gems from beatless electronic music's recent past.

Review: You wait three years for a new Arca album and then two come along at once. The Barcelona-based, Venezuelan artist has already dropped 'Kick I' and 'Kick II' on his standard XL stomping ground this month, and has now decided to remind us why we fell in love in the first place. &&&&&& is the producer's seminal debut album, and it still sounds fresh today.

Occupying a space somewhere between techno, the proto-footwork and juke popularised by the likes of Addison Groove at the turn of the last decade, IDM and ambient, it's a difficult thing to get your head around, from the strange piano discordance of 'Mother' to 'Feminine''s suggestion of intense 140s and the submerged liquid downtempo of 'Anaesthetic'. A seminal moment in recent dance history.

Review: 0 is back on their own 0 label with 02, a second offering of experimental electronic music. Both sides of this 12" are taken up by one long and winding track each. The first is all dubbed out, with gassy sounds bringing a little light and sharpness to the murky pads, grainy effects and lo-fi aesthetic all around. It's a heady back room cut for in-the-know crowds at 5AM. The flip side is a little fuller, with skittish rhythms, busted sine waves and watery synths all coalescing around a haunting groove that is awash with real-world noise.

Review: Clark is a much-loved electronic innovator and a long-time associate of Warp. He has put together a very special collection here featuring a wealth of new tracks as well as some top drawer and unreleased archive material and a load of rarities. It has been compiled to release alongside the remastered reissue of the Body Riddle album and shows off his unique electro style, how it has evolved over time but how it remains utterly thrilling and cutting edge.

Review: Parlophone are embarking on a mammoth Bowie reissue campaign. 'Outside' was another artifact of the artist's "industrial" '90s era. Unlike 'Earthling', it segwayed neatly between techno and dreamy art rock. For example: the self-titled track is a meditation on time via reverb-drenched band instrumentation, but is suddenly augmented by sampled breakbeats at the halfway mark. 'We Prick You' is similarly industrial, mumbly and weird, yet also just as catchy; this is Bowie's ode to outsider music, made in a weird spate of recording sessions wherein the artist vowed to commit a series of "art crimes".

Review: Third part of the compilation celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Milanese record shop. This collection is entirely composed of previously unreleased music, exclusively produced for the occasion by many artists of great relevance in the worldwide music scene, who supported the store over the last ten years. The artists who produced the music for this compilation are Egyptian Lover, Ellen Allien, Thomas Brinkmann, Neil Landstrumm, JD Twitch, Matias Aguayo, San Proper, Tolouse Low Trax, Jay Glass Dubs, Dj Marcelle, Jorge Velez, Tamburi Neri, Fabrizio Mammarella, Heith, Itinerant Dubs, Timeslip89, Kreggo and Intersezioni Ensemble. The entire work is composed of 4 x 12", plus a bonus EP.

Review: Dylan Brady and Laura Les are 100 Gecs and 10000 is their much anticipated second album. It comes four years after their 2019 breakout debut includes previously released tunes 'mememe' which is a colourful mix of ska-inflected verses, thrash guitars and wonky synths and 'Doritos & Fritos', a more 90s styled alt rock anthem unlike anything else the band has done. A world tour is to follow the release of this album and is the natural next step for this artfully unhinged and impossible-to-predict collective who make some of the most outsider pop sounds around right now.

Review: Guitarist extraordinaire and former Kiss vociferator Ace Frehley's tenth solo album 10,000 Volts is the sonic equivalent of Gakuryu Ishii's bolshy film 'Electric Dragon 80,000 Volts' - a massive, electrifying, out-of-this-world experience that embraces the pure shreddage of the electric guitar, in an ultimate face-off between human and machine. The analogy of overridden circuitry is unsurprisingly useful for evoking related emotions in Frehley's case, as on the title track, on which a perfectly phased-out riff accompanies the lyric, "She hit me like 10,000 volts, when I saw her face". Then come the covers, such as 'Walkin' On The Moon' and the equally raw in-your-facers such as 'Cosmic Heart' and 'Life Of A Stranger'. No fillers here.

Review: In a collaboration you might never have expected but somehow makes perfect sense, original Brit blues mastermind Jeff Beck teams up with a little known American by the name of Johnny Depp to render some of the latter's songs alongside some finely selected covers. From The Beach Boys to John Lennon, The Velvet Underground to Killing Joke and more besides, this is the sound of two lifelong music lovers letting it all hang out and playing with the impassioned energy and innocence of youth. More than just a throwaway side project for a global superstar, this is a deeply discerning project which frames Depp's music in a whole new light.

