The power three has always had a special place in jazz and Robert Mitchell’s 3iO team proves the point on this new album, The Greater Good.

Not to be confused with Klaus Wunderlich, whatever Das Wanderlust is/are, be prepared for a puzzle.

When you get Radio Slave to remix Florian Meindl and it lasts nearly 20 minutes, all I can say is “Hell yeah!”

Hot on the heels of Sonar Kollektiv’s 10th Birthday Party, Finger Lickin’ have put of a bucket of their spiciest nuggets in a whoppin’ 3CD limited edition boxset; now how can you try and contain yourself.

On his sixth solo album, the award-winning Wilson looks more towards commercial influences than previous work

Punk rock fused with banghra, dub, hip-hop is their trade-mark sound and there’s no let up with their latest album as it is as ferocious as when Asian Dub Foundation first burst into our musical consciousness.

Sixties sleeve notes that proclaim, “Open your consciousness, open your inner gates” smack of the “over-used clichés” Gunter et al were looking to avoid; such scribbling seems laughable now but the music is as still speaks volumes over 40 years on.

This is the third helping from the Supperclub from their ‘nine sins’ menu. Compiled and mixed by Pathaan of the Asian Network, you can guarantee the 2 CD set is a thing of true beauty.

KJ (aka Kevin John Slade) has got those boy band looks and a hot brand new single that’ll get you shakin’ that thing whether you want to or not.

With a worldwide release coming out on Young Turks, the question is, is the world ready for El Guicho’s Alegranza?

Well I know some two faced so and sos but Lightning Head (aka Glyn “Bigga” Bush) takes the biscuit with 13 magnificent faces on the follow-up to the classic Studio Don.

It’s no word of a lie when I say some of the best times I’ve had have been with Richard E; mostly in a dark basement but hear me now, this is the 7” you’ve been waiting for!

Madera Limpia is a young Cuban band with a rhythmic groove sound inspired by hip hop and reggae; so how eager do you think Daniel Haaksman was to get the remix out?

The welcome return of October this week finds him in his trademark extended and intricately crafted form where there is no problem with Houston

Byard has started his career in the mid 60s working with Sun Ra and McCoy Tyner but reached his funky peak with this album on the obscure Palm label, so it’s with great anticipation we find Kindred Spirits are reissuing it this week.

Taking that electro, hip-hop B-more thing a stage further, welcome to the Afrobotic.

Sometimes the future can’t come soon enough and and here’s a good example as 4 of the best tracks from last years’ album get mixed up.

The album Save Your Light for Darker Days came out last week to fantastic reviews but you’ll have to wait a little while for the first single from the album and the remix action.

He’s back! Pants is in the house with ‘Crystal Lite’ to brighten up our credit crunched worlds and not only that, there’s a proper live band coming to Europe in September and October!

Plump DJs (aka Lee Rous and Andy Gardner) are one of the first acts to be released on Finger Lickin’ Records and ‘Shifting Gears’ shows that they’re not thinking of slowing down the pace just yet.

A Limited Edition 10” vinyl sampler precedes the full album but with the ‘Asian Mark Ronson’ on one side and with a band that takes their name from a sewing machine manufacturer on the other, this is more than enough to get us excited.

If you think Recloose moved to New Zealand in 2001 to get away from it all never to be seen again, think again as Perfect Timing is 10 tracks of dance infused funk ‘n’ boogie that’s out now!

We were lucky enough to catch the entirety of Reykjavik’s 19th Jazz Festival in August, and came back refreshed, surprised and with a bevy of new sounds still buzzing about in our heads

Some might say Paul Smith is the sort of name that suits someone who makes shirts from Nottingham. But this Paul White makes beats, not shirts and he’s one of the hottest guys in demand at the moment and his latest single shows why.

Hieroglyphic Being’s The Bathroom Sessions was a very exclusive release on CD earlier in the year but here’s three selections on beautiful vinyl to help celebrate

Fresh from a damp Bestival on the Isle of Wight last weekend, Roots Manuva is hitting back with some wisdom that will let your spirit sooth you.

Now the thing is, if you’re on the fifth version of a secret love, can it really be that secret? I wouldn’t have thought so, but this series, compiled by Jazzanova keeps on unearthing some underground musical sweethearts.

Oh my! When Daniel Best at Best Seven compiles a CD, he gets it spot on every time. He must have some sort of a reggae version of a lucky seven as Selection 3 is the best seven so far.

If the name Koushik sounds familiar, it’s because he’s infrequently been turning up on compliations on Stones Throw for years but the long awaited for proper album is nearly over, Out My Window drops September 29th!

You’ve got to admit, this CD has a great cover but are the contents just as good?

The Black Seeds were a revelation on tour last year along with Eva Be so to say the new album is eagerly awaited is an understatement; thankfully Solid Ground is now here and sets the new foundation.

