In its history Hip Hop has had a handful of stand-out years. And for many true fans there is little debate that 1988 was the true 'Golden Era'. Countless classic albums came out that year and By Any Means Necessary ranks high atop that list.

Following the fatal shooting of the groups DJ / Producer Scott La Rock in 1987, KRS One was determined to continue Boogie Down Productions despite the tragedy. Taking the group in a slightly different direction, adopting the moniker 'Teacher' and taking on social issues, KRS crafted an album that to this day still sounds fresh and exciting. From the moment the album starts with the infectious saxophone sample on 'My Philosophy' or the Reggae influenced 'Stop The Violence' to the straight up braggadocios 'I'm Still #1', 'By Any Means Necessary' proves why it's one of the most important and classic Hip-Hop albums ever recorded.

TRACK LISTING

1. My Philosophy
2. Ya Slippin'
3. Stop the Violence
4. Illegal Business
5. Nervous
6. I'm Still #1
7. Part Time Suckers
8. Jimmy
9. T'Cha-T'Cha
10. Necessary

The new limited edition fully–illustrated, hardback coffee table book by Nicky Weller, Stuart Deabill and Steve Rowland celebrating the first decade of Paul Weller as a solo artist.

This stunning new 304–page book offers an illuminating visual and text history of one of Britain’s greatest songwriters, Paul Weller, by the team behind the acclaimed ’Soul Deep – Adventures with the Style Council’ and published by Soul Deep Productions.

In the Shadow of the Sun charts the rise of Paul’s climb as an unsigned singer/songwriter to double million selling album artist and beyond, through original and rare artwork, unseen photos from Lawrence Watson and Grant Fleming, press ads, tour posters, merchandise, and other rarely seen artefacts from the archives of some of PW’s biggest fans.

Featuring new interviews with Lawrence Watson, Go Discs! boss Andy MacDonald, Producer Brendan Lynch, Musician Mick Talbot and many attendees of Paul’s gigs from the small venues to the outdoor sold–out gigs and festivals of the era. Complimented by Nicky Weller’s personal memorabilia, memories and photos, as well as Stuart Deabill’s insights and knowledge as an avid music nut who lived the decade, like it was his last.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2026 EXCLUSIVE LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

This Ball and Glove is unique and limited to this release in this configuration. LMFP plans to release a gatefold of the combined two soundtracks on one disc the prior month (Biovinyl 12" LP).

In 1995 The Roots burst onto the scene with their seminal debut album, 'Do You Want More?!!!??!' that garnered critical acclaim and cemented them as a powerhouse group fusing elements of various genres with their signature live instrumentation. Thirty years later in March of 2025, The Roots played a three day, six show residency at the legendary Blue Note Jazz club in New York City where they celebrated their debut by playing it in full – performing many tracks that hadn’t been performed live in decades. The performance also brought out special guest appearances from long-time collaborators, Ursula Rucker, Dice Raw and Rahzel, Godfather of Noise. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Bass Intro/There’s Something Goin’ On/Love
2. Respond/React
3. Section
4. Lazy Afternoon Pt 1
5. Distortion To Static
6. Proceed
7. One Shine
8. Mellow My Man
9. It Just Don’t Stop
10. Panic!!!!!
11. I Remain Calm
12. Lazy Afternoon Pt 2
13. Datskat
14. Concerto Of The Desperado
15. Do You Want More?!!!??!
16. Swept Away
17. Lazy Afternoon Pt 3
18. Silent Treatment
19. The Unlocking (feat Ursula Rucker)
20. Proceed 2
21. The Lesson Pt. 1 (feat Dice Raw)

With ‘Remembering Now’, Van Morrison returns to the transcendent, uncategorisable rhapsodies that make him unique. Soul, jazz, blues, folk, country - this is music in conversation with all of them but limited by none. Its rich with hallmarks of classic Van Morrison, from dominant themes of love in spirit with the great ‘Someone Like You’ (the escapist romance of ‘Once In A Lifetime Feelings’, the self-deprecating candour of ‘The Only Love I Ever Need Is Yours’) to specific references to locations from his youth in the title track and ‘Stomping Ground’. The title of another song, ‘When the Rains Came’, echoes a lyric from his classic ‘Brown Eyed Girl’.

