Daiei Gothic is a Blu-ray box set bringing together three classic Japanese ghost story films. The pictures date from between the late 1950s and mid-1960s- moving from a samurai drama/ supernatural crossbreed, snow-bound witch meets romantic drama, and a ghostly love story.

Amid the revival of the 80s aesthetic – heavy chorus effects, suffocated synth washes, ethereal vocals – the ability to effectively distinguish the genuine from the genuflected is nearly impossible. I have to admit that this entire genre is one that quite intentionally passed me by in its heyday, almost surely a result of my own narrow-mindedness when it came to anything that had electronic beats thrown into the mix. Well, Tactical Pagan (aka Andy Swan et al.) has put forth a kind of life raft of sorts for those of us who missed the boat, and for those who wished its journey had never come to close. Recorded directly to 8-track and mastered by label head and critical figure in the UK version of this story, Justin K. Broadrick, this eponymous debut revives the specific media technology that brokered dark wave, electro music of the 80s, while updating its most critical elements. 

No Sides Records presents True Scale: Live 2014-2019 CD by Hideous Replica. The Brooklyn duo of Dan Hintz and Frank Rose record and perform using only iPods and their amplifiers. Despite being active for a decade and having many recordings available on their bandcamp page, True Scale appears to be their first widely available physical release. 

Demons Dance Alone was the 27th album from The Residents. Released in the year 2002, it offered some of the long-running US project's most tuneful/ approachable, at times emotionally charged material- with much of their more difficult edges stripped back, for a quirkier, at points melancholic vibe.  From Cherry Red/ MVD audio/ New Ralph here is the next in the 'Preserved Series’ which sees the labels releasing the ultimate edition of Resident albums- with each album getting a classy new remastering, and loads of rare/unreleased material. This is a three-disc CD set- that brings together the original album, demos, bonus tracks, and live takes on the material.

The Polydor Years is a two-CD set bringing together one EP and one album released by British new wave artist Peter Godwind, with each disc also taking in a fair few bonus tracks be they single mixes, remixers, or instrumental takes on album tracks. Mr Godwind’s take on the New Wave is fairly moody/dramatic, though the steady snaping ‘n’ bounding electro beats and jaunting synths are never too far away.

Here from 88 films is a Blu-Ray boxset bringing together the three films from the notorious Guts Of  A Virgin trilogy. The Japanese mid-1980s pictures blend often rape and torture touching softcore with horror and crime thriller elements, for intense, bizarre and quirky cinematic rides. This, I believe, is the first-ever release of these films in the UK- with each picture having its own disc, featuring a clean and bright scan, with new interviews with the director for two of the films.