Autechre’s sixth album is the Trout Mask Replica of early ’00s electronic music, a polarizing, often confounding listen that, like Captain Beefheart’s 1969 avant-rock classic, abides by some […]
UK
By the mid-1980s, the former punk band the Mekons had learned enough about the music machine to become completely alienated by it. They’d experimented with punk, minimalist synth […]
One of the first signings on Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent’s imprint 4AD is also one of its least known, even if “Fond Affections” eventually found a bigger […]
Time is Away is the London-based DJ/musical storyteller/artist duo Jack Rollo and Elaine Tierney. Their first officially licensed compilation, Ballads is a divinely curated collection of deeply heartfelt songs and devotional […]
Promise Nothing is a compilation album produced by Why-Fi following Virginia’s departure from the label. It contains classics from her Why-Fi catalog along with two tracks from her […]
It’ll End In Tears is the classic debut album by 4AD family band This Mortal Coil featuring members of Cocteau Twins, Magazine, and Dead Can Dance. 4AD described […]
Two of the U.K.’s finest dub legends come together for a wicked combination album featuring the “Zulu Warrior” Jah Shaka on Side A and Ariwa Sounds boss Mad […]
International disco-funk group Heatwave was founded by Johnnie Wilder, an American serviceman who was stationed in West Germany and sang in nightclubs and taverns. After being discharged from […]
South London community-come-club night, record label, NTS Radio staple, concert series and creative studio Touching Bass presents Soon Come, a landmark compilation celebrating the talents of their now […]
Previously unreleased post-Brenda And The Beach Balls pre-Walatta hip-hop inspired boogie, street soul, and pop house from Brenda Ray? YES, please! Only the second album from the enigmatic melodyist-rhythmist, Perfume […]
Linda Lewis is a UK singer/songwriter who didn’t get much recognition in the US, but had success in Japan. While not a household name, Lewis was very much involved […]
Soft Machine and Matching Mole drummer turned multi-instrumentalist / songwriter Robert Wyatt presents a collection of political protest songs and cover versions of Chic, Billie Holiday, and Ivor […]
The latest release on DJ Python’s Worldwide Unlimited imprint expands on the label’s next-level aesthetic with a hyperjump out of the club and into the heart. Named after […]
A private press “jangle-pop” gem picked up in the UK by Bruno of Perfect Lives, The Compromise is perfect low budget crying music featuring drum box grooves, washed […]
On The Love That Whirls (Diary Of A Thinking Heart), the wildly creative force of Be Bop Deluxe founder Bill Nelson is on full display with the artist […]
The landmark debut album by Durutti Column, a Factory Records project consisting of genius guitarist Vini Reilly and legendary Manchester producer Martin Hannett, The Return Of The Durutti […]
Dots and Loops is Stereloab’s fifth studio album co-produced in Chicago by Tortoise’s John McEntire and in Düsseldorf with Andi Toma, one half of electronic duo Mouse on […]
Essential listening from one of the great duo’s of modern electronic music, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts pieces together found vocals from unidentified radio hosts, smooth […]
Sweet Company is the second LP from Jabu, the trio of producer Amos Childs and vocalists Jasmine Butt and Alex Rendall. The group is closely tied to Bristol-based […]
An underrated release from Mad Professor’s consistently great Ariwa Sounds label, Man And Machine Dubbing In Harmony is the debut album from the Robotiks, Ariwa’s in-house band. While […]
Plastic Ono Band, Harry Nilsson, Elton John, and a “lost weekend” in Los Angeles away from Yoko and family life make for a winning combination on John Lennon’s […]
By some strange circumstance, Kate Bush has made it back to the top of the charts, and we’re here for it! Hounds of Love is an absolute classic, […]
We don’t often feature 12″ records here but this one is too good not to… Public Image Limited’s bass maestro Jah Wobble puts together a one-off trio featuring […]
Quirky minimal electronic music from Southampton-based musician Steve Hartwell composed in 1983 using sequencers and the MSX computer, one of the first generation of home computers used for […]
Guitarists Kevin McCormick and David Horridge collaborated on this wordless, dream-like album back in 1982, using only guitars and the occasional fretless bass to express themselves. The obvious […]
The Eno brothers and pedal steel master Daniel Lanois soundtrack the Apollo space landing on this Editions EG ambient classic. Originally recorded for Al Reinert’s 1983 landmark documentary […]
A seminal post punk classic, Gang of Four’s debut Entertainment is a perfectly stripped down mix of punk, funk, and dub with highly political lyrics taking aim at […]
A classic from legendary British R&B group Loose Ends, A Little Spice is perfect ’80s boogie for dance floors of yesterday and today. Much like their contemporaries S.O.S. […]
Following up one of our favorite records of 2020, the Bristol-based Tara Clerkin Trio returns with a new four song collection. In Spring is their latest 20-minute set of […]
