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Review: RECOMMENDED
Black Sabbath are one of those bands that, even if you think you've heard it all, will almost certainly have a vault of music sitting somewhere untouched. Their legacy is so significant, and covers so many decades, many of which preceded these un-inspiringly organised and archived music years, there's going to be forgotten recordings in half the UK's rock 'n' roll pubs that are still standing, and that's just for starters.

Here, ten of those overlooked, dust-covered, neglected and rejected dark metal adventures are collected into one bumper, super-collector's item. Even a quick play through proves that this record deserves to exist, whether the tracks are new to you or not these versions are nothing short of epic. More so, though, the collection shows Sabbath were not just prolific, but achingly talented and absolutely impossible to countenance. Ever. Riffs for days, energy for weeks, and innovation for all time, although we probably didn't need to point that out.

Review: The 'Warp20 Box Set' comes beautifully packaged in a 10 inch square slipcase wrapped in charcoal Buckram embossed paper with tipped-on gloss-laminated cover photograph, designed by YES, photographed by Dan Holdsworth.

Includes:

- Warp20 (1989-2009) The Complete Catalogue: 192 page book:
10" square, 192 page full-colour, perfect-bound book. The complete-ist's dream - a catalogue of artwork of every Warp release from its inception in 1989 to August 2009. Includes artwork from over 400 sleeves including work by the Designers Republic, Julian House, Build, Universal Everything and Kim Hiorthøy amongst others. Forward by Warp co-founder Steve Beckett. Black un-coated board cover with debossed and foiled typography.

- Warp20 (Chosen): Double CD album:
The definitive best of Warp on 2 x CDs. Ten songs chosen by you (Warp20.net), ten songs chosen by Warp co-founder Steve Beckett. Packaged in deluxe case-bound 10" folder, exclusive to this box set. Your personal messages and memories from Warp20.net featured on pullout poster.

- Warp20 (Recreated): Double CD album:
2 x CDs featuring twenty brand new cover versions of Warp songs by Warp artists past and present; including tracks by Autechre, Harmonic 313, Jamie Lidell, Plaid, Clark, Maximo Park, Seefeel, Luke Vibert and more... Packaged in deluxe case-bound 10" folder exclusive to this box set.

- Warp20 (Unheard): Triple 10" Vinyl:
Secret treasures newly rediscovered from the Warp vaults. Completely unheard tracks by Boards of Canada, Autechre, Broadcast, Elektroids and others cut to 3 x 10" vinyl. Housed in uncoated card sleeves with debossed typography. Vinyl exclusive to Warp20 (Box Set).

- Warp20 (Elemental): CD album:
Specially-commissioned hour long piece by re-edit master Osymyso, made from sections, samples, and fragments of Warp music from the last 20 years. Exclusive to Warp20 (Box Set) and packaged in deluxe case bound 10" folder.

- Warp20 (Infinite): Double 10" Vinyl:
2 x 10" vinyl cuts of hand-picked locked-groove loops from Warp tracks. Four sides of loops for mixing fun. Exclusive to Warp20 (Box Set) and housed in uncoated card sleeves with debossed covers.

- Warp20 (Chosen) CD1:
(As chosen by fans on Warp20.net)

- Warp20 (Chosen) CD2
(As chosen by Warp co-founder Steve Beckett)

- Warp20 (Recreated) CD1

- Warp20 (Recreated) CD2

- Warp20 (Unheard) 3 x 10"

Review: Twenty-five singles, all in original sleeves. This is far 'deeper' than anything we've seen on this label before, rivalling Now Again or Cali-Tex for quality indie status while blending in the cream of the major label crop from the same period (Warner's, ATCO Josie, Reprise, Loma, etc). Packaged in an incredible heavy pasteboard box, with a handle (in the old style) and psychedelic-shack inspired artwork on all 4 sides.

Review:  10 x 7" singles compiled by Cool Chris at The Groove Merchant for Luv N'Haight and in a lovely wooden hand made box.

Box facts:
*Box will fit around 30 7" singles.
*Handmade in Oakland, CA, at The Key Printing and Binding, using refurbished, salvaged, and vintage machinery. The board used in construction is the hardest available, from the last remaining stock.
*Reinforced lid prevents corner breakage. Removable inner box acts as a buffer against breakage/pressures.
*Cloth used in covering lids is natural fiber linen, with acrylic coating, offset litho printed with durable TuffTex inks.
*Hardware from Ohio. Rivets, American made, are hi-strength tubular type, no POP rivets, staples or split rivets were used in construction.
*Only 250 made

Review: In addition to the ongoing series of Fela Kuti reissues undertaken by Knitting Factory, the Brooklyn label has latterly taken to irregularly calling on some celebrated fans to curate their own box set-shaped collections of personal favourites from the Nigerian legend's sizeable archives. Commencing in 2010 with Roots rhythm doctor Questlove at the helm, it seems that the series operates on a bi-annual axis with Ginger Baker's 2012 edition now complemented by this 7LP set curated by Brian Eno. Drawing from a cross section of Fela Kuti output that joins the dots between the '70s and '80s, the box set also features a 12-page booklet with a foreword by Eno, song lyrics, and in-depth commentaries by Afrobeat historian Chris May.

