Groove Armada – LateNightTales (2xLP)

If it’s a smorgasbord of rare mellowtronica and dance music from two of the UK’s most esteemed curators you’re after, then you could do worse than to check out this brand new reissue of Late Night Tales: Groove Armada that was originally released in 2008.

For their second team-up with the legendary label (and a release that even the BBC admits 'offers a selection of some great tunes'), Andy Cato and Tom Findlay have painstakingly compiled a collection of songs so varied, it’ll leave even the most open-minded listener occasionally scratching their head. And yet, somehow, it works - from an unlikely cover of Gary Numan’s ‘Are (Friends) Electric?’ to the arcane Americana of Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve’s mix of Roscoe via a Balaeric edit of Will Young and a White Isle-ready edit of Chris Rea’s Josephine, the good ship Armada never fails to entrance. All aboard!

“When I look back on my career the two things I’m probably most proud of were the compilations we curated and the live show. They were two things I think we do really well. How many of them are still tunes that I play now? Obviously, it's got ‘Josephine’ which is an Ibizan anthem and it’s soundtracked all my best times in Ibiza. There are the times you find yourself playing one of those nice beachside bars or an afterparty somewhere, and you play that record and it raises a roof and this edit is one I play all the time, even now.”