When you think of Swedish golden girls, Carolina Klüft is the most likely to spring to mind but if you’re after female vocals, Cornelia is your girl.

How hard can it be to pick 16 of your favourite reggae tracks for a compilation album? Well if your after a Primer 101, look no further than Ziggy Marley’s selction on this new CD for the near perfect choice.

Gilles Peterson presents even more bubblers on his Brownswood Recordings label and he’s still finding those eclectic gems from up and coming artists with a freshness you’re unlikely to find anywhere else.

“A lot of people don’t know about Smith, how I came to the scene, how I came to uplift”. Whoever these people are, they’ve not been tuning into this site as we estole the Roots Manuva (aka Mr. Rodney ‘the rootical one’ Smith) at any and ever opportunity.

“File under World / France/ Algeria/ Mediterranean” is the advice given on Marseille-based Watcha Clan’s latest album, and you could well add Balkan / Hip-Hop/ Sephardic/ Reggae to that list as the fiery collective from France’s cultural melting po®t stretch a host of disparate genres to modern-beats-driven breaking point.

What a dream! If your on a trip across America making a film about independent record shops, why not take it one step further and compile a book on the subject with the bonus of some essays and interviews before the digital age of mp3s takes over total control of how we buy and listen to music? That’s what Emma Pettit did and Old Rare New is the comprehensive book to proove it.

It’s time for a history lesson of West Coast hip-hop and electro by Prof. P.B. Wolf as he investigates the often overlooked chapter that features the Arabian Prince.

As you’d guess from the rather clever title, this is the remixed version of the massive hit album Attack Decay Sustain, but could it be better than the original?

Here are some 4hero remixes that must be destined to be on some future compilations albums but there’s no need to wait as you can get the 12” now!

Such was the demand for this compliation, the release date has been brought forward a couple of weeks as The Shapeshifters (aka Max Reich and Simon Marlin) get compiling and mixing this 3 CD monster.

Veteran UK electronic producer Dave Lee (aka Joey Negro) has put together a cast of thousands (well, not quick 1000s) to prove that when it comes to Moving With The Shakers, the music comes first.

You’ll have seen the back cover of this months’ Faith advertising the second edition of the Junior Boy’s Own compilation A Boy’s Own Odyssey; and here it is!

Featured in yesterday’s Metro as “FREELOADER - Where to find good music for nothing”, you’ll be please to know that you can also buy it from DJHistory.com and here’s something worth buying!

Hot on the heals of their appearance at Death Jazz, the debut album from a trio plucked out of Soil & “PIMP” Sessions is a maestro performance to the power of three.

Everyone aims for A Life Of Consummate Ease and Gripper has provided a musical soundtrack that covers nearly every genre you can think of but still holds it together for an excellent cohesive album.

What with Fabio taking over the Gilles Peterson show last week it’s a good time to keep turning left and get into the new compilation from Goldie’s Metalheadz team for all the best in current d’n’b.

When was the last time an album was released on five 10” records at 78 rpm with the note “For maximum enjoyment we recommend that you turn the volume up as loud as possible”? Years ago but not to worry if your Dansette is under a pile of junk somewhere up in the loft, the CD version is coming out real soon and you can play it at normal speed.

Hot in the footsteps of the Neil Cowley Trio, here’s the latest in the current trend for three piece jazz combos, Twelves Trio.

Missil’s aim is to hit the Targets of hip hop, electro, dancehall, breaks and grime and it comes easy to this DJ, graf artist, producer and all round woman of talent.

J.Rawls recently appeared on Peterson’s Worldwide radio show and it was one of the best interviews he’s done recently as it featured music from the forthcoming collaboration album with Middle Child.

One of the excellent signings on Futuristica Music, Flyt follow up their debut single ‘Free’ with the follow-up that’s going to get even higher recognition?

Hot off the presses, we get to hear the first single from Lizzy Parks’ new album after her intimate performance at the Big Chill Festival.

Big acts. Big venue. Big crowds. Big fun. Big love. Really Big Chill could not have been much better this year. Hectic does the leg work with his two part review

The great Bulgarian clarinet blower is back with a set of fiery, experimental instrumental numbers that mix snaking Thracian melodies and complex rhythms with subtle jazz tones

The new single from the forthcoming Slime & Reason is a monster tune that’ll you’re just want to be hearing again and again as Roots does it again (and again).

Neil Cowley Trio were off the hook!

Gary Crosby and Peter Edwards — respective members of Nu Troop and Tomorrows Warriors (that’s jazz bands if you were wondering) were over at Rich Mix on Sunday 13th July

Here’s a EP to chear anyone up on a ‘Monday’ as the latest 12” coming out of Stil Vor Talent is a little bit different.

Small but perfectly formed festival Larmer Tree sported by far its best ever line up for seekers of the global groove and the weather (mostly) held together for the weekend

A gorgeous album laid out on a sumptuously arranged base of small-ensemble strings. Could this be Natacha’s best album yet?

