Latest new releases on vinyl record, CD and cassette tape

Head in the Clouds is a compilation inspired by ‘70s German electronic music, specifically bands such as Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, Popol Vuh. It includes over three hours of music by 19 different artists such as Maat Lander, Son of Ohm, Black Tempest and Jah Buddah. Double LP comes with double CD on Strange Fish.

A new record by legendary producer Theo Parrish! There have been no full-length records from him since 2014's 'American Intelligence' so this will be eagerly anticipated, to say the least. Mr Parrish is known for his pure, deep, sometimes jazzy and always soulful and funktastic house productions and involvement in the Detroit underground scene. Respected worldwide for his masterful DJ work, he clearly understands how to present his work with fellow DJs in mind. Features nine tracks cut across 3 slabs of vinyl for optimum DJ use.

Hitherto restricted largely to cassettes until last year’s album 11 Items, the enigmatic Pontiac Streator returns with a new double album titled Triz. Accompanied with very little explanation on its press release other than the phrase “I’m stuck in a cave, what’s happening?”, the new record features contributions from Mister Water Wet and old collaborator Ulla Straus. 

Minimal techno mastermind Ricardo Villalobos returns to the Rawax imprint with a new EP on 12" vinyl, titled AsloHop. Over two brand new songs - the title track on the A-side and ‘Detrand’ on the reverse - one of the most influential figures in modern dance music delivers a masterclass. 

Broshuda returns with Contemplative Figuration on Soda Gong. It sees the German producer pushing boundaries even more with an eclectic and ultimately unclassifiable blend of beats, ambience, tape samples and musique concrete. Broshuda has also released records on Haunter Records, NoCorner and Plaque.

We don't know a lot about this but Max Graef is a Berlin (where else?) based musician notable for house music with jazz and hip-hop influences. Hold Music appears to be an album of various moods created by the musician and for some reason has been released in an edition of 267 by Beatbude. Mastered by the Herbaliser.   

Building a reputation as one of the finest electronic music producers in China, forging experimental clubbing with traditional Asian sounds, Howie Lee releases the 7 Weapons Series EP on 12” vinyl. Always inventive with his fusions, there’s traces of influences from Tibetan chanting to experimental jazz within. 

Having worked with electronic music luminaries such as Flying Lotus and Onra, Alabama-based musician Byron The Aquarius has been forging his mixture of jazz, hip-hop and house for a few years now, winning acclaim for his Astral Traveling album in 2019. This eight-track EP is his debut for the Apron label. 

Wildlife Processing is the second in a series of releases by Asyncro of recording made by Russian DJ and producer Oleg Buyanov - also known as OL - made between 2017 and the present. As well as solo works, it includes collaborative tracks made with Sensational, Flaty and Micxail, and is testament to his personal vision for electronic music. 

Hotspring is Canadian Scott Gailey. He makes electronic music that is reminiscent of Four Tet, or even Bon Iver, without the alt. folk direction. Orbit For Sunshide is an album of ambient soundscapes built from digital sounds. Gailey is also one half of You’re Me with fellow Canadian Yu Su. On Mood Hut.

Horta Proxima is the third studio album from Finnish duo Michael Diekmann and Matti Turunen, a.k.a. Morphology. Recorded over nearly two years, it continues the subtle evolution in their sound that was signified by 2018’s last outing Traveller, broadening the themes and sounds to make a sci-fi-inspired electronica classic. 

Following records on Ninja Tune sister label Technicolour, Theo Parrish's Sound Signature, Kyle Hall's Wild Oats and Steven Julien's Apron Records. Detroit producer Jay Daniel returns with the SSD EP on his own Watusi High label. The four cuts provide something of a snapshot of Jay Daniel in the middle of an artistic transition. The first side of this 12” release sees him indulge in languid, low-bpm mood pieces, while the reverse side contains two rough-hewn yet sparkling house numbers. 

Actually, unlike the regular adage, there are THREE certainties in life: death, taxes, and a new Oh Sees album every year. On top of a forthcoming album as part of a new group called Bent Arcana, it’s clear that not even lockdown can stop Dwyer from his furious creative output. For their 23rd studio record, John Dwyer’s merry men undergo yet another slight name change to release Protean Threat as Osees.