Review: You have to admire Ostgut Ton's ambition. While celebrating a decade in dance music with a compilation of exclusive, previously unheard music is now standard practice amongst leading underground labels, few would have the balls to release it on a box set that boasts no less than 10 slabs of wax. Unsurprisingly, the track list is like a who's who of left-of-centre techno and deep European house, with Marcel Dettmann, Boris, Virginia, Steffi, DVS1, Martyn, Tobias and Ben Klock all featuring. Highlights naturally come thick and fast, from the spacey electronics, heady textures and hypnotic rhythms of Function's "DX3 Analog Bass Seq", and the rush-inducing, string-laden house warmth of Matthew Styles' remix of Dinky's "Planes", to the picturesque intelligent techno of Doms & Deykers.

Review: Vinyl On Demand are on a bit of a roll as of late, and this extensive - and largely excellent - collection of lo-fi tape recordings is another stunning example of how these guys operate. Not happy with having explored a vast amount of music from the European quarters, Frank Maier, the head of the label, has decided to go give himself an ambitious mission here by collating rare and wonderful recordings from the American cassette culture, masterfully executed and beautifully packaged. With 12 LPs, two 7 inches, and well over 100 tracks on here, this is any collector's dream, a sign that God must exist and that we were silly to think that such perfection couldn't be packed into a compilation. From the wonky drum machine jams of Marc Barreca, to Anode Productions, K Leimer, and even Steve Roach's visionary proto-electro/techno, there is so much gold in here that we're quite taken aback ourselves. it's almost the end of 2015 already, and this might well make it into the top 5 releases of the year. No, we're not joking, it's that important, and that good. All killer, no filler.

Review: Trust Vinyl On Demand to come through with a comprehensive box set that will question the knowledge of even the most studious of Minimal Synth and primitive electronics fans. As the title suggests, the seven LP Official Guide To Scottish Minimal Synth 1979-1983 casts it's gaze over the synth scene in Scotland in the late seventies onwards with a focus on the contribution of Alistair Robertson in particular. The Glasgow-based musician ran the Synthetic Tapes label during this period, issuing music from his own various projects and others and the seven LPs deftly showcase how Robertson got involved in the synth scenes of various other Scottish cities as the eighties progressed.

Review: Prepare to be utterly bewitched by this highly collectable Groove Merchant boxset, which is just so damn adorable you can't help but fall in love with it. Housed in a handmade wooden box, this limited edition set contains ten 7"s pressed exclusively for this release. The music itself is in keeping with the bespoke packaging; we'll nominate the late night smoky soul of The McCrary's "Emerge" and uber-rare repress of Darondo's "Legs (Part 1)" as the Juno highlights. However everything contained in this set is the aural equivalent of a multiple orgasm, with Groove Merchant trusted purveyors of funk, soul and Latin sounds for nigh on two decades. Don't um and ah about this one - only 250 have been made and once they're gone, they're gone.

Review: Here's something to set the pulse racing for all those who love Al Green's distinctive brand of soul: a deluxe box set containing re-mastered, replica versions of "45s" released by the singer on Hi Records between 1969 and '78. It's a wonderfully packaged and produced item, with no less than 26 seven-inch singles being joined by a 56-page hardback book and an ultra-limited Hi Records 45 adaptor. The music is, of course, superb, with the singles containing many of Green's most potent, celebrated and well-known works alongside largely forgotten B-sides and lesser-celebrated bonus cuts.

Review: Trance and progressive house stalwarts Bonzai Records are celebrating their thirtieth year on this Earth, and with that, they've come out with a whopping 5xLP box set charting all their best tunes over the years. Classics from Push, Thunderball, Trancescape, Airwave, The Green Martian and yes, DJ Looney Tune all appear here, on a monumental 10 sides of vinyl. For the seasoned trance digger (which many of the younger generations of dance music lovers have become recently, too), this is a daydream. Also comes with an exclusive mug (sold separately).

Review: If you type ELO into Google today the first suggestion is Elon Musk. Sure, he might have cracked, to some extent at least, the mass-marketed electric car, and all the best to him in the space race. Nevertheless, it's disputable whether or not he was ever quite the visionary Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, and Bev Bevan were in the early-mid-1970s. The undisputed heyday of Electric Light Orchestra, fourth album Eldorado was arguably at the peak of their creative force. Already having firmly established their sound - a surreal hybrid of bar rock, soul, blues, and grand strings - this record really sees them explore the possibilities of that abstract brew. Better yet, ears were open enough at the time to ensure they didn't languish in obscurity, sole reserve of the obsessives or deliberately contrary listeners, and instead claimed a spot in the upper echelons of British pop at the time.