Review: As we write this The Beatles have just managed to put out their last ever, they say, new single. By harnessing the vast powers of AI and feeding it a dusty old clip of him singing back in the day, they have even managed to recreate the voice of John Lennon. It's a reminder of how ahead of their time the Liverpool band always was, even back in the 1960s. And that's when this album London to Manchester was recorded live on October 13, 1963, which marked the point at which the press knew the band was going to be global superstars and features all their biggest hits from this early-on time.

Review: The Marc Bolan 'Songwriter' series has proven hugely successful and after the focus was on 1972 last time out, this time we jump another year back to 1971. This vinyl-only and intimate release shines a light on the private life of Bolan and how that altered his approach to songwriting. It was in 1972 that his band T-REx became chart-topping superstars and across the 19 tunes here are long versions of tunes like 'Hot Love' and 'Get It On' as well as plenty of b-sides, working versions and demos and a nearly 15-minute long acoustic demo of 'Children of Rarn.'

Review: The Black Crowes have never been ones to hide their inspirations. The classically-styled US blues rockers have turned their hands to plenty of covers over the years, and this time they're offering up a short album's worth of renditions under the banner of 1972. The year doesn't so much nod to the songs specifically as the feeling, and a particular era of sound they were aiming for. Given their skin in the game, it's no surprise to hear them nail the likes of 'Rocks Off' and 'Papa Was A Rolling Stone', paying homage and doing their own thing in equal measure.

Review: Kazuki Tomokawa is one of the most enigmatic figures in Japan's modern musical history. Not only a poet and a singer, he's also a bicycle race commentator and a self-described vagabond, and in the 70s he set his poems to music as Japan enjoyed something of a folk music boom. It was 1975 when he recorded his first album, in particular teaming up with percussionist Toshiaki Ishizuka for a fruitful musical partnership. Blank Forms has been diligently reissuing much of Tomokawa's music, and now they're turning their attention to this deluxe three CD boxed set comprised of Finally, His First Album, Straight from the Throat, and A String of Paper Cranes Clenched between My Teeth.

Review: The past is on the mind of Mike Paradinas aka Mu-Ziq here. 1977, as its name suggests, looks back, but not to punk but to the equally siesmic year zero of the 90s ambient revolution. Definitely showcasing the more mellow side to his productions, the album glides gracefully through clouds of sugar sweet melody, his grasp of which remains as distinctive and recognisable as anyone's in the game. 'Allegro' sounds like a Philip Glass track trapped in ice and sprinkled in snow, 'Houzz' is a low key groover like The Black Dog used to make... But ultimately all you need to know is that another 15 great new prodeuctions by Mike Paradinas are in existence - and on vinyl to boot - and that alone should be enough to send you scuttling off to buy it pronto.

Review: For the first of two specially commissioned compilations marking their 20th birthday, Fabric has asked a host of house and techno talents to deliver exclusive, unheard material inspired by the storied EC1 venue. The results are impressive, with the chosen artists including many who have a particularly deep relationship with the club. In terms of highlights, Sasha successfully cuts up Alison Goldfrapp style vocals over a hypnotic beat on "Comet Chaser", Steffi slams down some high-grade club electro and Call Super brilliantly slows things down on the dewy-eyed shuffle of "Echothread".

Review: Scottish textural experimentors 12th Isle venture across the pond once more, with the label's founder Stewart Brown topping up its exquisite techno-tropical fold for an exclusive look-in to his music made between 2015-2020 (hence the name). A combo of hardware and live-drummed dribblings makes for what might classify as an electroacoustic album but without the usual pretensions, as each track from 'How's Life' to 'Westway' trudge through a million different disparate scrapes and clanks, which each nevertheless retain enough of a similarity to each other, within their difference, to form a part of the same soundbath. The album is also something of an allusion to London living, with many of its rhythmic luminaries (such as multi-rhythmic maestro Pike Ogilvy and fellow 12th Isle affiliate Vague Imaginaries) also in tow.