Space rock band Slift hail from Toulouse, France. Their new LP, Ummon was written whilst on an extensive tour of Europe in 2019. What a great way to try those space rock jams out, live and direct. The three-piece are influenced by Science-fiction and specifically French writer Alain Damasio. On Stolen Body.

Bent Arcana are a John Dwyer-led ensemble that features members of Sunwatchers, TV On The Radio, Flying Lotus, Feels, Prettiest Eyes and Mr. Elevator among others. They play improvised jams in the vein of ‘70s hard fusion, prog rock, krautrock and the ECM label. Fans of Oh Sees or any of the other bands mentioned within will love this.

Richard Norris, known for his work with The Grid and Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve, as well as collaborations with countless high-profile musicians, returns with Elements. It’s an alchemistic blend of hypnotic sounds, drone and deep ambience, assembled in a way only someone with Norris’ experience on such matters can. 

Reverting back to a solo project after life as a duo for last year’s [Detention] and a collaboration with The Melvins and Paul Leary, Swedish singer Åsa Söderqvist’s ShitKid therefore returns to the introversion of her earliest material. 20/20 is a fantastically observed series of DIY anti-pop songs. 

Just like the 7.42 Skipton to Leeds service I Like Trains haven't been seen in about eight years but with humanity about to collapse there's no-one better to attempt to make the soundtrack for the impending doom. KOMPROMAT attempts to make sense of the chaos taking influence from the metallic post-punk likes of Joy Division, Gang of Four and the Birthday Party on a welcome return for this distinctive band. 

Us + Them is a 2019 concert film and soundtrack by ex-Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters. The concert contains songs from Pink Floyd albums such as Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall and Animals along with tracks from his most recent solo album, Is This The Life We Really Want? It was recorded in Amsterdam during Waters’ 2017-18 European Tour. The soundtrack is available on CD or Triple vinyl LP and the concert film is available on DVD and Blu-Ray.

The 14th studio album from Canadian cult hero Sean Nicholas Savage, Life Is Crazy marks a slight departure for the ultra-prolific singer-songwriter. Jettisoning percussion and bass altogether, Savage’s writing is vulnerable and exposed, accompanied by strings and piano to accentuate his reflections and philosophising. 

The enigma that is Pan Amsterdam returns with a new studio album. Following the absorbing debut The Pocket Watch a couple of years ago, acclaimed for its chilled, jazzy soundscapes and cool flows, the rapper indulges guest spots from Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson and Doves’ Jimi Goodwin on the ambitious follow-up Ha Chu. 

The time has come for Hot Chip to curate their edition of the popular compilation series 'Late Night Tales'. They pick tracks by Suzanne Kraft, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Beatrice Dillon, Daniel Blumberg and Nils Frahm as part of their eclectic selection. Hot Chip even contribute a track to proceedings themselves - a cover of The Velvet Underground’s 'Candy Says', no less.

Material from recent sessions by mysterious Japanese noise-maker Sofheso is collected on A Record, the latest release from the producer in collaboration with label First Terrace. In comparison to the massive vault exhumation that was 2018’s Archive, this 53-minute experience is sharper but no less surprising and unpredictable. 

Stone Foundation return with their 9th album, Is Love Enough? Once again the band have used Paul Weller as producer, who seems to bring out the best of their retro soul-funk stylings. This album ends with  Peter Capaldi speaking the words of Vincent Van Gogh - if only it was Peter Capaldi speaking the words of Malcolm Tucker. Oh well. If you like Weller’s more soulful songs, then there’s a good chance you’ll dig this.

Striking while the iron is hot, Liverpudlian indie outfit Red Rum Club follow up their acclaimed debut album Matador in short order. Sprawling across a wider spectrum, from acoustic tracks to festival-ready moments, The Hollow of Humdrum is more ambitious than its predecessor, and could be the moment that breaks them to a wider audience. 

Threaded together with a haunting, memorable piano figure, the stunning soundtrack to Amazon Original series Tales From The Loop, composed by Paul Leonard-Morgan and the legendary Philip Glass, arrives on vinyl and packaged with artwork by Simon Stålenhag. Opting against the usual sci-fi instrumentation of synths, the music is largely orchestral and avant-garde but always human and accessible. 