From the radiant opener, ‘Down to Joy’, to the joyously resilient ‘Haven’t Lost My Sense of Wonder’, Van Morrison’s voice, guitar and saxophone continue to mesmerise and he is surrounded, as always, by a fabulous band - Richard Dunn (Hammond organ), Stuart McIlroy (piano), Pete Hurley (bass) and Colin Griffin (drums and percussion) - who have worked with him since ‘Three Chords and the Truth’ in 2019.

The single ‘Down To Joy’ feels like he has gone back to his soul and gospel roots, its strong emphasis on an uplifting big band arrangement with evocative strings providing fans with a taste of timeless sounds which represents the rest of the album.

Beyond his key band members, ‘Remembering Now’ features an array of accomplished collaborators. Its strings were arranged and directed by Fiachra Trench (Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello), whose association with Van Morrison goes back to ‘Avalon Sunset’ in 1989. Those strings were performed by the Fews Ensemble led by Joanne Quigley.

Other contributions come from Michael Beckwith, the founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center, the renowned lyricist Don Black (Ennio Morricone, John Barry, Quincy Jones); and the acclaimed folk artist Seth Lakeman.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A new one from one of the most legendary voices in music, 'Remembering Now' sees Morrison tone down the political and ideological campaigning of the past few albums to great effect, sounding like a beautifully relaxed version of his smoothly delivered best and accompanied by a host of impactful orchestrations.

TRACK LISTING

1. Down To Joy
2. If It Wasn’t For Ray
3. Haven’t Lost My Sense Of Wonder
4. Love, Lover And Beloved
5. Cutting Corners
6. Back To Writing Love Songs
7. The Only Love I Ever Need Is Yours
8. Once In A Lifetime Feelings
9. Stomping Ground
10. Memories And Visions
11. When The Rains Came
12. Colourblind
13. Remembering Now
14. Stretching Out

First released in 2002 – This 2025 reissue of 'A Hundred Days Off' is pressed on 180gsm heavy weight black double vinyl. Cut at half speed and meticulously checked for the highest quality audio, this double gatefold has the classic design from the original pressing but with added spine detail to showcase your collection.

Review from 2002:
This is everything you want and expect from an Underworld LP! It's full of richly textured techno and tech-house tracks (vocal or instrumental) with the occasional lush slowie thrown in for good measure. As good as anything else they've done, but unlikely to get them any new converts. Includes the fantastic "Two Months Off" single.

TRACK LISTING

1. Mo Move
2. Two Months Off
3. Twist
4. Sola Sistim
5. Little Speaker
6. Trim
7. Ess Gee
8. Dinosaur Adventure 3D
9. Ballet Lane
10. Luetin

First released in 2007 – this 2025 reissue of 'Oblivion With Bells' is pressed on 180gsm heavy weight black double vinyl. Cut at half speed and meticulously checked for the highest quality audio, this double gatefold has the classic design from the original pressing but with added spine detail to showcase your collection.

Review from 2007:
Five years on from "A Hundred Days Off", Messrs Hyde and Smith return with a new Underworld album. Opening with the single "Crocodile", the album continues in a club-track vein, complete with Hyde's stream of consciousness vocals, before dropping the lush ambient track "To Heal", perhaps influenced by their recent work with Gabriel Yared on the "Breaking And Entering" soundtrack. Next up "Ring Road" heads back to the early 80s and 23 Skidoo / Byrne and Eno for inspiration, and is book-ended by another ambient winner "Glam Bucket". Like The Chemical Brothers, those other purveyors of 'dance albums that indie kids can buy', Underworld show here that they have kept up with what's been going on in dance music over the intervening years (updating equipment, adding a glitch here and there), while retaining their own distinctive sound and still remaining relevant.