Featured in the “Mellow” section of Chee Shimizu’s Obscure Sound disc guide, Harbor is a surprisingly dark album from the George Martin-produced British soft rock band. While the […]
Caribbean-Belgian composer, producer, and musician Nala Sinephro’s debut release Space 1.8 weaves together future-facing jazz and mellow ambient moods that feel wholly new. Sinephro was only 22 when she recorded Space […]
John & Yoko’s first album after a long hiatus from music following the birth of their first son Sean, Double Fantasy received largely negative reviews from critics but […]
Engineered by Prince Jammy, Dub Confrontation is a classic showdown album featuring Fatman Killer and the Zulu Warrior Jah Shaka. For those unfamiliar, a dub showdown features two […]
I Wah Dub is an absolute classic dubwise album by Blackbeard aka Dennis Bovell, one of the godfathers of British reggae. The multi-talented Bovell follows in the footsteps […]
Possibly David Sylvian’s greatest solo work (it’s hard to pick), Secrets of the Beehive is a deeply introspective work of slow, electronic art rock featuring an all-star supporting […]
The short-lived late ’60s psychedelic Brit-pop boy band Grapefruit sounds very much of their time, but that doesn’t mean the songs aren’t still great. Closely tied to The […]
Terry Cox, Bert Jansch, Jacqui McShee, John Renbourn and Danny Thompson come together to form folk “supergroup” The Pentangle. Their 1968 groundbreaking debut album combines the folk, jazz, […]
Written and recorded after the birth of her first child but before the arrival of her second, Tirzah’s Colourgrade is a follow-up to her 2018 debut, Devotion. Produced in conjunction with […]
It’s hard to pick a favorite between Fripp & Eno’s pair of mid-70’s proto-ambient albums on Island Records. Both prominently showcase the duo’s early experiments in their trademark […]
One of our favorites from the deep On-U catalog, Tunes from the Missing Channel is producer Adrian Sherwood, drummer Style Scott, and the whole Dub Syndicate collective at […]
Everyone knows the 80’s Eurythmics classic “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This).” It’s been played countlessly on radio stations around the world for decades and is likely playing […]
Led by English producer/composer David Cunningham, The Flying Lizards were an experimental new wave band that featured a loose group of collaborators including avant-garde musicians David Toop and […]
Peter Green was the founder of Fleetwood Mac and worked with the band from 1967–70 before leaving the group and releasing The End of the Game in 1970. […]
Part of a trilogy of albums produced by Robert Fripp in the late 70’s showcasing his “Frippertronics” guitar method, Sacred Songs is an unexpected but strangely beautiful avant-garde […]
Psychedelic rock pioneer Kevin Ayers was the first member of legendary Canterbury group Soft Machine to launch a solo career. His four albums on Harvest remain unheralded prog-rock […]
“A year-round collection of summery breezes.” The music of Brenda Ray and her Naffi Sandwich crew sits firmly within the late 70’s/early 80’s UK post-punk meets reggae scene […]
An interesting one to be listening to now that it’s firmly Fall, but there’s no wrong time for balearic music right? On the Beach is a yacht rock […]
Released nearly two years after their first no. 1 hit The Game, Queen’s Hot Space was a departure from the group’s typical layered arrangements and orchestral sound into […]
A textural masterpiece, Cocteau Twins third album Treasure is possibly the group’s finest work and a definite 4AD record during the label’s creative peak. Robin Guthrie, Simon Raymonde, […]
Possibly the greatest female reggae MC of all time, Ranking Ann delivers six powerful cuts of dancehall perfection on her debut album A Slice of English Toast produced […]
HQ (aka When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease) is legendary English singer songwriter Roy Harper’s progressive folk rock album featuring Trigger – a one time super group […]
Starting in the 1970s, Jamaican poet Johnson became a well known chronicler of Black culture in and around Bristol, England. Relocating from the former British colony of Jamaica […]
Recorded at the legendary Compass Point Studios and engineered by Channel One’s Soljie and Maxie, The Dub Factor is a dub classic featuring reworkings of Black Uhuru’s 1982 […]
A must-have for fans of the David Mancuso Loft staple “Rude Movements”, Raw Movements / Rude Movements presents previously unreleased demos from UK duo Sun Palace. Compiled by […]
Like many of our favorite records, Paul McCartney’s quirky, experimental pop album was poorly received by critics upon release but has since gained a cult following and recognized […]
The follow up to Sade’s brilliant debut, Promise builds on the smooth soul jazz of Diamond Life with even tighter rhythms and elegant compositions. Led by singer Sade […]
Internal conflicts, contract obligations, touring commitments… The Stones were dealing with the whole nine when tasked to turn in a new album to follow up their underwhelming 1980 […]
Featured in John Peel’s Top Ten Albums of 1973, Scottish pop rock band Blue’s debut is a confident showing of twelve original songs each with a distinctive sound. […]
Caetano Veloso is the philosophical lyricist and composer behind many classics of the psych movement in Brazil, but there was an abrupt shift in his story in 1969. […]