WOMAD organisers are rightly delighted to have had such a successful festival after the mudbath of last year. Some of this is down to luck of course (both bad last year and good this year) but lessons have been learned and other stats bare out improvements across the board

At Hell Yeah, expect the unexpected as their electro meets techno gives us an anthem for the summer festivals, it’s their beat now; welcome to the world of Pirate Robot Midget!

Soil & “Pimp” Sessions decide that for their third album, it’s time to take over a whole planet with their on full on death jazz attack.

Slyde (aka Robin 12Tree and Jason Laidback) get two remixes of one of the top tracks off Everyone’s Entitled To Our Opinion

One of the best album titles of the year so far and not only that, Natural Self proves that he has mastered the art of vibration and sees a return to his original label, Tru Thoughts.

Gilles Peterson’s show this week featured an interview with Atjazz and tracks from the new album Full Circle; it’s certainly getting some heavy rotation on our in-house CD player.

Amy Winehouse is quite the extreme artist in today’s music, it is almost impossible to forget the personal issues that are constantly being exploited in the media each day, and once when Frank the debut album of 2003 was released, all this artist was, was pure talent.

A bizarre display of Brazilian carnival fervour brought to London’s Barbican

Plej (pronounced ‘Play’) from Gothenberg in Sweden get global on the Balearic dancefloor, can Hectic take the pace of the new chill?

Akashic 11 are a duo called Ben and Jerry, could this possibly end up as an ice cream? Not a chance, this is dubstep baby!

It’s nearly August so that means that it’s nearly Carnival and that definitely means it’s time for another Compilation of Good Times from the expert in good times, Norman Jay, MBE.

If you thought it strange that Charlie Gillett was back in love with Afro beat, Wired Desire have given me the hots for some good ol’ guitar based Rock’n’Roll!

Once again the vaults of Fania have been plundered by the remixes that know their Fanias from their elbows to produce another dance floor friendly summer hot one.

With the ‘In The Mix’ mixtape feature in The Independent this week and renewed interest in the art form, time to dig out Zoo Brazil’s It’s Only A Mixtape and give it a spin.

Don’t get confused, this isn’t a Snoop Doggy Dog appreciation as it’s out of the Altered Vibes kennel of off-beat sounds; so hard, it’s pulling at the lead to get played.

Dingwalls: crap name, great venue. And so it proved to be once more with a band of nomadic northerners with feet in Leeds and others in Italy, Bangladesh, the Punjab and Tottenham. The band is called Samay

‘Death Jazz’ may be a term already pregnant with its own demise but nonetheless, the most thrilling jazz of the millennium was at the Camden Roundhouse tonight

Even more Kindred Spirits from those trend setters in Holland that have found Liquid Spirits in love with Music and this is an excellent taster of the forthcoming album.

This unlikely combination is as hot as a sexy beast right now as we get an early look at a dance floor monster; always a good thing if you ask me.

With the re-emergence of Wu-Tang Crew, inspired hip-hop collectives are finding their feet again and none more so than Living Legends with a new gathering of the clan.

The new Bobby Digital album comes in a explicit version and gets released at the same time as Wu-Tang Clan play a couple of London dates at Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

One of the standard bearers of the current beat generation is Flying Lotus and his first album on Warp was a tribute in sound to his home town of L.A. but does it travel?

Ends of June is near as damn it the definitive lo-fi sound, understated and intense with shades of Eliot Smith, Kings of Convenience and Neil Young.

What with the Olympics now less than a month away, there’s no better time to release 24 anthems by 24 different artists from 24 countries that is the stuff of great summer games.

With Gilles Peterson proclaiming Silent Movie as album of the year, it’s time to check out whether this bold claim can be true for a debut album!

Now-Again have done the impossible, they’ve hit on a combination that can challenge their own Heliocentrics and Mulatu Astatke as they put the Sun Ra and James Brown in the Sahara

Flamboyant, utterly self-confident, completely his own man and so uninterested in the back and forth of fashion that everything he makes is an instant classic, Pop Levi is in the building. Bow down and give thanks…

It doesn’t take a genius to work out Splitloop take their name from a breaks background but this album has been two years in the making and whilst it will pleasure their current fans, it’s got stacks of crossover potential.

Giles Smith and James Priestley release one of the best underground house and techno compilations of 2008 with tracks that have been selected and mixed by Tobi Neumann; it’s such a winning formula.

When you call your album Shattering, you hope that the music lives up to the title; Hectic investigates this new foursome of sound extremists.

As the opening night of Casa de Música’s Festival Mestiço proved, the mixing of cultures and sounds is a rather hit and miss affair; it can result in exciting innovation or plain incompatibility

David Bowie is one of those artists that has crossed time and musical boundaries throughout his career and this compilation of cover versions does exacttly the same with a right cross section of modern day heroes.

