December: 18 albums you need to hear this month

Various 'Bill Brewster presents Tribal Rites' (Eskimo Recordings)

He wears more hats than Boy George (one of which is as Mixmag’s long-time curator of dance music history), but DJ and journalist Bill Brewster shows his unparalleled skills as a selector on this sprawling new comp. Over three CDs, Brewster is your pilot on a fly-by of the music that soundtracked his life: album one delves into psych, oddball funk and obscure post-punk, highlighted by a horn-splashed, Balearic take on The Raincoats’ ‘Animal Rhapsody’. Disc two is a dizzying sashay through the disco years, while part three showcases his love of 4/4. Many of the tracks on ‘Tribal Rites’ will be new to most, but – and here’s Brewster’s secret – it maintains an unerring accessibility. Stephen Worthy

9/10