Superb singing, in Urdu, with reined-in accompaniment by Vijay Iyer on pianos and electronics, Shahzad Ismaily on bass and Moog.

A judicious compilation of cornerstone, pioneering UK Lovers: One Blood, Simplicity, Karen Dixon…

‘Teenage melancholy from the original Miami Sound Machine. Backed by the infamous FAMU Marching 100 Band and Frank Williams’ crack shot players The Rocketeers, I Am Controlled By Your Love compiles sides from Helene Smith’s ‘60s tenure with the Deep City, Lloyd, Reid, and Blue Star labels. A sweltering album of twelve deeply soulful, alternate universe hits from the First Lady of Miami Soul!’

‘Minimalism is usually cool, detached, frictionless and mathematical. The music made by percussionist Bex Burch is not any of these things. What she calls ‘messy minimalism’ shares some characteristics with the music of Steve Reich and John Adams, but this is minimalism that isn’t afraid to break into a sweat and get its hands dirty (quite literally, given that Burch actually builds her own instruments from scratch). She mainly plays a gyil, a marimba-like tuned percussion instrument she learned while studying music in Ghana.
‘Burch’s first solo album lands her in Chicago, enlisting trumpeter Ben LaMar Gay and members of Tortoise. Sometimes, the results sound like an earthier Philip Glass: Dawn Blessings pairs her dreamlike, two-note gyil pattern with violinist Macie Stewart’s beautiful harmonies; Don’t Go Back to Sleep sees Burch’s gyil fractionally out of phase with a synthesiser, then spins into hypnotic but disorientating minimal techno.
‘Other tracks get wilder. There are drum circles, water drums and birdsong; tracks that exploit the acoustics of a California canyon. Pardieu turns a three-note xylophone riff into a compelling funk groove; Fruit Smoothie With Peanut Butter is a wonderfully chaotic drum circle that sounds melodic despite not featuring any tuned instruments. Best of all is You Thought You Were Free?, which layers clattering percussion over the wailing siren of a tornado warning relayed over Chicago until it sounds like a freakish fusion of the Master Musicians of Joujouka and Fela Kuti’ (The Guardian).

‘Red Greg’s edit of this disco holy grail.’

Murder.
Gritty T++ action — twitching and itching, propulsive and dread — with Gavsborg from Equiknoxx at the mic, sounding sexually fucked.
Ace dub, too.

‘Brotzmann barely plays saxophone at all, sticking mostly to tarogato and a host of clarinets; Nilssen-Love mostly plays gongs, bells and other metal percussion. With the changes in tools comes a change in approach. Nilssen-Love is sparer and more decorative, providing accentuating commentary that highlights the more solemn and yearning aspects of his partner’s playing, and Brotzmann explores melancholy to devastating effect. This is a career peak for the recently departed reedist’ (Bill Meyer, The Wire).

Lovers Rock utilising Delroy Francis’ tough do-over of the Java rhythm, no less; with Althea & Donna coursing through.

Ravishing two-step rare groove from 1983; sophisticated, swinging, and heartfelt.
Backed with a bustling, super-infectious, boogie-down tribute to Muhammad Ali. Hot like classic Fatback, and sure to rock the house.
Lovely stuff, both sides; nattily sleeved.

45s of It’s Just Love by John Andrews and Look Away by The Shirelles are both gold-plated dancefloor classics; so it’s thrilling to present these interpretations by their co-composer — the great Valerie Simpson, of Ashford & Simpson —  out here for the first time.