With that uncanny timing of things, whilst the Roundhouse host a night of with the SOIL & “Pimp” Sessions, The Rough Guide guys decide to go back to a time before Death Jazz!

The Bug has spent the last two years working on this album at his studio in Hackney but at long last the gates are open to his London Zoo

Tricky hits the streets with the new single, Council Estate, from his forthcoming debut album for Domino called Knowle West Boy

Full marks to Keith LeBlanc for remixing these blues tunes from the vaults of Chess and bringing them some new attention

Karen P is …broadcasting to the world and you’d be daft not to tune in to her first compilation for Sonar Kollektiv.

With a voice straight out of the 60s folk revival Mary Hampton - even by name - would have fitted in with a whole host of classic fantasy folk singers.

You’ve heard the singles and at long last Mr. Daedelus Darling presents his album that he loves to Love To Make Music To; simply, album of the year!

Spiers and Bowden represent all that’s good about British folk at the moment: flair, creativity and kick in the nuts delivery.

Ah, the folk mafia is back. And this time they have captured Heidi Talbot.

Dreams of breathing underwater is a Bartholemew Fair of a romp through the visceral and dirty side of love and life: alcoholics, vagrants, cheats, thugs all spinning round a dazzling nightmare of Eliza Carthy’s musical vision.

Now this is excellent news, the first single from Roots Manuva’s forthcoming album is due out soon and it’s what the summer sun has been waiting for.

Another top-notch addition to specialist Balkan music label Asphalt Tango’s widely acclaimed series of classic Romanian music.

Sanjiv Ahluwalia believes he can detect the prospect of legend in these recordings associated with west London club the Mau Mau Bar

The Violet Hour is a step up from Jackie Oates’ debut, and you should take this chance to acquaint yourself with a future folk singer of the year.

Why produce an album of covers if you’re a perfectly decent songwriter? Adem Ilhan is that rarest of talents: a musician who produces a solo album worthy of a whole band of talented musos, and he proves to be the exception with his Takes.

I wonder if Finn Peters’ butterflies are in his stomach due to the “difficult” second album syndrome; he need not worry says Gerry Hectic

Recorded in New York in 1968 and originally released on a private label, for the first time this lost gem gets a commercial release; Hear, O Israel - A Prayer Ceremony In Jazz

Billed by the promoters as the great man’s final concert and by Ravi Shankar himself as hopefully just a semi-final, this gig was as much a homage to the man as a chance to hear him play one more time

Thankfully, the Great Stuff Roots Edition series has returned to a true revival gem for a Part2 of the remixed ‘You’re Mine’.

Everyone loves a rakish Victorian dandy? If not yet, Daedelus will make it so with his latest single that’s just electronically lovely

Life sometimes throws unexpected, often spontaneous moments of beauty, which reach deep into the person. That this is unrehearsed, unanticipated, without pretence or prejudice makes it all the better

Queens is the place to be if the soundtrack to the NY borough is anything like this new compilation on BBE; totally awesome, inspirational and essential

Pop Levi returns with what he calls “astral-future-soul-hip-pop”! What with a rash of remixes, ‘Dita Dimoné’ is sure to tickle your astral fancy

It’s always worth keeping an eye on DC Recordings, especially the Death Before Distemper series that’ll shortly be in its second phase of the Revenge Of The Iron Ferret; time to tighten that string around ya trouser legs

While the host nation to this gig was tuned into a football match, the mainly Latin audience danced, roared and sang their way through an exceptional evening of music

When we say James Pants is HOT we actually mean he’s PANTS. Let put that another way, James Pants is HOT PANTS! No that’s not quite right but here’s a big FLY Welcome to the stunning world of James Pants.

Students at the FLY academy will immediately recognise Jackson Conti as the combined talents of Otis Jackson, Jr (aka Madlib) and Ivan (Mamão) Conti (he of Azymuth); lets face it, that makes Sujinho indispensible in itself.

The capital K is for producer DJ Karmil who has linked up with Burt Ford (aka Booga Bear) to from cirKus and the record label Tent Music; where else would you find cirKus but in a tent?

Poetry and rap scene seems to be buzzin’ at the moment with Scroobius Pip at the forefront but who’s got their hand up Ventriloquist?

Frédéric Beucher and Séverin Tezenas have been thought of as the French love children of Johnny Borell and Damon Albarn; what type of Annie Mall could that be?