Ailbhe Reddy is a young songwriter from Ireland who, after a couple of EPs, seems ready for a leap into the big time. Online publications such as CLash and Line of Best Fit have praised her abilities, as has Lauren Laverne on BBC 6 Music. She is set to support Paul Weller and Big Thief in 2021. Personal History is her debut album and features the cracking single Between Your Teeth.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint is a military shoot ‘em up game set in an enigmatic and hostile world. The soundtrack for this game has been composed by multi-instrumentalist Alain Johannes of Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures, Alessandro Cortini, known for his work with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and drummer Norm Block of Plexi and Sweethead. The music creates a dark, brooding atmosphere encompassing ambient, rock and synthwave.

STR4tA is a brand new project which started pre-lockdown in a shed and finished by the protagonists in separate locations thereafter. It is influenced by the early '80s Brit-Funk which featured the likes of Freeze and Atmosfear. For the uninitiated this is improvised party music with jazz and punk leanings which had a global impact back in the day. Features Aspects and a dub version of the same track. 

Mera Bhai grew up in a whole load of different places, which is the reason he gives for his musical style being informed by myriad countries, traditions and retro sounds. On her new EP 'Futureproofing' ‘70s disco melds with South Indian Carnatic music and Rai - the folk music associated with North Africa. There are also strains of acid house, Detroit techno and Brazilian tropicalia to 'Futureproofing'. The final result isn't a million miles away from Confidence Man or The Go! Team. Andrew Ashong and Alxndr London feature on one track each.

Mama Odé are a multi-genre duo made up of brothers Reginald Omas Mamode IV and Jeen Bassa. Tales & Patterns Of The Maroons is an album that blends Creole, Sega and roots music, all underpinned by hip-hop. Jeen Bassa’s warm production on the album makes a refreshing change in a world where hip-hop seems to be increasingly retreading the same path.

The latest in their The Feeding of the Five Thousand remix project sees ageless pioneers Crass remixed by Grammy nominated producer Steve Aoki and Japanese outsider musician Mikado Koko. The results take the sound miles away from the band's punk roots towards pulverising electronica and intense beats. All proceeds to the charity Refuge. 

Originally recorded way back in 2008 at their sprawling, ancient house, Natsu No Zenbu from Japanese musicians Aki Tsuyuko and Ippei Matsui was given away to guests at their wedding. Boasting artwork from Ippei, this wonderful curio now gets a re-issue on double vinyl from the All Night Flight label. 

A Lilac Decline is an anagram of Cecilia Danell, an Ireland-based, Swedish visual artist who can also turn her hand to music. Shelter From The Shadows is her second solo album following her 2017 debut, The Mountain Rages, and projects as a member of Cubs and Loner Deluxe. Her acoustic guitar is replaced with an electric for some seriously meaty riffs adding a different texture to her finger picked style. There’s also some electronic sounds, occasional banjo and drums from Brian Kelly of So Cow.

A mouth-watering supergroup of indie-rock royalty - whose cast includes Graham Coxon, Miles Kane and Muse frontman Matt Bellamy among others - release their debut album. Initially formed to perform Beatles covers, Jaded Hearts Club branch out to tackle other artists on debut album You’ve Always Been Here. 

Arguably a bigger star now than she was even when the sadly demised Moloko were at their peak, Róisín Murphy announces her fifth solo album Róisín Machine. Produced alongside long-term collaborator DJ Parrot and housing the wonderful ‘Incapable’ and ‘Murphy’s Law’ singles, nobody would bet against this being another quality record. 

Jonsi is the one from Sigur Ros and Go was his first solo album originally released in 2010. The album is notable for having string arrangements from Nico Muhly and being more acoustic and song-based than the rather grandiose Sigur Ros material. Ten years after the event it gets a red vinyl re-issue on Krunk to tie in with his new album Shiver. 

Enslaved are a Norwegian Black Metal band who, unlike their peers, eschewed all that church burning stuff in favour of concentrating on the music. They also stand out for blending elements of progressive and psychedelic rock into their doomy sound. Utgard is their 15th album in a near 30 year career.

