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Bumper crop of remixes for xx guitarist and vocalist Romy Madley Croft's debut solo single 'Lifetime', with a standout from the unstoppable Anz.

It's taken a while for xx guitarist and vocalist Romy Madley Croft to kick off her solo career, but she puts a foot forward with 'Lifetime', an electro pop earworm that reminds fondly of The Knife or Robyn. Of course, the Anz remix is the one for us here: the molten hot producer re-tools Romy's original with heart-pumping 4 Hero-esque bass wobbles and chunky 12-bit amen breaks, sending us into another dimension entirely.

Elsewhere, Jayda G goes with a slick, dubbed-out house edit, Planningtorock pushes the electro elements into overdrive with her 'Let It Happen' remix and HAAi expands on the trancey euphoria with a sunny version that makes Chicane's 'Offshore' sound like Xenakis. Remember Ibiza?

You And I is worthing noting mostly for being the studio demos Buckley recorded for Sony to showcase his vision for his legendary debut, Grace. It’s Buckley alone at the microphone, taking a moment every now and then to acknowledge producer Steve Addabbo. It’s easy to come in with cynicism toward yet another mining of Buckley’s catalog, but hearing him coo on Bob Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman” is quick reminder of Buckley’s power to silence a room. The stark, naked quality of the recording makes it feel like Buckley is within reach. This feeling continues as he chops chords on Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everyday People”. It’s easy to get lost in his soothing vibrato on first listen, forgetting why you may have been skeptical in the first place. And maybe that’s a great place to leave this record — a glimpse into a moment of Buckley’s musical career, to be looked back at and remembered fondly and not over-examined. We have Grace to endless dissect anyway. – Consequence of Sound

Around his emergence back in 2016, George Van Den Broek’s Yellow Days sat at the mellow edges of indie, mixing a hazy, lo-fi singer-songwriter aesthetic with jazzy inflections; think Mac DeMarco taking on blue-eyed soul. And while the Canadian troublemaker does, in fact, make an appearance on the Surrey songwriter’s second, it’s the flip side of his sound that takes centre-stage on ‘A Day In A Yellow Beat’: it’s a jazz deep-dive. There are sampled, spoken-word interludes (“The trippers, the grasshoppers, the hip ones, all gathered in secrecy, and flying high as a kite” goes ‘(Pot Party)’ as if you required any hint as to where George’s head might be); further guest spots from noted UK trumpeter Nick Walters and American R&B singer Shirley Jones. And while it does quickly blend into one long - and at 24 tracks, it is long - medley - he’s created a heady, vibey, dare we say it - groovy - mood. – diymag.com

The version of the band that toured behind 2017’s American Dream gathers in the legendary New York studio, giving old songs new life and additional oomph.

On Electric Lady Sessions, LCD Soundsystem strip back and then bone up the grooves that have always made their music work, despite its contradictions. The groove takes precedence over the words, and Murphy gives his studio meticulousness over to the energy of the group. The synths run bright and juicy. The bass sounds like it could knock you out if you stood too close. The drums hit fast and sharp. Murphy slips from his throne as record-geek auteur and dissolves into the group—one musician among many, and better for it. - Pitchfork

LP - 140 Gram, 13 Track Vinyl Edition, with the additional track Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together, complete with identical liner notes only this time written in French, another of Morrissey’s little curio’s.

A collection of studio classics, live tracks and the alternative Mael mix of the ever-popular Suedehead, all chosen by Morrissey himself. Playful, full of life, great questions and worthy choruses. This is Morrissey. 

Colors, Beck’s last album, won two Grammies. Its sequel finds Beck retaining the marketplace nous of producer Greg Kurstin on one track and adding that of Pharrell Williams, purveyor of cheek-popping flair on more than half the album. Beck’s records can often veer away from the sound of their predecessors, but Hyperspace is no minimal DIY folk jam: it’s dewy, plush and on-trend. - Guardian

Conor Oberst’s music has never sounded lonely. Yes, he’s done catatonically despondent, inconsolable, dejected, maniacal—it's a lot to handle, and yet he’s always been surrounded by friends both local and legendary who believe in his vision, underscoring his status as one of the 21st century’s most mercurial and charismatic songwriters. Arriving almost a month after a comprehensive Bright Eyes boxed set that feels like a headstone for the band, Ruminations is a record like none other in Oberst’s catalog—stunning for how utterly alone he sounds. This is obvious in a technical sense, as there are no goddamn timpani rolls, no boys to keep strummin’ those guitars, just Oberst on harmonica, acoustic and piano with ten songs written during an Omaha winter and recorded in 48 hours. Plenty of folk artists make records like that. But there’s also a loneliness in Ruminations that’s far rare and disturbing—the loneliness one feels after taking stock and wondering if they have a friend left in the world. - Pitchfork