Evolving from the more gentle pop of the first album, the new Trickbaby is signed to canny label Wrasse (home of Rachid Taha) and features a harder version of the catchy Asian fusion we loved the first time round

Clear, punchy jazz with heavy Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavours makes for a deeply rewarding album

The show was packed to the rafters with what seemed like every French person in town to hear the Gallic answer to Bjork perform — and I mean perform — live

A lot of rubbish is said and written about ‘real hip hop’ but it doesn’t get much realer than Os Racionais MCs. Hailing from Sāo Paulo’s slums they were earlier pioneers of rap Brasileiro; since their very conception, controversy has never been far away and their recent London show was no different

Returning to the city that once served as his home, Gilberto Gil was introduced as the man who has ‘provided the soundtrack to five decades of Brazilian life’. Twenty-two songs later we realised just how true that was

After 20 years underground, Soma have arranged a daytime release and let their lunatics outside with a double CD set to celebrate

I don’t know about Talk To Your Angel but I strongly predict Roland Appel with be the talk of the message boards after he appears at this weekend’s Southport Weekender — as everyone will want this album

What a brilliant indulgence Guaranteed Niceness is but we all must thank Jazzanova and Volker Meitz for letting us share with them these brand new versions of some Sonar Kollektiv classics; guaranteed purchase!

Whistling and cool have never been the best of bedfellows. At worst there’s Roger Whitaker (ask your grandparents) and at best, Peter Bjorn & John’s ‘Young Folks’? Paul Bryan’s title track falls somewhere between the two of these so be prepared for a tough start to this one

Adrian Gibson has done it again with his next release on Freestyle Records, proving that everyone needs a funky 12” every now and again

MySpace does the business again as London-based Israeli singer Mor Karbasi blossoms from internet rumour to new and exciting prospect in one highly-accomplished step

This is not you’re usual house music, this is Cadence Weapon’s House Music. Absolutely the best party rave-up track for sometime

Hardkandy (aka Tim Bidwell) has left home-town Catskill Records in Brighton as the new album Second To None finds him in the premier league with Dom and Simon at Wah Wah 45s

Soma Recordings love a compilation so you know the chances are that Vol 2. of their off kilter eclectic back catalogue shows how strong they’ve been over the past 17 years

Kipper Records come back with another mixed up trawl on the new and unkown with their latest compilation, Catch Of The Day 3

Don’t let the excellent cover fool you, this is not from the mystic east but by breaks producer Mark Ford (aka Merka) in his guise as Mystic Man with MC Esha as Eshamanjaro; a duo that really does put modern day hip-hop back in the old skool

Let’s face it, it’s easy to lose faith in old punks that have recently had a 50th birthday but Billy Bragg is one of those rare exceptions as he proves on this brand new album

Lightning Head follows up his 7” with an even bigga 12” but it’s not all about size as this time it’s all about the Afrobeat

Nicholas Payton’s long awaited return sees him on a new label with a contemporary jazz quintet sound whilst his trumpet style has certain got a touch of past Blue Note greats about it.

Previously known as 2 Banks Of 4, 2bo4 (aka Dillip Harris and Rob Gallagher) have finally got their latest collection of ‘junkyard’ musical influences into an album; but are they still gods?

All of a sudden, you can hardly move for huge EPs and this is another one from Camilo Lara aka Mexican Institute Of Sound; and just for a change, he gets the remix treatment this time.

From Leaf to Feather’s opening track, something tells you that this listen isn’t going to be, well, sane. As the opener builds and spooks, the general effect is like being pleasantly stuck in a jelly-based lift with French electro-heroes Air, whilst taking a copious amount of drugs through a small, happy mammal…. Going up!

It can’t be said for many artists that they utterly, truly cross boundaries, but with Zap Mama, this old cliché can be proudly stated without fear of contradiction, or fear of relying upon the greatest promotional fable of them all

Incorporating and painting the landscapes of Hong Kong’s lesser known ‘New Territories’, Eric Lau has sought to bring the mountain ranges and idyllic surroundings into an audio wonder

Mystery music for vintage telly soaps! 60s b-movie horror shows! Supermarkets and lifts! Vibe playing is, by and large, doomed… isn’t it?

The longstanding, free-spirited soul-collective stand up and be counted for yet another studio album, becoming older, wiser and with even more disregard for the contemporary wave of thought

Frost & Wagner will forever be associated with their ‘Torch Of Freedom’ remix but it’s about time someone put all their remixes in one place so their expertise can be more widely acknowledged; thankfully, Daniel Best is the man who’s done it with this fantastic compilation.

In an ideal world, everyone should have a Grandad who calls tomatoes “tommyartoes”, birds sing on the allotment and church bells ring in the background, welcome to the Sunshine Philosophy

The gift of the samba is an answer to a calling from the gods of rhythm. Or to put it another way, The Ipanemas are at it again with their new album on Far Out Recordings.

The transatlantic connections between Southampton and North America have a long history and this new one has more bounce than what’s her name in that Titanic film.

When Gilles Peterson says, “there’s tracks on this album I haven’t heard off. And I’m a collector” you know that Jazzman’s lastest compilation has some truly rare stuff on it. Better than that, it reall is the most essentiall release of the year so far; No Jive!