The band’s signature track and the biggest-selling 12” single of all time, New Order’s beyond-iconic 1983 single ‘Blue Monday’ is re-mastered and re-issued on vinyl. It’s part of the band’s campaign surrounding the Definitive Edition re-release of 1983 album Power, Corruption & Lies. 

The band’s first collaboration with New York DJ and producer Arthur Baker and originally released in late 1983, ‘Confusion’ by New Order gets a remastered re-issue on 12” vinyl. It’s part of the band’s campaign surrounding the Definitive Edition re-release of 1983 album Power, Corruption & Lies. 

One of the less heralded but nevertheless remarkable highlights from New Order’s golden period in the early Eighties, ‘Thieves Like Us’ is remastered and re-issued on 12” vinyl. It’s part of the band’s campaign surrounding the Definitive Edition re-release of 1983 album Power, Corruption & Lies. 

Released in mid-1984 on Factory’s Benelux imprint but recorded around 18 months before during the sessions for Power, Corruption & Lies, New Order’s ‘Murder’ gets a re-issue on 12” vinyl. It’s part of the band’s campaign surrounding the Definitive Edition re-release of the album. 

Shiver is the first new solo album from Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi in a decade. Boasting collaborations with former Cocteau Twins singer Liz Fraser and Swedish pop star Robyn, and produced by PC Music collective head A. G. Cook, it’s both beautiful and surprising in terms of the sonic realms it explores. 

This self-titled compilation album gathers together the entire output of the (extremely) short-lived North London-based band I Can I Can’t. Consisting of just eight songs, the manic, breathless excursions on the first side alone demonstrate the inherent instability of this memorable outfit, and why they self-destructed so messily. 

All Love Everything is the 4th studio album proper by soul singer and producer Aloe Blacc. It's been seven years since his last effort - 2013’s Lift our Spirit. In that time he’s become a father and it’s this experience that has informed his new album. It’s a soul album but incorporates folk and pop showing that Aloe Blacc won’t be pinned down.

Having become huge local stars already thanks to their YouTube channel, to the point where they’ve starred in their own feature doc on Vice, Bradford-based Bad Boy Chiller Crew drop their debut mixtape, Full Wack No Brakes. Steeped in the history of British hip-hop and dance music culture, their sound will be familiar to many yet still revelatory. 

Released on 7” vinyl and housed in a beautiful picture sleeve is ‘Black Rabbit’, a monster psychedelic-reggae interpretation of Jefferson Airplane’s classic ‘White Rabbit’ by producer Prince Fatty and singer Shniece McMenamin. With a cavernous dub version on the reverse, it follows in the wake of other brilliant re-works, such as of Kraftwerk’s ‘The Model’ and Tom Browne’s ‘Funkin’ For Jamaica’. 

Bobuck is Charles Bobuck, aka Hardy Fox, a founding member of The Residents. He sadly died in 2018. Nineteen-Sixty-Seven is a collection of his old recordings - covers of songs by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and more - released to celebrate those heady days of the Summer of Love.

Finnish quartet Kairon; IRSE! make it to three albums with 'Polysomn'. The album art here basically summarises their sound: a celestial aiming blend of shoegaze, space rock, heavy psych and prog. This one takes their psychedelia into new dimensions with glitching electronics, sparkling dreamscapes and heady fuzz. For the uninitiated, think My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive with a flair of King Crimson prog and Dungen's modern psych.

While latterly best known as a producer, Linval Thompson was also an undisputed hit-maker during his singing career in the mid-Seventies. Putting together a string of dancehall favourites in league with Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and Bunny Lee, this new compilation titled Jah Jah Is The Conqueror collects up a great deal of this time period. 

Svart Records releases the soundtrack to Welsh television drama serial Requiem, recorded by award-winning composer Dominik Scherrer and Bat For Lashes star Natasha Khan. While the show was broadcast back in 2018, the retro, Seventies horror-inspired soundtrack makes its first-ever appearances as a physical release. 

Starz is the fourth album by Swedish rapper, singer and songwriter Yung Lean. It was recorded in an old ballet hall. It’s his first album since Poison Ivy in 2018. The album is preceded by three singles, Boylife in EU, Violence and Pikachu, these should give you the flavour of the album, which was once again produced by whitearmor.