Germany’s Sacred Summits recently reissued this long-lost album of Erik Satie synthesizer interpretations by the legendary minimal composer Morgan Fisher. Fisher, whose career spans over fifty years, started […]
The unexpected first time collaborative effort by experimental electronic musicians Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails) and Daniel Avery was created remotely across several times zones over several years. […]
Recorded by George Michael at just twenty years old, 1983’s Fantastic would prove to be a promising yet extremely flawed debut for the future pop phenoms. Following the […]
The Slits were favorites in London’s punk scene for years before they recorded their first album. When they did finally step into the studio in 1979 for Cut, […]
4AM is the recently unearthed DIY synth-pop manifesto by UK duo Steve Kirby and Kevin Finch. Their lone release was originally privately pressed in 1990 to a dismal […]
Originally released on tape in 1984, David Toop and Steve Beresford’s experimental dub masterpiece Danger in Paradise is a major highlight of the 80’s improvised music scene in […]
Spearheaded by the acid-tongued icon Mark E. Smith, This Nation’s Saving Grace stands as the best from the Beggars Banquet era Fall and is widely accepted as one […]
This is the type of record you put on and before you know it you’ve played it 2 or 3 times in a row… The post punk outfit […]
When music speaks to both the past, present, and futures to come, it invites listeners to take pause and cherish the moment. Contours’ recent release Balafon Sketches does […]
One of the more underrated singer-songwriters from the 70’s, Colin Blunstone began his career as the lead singer of the English rock band The Zombies. After releasing a […]
Little information can be found of the mysterious UK singer Jeanette Dwyer, labeled by a small number of passionate fans as “one of the great forgotten artists of […]
Insides is the English post-rock duo made up of singer/bassist Kirsty Yates and guitarist/programmer Julian Tardo, both formerly of 80’s shoegaze trio Earwig. Their debut album Euphoria was […]
Nils Frahm has accomplished much in his illustrious career. A minimalist composer known for his sparse piano playing and electronic sound effects, Frahm has carved out a niche […]
Cymande’s sound is equally exploratory as much as it is soulful. Formed in London in 1971, the band had their roots in a handful of former colonies of […]
North Marine Drive is the 1983 debut by Londoner Ben Watt before he joined forces with Marine Girls’ Tracey Thorn to create the mainstream 90s UK indie duo […]
David Sylvain’s first taste of international acclaim came by way of his band Japan. Struggling to win over fans in the mid 70’s UK punk era, Japan ironically […]
Ultramarine is the Essex-based duo of Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond who produced some incredible 1970’s Canterbury influenced electronic music in the early 1990’s. Their sophomore outing Every […]
Extractions is the third album by the underrated instrumental quartet Dif Juz ( a play on ‘different jazz’) and their penultimate full length before dismembering in 1986. Shortly […]
Ann O’Connor’s runaway youth days in late ’70s New York is the stuff of legends. She was living on her own at 16 and with no overt desire […]
Shiny Two Shiny is the cult 80’s minimal pop duo of Gayna Florence Perry (aka Flo Sullivan) and Robin Surtees. The pair came together after the dissolution of […]
Eno’s 1975 precursor-to-ambient albums Another Green World and Discreet Music entered Bowie’s ears and infiltrated his psyche at a very interesting point in the rock star’s career: when the damaging repercussions of […]
The Pleasure Principle is the third studio album by English musician and electronic music pioneer Gary Numan, and the first to be released under his own name. Numan […]
Sampling soul, jazz, rock and R&B tracks in hip hop had been around since the genre’s birth in the late ’70’s, and had expanded across the next two […]
Another brilliant release from Glasgow-based experimental electronic label 12th Isle, Pataphysical’s Periphera is an immersive, ambient journey into cosmic highs and subterranean lows. Quite minimal in approach, the […]
The Road to Ruin marks a pivotal stepping stone in the multi-faceted career of our patron saint John Martyn. Not only was it the last collaboration with his […]
Kofi’s Black… With Sugar is one of the great modern masterpieces of lovers rock released on Ariwa Sounds, the legendary boutique label and four-track recording studio that was […]
The Go-Betweens were formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1977 by friends Grant McLennan and Robert Forster. The two would share songwriting duties throughout the band’s existence, developing an […]
Like a lot of great music we enjoy, Roger Melt’s Pleine Lune is completely unique and difficult to place, and also the only solo release from the Geneva-based […]
The first release on the legendary On-U Sound label featuring members of The Slits, The Pop Group, Roots Radics, Aswad, Raincoats and Flying Lizards, The New Age Steppers […]
Featuring 30 songs in total, Drukqs was met with a lot of blowback from critics and journalists. Many simply just didn’t seem to understand its brilliance at the time, or […]