Lionel Loueke is a guitarist/vocalist from Benin who has gained accolades galore for his latest album with his trio and a couple of very special guests!

It’s an incredible story. Born in a small village in Cameroon, Richard Bona was raised by a musical household and developed a talent for building instruments. As a teenager he was inspired to take up bass guitar after hearing Jaco Pastorius. In 1995, he moved to New York and has flourished into the international star we saw before us in Camden

By happy coincidence, fans of Seven Best and Jay Haze get double dose on the lastest remix 12” of the one of the top tunes, ‘Freedom’

‘Never Never Love’ sounds like good advice from former Super Numeri, Mr. Pop Levi but is his next single sound?

Last years’ equivalent of ‘Rej’ on Sonar Kollektiv was Roland Appel’s ‘Dark Soldier’. A year on, can his latest 12” be as good?

2008 is the year of Pants. Yep, Pants will be in your face very soon with his peculiar style of get down and dirty.

My expectations are high as the two musical traditions I love most are to be played here tonight by jazz chanteuse Dee Dee Bridgewater and the collection of Malian stars she has assembled

The reluctant dark prince of dubstep finally comes out of the shadows with the heavy weight triple vinyl debut album, Diary Of An Afro Warrior

Hundred Strong are as sick as anyone about the constant youth killings that’s going on these days as the new single ‘Gravestones’ is a plea to stop the violence

Jay Haze is one of that multi-talents musical chameleons who music journos turn to shy away from as his “type” is so difficult to pigeon hole. More fool them as Love & Beyond is a double CD of extreme goodness we love

Blown away by the Playsatan remix of ‘Seen’ which is to feature on the worldwide Sony PSP ads, can the genius of scratch move on up to an album release? Oh yeah, this guy has his finger on it

News that The Cinematic Orchestra were appearing Live At The Royal Albert Hall last November meant you had to be very quick to get a ticket

Jalapeno Records are known as hot stuff and they’ve just signed up our mate, Dr. Rubberfunk for his latest EP, Sunset Breakup that’s out next week.

Tal M. Klein is a name you may not be too familar with as he’s also been known as Trancenden and The Hotness over the years. This new album shows how hot he is on the breaks and funk scene as it’s much more that “the same old thing”

With Gilles dropping some hot remix of ‘Quiet Dawn’ this week, time to have another listen to Everything Under The Sun by Nostalgia 77

Camp Actor have named their debut album Warmer and the response so far has been hot

Just out in time to catch those Valentine romantics, this 12” has much more to offer than just one day of loveliness. In fact, I’d say that this was luvely all year long.

As you can imagine, the DJ/Producer/Festival organising duo known as Groove Armada know how to put together a high sea shanty of classic grooves for some LateNightTales

When you’ve DJ’d as many Friday nights as Moses, you get a fair idea of what a dance floor requires on a Friday night; and ‘Friday Night’ is it!.

We’ve all met them, the folks that think that New Orleans is the true font of all musical brilliance where Professor Longhair, the Neville Brothers, Dr. John, The Meters and the Marsalis family lead the way. I’d like to know what they’d make of “futuristic” Galactic and their cast of guests on their latest album, From The Corner To The Block

Well, it’s half of 4hero, as this album is compiled and mixed by Dego as part of Sonar Kollektiv’s …Mixing series. What more of a recommendation could you possibly need?

“I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks,” I was told be my partner in the queue to get in. And I’m not surprised as when are you going to see Salif Keita and Tony Allen on the same night in Dorset?

In the area of the difficult second album, Natalie Gardiner defies the old adage with such a sophisticated breeze of Californian soul, it would even make Marlena Shaw happy!

Rumour has it that Gilles Peterson was very keen on signing the Portico Quartet to his label and it’s easy to see why on the strength of their debut album.

There are at least nine different artists known as Red on this planet, but it’s this one from Nottingham that’s picked up by no less than Sony as the sound of their next PSP advert.

If the recent Gilles Peterson compilation In The House has got you in the mood for ‘avin’ it large on a Friday night, Tong style, this new release from Deepest Blue is looking to be your anthem for the summer

It’s been a while since I’d been to the Thomas Tripp Late ‘n’ Live venue but nothing was going to stop me seeing the vibraphone legend that is Roger Beaujolais!

Roger Beaujolais visited the South Coast this week for a gig at Late ‘n’ Live which meant Hectic got his hands on his new album that’s coming out on Monday.

Comparisons with Cape Verde’s Queen of morna, Cesaria Evora, are inevitable and hard to avoid. But if there’s one thing better than having one evocative interpreter of the islands’ soulful folk music, and that’s being blessed with two of them

Can Bluey and Tony Remy turn on the jazz guitar funk without resorting to the dreaded jazz noodling?

The 3CD compilation set across the Ninja family of labels (Ninja Tune, Big Dada and Counter) is the ideal companion to the launch the label’s first club night since Sleath.