Maiden Voyage was the first album by singer and actress Kellee Patterson. It was originally released on the Black Jazz label in 1973. Her band for this soul jazz classic featured Henry Davis, John Heard, Billy Osborne, Ernest Vantrease, George Harper, John Lassalle and Everett Turner. It was produced by Gene Russell.

If the name seems somewhat familiar especially given the links with On U Sound collective then it may not come as a surprise that Denise Sherwood is the daughter of Adrian Sherwood. She collaborates with dad on this, her debut LP as well as pals such as Lee 'Scratch Perry' and Mark Stewart (the Pop Group). The dark themes, heavy bass and clubby beats detailed here suggest that the apple hasn't fallen too far from the tree. 

Tresor has a knack for selecting some of the finest techno/electro DJs of our time for their magnificently curated ‘Kern’ series. Kern Vol. 5 follows mixes from Objekt and DJ Stingray with a thrilling mix from Hamburg-based DJ and producer Helena Hauff. This lady is an absolute demon on the decks... The 2CD includes her full mix, while the vinyl edition includes highlights with exclusive, previously unreleased tracks from Hauff & Morah, Umwelt, Machino, Galaxian and L.F.T. plus rarities from Esoterik, DJ Godfather & DJ Starski, and Andrea Parker and David Morley. HOT!!!

Israeli producer and musician Ophir Kutiel - a.k.a. Kutiman - hooks up once again with Melike Şahin of Turkish psychedelic act BaBa ZuLa for a new 7” single. Following last year’s well-received ‘Sakla Beni’, they return with a dazzling anthem in ‘Elimi Tut (Hold My Hand)’, with an instrumental version on the B-side. 

Milestones is New York rapper Skyzoo's attempt to add to the spindly amount of records about fatherhood. The fact that he quote's Will Smith's Just the Two of Us as one of the few examples should tell you the game isn't rammed with such tributes. Milestones is a snappy short LP where Skyzoo ruminates on his own father as well as his thoughts about being a father himself. 

Montréal indie rockers The Dears will release their eighth LP on May 15 with Dangerbird Records. Led by husband and wife duo Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak, The Dears offer up a resigned yet pulsatingly anxious album to reflect what they see as the doomed times we’re living in. Influences for this album take in the eclectic range of anything from Krautrock to Burt Bacharach.

Recorded in just five days immediately off the back of an exhausting period of touring that lasted almost a year, Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters… (title intended to be repeated ad infinitum!) shows Frankie and the Witch Fingers in blistering, road-hardened form. More intense and ambitious than anything they’ve recorded before, their psych-garage sound goes from strength to strength. 

Oasis were very popular back in the ‘90s weren’t they? My word! '(What’s The Story) Morning Glory' was their second LP and was originally released in 1995, which by my calculations makes it twenty-five years old at the time of writing. How about a silver-coloured vinyl reissue, then? Just in case time has fuddled your memory, '(What’s The Story) Morning Glory' is the album that includes the hits 'Don’t Look Back In Anger', 'Wonderwall', 'Some Might Say' and 'Roll With It'.

The story of The La’s is one of mercurial talent and missed opportunities, yet the mythology around the group’s very small recorded output has always been strong. 1986-1987 - Callin’ All was the second of the Lost La’s compilations, released in 2001 and laid out the recordings that the band’s leader Lee Mavers has always said came closest to capturing his vision for music. It’s now given a re-issue on vinyl, with new cover art and sleeve notes. 

Released as Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard’s second studio album as Global Communication, Pentamerous Metamorphosis was also a complete re-working of shoegaze band Chapterhouse’s second and final album Blood Music in 1993, and originally only available as a bonus CD with that release. Hailed as a masterwork of contemporary ambient music, it then came out as a stand-alone album in 1998. Available once more on their Evolution label. Updated gatefold sleeve design by Mark Gowing with in-depth sleevenotes by Ben Cardew.

Transmissions, a new 3xCD box set, captures techno duo Global Communication - consisting of Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard - at the peak of their powers in the early-to-mid Nineties. The set includes a newly remastered version of their classic 1994 album 76:14, their full album overhaul of labelmates Chapterhouse’s Blood Music LP titled Pentamerous Metamorphosis, and a curated disc of singles and remixes. 