After releasing a collaborative EP with Warp's Bibio, who is also featured as a producer on “Ever since the fall”, this 2nd solo release under Olivier St.Louis marks the starting point of worldwide live efforts for 2017 with continuous touring. He'll tour with German AnnenMayKantereit for a few dates & will join his partner in crime Oddisee for his “The Iceberg” Wolrd Tour afterwards. All of this comes after a successful UK Tour with Laura Mvula this fall. His upcoming release “Ever since the fall EP”, will be out on Jakarta Records in February 2017 and features productions by Bibio, Olivier himself and co-productions by Oddisee. 6 tracks somewhere in between lo-fi soul, drum computer sounds, warm basslines and funk trenched live compositions...

There's an aural poignancy that runs throughout Lionlimb's compelling sophomore album, 2018's six-track Tape Recorder. While the Nashville-based duo of singer/songwriter Stewart Bronaugh and drummer Joshua Jaeger have always evinced a sun-dappled, '60s brand of emotionality, the added poignancy on Tape Recorder can, at least in part, be explained by the group's slightly different recording process this time out. Fresh off their European tour, Lionlimb settled into a studio at New York's Columbia University (and later, the Relic Room studio) where they began crafting these layered, classical chamber-inflected songs. While the core of the band's sound still centers on Bronaugh's hushed, poetic vocals, they've expanded their indie rock approach with Bronaugh setting pen to staff paper to score his expansive arrangements. Along with swirling guitar and basslines, he weaves in organic amounts of cello, violin, and bass clarinet. The result builds nicely upon the group's heretofore psychedelia-dipped brand of indie rock, and retains much of their longstanding devotion to the late singer/songwriter Elliott Smith. This atmospheric, bedroom orchestral aesthetic also brings to mind more vintage touchstones like Nick Garrie's 1969 cult-classic The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas, and even some of Donovan's more esoteric recordings. – All Music

Over ten years ago, Audika Records began releasing the exceptionally varied, long sought-after music of Arthur Russell, and in the process has succeeded at helping the beloved, late artist find the broader audience he always believed he would reach. A new generation of listeners and critics has come to appreciate Russell as a visionary and an influence upon a broad range of today’s most compelling musical artists. On October 28, Audika will bring to light an as-yet-unavailable side of Russell’s body of work- the most rare and, at the same time, arguably the most accessible part- in Love Is Overtaking Me, which comprises 21 demos and home recordings of unreleased pop, folk and country songs from his vast catalog.While much critical and popular affection for Russell’s music has come about well after his untimely death from AIDS in 1992, many fellow artists believed in his genius and were drawn to collaborate with him during his lifetime. The legendary producer John Hammond (Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen) recorded Russell on several occasions; a number of these recordings will finally be heard on Love Is Overtaking Me. - Bandcamp

Painting With is the tenth studio album by American experimental pop band Animal Collective, released on February 19, 2016. The album is a follow-up to Centipede Hz (2012), and features contributions from John Cale and Colin Stetson. It peaked at No. 46 on the Billboard 200. Three singles were issued: "FloriDada" (2015), "Lying in the Grass", and "Golden Gal" (both 2016). A companion EP, The Painters, was released the following year. For Painting With, the band's line-up consists of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), and Geologist (Brian Weitz), the same trio which participated for Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009). - Wiki

In spite of the noisy aura it's drawn around itself, there's not much mystery to A Place To Bury Strangers. The New York band has been dishing out slight variations on the same sonic blitzkrieg since its self-titled 2007 debut; the only thing that's changed is the fine tuning. On the group's fourth album, Transfixiation, all of APTBS' trademarks are in evidence. Deadpan vocals float through apocalyptic static. The volume bleeds out. Cacophony reigns. - NPR

Beatbox is the earth-shattering classic from a band that changed the game, emerging from the underground with a template that would redefine pop culture in the decade since its release. From Nicolas Winding Refn’s Bronson (“Digital Versicolor”) to HBO’s Westworld (“Candy Castle”) & more, Beatbox has spray-painted culture with its vivacious shades of pink & blue. Ida No’s transcendent vocals & Johnny Jewel’s beautiful musical objects rebooted the system. Across Beatbox, Ida No & Johnny Jewel conjure up unabashedly uplifting dance cuts, drenched in versicolor sweat that shimmers glamorously in the reflection of the aura of divine disco energy. - Glass Candy