There’s more than one way to broaden the boundaries of hip hop from the meaningless booty shakin’ vids on cable TV and the duo known as Pete Philly & Perquisite are on a mission to bring the “analog sound back in times of plastic”

Frosty Jazz from searching Norwegian saxophonist giving music at once both distant and enveloping

This beautifully balanced and fully realised recording comes from a core collective of four forward looking musicians from around the world co-operating confidently with one another in this their first album together

The third album from the Israeli singer whose aim is to keep the Spanish-Jewish Ladino tradition alive, is another small step closer to the classic album we are waiting for

There’s been loads of interest in stripping down six of the best of Ursula 1000’s lounge, exotica, world music, bossa nova and merengue inspirations and remixing them into Undressed

Think of One might just be the perfect band: precociously talented, resolutely itinerant and musically fearless. Their last album, Tráfico was a joyful outpouring of ideas from anarchic Belgians encountering North Eastern Brazilians but can they pull off the same trick with Moroccan shaâbi music?

A short, intriguing debut release of world music electronica from a talented new singer from Scotland, by way of Burma.

After ten years and eight albums of varying quality, Berlin’s 17 Hippies - -one of global music culture’s best-kept secrets operating under possibly its worst name — have produced their most accomplished set yet of likeable acoustic big-band music

Alec Empire’s first album release since 2005’s Futurist sees a return back to electronic music and it’s the first album on his new Eat Your Heart Out imprint

Everyone seems to be on the ‘Change’ agenda at the moment, from US Presidential candidates to Kentish man’s Bob Dylan as Crook goes electric with his new band, The Murder Birds

Tracks by Steve Spacek’s Black Pocket have frustratingly been dribbling out of Exit Records over the past year so it’s just about the right time for The Album to score early in 2008

Dance-label Soma has such a devoted following they could probably release the sound of a washing machine on spin-dry and be sure of warm reviews. Luckily, as this round-up of their best tracks from the last twelve months shows, their roster of acts is far too good for them to need to do that just yet

The press release accompanying Teraphonic Overdubs by Chris Joss suggests that it sounds like the Teletubbies on acid or a Beach Boys’ album recorded in Goa. In fact it sounds like both of those and a whole lot more, as its blend of funk and house brings to mind a myriad of influences, yet somehow works despite this

London-based duo Dan Warden and Miles Copeland launch the brand new label of Wonderfulsound with their latest album, Harpsichord Treacle

Remarkable maturity and musical finesse is shown in Aaron Jerome’s debut album, a blend of expert production and a fine array of guest vocalists.

Sampling from traditional ursar music from Romania, (ursar actually meaning bear handler as this music, combining men shouting and playing percussive instruments such as spoons, would have been played while a bear danced around them) Shukar Collective’s second album seems to have very nearly edited out the Rroma tradition on which they base themselves

After the excitement of the Jef Gilson Septet Avec Lloyd Miller 10” release, Kindred Spirits have gone the extra mile and re-issued the incredibly brilliant and equally rare album, Soul Of Africa

The first time I heard this CD I loved it. But the more I listen the more contrived it seems. The songs on this album are good but it’s over-produced and sounds too perfect and far too practiced for an authentic Balkan brass sound. I would expect a bit more from German label Piranha, purveyors of extraordinary music

I know what you’re thinking; do we need any more singer-songwriters influenced by Dylan, Neil Young and Nick Drake? Jack Cheshire is out to prove we do and I think he might be right

This new album IM is dedicated to tragic events in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and of one particular victim, Zawadi Mongane who Bugge heard interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme last year

And things at Impossible Ark Records are very good indeed with this album, Example Of Twelve’s second release to date — keeping that modal spirit alive

As kids say today (endlessly), Oh My God! Rarely is this truly deserved of 10 inches of plastic but in the case of this re-issue on Kindred Spirits, OMG needs to be in capitals

2008 is already feeling like it’s going to be a good year and this remix package from Dr. Rubberfunk keeps up with the pace

To say we’re fans of Eatdubafrobeat is an understatement as we’ve been playing this one endlessly since its arrival and it must be an early shout for album of the year?

Our friends at Breakin Bread records are true believers in the old adage that all the best tunes should revolve forty five times a second on vinyl as the new year brings up Ghost’s latest release

In these every bewildering days of a music industry dominated by the all embracing Internet, it’s heart warming to say the least to find Universal Vibes going the other way so to speak.

Sparo may have his head in the clouds but the arrival of ‘The Falling’ (released on 3 Bar Fire) is just the thing to turn up the heat

An album that got caught up in the end of year rush might have got overlooked by some for the dull cover and strange title. That would be a mistake as it’s packed with top tuneful techno throughout

VP Records releases I Wayne Book Of Life in 2007. He collaborates with the likes of Icoflamez, Lady G, Inball, Deva Braf and Iyah V. Sixteen songs are for your listening pleasure, all with a reggae vibe

The She’koyokh Klezmer Orchestra are an invigorating fixture on London’s live scene, and Sandanki’s Chicken is is a vibrant, energising showcase of this band of many talents.