Agüita is the first album release on Jagjaguwar for French-Colombian singer-songwriter Gabriel Garzón-Montano. Just like its predecessor Jardin from 2017, it’s a breathtakingly diverse set incorporated R&B, cumbia, reggaeton and art-pop balladry that you can hardly believe is down to just one person.

Working Men’s Club have been earmarked as a band to keep an eye on for a good few months now. With a few singles under their belt, they are ready to unleash their eponymous debut album. Their music blurs the lines between indie, dance and techno. They have toured with the Fat White Family and even have a song which spells out their dislike of journalist Andrew Neil. *ONE OFF LIVE STREAM: Those who pre-order the album are invited to a streamed gig live from Manchester on Thursday 1st Oct at 8pm featuring guests including Factory Floor's Gabe Gurnsey. Alternatively, sign up here mailchi.mp/pias/working-mens-club*

The Reds, Pinks and Purples is the musical project of San Franciscan Glenn Donaldson. With You Might Be Happy Someday he has created some glorious indie pop which is tempered by a certain gloominess. This only goes to enhance the final product and, quite frankly, you’ll find it virtually impossible to stop playing lead single ‘Last Summer in a Rented Room’.

Soom T is a Scottish singer of indian origin. Her fourth album, The Arch blends hip-hop, bhangra, rock, sound system, dub and reggae influences with militant lyrics - inspired by the likes of Rage Against The Machine and Public Enemy - and Christian her beliefs with the songs being based on a study of The Gospels.

Finding time in her busy schedule as a member of Zen Mother and touring with Daughters, Monika Khot delivers her third solo album under her Nordra alias. In stark contrast to the dystopian last instalment, Pylon III exudes a much more optimistic character, even over the digital screeds and clattering percussion. 

Seemingly inspired by the surroundings of their native Topanga - the Californian location in which Neil Young recorded After The Gold Rush and Captain Beefheart came up with Trout Mask Replica - Hello Forever manage the nifty trick of channeling the invention of the Sixties without shamelessly ripping it off with their debut album Whatever It Is. Vinyl versions come with a bonus 7” single 'Everything Is So Hard'.

Super Sad Generation was the first EP by the highly rated South London artist Arlo Parks. It is repressed to include her second EP, Sophie, and a spoken word poem, London. Although she’s only 19, having had a tough time growing up with her identity, she feels this record will help anyone going through similar difficulties. 

Special Occasion - not to be confused with Special Occasion, the pop band briefly active in the mid 1980s - is the English duo of Messrs Guy Gormley and David Gray - not to be confused, I’m guessing, with David “White Ladder” Gray. Their album of cheery, lounging electronica The Word, previously a tape on Jolly Discs, is now an actual jolly LP thanks to the reissues dept. at Low Company.

Recorded at their farmhouse studio in the Catskills with producer Oakley Munson of Black Lips, The Nude Party deliver their sophomore record. Improving on the Sixties psychedelic rock feel of their acclaimed self-titled debut album a couple of years back, Midnight Manor is more experienced and more restful. 

Sumac are Aaron Turner also of ISIS and Old Man Gloom, Brian Cook also of Russian Circles and Nick Yacyshyn also of Baptists. The trio play music on an epic scale with far-reaching, free-form experimentation - loud downtuned guitars, squalls of feedback, fractured drums and growling vocals. May You Be Held treads a similar path to its critically acclaimed predecessor, Love In Shadow.

Itchy Bugger is Josh,  the Australian bloke from Diät and Heavy Metal. Double Bugger is his second solo album. Once again he is breathes some nocturnal lo-fi slacker pop into a four-track aided by a drum machine. It has been likened to Flying Nun classics by David Kilgour of The Clean and John Kelcher.

The result of five long years of work and featuring guest spots from Marie Davidson and Asaël Robitaille, Left My Brain @ Can Paixano (La Xampanyeria) OST is the most ambitious work to date from Canadian musician Jesse Osborne-Lanthier. Drawing on sounds and techniques from everything from heavy metal to rap, it arrives packaged with a beautiful silk-screened newspaper-style insert. 