Review: Having built his reputation via a trio of must-check EPs on Bokeh Versions, Mars89 transfers to Alex Hall's "mutant electronics" imprint Natural Sciences. The producer is a neat fit on the imprint, with "2020" containing a quartet of creepy, hard-wired, industrial-tinged cuts that seem eerily fitting for these troubled times. He begins with the bone-rattling beats, machine-gun percussion hits, ricocheting metallic clonks and gut-punching bass of "GoodThing", before successfully fusing mutilated industrial sounds and paranoid rhythms on "JoyCamp". Over on side B, "DayOrder" is a strangely swung slab of mind-altering electronica that defies easy description, while "MiniLuv" is a thumping stomp through lo-fi techno territory in the company of a steroid-fired monster.

Review: After launching last year via an arguably overlooked EP from Obsidian, Parallel Connection has made us wait a little while for the London label's second release. It comes courtesy of Sela, a 25-year-old French producer who apparently honed his soon to be trademark sound while living in the UK. There's much to enjoy across the four track missive, from the alien electronics, loose-limbed broken electro beats and chiming lead lines of '2020 Connection' and sub-heavy, acid-flecked stomp of 'Animal Kingdom', to the pitched-down electronica eccentricity of 'Really Get Fucked' and the psychedelic late-night tech-house hedonism of 'Mr Rabbit', which boasts bleeping melodies reminiscent of both mod-90s ambient techno and Yorkshire bleep and bass.

Review: On their hotly anticipated debut album, Passive Refraction invites us up to the "27th Floor" of an imaginary hotel in the heart of Tokyo, a place where you can gaze in wonder at the neon-lit cityscape. Musically, it's an immersive experience, where dreamy, slowly unfurling ambient chords and vivid synthesizer sounds reminiscent of Vangelis' "Blade Runner" soundtrack intertwine with sampled voices, hazy aural textures and quietly loved-up melodies. It's the kind of album that you can imagine being classed as a 21st century ambient classic 20 or 30 years from now, which we think you'll agree is high praise indeed.

Review: The Mego label name is synonymous with quality electronic music now for 30 years this year. One of the most important labels in Austria is still going as strong as ever. 33 34 is the second album by NPVR (Nik Colk Void and Peter Rehberg) and first in seven years. This album thrives on modular synthesis and otherworldly sound craftmanship. The eerie 'Keep Former' really intrigues the senses while 'Invisible Man' has an experimental and cool rhythm to it. 'Ok But No' sounds like you are waiting in some sort of teleport machine. Very cool. If you are into finding unique and different sounding music that is futuristic and soundtrack-like, then this is for you. This LP comes with MP3 download code and is limited to 300 copies.

Review: Efficient Space's latest essential release sees Andras and Instant Peterson take a trawl through the darker, lesser-visited corners of Australian electronic music. According to the label, the pair lifted material from "local 12" singles, CD-Rs and the archives of community radio station 3RRR FM". Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the acid-flecked, "Nude Photo" style Detroit fun of FSOM's "Resist The Beat" and chiming, trumpet-laden bliss of Ian Eccles-Smith's "The Slaughtering Eye", to the jaunty, mid-90s New York style bounce of Blimp's "Yellowgold" and the ultra-deep ambient techno pulse of Tetrphnm's "Track 11". Check, too, the enveloping dreaminess of Screensaver's drifting ambient closer, and the jazzy dancefloor depth of Inner Harmomy's "Da Lub Club".

Review: There is a ton of sonic scuzz and frosty electronic texture to both cuts on this new limited 12" from Natural Sciences. And that is frankly to be expected when you are dealing with these two artists - the long-time LIEs associate Beau Wanzer goes first with the fucked up drums and gnarly synths, wiry electronics and dark vocal mutterings of 'The Table Scrap'. On the flip is Chicago noise specialist Hieroglyphic Being with 'This Is The Right Time In Human History 2 Be Stupid.' It's a lo-fi and fuzzy world of busted drum loops and anxious synths.

Review: To mark his 66th birthday, mod legend Paul Weller returns with 66, his 17th full length solo album and one that arrives on Polydor to great fanfare. In the vast expanse of contemporary music, Weller stands as an icon of enduring influence and innovation, boasting a recording career spanning from 1977 to the release of this latest album. With a steadfast dedication to pushing artistic boundaries while honouring his roots, Weller's latest offering promises a captivating journey through his musical evolution and it reflects on life's myriad facets, from spirituality to changing circumstances, with a positive outlook tempered by wisdom gained from lived experiences. Collaborations with esteemed artists enrich the album, offering a fully-realized celebration of creative synergy.

