Electro soul pioneer and resurgent creative force Giorgio Moroder gets the front cover honor, and rightfully so – with classic electro-inspired Brooklyn instrumentalists Ratatat on the backside! This issue includes great features on both, plus pieces on Steve Arrington, Divine Styler, Van Hunt, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, the photography of soul jazz hero Les McCann, the too often underappreciated female voices of dancefloor soul legends Chic, and lots more! The always photo rich style of Wax Poetics is in full force here, too. One of the best issues in a while! Magazine

That's the lovely Alice Coltrane on the cover – given some great treatment inside by author Ashley Khan, who literally wrote the book in Impulse Records! There's lots more too – a great piece on Sun Ra, a look at contemporary production of vinyl, record guru/label owner John Corbett, a talk with Alan Braufmann, and a look at the scene in Berlin! But most of all is the presentation – as this is more of a journal than a magazine – done in a book-style package that's like Wax Poetics – squarebound, beautifully printed, with lots of full color images throughout! Magazine

The great Maggot Brain keeps on growing and growing – really reaching mind-expanding territory this special seventh issue, at a level that goes far beyond the large features on Lou Reed and Loaded pictured on the cover! There's a wealth of different shorter features, mixed with artwork and other articles too – bits on Lee Scratch Perry, Pastor TL Barrett, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Dane Wareham, The Goats, and the late 80s underground noise scene around Detroit – plus an especially strange feature on Doug Henning and his relationship to glam rock in Canada! As always, its less the topics than the way they're handled that makes the magazine so great – and Maggot Brain is definitely one of those publications that really rewards a cover-to-cover read – like the old classics Grand Royal, Wax Poetics, or even Motorbooty. Magazine

Always essential reading from the Wax Poetics crew – one of those magazines we wouldn't miss for anything, and which we proudly store on our shelves as if it were a book! And sure, they upped the price a few bucks this time around, but the journal is still a total bargain – all color, filled with great images, and packed with writing on the sorts of subjects few other music magazines ever touch! This time around, features include Build An Ark, Funky Cuba, Hot 8 Brass Band, Mighty Hannibal, Eddie Harris, Newcleus, Derf Reklaw, Chuck Brown, SOUL, and Camp Lo – and as always, there's plenty more cool little bits too. Magazine