BEBORN BETON was a very productive band back in the 90’s. Within six or seven years they released five studio albums (plus best of, re-releases and remix albums) that gave the band a “cult” status. And suddenly after 1999’s ‘Fake’, they just disappeared. The band never split either but nothing came until the announcement, last year, of a new album. The band declared: “The best album we will probably ever make.” And it’s fair to say they largely succeeded in it. This album is clearly in the “De/Vision – Camouflage” zone: lot of mid tempo, dark and progressive songs, a massive production [the producer is no less than Olaf Wollschläger who worked with MESH and many more], with a sense of detail in every little sound or beat. A track like ‘Who Watches The Watchmen’ is a fair example of this “brotherhood” with the two other German Synth Pop giants.

Multi-award-winning Sean Shibe, widely recognised as the leading guitarist of his generation, joins Delphian regulars The Choir of King’s College London in these beguilingly conceived works by Shibe’s friend and compatriot Lliam Patterson, for the rare combination of choir with electric guitar.

Colourgrade follows on from 2018’s immediate cult classic LP, Devotion. It forms a subconscious snapshot from across a year when Tirzah was playing live regularly for the first time, in the depths of promoting Devotion and recorded soon after the birth of her first child and shortly before her second child was born. The album explores recovery, gratitude and new beginnings, presenting a singer having discovered the type of love that is shared between a mother and a child for the first time, whilst simultaneously working as an artist. Capturing both the great and the scary, the exhaustion and the recovery, Colourgrade is a listless amble through the innermost feelings, an intoxicating presentation of a full time mother and artist.

Celebrating, as the title hints at, ten years of work together, 808:88:98 makes the brilliant case for 808 State's place as a modern techno pioneer. Time has shown that while a rougher breakbeat approach ended up defining much of dance in the broad public eye during the '90s, 808 State's own slightly cleaner approach was no less energetic and instantly compelling. Starting with the hyperactive shimmer and smooth flow of "Pacific," an instant trip back to the acid house days of the late '80s, 808:88:98 merrily makes its way through the years, touching on both the smash hits and some side diversions.

Buffalo Springfield's discography received the complete box set treatment in 2001, with a four-disc set filled with previously unreleased demos, alternate takes, and other rarities. In contrast, What's That Sound: The Complete Albums Collection attempts to restore the discography to how it was heard upon its original release…

The titular ‘lion of nobility’ was (probably) King John II of France, making the most expansive work on this album a lament for a historical event: the French defeat at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. Elsewhere, Machaut’s protagonist continues to scrutinize the joys and sorrows of courtly love in obsessive detail.