The cover image is a great hint at the vibe of this gem of a record from London's Ezra Collective – but as with most of their music, there's a lot more going on than you might expect – certainly not a straight dance record, although the album's overflowing with really wonderful rhythms! The blend of soul, jazz, and other elements is fantastic – really pushing forward all the energy that's made the group so great, right from the start – and the core lineup features Joe Armon-Jones on keyboards, James Mollison on tenor, Ife Ogunjobi on trumpet, TJ Koleoso on bass, and Femi Koleoso on drums – the last two of whom really drive the music in a wonderful way! There's some vocal guests on the set too – including Yazmin Lacey, Olivia Dean, and Moonchild Sanelly – but most of the set is instrumental. Titles include "Palm Wine", "Hear My Cry", "No One's Watching Me", "God Gave Me Feet For Dancing", "The Traveler", "Shaking Body", "Streets Is Calling", and "The Herald". CD

The cover image is a great hint at the vibe of this gem of a record from London's Ezra Collective – but as with most of their music, there's a lot more going on than you might expect – certainly not a straight dance record, although the album's overflowing with really wonderful rhythms! The blend of soul, jazz, and other elements is fantastic – really pushing forward all the energy that's made the group so great, right from the start – and the core lineup features Joe Armon-Jones on keyboards, James Mollison on tenor, Ife Ogunjobi on trumpet, TJ Koleoso on bass, and Femi Koleoso on drums – the last two of whom really drive the music in a wonderful way! There's some vocal guests on the set too – including Yazmin Lacey, Olivia Dean, and Moonchild Sanelly – but most of the set is instrumental. Titles include "Palm Wine", "Hear My Cry", "No One's Watching Me", "God Gave Me Feet For Dancing", "The Traveler", "Shaking Body", "Streets Is Calling", and "The Herald". LP, Vinyl record album

The cover image is a great hint at the vibe of this gem of a record from London's Ezra Collective – but as with most of their music, there's a lot more going on than you might expect – certainly not a straight dance record, although the album's overflowing with really wonderful rhythms! The blend of soul, jazz, and other elements is fantastic – really pushing forward all the energy that's made the group so great, right from the start – and the core lineup features Joe Armon-Jones on keyboards, James Mollison on tenor, Ife Ogunjobi on trumpet, TJ Koleoso on bass, and Femi Koleoso on drums – the last two of whom really drive the music in a wonderful way! There's some vocal guests on the set too – including Yazmin Lacey, Olivia Dean, and Moonchild Sanelly – but most of the set is instrumental. Titles include "Palm Wine", "Hear My Cry", "No One's Watching Me", "God Gave Me Feet For Dancing", "The Traveler", "Shaking Body", "Streets Is Calling", and "The Herald". LP, Vinyl record album

The cover image is a great hint at the vibe of this gem of a record from London's Ezra Collective – but as with most of their music, there's a lot more going on than you might expect – certainly not a straight dance record, although the album's overflowing with really wonderful rhythms! The blend of soul, jazz, and other elements is fantastic – really pushing forward all the energy that's made the group so great, right from the start – and the core lineup features Joe Armon-Jones on keyboards, James Mollison on tenor, Ife Ogunjobi on trumpet, TJ Koleoso on bass, and Femi Koleoso on drums – the last two of whom really drive the music in a wonderful way! There's some vocal guests on the set too – including Yazmin Lacey, Olivia Dean, and Moonchild Sanelly – but most of the set is instrumental. Titles include "Palm Wine", "Hear My Cry", "No One's Watching Me", "God Gave Me Feet For Dancing", "The Traveler", "Shaking Body", "Streets Is Calling", and "The Herald". 2CD edition comes with four bonus tracks – instrumental versions of "No One's Watching Me" and "Streets Is Calling" – and live versions of "Ajala" and "Little Things". CD

Ezra Collective are a group who've been burning up the British scene so much in recent years, they've barely had time to give us a full length album – a situation that's more than corrected by this well-done set! The combo are often tied to some of the best jazz experiments in London of the past decade or so, but in the true fashion of that city's culture, they manage to weave together other strands of music besides jazz – plenty of post-colonial touches from Afro Funk, dub, and even hip hop – while also standing strong with the strength of jazz-based playing to set them apart from so many other groups who just jumble together influences and spill them out in the studio. There's a rock-solid quality to the overall presentation here – a really unified records that moves through tracks that include "Victory Dance", "Live Strong", "Ego Killah", "Togetherness", "No Confusion", "Never The Same Again", "Love In Outer Space", "Belonging", and "Welcome To My World" – plus a few words from Steve McQueen! LP, Vinyl record album

This time around, the big cover feature looks at the late 70s run of records from Neil Young – a period when he was really changing things up! There's plenty more too – a long feature on the 75 best albums of 2024 – plus articles on Jack White, Father John Misty, Gillian Welch, Super Furry Animals, Neil Innes, and The National – plus a whopping 156 reviews of new music and more! There's also a bonus CD – a best-of 2024 – with cuts from Nick Cave, Kim Deal, Ezra Collective, Black Crowes, Jack White, Richard Thompson, and others. Magazine

David Bowie is on the cover for a feature focused on a peak period – 1974, a year that saw the completion of both Diamond Dogs and Young Americans (even if the latter wasn't released until '75) – showcasing a stunning a shift from glam rock to gleaming soul no one could've predicted, not even from a chameleon the likes of Bowie! Other features include a look back at Tom Petty's landmark Long After Dark, Small Face and post-Keith Moon Who drummer Kenney Jones, The Cure, Ezra Collective, Supertramp, The Saints and more. Includes the usual wide array of reviews and a free CD – Future Legends: 15 Tracks Of Dystopian Sci-Fi Rock – with tracks by Father John Misty, Hawkwind, Iggy Pop & James Williamson, The Flaming Lips, The The and many more. Magazine