The cover's got a very modern look, and the group have a very modern sound – a reworking of the older piano trio mode with a very rhythmic pulse to their music throughout! The trio features Joachim Florent on bass, Will Guthrie on drums, and Aki Rissanen on piano – and the instruments work together in this pulsating, cyclical style – part jazz performance, but also part Steve Reich – which makes for incredibly captivating music throughout! The bass is very important to the sound, especially in the way it carves out the tunes almost as blocks of sound – which build and build in really magical ways. Titles include "Lebanon", "Procession", "Folk Song", "Engrenages", "Moulindjek", and "White Keys". CD

Mindblowing music from Hapshash & The Coloured Coat – a group with a sound that's every bit as freewheeling as their name! The set's a unique collaboration between DJ/producer Guy Stevens and psych poster designers Michael English and Nigel Weymouth – and has this loose, unfettered feel that's almost more like a "happening" in the studio instead of some road-jamming band cutting its music to vinyl – a really hair-down party with instrumentation on trippy percussion, jangly guitar, and other odd sounds that step in and out of the mix – showing a larger studio sense of manipulation for the whole record. There's an odd groove to the record at parts – almost a chaos theory return of the eternal – and titles include "H-O-P-P Why?", "A Mind Blown Is A Mind Shown", "The New Messiah Coming 1985", "Aoum", and the epic side two jam "Empires Of The Sun". LP, Vinyl record album

Italy was hit hard in the postwar years – as you've no doubt seen in the urban landscapes of neo-realist directors from the time – but the city of Rome was one of the first places to really bounce back, and was ablaze with new cultural activity during the 50s! The story of that scene and its rise is told in great detail here by writer Shawn Levy – who looks at directors, movie stars, designers, journalists, and other key cultural figures who helped shape the city at the time – a place that already sounds amazing enough for the nightclubs in the background of the story – much less the story itself! The book is 447 pages, hardcover, with some photos – and is a narrative that's every bit as interesting as the Fellini film for which it's named! Book