TRACK LISTING

1. Crocodile
2. Beautiful Burnout
3. Holding The Moth
4. To Heal
5. Ring Road
6. Glam Bucket
7. Boy, Boy, Boy
8. Cuddle Bunny Vs The Celtic Villages
9. Faxed Invitation
10. Good Morning Cockerel
11. Best Mamgu Ever

First released in 2016 – This 2025 reissue of  'Barbara Barbara We Face A Shining Future' is pressed on 180gsm heavy weight black vinyl. Cut at half speed and meticulously checked for the highest quality audio, this double gatefold has the classic design from the original pressing but with added spine detail to showcase your collection.

Review from 2016:
Underworld duo Karl Hyde and Rick Smith return with their first new studio album in six years. It’s fair to say that 'Barbara Barbara, We Face A Shining Future' finds the pair creatively reborn. Its seven tracks are fleet-footed, raw and spontaneous - a direct result of a strict working process in the studio that saw Smith and Hyde write entirely new music each time they met. That process has helped produce an album that stands alongside the recently reissued classics 'dubnobasswithmyheadman' and 'Second Toughest In The Infants'.

So what’s there in the shining future? The opening punch of a two-note detuned bass riff crunching over relentless percussion; the elegiac swoop of strings as they stretch out across off-world electronics; a demented lupine howl that curls itself into an unshakeable earworm; celestial techno and South American acoustics; voices that warp into harmonic riffs; found lyrics that form fine-tuned monolgues; head music to dance to.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Exhale
2. If Rah
3. Low Burn
4. Santiago Cuatro
5. Motorhome
6. Ova Nova
7. Nylon Strung

First released in 2010 – this 2025 reissue of 'Barking' is pressed on 180gsm heavy weight black double vinyl. Cut at half speed and meticulously checked for the highest quality audio, this double gatefold has the classic design from the original pressing but with added spine detail to showcase your collection.

"Barking" is Underworld's sixth studio album, but the first time Karl Hyde and Rick Smith have collaborated with other producers. The record enlists the help of techno producers Mark Knight and D. Ramirez, plus a whole cast of brilliant and like-minded producers from across the spectrum of modern dance music to add personal touches to the band’s original material. Enter Welsh drum and bass artist High Contrast, Dubfire, Bristol-based dub step producers Appleblim and Al Tourettes and long term Underworld team member Darren Price.

The question is, with such a glittering cast of extras, how does it actually sound? From the first undulating pulses of submariner bass, the first vocals - soft like a whisper in the ear - and the first fizz of hi-hats that force along the pace, the sound is unmistakably Underworld. Electronics wrapped effortlessly around songs; streams of consciousness lyrics that form indelible images; a perfectly balanced mix of melody and rhythm. Underworld’s sixth studio album is a thundering return to form, although it’s fair to say that the band responsible have never really been below par. Like the bomb on the Icarus II in Sunshine, this new process of working had the effect of not so much reigniting a creativity within the band as exploding it into myriad new fragments. And through all of this, brilliantly and uniquely, it sounds just like Underworld.

TRACK LISTING

1. Bird 1
2. Always Loved A Film
3. Scribble
4. Hamburg Hotel
5. Grace
6. Between Stars
7. Diamond Jigsaw
8. Moon In Water
9. Louisiana"

First released in 1999 – this 2025 reissue of 'Beaucop Fish' is pressed on 180gsm heavy weight black double vinyl. Cut at half speed and meticulously checked for the highest quality audio, this double gatefold has the classic design from the original pressing but with added spine detail to showcase your collection.

"Beaucoup Fish" is the fifth album by Underworld, released in 1999. Following the huge success of the single "Born Slippy" from its use in the film Trainspotting, Beaucoup Fish was Underworld's most anticipated release. It spawned several successful singles, including "Push Upstairs", "Jumbo" and "Moaner", which was previously used in the film Batman & Robin. "Beaucoup Fish" was well-received critically (one review calling it 'electronica's "The Dark Side of the Moon"') and remains Underworld's most successful album, with over one million copies sold. It is the last studio album to feature Darren Emerson who departed in 2001 and third album by the techno / house orientated version of Underworld which became active in about 1991/1992 (tracks were being released around this time under the names Lemon Interupt and Underworld). I personally remember this being a particularly arresting album in 1999, with a rollercoaster of dynamics which took you to the dizzying heights of techno stompers "Push Upstairs" & "King Of Snake" and down to the come-down frazzled lullabies of "Skym" and "Winjer" via the Portishead-esque introspection of "Push Downstairs" and the baggy breakbeats of "Bruce Lee". A classic.