Review: Paul Weller has a new 12 song album simply called 66. The former lead singer of The Jam and Style Council brings his soulful voice to album that has a slew of interesting guest artists, with contributions from Suggs, Noel Gallagher and Bobby Gillespie to name just a few. The lead single will be 'Rise Up Singing', which immediately transports to us a carefree 60s sound, 'Soul Wandering' is a powerful rock track where Paul really shines and is one of our favourites here. The modfather is back.

Review: How do you capture the vibrant chaos and excitement of a carnival parade in the austere setting of the white box gallery space? That's the challenge Arto Lindsay took on with a sound installation he placed in the University of Arts and Design in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2022. With a team of researchers and a rigorous methodology, Lindsay created an immersive, three-dimensional piece spread across 27 channels, which has been remixed into a stereo version for you to experience in the comfort of your own home.

Review: The 1970s was a golden age for popular music meeting with the ever-booming movie industry, and there was an abundance of original themes to major features which were incredible songs in their own right. Now Music On Vinyl has gathered together some of the greatest on a double pack compilation featuring fantastic artwork and an insert loaded with photos and credits. The list is heavyweight, taking in Giorgio Moroder's theme from Midnight Express, Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells', Isaac Hayes' 'Shaft' and the Diana Ross version of Billie Holiday's 'Strange Fruit', as featured in the film 'Lady Sings The Blues' (in which Ross plays Holiday).

Review: "Rich-poor divide widens. Unemployment soars. The East and West eyeball each other on the brink. 2022 isn't too far off the 1980s. Contort Yourself know this." A second collection of distortion soaked didactics from across the globe, all created specifically and exclusively to express wanton abandonment; marginalisatioan and alientation via tiny tape runs, but lovingly rustled up into a 21 track gem of a compilation. Rusted guitar strings, cobbled drum machines and fire in the belly - a soundtrack of despondent despair, a lament of languid lechery, an anthem of what was then and still is now.

Review: Depending on your age you might well consider the 90s to be the best ever era for movies. You'd have a fair shout too, and now the Music On Vinyl label gives you a chance to revisit some of them through the power of their standout tunes .This collection has pop, soul, rock, disco and plenty more from giants of the time like Jamiroquai, Whitney Houston, Lenny Kravitz, Warren G and Alive Cooper. It all comes across four sides of vinyl and is a great trip down memory lane.

Review: Guy J was making prog house way before it came back into fashion and likely will be doing way after it has passed through the hype cycle and out the other side. What that means is you get a certain quality from his work and that's evident again here. '94 Blossom' is his new one-sided 12" and is as broody and grandiose as you can imagine. The drums set the tone, rolling deep over a pulsing bassline with suspensory pads up top. The melodies eventually take over and sweep up to an infinite cosmos, leaving you looking on in awe.

Review: We are honored to release 'A Boy Alone', a double LP set from Manchester electronic music pioneer Eric Random. Best known for his early recordings for New Hormones and Les Disques du Crepuscule and collaborations with Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks), Cabaret Voltaire and Nico. As an original member of The Tiller Boys with Shelley, Random injected a healthy dose of Krautrock into the dour Manchester post-punk scene in 1978/79 before going solo the following year. Random's first 7" "Subliminal"/"23 Skidoo" was released in 1981 via Les Disques du Crepuscule and explored ominous sonic surrounds. That same year also saw the release of a second 7" single on New Hormones, "Dow Chemical Company"/ "Skin Deep". Both tracks offered bubbling, rhythmic sound patterns, and were the first to feature other musicians that would become know as The Bedlamites. Consisting of Lynn Walton on vocals, Ian Runacres and Andy Diagram of Dislocation Dance, and bassist Wayne Worm, aka Wayne Sedgeman. Their debut 12" single "Subliminal Seduction"/"Bedlam-a-Go-Go" was released in 1982 through Plurex, mixing arid funk textures and sparse melodies. That same year the group contributed proto chill-out track "6.55" to Plurex compilation 'Hours' and the highly filmic track "In Cassette Conference" to the Touch cassette package 'Feature Mist'. In 1983, Random spent several months in the Himalayas with a group of musicians from the Kulu Valley and studied non-Western instruments such as tabla. On returning to Manchester, Random convened a new group of Belamites including Walton, Sedgeman and drummer Graham Dowdall aka Dids of Ludus. They released the 12" single "Mad As Mankind"/"Dream Web Of Maya" in 1984 on Cabaret Voltaire's Doublevision, embracing electronic, industrial and dub styles. In 1985 they contributed the soothing "Pure Power" to Food Records' "Imminent Episode One" compilation. Our reissue also includes 4 unreleased bonus tracks from Eric's archives recorded between 1981-1984. The whole set adds up to 115 minutes of sinister, somnambulant Random music. All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. Each copy is housed in a gatefold jacket designed by Eloise Leigh featuring a spread of ephemera, photos with liner notes by James Nice of LTM.