The Robert Glasper Trio create complex urban music forged in New York but equally at home in Camden

Flemish Belgium brass band Va Fan Fahre’s second album is not your usual Balkan fare, but takes the genre to many unexpected corners of the musical world

Djivan Gasparyan won the Radio 3 Awards for World Music audience award in 2003 for his exquisite, soulful playing on the duduk (double-reeded oboe). Portrait is as fine a showcase for the Armenian’s versatile musicianship as you could wish for, as he approaches his 60th birthday

Blitz’n Ass is Jahcoozi on the dance floor having a pop at couch potatoes, air-head girls, party people, homophobia in reggae music and much more

Twelve months ago we were mesmerised by the debut 12” of this Parisian quartet and now the album est arrivé and Communication is what everyone is talking about

Beats patter down like rain, sonics rise up from the underground. Rumbling sub-bass and garbled voices growl, reaching out of the speakers.

Relaxed and playful recital full of magic, from inside the beautiful St. Luke’s Church in London on November 13

We’ve been waiting for this one ever since Rainer Weichhold (the head of Great Stuff Recordings) revealed that the classic Talkin’ Loud release was firmly earmarked for a future edition of the Roots Edition series

Fela managed it and Mulatu too, now Steve Reid unites jazz with Africa.

The first compilation mix CD out on Ice & Spice is everything that you’d expect and that a whole lot more

Party time will soon be upon us all, so at this festive time we are allowed a few alcoholic drinks and this new 12” finds our Afro Art friends drunk on the dancefloor of leftfield, breaks, acid and Latin jazz rap. In other words, brilliant!

After recent stereotypical banner headlines this week about it being “Grim Up North”, Tim Garland points the musical way with the rest of this 15-piece big band

You know when you’ve been Tangoed . . . Chances are that while you probably haven’t heard of the Bajofondo Tango Club you’ll almost certainly have heard their music. As well as providing the backing for a couple of adverts, members of the electronic tango collective from Buenas Aires has been involved in the soundtracks for Babel, Brokeback Mountain and The Motorcycle Diaries

Gwilym Simcock’s debut album shows why he’s been acknowledged as one of the best of the new young breed of jazz musicians with the perception to match his undoubted ability

Paul Leonard-Morgan loves films and he also loves soundtracks. This album is a soundtrack without a film, something that he calls Filmtales

The king of Root Down, Rainer Trüby invites us to the jazz room table for song food, wine and song in his Freiburg castle.

Joyce casts her voice over the soundbook of the good old days

A State Of Mind (ASM for short) teams up with Skrein for a pre-emptive strike on the old skool

Just when you were thinking ‘where are all the next up and coming UK hip hop artists?’, Casual Records put their head above the parapets with a compilation that shows loads of urban foresight

Domu’s collaboration with Pete Simpson is has gained the attention of many, not least DJ Spen and The MuthaFunkaz for the remix of the album’s title track. So let’s look a little further.

Yet another double CD mix compilation and this one delves deep into the dark recesses of the synth hip hop world of Electro with Trevor Jackson on the retro mission and Alter Ego being the experts of today.

Marbert Rocel are a trio that mix up their brand of electro pop experiments to produce twelve Speed Emotions that makes Speed Dating look slow.

The new project called Shape Of Broad Minds has had all the right buzz about it. Leftfield, psychedelic, experimental hip hop so it was about time we got into it

If there’s an album compiled by DJ Andy Smith, that’s one thing. When it’s the latest in the Let’s Boogaloo series, you know it’s a must for “soul lovers and groove addicts”

Not since Nick Drake’s Bryter Later has one man and his guitar amazed me so much as José González’s debut Veneer. Now with a world of fans awaiting eagerly his second release is here.

The Distint’ive compilation series Y4K hits 20 and celebrates with a double CD showing off what they do best with mixed and unmixed versions of old favourites and some exclusive new tunes

It’s been some time since we’ve heard from “scruffy haired” Leggo Beast (aka Murray Clark) but Big Chill have got him on his feet with this new album

In the highly competitive world of funky soul and breaks, the adventurous Diesler stood out at Tru Thoughts. That said, the move to Freestyle Records seems to have given even his creativity a boost on this new album

The Bionics is the trio of Danielle Moore and Tim Davies (Crazy P) and producer Ben Davis (Shaboom Records, Paper Recordings, Flash Atkins) and they’ve a common interest in modern dance music and robots

We loved the idea of The Soundcatcher and this Extras edition is just as good

This is an album in two parts. Part one plays like a Radio 1 mix to start with but by the time you hit track 3, the suitably entitled R