TRACK LISTING

1. Cups
2. Push Upstairs
3. Jumbo
4. Shudder/King Of Snake
5. Winjer
6. Skym
7. Bruce Lee
8. Kittens
9. Push Downstairs
10. Something Like A Mama
11. Moaner

First released in 1995 – this 2025 reissue of 'Dubnobasswithmyheadman' is pressed on 180gsm heavy weight black double vinyl. Cut at half speed and meticulously checked for the highest quality audio, this double gatefold has the classic design from the original pressing but with added spine detail to showcase your collection.

Having seen their synth-rock band Freur grind to a halt in 1989, Karl Hyde and Rick Smith relocated to Romford, hooked up with DJ Darren Emerson and became the art-rock reinvented as techno outfit Underworld. Featuring Smith's stream of consciousness vocals (created by taking a pen an paper with him and “mapping out journeys across cities at night”) and Smith, Emerson and Hyde's immense electronica / techno cuts (equally inspired by early influences like Kraftwerk, Steve Reich, Hawkwind and  Tangerine Dream as the early 90s Romford rave scene) 'Dubnobasswithmyheadman' is a landmark 1990s techno album. With Emerson on hand to road test tracks in his DJ sets, the album has key dancefloor winners, but also works a home-listening full length LP. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Dark & Long
2. Mmm…Skyscraper I Love You
3. Surfboy
4. Spoonman
5. Tongue
6. Dirty Epic
7. Cowgirl
8. River Of Bass
9. M.E.

First released in 1996 – this 2025 reissue of 'Second Toughest in the Infants' is pressed on 180gsm heavy weight black double vinyl. Cut at half speed and meticulously checked for the highest quality audio, this double gatefold has the classic design from the original pressing but with added spine detail to showcase your collection.

Originally released in March 1996, 'Second Toughest In The Infants' is Underworld’s masterpiece. Following 1994’s groundbreaking predecessor 'Dubnobasswithmyheadman' (the record that cemented the band’s reputation as one of the UK’s most important dance acts), 'Second Toughest…' was the point they forged out alone, in turn creating some of the most forward thinking electronic music this country has ever produced.

TRACK LISTING

1. Juanita : Kiteless : To Dream Of Love
2. Banstyle/Sappy's Curry
3. Confusion The Waitress
4. Rowla
5. Pearl's Girl
6. Air Towel
7. Blueski
8. Stagger

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.

The first really revolutionary fracture in The Fall was the departure of guitarist Martin Bramah. Commonly understood as the only viable challenger to Mark E Smith's dominance of the band, Bramah was The Fall's first singer and primary songwriter at the start. His subsequent group, Blue Orchids, was originally a reconstitution of the first recorded line-up of The Fall, without Mark, but with another slightly later Fall member, Eric McGann. After slight revisions in the lineup, Blue Orchids created a singular sound of maniacally aberrant psych on two thrilling singles - "The Flood" and "Work" - before recording one of the most imperfectly perfect debuts in what could no longer really be called 'rock and roll'.

'The Greatest Hit (Money Mountain)' eschews the frenetic energy of those singles to present itself as the greatest 'morning after the trip' albums ever - Martin and Una's wonderful explanations of the experiential backdrop to "Sun Connection" take up nearly as much space as those of all the other songs combined! Without exception, the songs are brilliant, majestic and memorable . . . plus it's possible that more covers of songs from 'The Greatest Hit' have been recorded by bands of credibility and renown than from any single Fall LP (although we're counting!), with near-contemporaneous versions arising from Fish & Roses, Slovenly, Dustdevils and Aztec Camera and many others since.