Review: Four years after his acclaimed Brame long player, Julien Chastagnol aka Ruby My Dear returns with his fourth album, A dada. It is another experimental sound world that is a joyous yet intricate fusion of drill 'n' bass and IDM, akin to what the artist himself says is "a breakcore lullaby." Across all four sides of wax, he goes in hard on the breakbeats and tightly programmed drums, with layers of scuzzy heavy metal sounds, looped and warped vocals and mind-melting synths that fizz and spin, explode and impulse on a constant basis to leave you feeling exhausted mentally and physically.

Review: A Divine Symmetry is the new compilation of demos and rarities from David Bowie's Hunky Dory days, providing an alternative take on the pop chameleon's 1970s long-haired, flared heyday. This is hippie Bowie in full lo-fi glory, as you've never seen or heard him before. A mixture of alternative versions and demos, this is selective compared to the X4 CD set but still a new look at one of the most fiercely examined artists about.

Review: Definitely one for The Stooges Geek Den, or whatever the inner circle of fans is actually called (let's face it, probably not that). A Fire of Life doesn't actually contain any songs that we're not already familiar with, but it's how the songs were recorded that makes all the difference here. Each was captured directly into one mixing desk or another during the band's original iteration, back when guitarist Ron Asheton was still playing guitar.

Some of these were studio sessions, others live shows, all of them remind us of their unbridled and unfettered talent. Spread out across two vinyls, we have all the big anthems from the first two albums, with many not just re-recorded but full-blown alternative versions of tracks. Released to coincide with the now-legendary 1972 King's Cross concert (another in-the-know fact that will appeal to many), it's a special edition to behold.

Review: Vinyl Lovers presents 'A Hard Road' from John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers. More than a compilation, this album is a complete document of the Bluesbreakers' recordings with Peter Green, of which 'A Hard Road' was just the most prominent part. Bonus tracks include several non-LP singles, among them the 1967 B-side "Rubber Duck," which has never before appeared on LP.

Review: A cult Brazilian band at their peak in the 1980s, Finis Africae represent the pinnacle of what post punk and its experimental offshoots reached for in South America. A lot of this compilation focuses on sprawling tracks that feature distant shapeless vocals, lightly pattering percussion and languid guitar, but cuts such as "Radio Tarifa" shimmy with the upstart angles of disco-not-disco at its finest, shot through with a salsa flair. Twisting and turning from child-sung folk to industrial-tinged instrumentals, through slow-pumping indie jangle and so much more besides, you'll find yourself pleasantly surprised at many turns discovering one of the hidden gems of the other side of the world.

Review: Cream's A Live Collection stands as a testament to the legendary rock supergroup's electrifying stage presence and improvisational prowess. This live compilation, drawing from various performances, captures the essence of Cream's genre-defying sound and immortalizes the dynamic interplay between Eric Clapton's searing guitar, Jack Bruce's soulful vocals and bass, and Ginger Baker's groundbreaking drumming. From blues-infused classics like 'Crossroads' to the experimental jamming in 'Sitting On Top Of The World,' A Live Collection offers a sonic trip through the band's influential and iconic performances and prose their unparalleled ability to push musical boundaries.

Review: Mark Eric Malmborg was a 1960s Hollywood actor, male model and musician. Along with with arranger and ex-Animal Vic Briggs, Malmborg constructed this beautiful album, a unique pastiche of four freshman/Beach Boys sensibilities coupled with wistful melancholia. Defiantly soft, 1969's A Midsummer's Day Dream caught the tail end of Los Angeles' 60s pop innocence perfectly, just as it slipped into infinity. Though it forms part of an expanded edition that includes of fifteen extra bonus ephemera, this vinyl reissue is true to the original as it was first released, in all its orange-glowing glory.