Review: Where do you start with Carole King? From her reign as the most successful female songwriter in the UK album charts from 1962 to 2005, a staggering achievement for any foreigner, to the New York-born artist's claim of charting 118 Billboard Hot 100 tracks in the US at the time of writing, some of which were written during her tenure as a scribe at the Big Apple's Brill Building, often cited as the centre of the American pop industry during the latter half of the 20th Century.

Focusing on her own work, though, and by 2022 we've had no less than 25 full length releases from King, with Tapestry her second, and without question one of her finest hours. Songs like '(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman', and 'You've Got A Friend' remain timeless examples of what timeless pop music sounded like in decades when tracks regularly had a shelf-life well beyond a year or two.

Review: 1975's Black Sabbath album, Sabotage, was written at a time when the band were caught up in an ongoing legal battle with their former manager. That is what gave the album its title and no doubt fuelled some of the more abrasive and angry tracks. The newly remastered reissue is now paired with a complete live show that was recorded during the band's 1975 tour. Of the 16 tracks, 13 have never before been released. As well as a special new booklet with further fan delights, two extra tracks feature on a bonus 7" with artwork that replicates a rare Japanese version of the single.

Review: American alt-rock hero Bob Mould has had a long and storied career that started in 1996. On this new and impressively large collection of tracks across nine slabs of vinyl he looks back at his best moments right up until 2007. The 70 year old has a left of centre sound that has never quite received the recognition it deserves whether he was working solo or with the punk-ish Husker Du, Sugar, his second band. The tracks cover a wide remit of sounds from angsty and tense to more reflective and mournful and show that Mould is one of those rare musicians who could do whatever he wanted to, and do it well.

Review: For longer than many of us have been alive, Dimitri From Paris has been one of the disco scene's top re-editors. As a result, this box set of essential rubs from the legendary French producer is a genuine treat. Lavishly packaged and presented in a printed tote bag, the set whips through classic rearrangements of storming peak-time disco cuts from Odyssey, Dan Hartman, Phyllis Hyman and Keni Burke, before delivering dedicated 12s featuring multiple revisions of cuts by Ashford & Simpson, Jamiroquai and Chaka Khan. As you'd expect, there are many must-check tweaks to be found on the latter plates, including a slow-burn instrumental take on Ashford & Simpson's 'Stay Free', a wonderfully spacey 'Dubwize' rework of Jamiroquai's 'Cosmic Girl' and a sing-along-friendly version of Chaka Khan's stunning 'Clouds'.

Review: This limited edition 7" box set is a special 40th anniversary reissue from Chrysalis. Compiled by Jerry Dammers, it's a treasure trove of his favourite singles from the label between 1979 and 1984 with standards from Madness, The Beat and Dammers' group, The Specials. From the horn led joy of "A Message To You Rudy" to the uptempo cover of "The Tears Of A Clown" via a bristling live version of The Specials' "The Guns Of Navarone", this is a fine overview of ska's golden age.

Review: Ooh this is special. The legendary Ultravox frontman and electronic pioneer John Foxx presents a special edition version of his Cathedral Oceans trilogy across 5 LPs! In addition to the three Cathedral Oceans albums, released over a timespan of some eight years from '97 onwards, Demon Music also slip in a hardback book and DVD relating to Foxx's art exhibition of the same name. This is how you do a boxset! Definitely one for the fans.

Review: Light In The Attic presents a new, exclusive vinyl release of the soundtrack to Wong-Kar Wai's stunning romance film, Chungking Express. One listen to this new orange, green and purple vinyl pressing and we're instantly thrown back to the film's key images: rainsoaked plane tickets, macho police officers, dingy sandwich bars, metal shutters opening and closing wistfully... all is compounded by the soundtrack's blend of Cantopop, dream pop and jazz, carefully woven between our half-remembered Hong Kong haze. Aside from a movingly bespoke OST by composer Roel A. Garcia, you've also got choice songs by The Mamas And The Papas, Flying Pickets, Dinah Washington - and, of course, Faye Wong's legendary Cantonese dreamworld cover of The Cranberries' 'Dreaming'.

Review: It feels like we've seen a million albums with titles like In the Mood for Love. We probably have. However, this is the actual In the Mood for Love album, and by that we mean the score to the acclaimed Wong Kar-wai film which, as luck would have it, deals with all matters of life, love, desire and betrayal, telling the story of a man and woman whose respective spouses have an affair, leaving them to pick up the pieces together, at which point their own feelings towards one another start to become apparent.

Enough cinematic back-storytelling, though. How about the music? Well, it's accomplished stuff to say the least. Filled with mournful string sections, traditional Far Eastern folk, and, err, Nat King Cole. The result is a genuinely emotional aural journey, taking us to the depths of despair while also managing to romance you.