Never reissued on vinyl since its 1982 release, due to objections from the WB Yeats estate for the album's musical interpretation of the author's "Mad As The Mist And Snow" (now in public domain!), this deluxe edition includes a bonus album with two unreleased pre-album demos, two further demos released only on long out-of-print cassette compilations from more than forty years ago, and scorching live set featuring several of their early songs, extensive liner notes from Martin Bramah and Una Baines, a reproduction of the original lyric fold-over booklet and (with the 2LP version), a download card. The original artwork for the album and booklet have been restored painstakingly, and as Bramah himself says, "It's better than the original." After over four decades, we're proud to make available this classic album again. Tiny Global Production's first release was a companion to this release (it's also available again), containing the band's two 7" singles, the album's follow-up EP 'Agents Of Change', and two unheard demos.

TRACK LISTING

Sun Connection
Dumb Magician
Tighten My Belt
A Year With No Head
Hanging Man
Bad Education
Wait
No Looking Back
Low Profile
Mad As The Mist And Snow
Disney Boys (demo)
The Flood (demo)
Low Profile (C81 Cassette Version)
Thirst (Pleasantly Surprised Cassette Version)
Live In Manchester, 2014: Motorway
Hanging Man
Olympian
Work
A Year With No Head
The Unknown

If youʼre a fan of Daptone Records, chances are youʼve read or heard the name Victor Axelrod, and even if you havenʼt, youʼve heard music from his hand. As a producer, arranger, recording and mixing engineer, and keyboardist, his creativity has extended across more than two decades of the labelʼs releases, even dating to its prehistory with Desco Records.

If You Ask Me To..., the first LP under his name for the label, is a collection of singles released between 2007-2023 as well as unreleased tracks from Sugar Minott and Binky Griptite. The genesis of which came via an 11th hour request from Daptone for a Sharon Jones remix (2007) that resulted in the reggae version of “How Long Do I Have To Wait For You?” found here.

This opened the door to additional explorations of reggae/soul synergies within the catalog, affirming the musical and cultural link between Daptoneʼs core soul sound and Axelrodʼs passion for Jamaican music. While previous projects like Ticklah Vs. Axelrod and Roots Combination (produced under the alias Ticklah) were inspired by the Jamaica of the 1970s and 80s, this set specifically channels an earlier period in the 1960s when Jamaica was both strikingly original in its continuum of genres but also closely and empathetically attuned to Black American music.

Through Axelrodʼs exceptional taste and the notable contributions of guitarist Tom Brenneck, original tapes from Bob & Gene's MoDo discography, members of The Frightnrs, and others from the NYC reggae community, the legacy of trailblazing Jamaican artists like Alton Ellis, Tony Gregory, and Ken Parker continue to resonate and inspire a whole new generation of reggae and soul enthusiasts.

TRACK LISTING

One Step Ahead - Sugar Minott
If You Ask Me To - Leon Dinero
Whatcha Doing (to Me) - Charles Bradley
Icanbecool - Bob & Gene
Lover Like Me - Binky Griptite
I’d Rather Go Blind - The Frightnrs
I Can’t Stand These Lonely Nights - Bob & Gene
It’s Not What You Know (it’s Who You Know) - Bob & Gene
How Long Do I Have To Wait For You - Sharon Jones
Conscience Is Heavy - The Inversions

The third album in the Artificial Intelligence series, Bytes was originally released in 1993, with this repress marking the 30th anniversary.

Bytes was a another landmark for electronica (or 'intelligent techno' as we called it back then!). Produced by Plaid's Andy Turner and Ed Handley (the LP also has tracks under their name) with Ken Downie the LP takes in elaborate beat structures and time signatures, overlaid with melodic textures.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Plaid - Object Orient
A2. Close Up Over - Caz
A3. Xeper - Carceres Ex Novum
B1. Atypic - Focus Mel
B2. Close Up Over - Olivine
B3. I.A.O - Clan (Mongol Hordes)
C1. Plaid - Yamemm
C2. Discordian Popes - Fight The Hits
C3. Balil - Merck
D1. Close Up Over - Jauqq
D2. Balil - 3/4 Heart

Before hitting twenty, Tymon Dogg had made a single with pre-Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, recorded with Paul McCartney for Apple Records (running off with the tapes when he sensed they were 'too saccharine'), made a second single for The Moody Blues' label Threshold and then seemingly lost all faith in normal music business machinations.