Review: There was naturally much excitement when A Moon Shaped Pool, Radiohead's surprise ninth studio set, popped up on streaming and download services back in May. Here it gets a CD release, offering those who prefer physical products a chance to bathe in its' woozy eccentricities. Seen by some as a return to their arty rock roots following an extended period spend exploring electronics, the album's 11 tracks draw on a variety of influences (krautrock, ambient, Pavement, James Blake, Stockhausen, intense melancholia etc.), with predictably impressive results. Occasionally elegant, string-laden and grandiose, always beautiful, and sometimes intensely moving, A Moon Shaped Pool is undeniably up there with the band's best work.

Review: A quarter century old now, yet these art-rock giants and eternal malcontents seem as restless in their muse and motion as ever - still chronicling an increasingly complicated and strenuous age yet doing it with finesse, grace and innovation. The urgent, invigorating strains of single 'Burn the Witch' were no anomaly, and 'A Moon Shaped Pool' shows them shaking off the more insular tendencies of their last opus 'King Of Limbs' to engage and electrify in a way that they haven't truly managed for years - radiant, celestial ambience shares space here with impressive ire and emotional engagement, with these peerless experimentalists delivering a record that transcends both their own work and the vast majority of the musical landscape they survey.

Review: Japanese math rock band Tricot hailed from Kyoto and formed back in 2010. The trio featured vocalist and guitarist Ikumi "Ikkyu" Nakajima, guitarist Motoko "Motifour" Kida, and bassist Hiromi "Hirohiro" Sagane and they soon became synonymous with intricately constructed rhythms. They are prolific, too, having put out seven albums so far and A N D is their second from March 2015. It came on their own label Bakuretsu Records and now gets reissued on black and pink vinyl. Its meticulously and tightly woven grooves still stand up almost a decade on.

Review: Danish ambient electronica mastermind Croatian Amor returns to the fore with a fresh album, A Part Of You In Everything, not long at all after his most recent, angelic-themed full-length Remember Rainbow Bridge. The Posh Isolation crew, of course, have always traded in heartbreak: the album is a tribute to the artist and label owner's late brother, who died at birth, also making up a companion piece to the previous album. In a whirl of steady, gut-punching feels-oozes, Amor is backed by his label coevals Perko, Vanessa Amara, NikkiH2OP, Alto Aria and Jeuru, all of whom help him lay down an incredible sense of pacing, space and depth.

Review: 
LINKIN PARK A THOUSAND SUNS WARNERS BROS /CINRAM
2LP 9362496318 0093 6249 6318 9 £18.00
DEAL 15 RELEASED: 15.11.10
TRACKLISTING: 1. The Requiem 2. The Radiance 3. Burning In The Skies 4. Empty Spaces 5. When They Come For Me 6. Robot Boy 7. Jornada Del Muerto 8. Waiting For The End 9. Blackout 10. Wretches And Kings 11. Wisdom, Justice, And Love 12. Iridescent 13. Fallout 14. The Catalyst 15. The Messenger

Review: The musical worlds of Africa, Jamaica and London collide as African Head Charge - the project put together by On-U Sound icon Adrian Sherwood and Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah (of Jamaican heritage but with longtime roots laid down in Africa). Their first new material in 11 years, it's a sonically fascinating mix of cultures and sound approaches, with Sherwood going for subtle, light touches on the dub front rather than the full on echo chamber madness more usually associated with the style. Single 'A Bad Attitude' is a great example of what's going on here - warped around the edges rather than from the core, as philosophical utterings and exotic (to us anyway) instrumentation get into the On-U groove.

Review: It is that time of year when the same very limited selection of Xmas songs get piped through every PA in the land. But you can now improve your Christmas soundtrack by at least some percent with this heavyweight double album on translucent magenta and clear vinyl featuring a weird and wonderful array of festive-themed rock, soul and pop songs. Chances are many of these will be new to you - but there are some real gems here, such as the gentle tiny of sleigh bells on Marvin Gaye's 'Purple Snowflakes,' Booker T & The MG's funky 'Jingle Bells' and The Kinks rock licked 'Father Christmas.'