Review: Mute and Spoon Records continue in their CAN retrospective bout, following up the first two parts of the long-lost CAN live series ('Brighton' and 'Stuttgart' respectively) with further re-releases of their best known albums. Here, their sci-fi prog masterpiece 'Monster Movie' gets a blue vinyl rerub, doing best justice yet to the band's debut after Holger Czukay and Irmin Schmidt left their academic careers to start the band. The twenty minute peak state 'Yoo Doo Right' sounds particularly great here, thanks to the band members overseeing the album's most recent remaster in 2004. As ever with CAN, this album has an honest, intense and raw sound.
B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition
Too Freud To Rock'n'Roll Too Jung To Die
You Gotta Keep Your Halfwits About You
Four Jehovahs In A Volvo Estate
The Dogshow Must Go On
1066 & All That
In Spungent Mansions
Me & The Jews
A Shipwrecked Song
Sol Invicto
R In The Hood
Done Myself A Mischief
Will Sergeant's Blues
Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***
Author and musician Julian Cope, formerly of Teardrop Explodes, is a leftfield national treasure. His books contain some of the funniest and most imaginative stories ever printed and as a musician he is the essence of rock n' roll. This latest album - the follow-up to 2023's excellent Robin Hood - is Cope at his most melodic. It contains nods to the likes of spook rocker Joe Meek, Velvet Underground and Krautrock, with a smorgasbord of guitar tones, mellotron and loose Moe Tucker-esque drumming. Cope's lyrics, with plenty of humour and off-kilter references, are a joy to dive into as they're cloaked in some of the best music he's ever composed.
Review: Kuchu: The Best Of Fishmans was first released in 2005 as the indie-label (Pony Canyon) follow-up to Fishmans' first best of compilation; the blue to Universal Music's orange, this compilation was first issued on CD only, and charted at least 20 tracks' worth of both greatest hits and rarities, neither of which could possibly all fit on a single vinyl record at the time. That all changes with this retroactive vinyl reissue of the compilation, which cuts things down to just a dozen selections, hand-picked by drummer Kinichi Motegi, from the dreamy Shibuya, dub and experimental band's discography. Held in high regard for all too long, we're very happy this one's made a comeback.
Review: In 2015, Texas & London-based trio Khruangbin's debut album 'The Universe Smiles Upon You' garnered wide critical acclaim and captured attention for its seamless genre-blending and internationally shaped sound - one that evidently has deep roots in Thai-funk cassette culture. Similarly to their debut, sophomore record 'Con Todo El Mundo' is a cocktail of largely instrumental surf-rock, afro-funk, middle-eastern and far-eastern influences, mixed with warmth and soul. As if their pallette wasn't diverse enough, the additions of the pared back boogie on 'Evan Finds The Third Room', the widescreen dream-pop of 'A Hymn' and deeply intricate writing of closer 'Friday Morning', are illustrative of a band who have worked hard to broaden their horizons while keeping their roots in mind and, despite transatlantic bases, clearly remain a stunningly cohesive and well-matched outfit.
Review: Japanese psychedelic rock band Kikagaku Moyo deliver a second album for Tokyo-based label Guruguru Brain, providing the band with its fifth album in as many years. Opening with the sitar-play of "Entrance" and moving into more radical free-rock of "Dripping Sun" and "Fluffy Kosmisch", there's more traditional and folky numbers to be found in "Nazo Nazo", "Amayadori" and the dream inducing "Orange Peel". There's no denying the musical ground Kikagaku Moyo are capable of covering and with other tracks "Majupose" and "Gatherings" falling somewhere in between the aforementioned, and this Masana Temples LP will appeal to appreciators of French outfit Air as much as it will to lovers of Alan Vega and Martin Rev's music.
Review: Los Jaivas' Alturas de Macchu Picchu arrives newly remastered and reissued by state51 on heavyweight wax, and it remains a landmark of South American music. Its blurring of psychedelic rock, Andean folk and Pablo Neruda's poetic power makes the album, which was recorded in exile during Chile's Pinochet era, an evocation of both the spirit and struggle of Latin America. Tracks like 'La Poderosa Muerte' and 'Sube a Nacer Conmigo Hermano' swirl with emotion and complexity to deliver a cinematic spiritual experience. Inspired by Incan ruins and resistance, Alturas is more than music-it's a cultural beacon that invites you into a timeless soundscape.