By 1970, composer Harold Budd’s work had become increasingly minimalist and after releasing a long-form solo gong piece, Budd decided to minimalize even further and stopped composing completely. […]
Featuring an unexpected lineup of musicians from seemingly distant scenes, Snake Charmer is the super session Mini-LP by Public Image Ltd bassist Jah Wobble, U2’s the Edge, and […]
A collection must-have, this is the debut album by English folk singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan. Like so many albums in our collection and amazing albums in general, this once […]
A Warp Records classic, The Campfire Headphase is a defining record in the Boards of Canada discography in that it saw the duo adding acoustic and electric instruments […]
Woo is the beloved experimental UK sibling duo of Clive and Mark Ives who released a slew of dreamy introspective folk / ambient records in the 80’s and […]
Part of a myriad of excellent side projects from the various members of Wire after their temporary dissolution in 1981, AC Marias was created by bassist Graham Lewis, […]
Pram were an experimental pop group from Birmingham, England formed in 1988. Influenced by the likes of The Raincoats, Faust and Alice Coltrane, the band’s unique sound garnered […]
One of our favorite new releases this year, Duval Timothy’s Help is a powerful narrative journey navigating through the the trenches of the music industry, self-help videos, and […]
On his first solo release in almost 3 years, the British producer extraordinaire responsible for 2017’s massive club hit “Blue Pedro,” delivers one of his most satisfying and […]
The groundbreaking album that started the shoegaze movement. Undoubtedly one of the most revered records in alt rock history, Loveless by Kevin Shields’ My Bloody Valentine captures a […]
An all-time classic and essential listen, Scott 4 is the only album released under Walker’s birth name Scott Engel, which may have actually led to its initial poor […]
Old Rottenhat is the fourth solo album from ex Soft Machine drummer/vocalist Robert Wyatt. This album was released ten years apart from his last solo release and features a […]
Trippy, experimental dub from famed UK producer Adrian Sherwood’s On-U-Sound. “African Head Charge” was formed as a studio project inspired by Brian Eno’s “vision for a psychedelic Africa” […]
L.A. Turnaround was recorded a year after the dissolution of Bert Jansch’s group Pentangle, and saw the artist at a shifting point in his life and sound. The […]
A one-time musical anomaly created from the ashes of influential UK post-punk trio This Heat, Lifetone’s For A Reason brings together the political angst and energy of This […]
A highly underrated lovers rock classic. Bassist George Oban formed “Motion” to explore his own unique musical ideas after leaving the legendary UK reggae group Aswad. His departure […]
What do Kate Bush and Khruangbin have in common? They’ve discovered a secret to creating a successful album: recording in a barn on a farm where time stands […]
It’s not every day that you listen to a record where jazz and ambient genres can meld so cohesively that they form another thing altogether. On Lemon Quartet’s […]
Bit of a hidden gem from one of our favorite new labels Last Resort, G.S. Schray’s “Gabriel” is a warm, ambient trip through the suburban streets of Akron, […]
Though released to little fanfare in 1981, like all bizarre and wonderful records Point of View has gained an underground following over the years, with record collectors spending […]
When a former psych project decides to drop the guitars and approach recording a new record with looped clarinet as a basis, you don’t get psych. Instead, Tara […]
Essential UK street soul recently reissued by Toronto’s Invisible City, “Street Soul” compiles the most beloved tracks by Soul Connection, a late 80’s duo made up of producer/pioneer […]
In 1979, Laraaji was hammering away at his zither in Washington Square Park alone, in a lotus position, eyes closed, filling the air with his stream-of-consciousness harmonics only […]
Another Green World is Brian Eno’s transitional record from glam rock to the ambient minimalism that he would later be more recognized for, and essential listening for any […]
Talk Talk’s commercially disastrous, cult classic Spirit of Eden is an absolute must listen for any music fan. Recorded over three years in “an endlessly blacked-out studio, an […]
Virginia Astley’s conceptual debut is a collection of tone poems meant to represent the sounds and mood of an innocent summer day. The album is notable for its […]
Steve McQueen also known as Two Wheels Good is the brainchild of Prefab Sprout’s frontman/songwriter Paddy McAloon and producer Thomas Dolby. The story goes that after hearing that Dolby was […]
Recorded in just 5 hours on a four-track recorder purchased from illustrious producer Bill Nelson and later overdubbed with drummer and percussionist Bruce Mitchell, Durutti Column’s second and […]
A Walk Across The Rooftops, the debut album from The Blue Nile, laid the blueprints for what would come to be their signature sophisticated, polished, and highly personal […]
Cited as being an entry point to genres such as trip hop and ambient, Solid Air is undoubtedly John Martyn’s magnum opus. A true balance of dark and […]
