CD: Fujiya & Miyagi – Flashback

Brighton's motorik genre hoppers make great strides forward by looking back

Over the past two decades, Brighton’s Fujiya & Miyagi have managed, without fanfare or fuss, to amass an enviable back catalogue of linear, krautrock driven grooves dresses in slinky, drop-shouldered pop melodies. 

It’s a formula that has served them well and has proved elastic enough for them to grow without it ever seeming to give at the seams. This is, in part, due to an admirable sense of simplicity that reached a peak on 2017’s self-titled near-masterpiece (in fact a compilation of three EPs). 

Blu-ray: The Best of British Transport Films

Improbably enjoyable celebration of UK transport infrastructure

The British Transport Commission was created in 1948 by the Atlee government, an ambitious attempt to organise rail, road and water transport under a single unwieldy umbrella (for a time it was the world’s largest employer, with a staff of over 900,000). British Transport Films was set up a year later, the biggest industrial film unit in the UK.

CD: Richard Hawley - Further

South Yorkshire’s King of Cool takes it easy

Richard Hawley’s eighth solo album, Further is, like so many of his previous discs, a masterclass in good taste and relaxed easy listening vibes – but it’s one which manages to steer well clear of the middle of the road. In fact, there’s much here that is reminiscent of that other cool Northerner in a suit, Barry Adamson, who spent a fair few albums wrestling the Easy Listening genre from the '70s cardigan-wearing hell of Val Doonican and his pals.

CD: Youssou N'Dour - History

Golden voice of Africa: over-produced

Yousou N’Dour has come a long way from his cassettes with Super Etoile de Dakar, that wild mbalax energy, fed by the clatter of the high-pitched sabar drums, with vocals that soared and fizzed with emotion and soul.  Today’s Youssou is air-brushed and smooth, world music for global tastes, with a slickness that almost - but not quite – submerges the unique quality of the heart-stirring voice that made him famous.

CD: Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith - The Peyote Dance

Peyote, poetry and a voyage to the otherworld with Patti Smith

Soundwalk Collective is a multi-disciplinary audio-visual collective founded by Stephan Crasneanscki, a musical psycho-geographer and field recorder, the source material of his works drawn from specific locations: in the case of The Peyote Dance, it's the Sierra Tarahumara of Mexico, also known as "Copper Canyon", and as spectacular a wilderness as you can imagine.

CD: Morrissey - California Son

An often ear-pleasing covers album, but from a singer who urgently needs an artistic statement that clarifies his worldview

Unfortunately, it’s now reached the point where it’s impossible to mention Morrissey without politics overshadowing music. His recent wearing of a For Britain Party lapel pin on US TV is only the latest in a catalogue of public stances that seem to indicate he’s a fan of the far right. His new album, an imaginative explosion of intriguing cover versions, including multiple collaborations, may be an attempt to move the conversation on but, for many, things have already gone too far.

CD: Sting - My Songs

Mr Sumner updates his impressive back catalogue... slightly

Some say that every successful rock star's career can be divided into three phases. First comes the youthful exuberance. Next, there's mature experimentation. Finally, the artist goes back over everything he's done. That's where Sting is now. His last solo album was a homage to the Police, and now he's "re-imagined, refitted, and reshaped" a selection of his greatest hits. Or, at least, that's how he puts it.