Fire Records’ ongoing series of re-imagined soundtracks to classic films reaches The Lodger, the 1927 silent film from legendary director Alfred Hitchcock. Here, award-winning composer and bandleader Graham Reynolds evokes the terror-stricken streets of Jack The Ripper-era London with consummate expertise. 

Los Retros is Mexican-American Mauri Tapia. He started recording music at the age of 16. As the name Los Retros suggests, Mauri looks to the past for inspiration, with nods to artists such as Todd Rundgren and Funkadelic showing up in his weird lo-fi sound. Everlasting is a 5-track EP on Stones Throw.

A real treat for fans of podcasts, vinyl and golden-age hip-hop, Podcast On Vinyl No.1 from the Lewis Recordings label captures a special episode of the Hardcore Listing podcast. It saw Chris Glasson and Stu Whiffen talking with special guest DJ Yoda about his five favourite golden-age hip-hop albums, recorded live in one take. It comes pressed to ultra-clear vinyl. 

Fronted by The Wharves’ Gemma Fleet, Glaswegian trio Order of the Toad caused a stir with their 2018 self-titled debut, located between country-pop and dusty, Sixties psychedelia. Spearheaded by a fantastic new single in ‘Lady’s Mantle’, they prepare their sophomore effort, titled Re-Order of the Toad. 

Norwegian ‘supergroup’ Fra Det Onde is a meeting of three of the country’s most skilled musicians operating in freeform, improvised fashion - Erik Kimestad Pedersen on trumpet, Exoterm’s Rune Nergaard on bass and Bigbang’s Olaf Olsen on drums. On Feat. the Legendary Emil Nikolaisen, they’re joined by icon(oclast)ic Serena Maneesh member Emil Nikolaisen behind the production desk. 

Amebix were a crust band formed in 1978 before disbanding nine years later. They were made up of Rob ‘The Baron’ Miller, Chris ‘Stig’ Miller and Roy Mayorga who went on to play drums for Nausea, Soulfly and Stone Sour. They briefly reformed in 2008 and re-recorded three classics that make up Redux.

Smoker’s Delight: Sonic Buds by Leeds DJ and producer Nightmares on Wax comes as just one excellent strand of celebrations marking the original classic Smoker’s Delight album’s 25th anniversary. This special 12” includes two new tracks, Let’s Ascend and Aquaself. On Warp.

Finally available for the first time on vinyl, The Carrier Frequency was an important piece of stage work that came from a collaboration between Graeme Miller and Steve Shill - the core of the Impact Theatre Co-Operative - and novelist Russell Hoban in 1984. Combining electro-acoustic instrumentation with industrial aesthetics, its score contributed to a critically revered production. 

A Swedish producer based in Gothenburg, Karl Lindh (real name Lukas Pettersson aka Luke Eargoggle) drops his olde 2005 electronic brainchild on wax for the first time via Low Company - 'Bortom E4's Horrisont'. With a sprawling selection of instruments featuring on the pieces, the Scandinavian marries numerous styles and flavours to create something authentic and vibrant. Superb jazz-tinged ambient that shows a totally different side to the artist - best known for his electro productions on Bunker and his own Stilleben label.

A new three-track EP on Wisdom Teeth from the label’s long-term friend, Dwayne Parris. With its title track created in league with fellow artist Minor Science, Terrapin sees Parris once again toying with the house music template, whether it be the gentle, building opener ‘Soft Rocks With Socks’ or the high-tempo closer ‘Sabor A Ceniza’. 

Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton first started making music together in 1991 and have made a variety of styles of electronic music under several different names such as Reload, Jedi Knights, Link and Chameleon. They recorded their ambient techno masterwork 76:14 as Global Communication in 1994. An eternal classic available once more. An eternal classic available once more on their Evolution label. Updated gatefold sleeve design by Mark Gowing with in-depth sleevenotes by Ben Cardew.

Death Valley Girls hail from Los Angeles. They are fronted by the wonderfully named Bonnie Bloomgarden and their bassist is called Pickle. They cook up a sound that takes in elements of Funhouse-era Stooges, Velvet Underground,  ZZ Top and Black Sabbath. On Under The Spell of Joy they even manage to cram a school choir into this heady rock ‘n’ roll mix. 

