Ritual (Mr Bongo). Nico Gomez & His Afro Percussion Inc. combined Latin rhythms with organ-led funk to create psych-infused dancefloor jazz.…

Music For Dancefloors: The KPM Music Library (Strut). One of my all-time favourite compilations gets a welcome re-release, with the addition of a bonus disc containing a live set from The KPM All-Stars,…

I Awake (Dramatico). I first became aware of Aussie, Sarah Blasko, a couple of years back with her gorgeous cover of Olivia Newton John’s ‘Xanadu’,…

Jupiter (Big Village Records). Harvey Summers isn’t bothered with the minutiae of life; his concerns lie with the big stuff: quantum physics, meta-physics and philosophy are his bag. …

Single of the month: The Agency, She / The Temple (Solarbear). Newcastle band, The Agency, have really come up trumps with this double A-Side.…

Mop Mop, Isle Of Magic (Agogo) Mop Mop enlist the legendary Fred Wesley and the inimitable Anthony Joseph to add their sauce to a number of tracks on this superb album of liquid world-beat. …

Attacks the charts that is. Not only has Johnny Marr got a lovely new solo album out, but his early 90s release ‘Electronic’ (which he put together with Bernard Sumner and Neil Tennant) has had a spruce up and is out in April.…

Single of the month: All Pleasures/Garden Sounds…

Album of the month: Heartthrob…

With a bunch of his old clobber being shown at the V&A (from 23 March), a surprise new album on the horizon (11 March), and the 40th anniversary remaster of Aladdin Sane to get your head round, it would seem that David Bowie is having a bit of a moment. S…

The big Three Five. Hang on! 35 is not a special anniversary! It’s not, say, a meaty 50 or even a sliver tinged 25. Still, any excuse to give Fleetwood Mac’s classic album another spin is OK with us. …

There’s not a lot wrong with this pic… In fact this image is so exciting that we’ve had to put it in black and white as we don’t think you could handle it in colour. It is, of course, Giorgio Moroder and Donna Summer, and the r…

Album of the Month Hot Coins
 The Damage Is Done (Sonar Kollectiv) 
How’s this for a pitch: an album that’s a homage to late 70s NYC anti-culture, realized through the eyes of a Scottish born electronic musician living in mode…

Little lower than angels The years between 1968-1979 saw Joni Mitchell occupy a lofty pinnacle in the music stratosphere that was pretty much unassailable as a new box-set confirms. …

Album of the Month Kiki Gyan 24 Hours In A Disco (Soundway) You can’t go wrong with a bit of Ghanaian disco, I say. If that sounds like the words of an unrepentant world music obscurist to you, then check out this retrospective of session wunde…

Album of the Month Stubborn Heart Stubborn Heart (One Little Indian) The lovely debut album from Luca Santucci & Ben Fitzgerald is a rather splendid amalgamation of Hurts (with their high polish electronica) and James Blake (with his spacey, hear…

Album of the Month Verbal Terrorists The War On Terra (Verbal Terrorists) Whoah! This is potent stuff from this Newcastle based hip-hop outfit who turn their fire on all of the injustices which exist in the world in an endlessly inventive album which…

Album of the Month Richard Dawson The Magic Bridge (Box Records) Newcastle based Richard Dawson has beguiled his way round live venues in the region for a few years now and this album (released last year but now out on vinyl) captures him and his b…

Can: The Lost Tapes is a 3 CD set containing 30 previously unreleased tracks from the 1970s German innovators. Our verdict: Kosmik. …