Review: A stunning fusion of rock, Latin rhythms and jazz, this 1977 album blended live performances with studio recordings to create a dynamic, immersive experience. Now reissued on vinyl, the double album - which features live and studio recordings - captures the raw energy of Santana's stage presence while showcasing Carlos and co's refined musicianship. The album's biggest hit, 'She's Not There', reinterprets The Zombies' classic with soaring guitar work and Latin percussion, turning it into a mesmerising jam. 'Flor d'Luna (Moonflower)' is a beautiful instrumental piece, filled with Carlos Santana's signature, expressive guitar melodies. 'Dawn / Go Within' opens the album with a mystical, jazz-tinged atmosphere that blends the spiritual with a musical exploration throughout the album. Live recordings such as 'Soul Sacrifice / Head, Hands & Feet (Drum Solo)' bring the band's electrifying energy to the forefront, while 'Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen' revisits their earlier hit with even more intensity. 'Europa (Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile)' is another gem, a slow-burning instrumental that highlights Santana's unmatched ability to blend emotion and technical prowess. Moonflower was a commercial and critical success, reinforcing Santana's status as innovators in rock and Latin music, and even now, it's pretty obvious why.
Review: High Time is the second album by Japanese rock band The Michelle Gun Elephant, first released in November 1996 through Columbia Japan. Outperforming their previous works, this one was a major breakthrough in their career, coming just eight months after their debut. It coincided with the band's rapid ascent (and our corresponding assent), thanks to the many seething punk hazings-over heard therein, such as 'Brand New Stone', 'Lily' and 'Bowling Machine'. The third especially works in many a sparing and striking sound effect, as heard and caused by many a pro bowler over the years. Interestingly, the CD and vinyl editions have different titles and have different tracklists.
Grupo Atlantic De San Martin - "Danza Atlantic" (2:38)
Los Tigres De Tarapoto - "Bailando Con Los Tigres" (2:50)
Los Invasores Del Progreso - "Selva Mia" (2:42)
Los Condores De Cusco - "La Piedrita" (2:29)
Grupo Punto 5 De La Oroja - "Raquel" (3:50)
Los Rangers De Tingo Maria - "Baila Babalu" (2:59)
Los Condores De Cusco - "Cusco Imperial" (2:40)
Grupo Punto 5 De La Oroja - "Triste Esperanza" (3:09)
Grupo Atlantic De San Martin - "Amor En La Selva" (3:38)
Los Invasores Del Progreso - "Recordando A Mi Lita" (2:37)
Review: Fast rising London label Cornerman International present the first volume in a new LP compilation series, the first of which looks in on some of the best Latin cumbia to grace Peru during the genre's golden era. Corralling every bright group star from Los Tigres to Grupo Atlantic to Los Invasores, this is a sure-to-be obscurio's favourite, reflecting the diversity of styles bottleable within the otherwise rhythmic constraint that defines the cumbia sound, as it particularly proliferated across Peru during the 1960s. A convenient fusion with American psych rock elements would define the Peruvian sound, which soon became known as chicha, though other Latin American epicentres such as Colombia were also hotbeds of the style. Notably, the release revives the distinctive sound of El Volcan, a Cusco-based label that became a beacon for cumbia in the Andes and beyond.
Review: Powerful grooves from Mood Mosaic's latest series; most of the work here originates from the 70s, and a lot from those great years of the UK and US scene where it also seemed like there was plenty of folk in the music to boot. A few of these cuts are downright acid, and all are filled with great instrumentation; an approach that's a nice change from some of the more familiar Brit and US manners of the same generation. Titles include, among others: Nirvana's 'Nova Sketch', Fifty Foot Hose's 'Rose', Pyranha's 'Clepsydre', Kaleidoscope's 'Keep Your Mind Open', and more.
COB (Clive's Original Band) - "Eleven Willows" (4:06)
Comus - "The Herald" (4:17)
Review: Way back in 2004, Sanctuary Records commissioned pre-Britpop pop hipsters St Etienne member and serial compilation curator Bob Stanley to put together a collection celebrating the British 'acid folk' movement of the late 1980s and early 1970s. Long deleted, the previously CD only compilation is finally returning on vinyl - this time in expanded form, with the inclusion of additional tracks and a few picks from its (also unavailable) sequel. It's a superb set all told and one that showcases a take on folk heavy on effects, unusual rhythms, sweet vocals, horror-adjacent sounds and pastoral but otherworldly instrumentation. A few well-known names aside, it's a genuinely deep dive too - as you'd expect from someone of Stanley's knowledge and experience.
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