Psych-funk band Helliocentrics fuse the sounds of James Brown, Sun Ra, Ennio Morricone, Pierre Henry and Can to make music that stretches into a whole new realm of psychedelia. Telemetric Sounds is the London band’s eleventh album overall and second for Madlib’s Madlib Invazion label following on from Infinity of Now. 

Espen Eriksen Trio return with End of Summer, their fifth album. This time the Norwegian jazz trio are back by themselves, following a critically acclaimed album, Perfectly Unhappy, with Andy Sheppard. The album was recorded during lockdown when the band found themselves with no gigs to play and sees them striking a perfect balance between uplifting and melancholic.

Working once again with their mercurial producer Dave Fridmann, The Flaming Lips unveil their 21st studio album. Featuring guest backing vocals from country superstar Kacey Musgraves among others, American Head sees them embrace a wider identity than their Oklahoman, outsider origins, according their leader Wayne Coyne.

Martin Denny was an American pianist and composer. His now classic 1957 LP, Exotica, gave a name to a whole new sub-genre of lounge music. Denny became known as the “Father of Exotica”. Vibes and Marimba player Arthur Lyman and percussionist Augie Colon feature alongside Denny. Ltd LP on Jackpot.

A re-issue of Quiet Village, the eighth studio album from the father of exotica, Martin Denny. Sub-titled The Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny to make it appear like a compilation, it originally came out in 1959, and as a package, complete with its famous artwork, it served as a perfect introduction to Denny’s aesthetic. 

A key figure in the Northern England electronic underground in recent years, producer Rian Treanor delivers an amped-up album of unmediated, knotty club-orientated dance mayhem for his second album on Planet Mu. File Under UK Metaplasm is rawer than last year’s debut Ataxia, though it contains the same kinds of unstable, complex rhythms and sharp production values delivered at a frenetic pace. 

Nice re-issue of the second album from Greg Sage's post-punk greats. This is where the band got all cold and nihilistic and spread six long tracks that burn with a fiery intensity across the LP. It's a harsh angular sound that influenced Mission of Burma amongst others and led Kurt Cobain to consider it one of the top 50 records to be released ever.  

New Order scour the vaults once again to bring us the ‘Definitive Edition’ of their 1983 masterpiece Power, Corruption & Lies. As well as the album itself being re-mastered and pressed to vinyl, this lavish box set includes two CDs containing unreleased writing session material and the band’s 1982 John Peel session, two DVDs capturing New Order live at The Hacienda and Kilkenny, their 1984 Play At Home documentary film, and a 48-page hardback book of rare photos and new essays. 

Neil O'Connor has been producing electronic music for the past 21 years under a number of guises - most notably Somadrone - and has seen his work invite comparisons to the likes of Eno and Sakamoto. Ampere features musicians from traditional and contemporary music including Dónal Lunny (Planxty), Cormac MacDiarmada (Lankum), Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, David Murphy and The Crash Ensemble.

The Blanche Hudson Weekend were an indie band from Leeds who took their name from Joan Crawford’s character in Whatever Happened To Baby Jane. Their vision of pop incorporated some electronic beats and synths with Jesus & Marychain flavoured fuzz and occasionally viola drones inspired by The Velvet Underground. Their sound could be compared to Shop Assistants, The Primitives and The Flatmates. Standing On The Lift To The Scaffold : 2009 - 2013 compiles the best stuff from their 3 years and 7 months-long existence.

Neil O'Connor has been producing electronic music for the past 21 years under a number of guises - most notably Somadrone - and has seen his work invite comparisons to the likes of Eno and Sakamoto. It features a number of collaborations from contemporaries such as Seán Mac Erlaine (This is How We Fly), Linda Buckley, Kate Ellis (Crash Ensemble) and John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea and Cake).

The Continuing Escapades of the Soft Hearted Scientists is a new box-set from Fruits De Mer compiling some of the more recent work of Welsh psychedelicists Soft Hearted Scientists. Following up on 2013’s Whatever Happened To… compilation, this 4xLP set includes a double LP of instrumentals from the band, sliced up, patched together and edited into four lengthy suites.