So he wandered, busking at tube stations and encountering "Woody", who acted as Tymon's roadie and, when trade was slow, Tymon would teach him a few chords.

After being assaulted by police, Tymon won a £500 settlement, with which he recorded an album, singing and playing every instrument himself. Dwelling somewhere between avant-garde folk, Weimar cabaret and with an eerie sense of punk's D-I-Y ethos, the 1975 album failed to sell in appreciable numbers.

By then, "Woody" was known as Joe Strummer and had formed The 101'ers with Elgin Avenue friends and squat-mates. Tymon sporadically played songs with the band, including his "Dog Dirt On Your Shoe" (the only known recording of which is included here), a forerunner to punk expression if there ever were one.

Finding himself in NYC years later, Tymon was ushered into the studio by Mick Jones to record the first song completed for Sandinista!, "Lose This Skin", possibly the most polarising song on the album. Tymon became a de facto studio member of The Clash through Combat Rock and later joined The Mescaleros.

But in 1982, Tymon recorded Battle Of Wills, the last release on Dick O'Dell's Y Records, home to The Slits, Sun Ra, The Pop Group, Shriekback and others, reissued here with added studio rarities and a 1980 live set. The sole Tymon Dogg album released by an outside label, it got somewhat lost in the collapse of Y, yet it's a singular work: perfectly executed and fiercely unique. Tymon's vocals transcend the limits of 'rock' music, weaving their way through a seemingly disconnected array of parts - incongruous tabla, unsettlingly upfront violin parts, minimal folk drumming. It feels like an exemplar of some obscure, ages-old musical tradition rather than what it is - a conceptually original work by an artist of rare talent. Unavailable for forty years, the album has been expanded to include a seven-song 1980 live set and six rare studio tracks. With one exception, this extra material has never been available on vinyl, more than half of it was never released at all. Tymon's archives contain bountiful rare and unheard material, and this expanded edition of Battle Of Wills is the first of several planned archival releases.

TRACK LISTING

1-01 Firefishes
1-02 Once You Know
1-03 Safeway People
1-04 Locks & Bolts & Hinges
1-05 Battle Of Wills
1-06 Sirens
1-07 Brandy Love
1-08 Too Far To Touch The Ground
1-09 Low Down Dirty Weakness
1-10 Get Your Hands Off Me
1-11 Legal Thief
1-12 Golden Rain

2-01 Indestructible
2-02 Cold Wind Blows
2-03 Oil.
2-04 Guantanamo.
2-05 Lose This Skin (2009 Version)
2-06 Travelling Man (Re-Visited)
2-07 Get Your Hands Of Me (Live)
2-08 Indestructible (Live)
2-09 The Wheel Of Life And Death (Live)
2-10 Johnny Is A Wanderer (Live)
2-11 Safeway People (Live)
2-12 Lose This Skin (Live)
2-13 Dog Dirt On Your Shoe (Live)

Debut full-length here from Birmingham's Iwarriyah (you might have caught a couple of early 10" dubplates & a dub album also arriving this week...). Authentic, UK roots reggae with a much more traditional reggae sound than his second, more digi-dub flavoured offering. The lyrical content covers the usual subjects of oppression, segregation and good ganja, with Iwarriyah's delivery relaxed, confident and, most notably, empowering. Recorded at Outpost Music Workshop (Hampton VA), Ghettoroots NYC and King Alpha here in the UK, it features a tight set of backing musicians, excellent drums and some excellent skills behind the desk. In short, a UK reggae classic. Recommended. 

TRACK LISTING

1 Babylon Will Suffer
2 Suffer Dub
3 Valley Of D.C.Zhan
4 D.C.Zhan Dub
5 *Dem Demon
6 Dub Dem
7 Five Were Wise
8 Wise Dub
9 Scatter The Clouds (Remix)
10 Dub Horizon (Remix)
11 Afrikan Princess
12 Warriyah Prayer
13 Wonderfull Counselor
14 Wonderfull Dub