Micro-genres. To be honest, it's not a term I'd ever really experienced before truly diving deep into the recent work from Numero Group. As the impressive reissue label has pulled back from their previous "releasing a shit ton of records" clip to a more nuanced, more thought out approach to the label game.

Said approach could not be better illustrated than on this REACH compilation. The songs alone, ranging from A.R.T. Wilson's "Overworld" being described as a mix of ethno-groove, Chicago House, G-funk, primitive percussion and 80's library music.

Even if none of those phrases mean anything to you, the sheer power of them assembled one after another is reason to explore.

Beyond that, Ken Shipley's 5000+ word liner notes, part history of the industry, part personal therapy, part song deconstruction are just sublime. Ken is a kindred soul and I can't imagine anyone else with a true love connection to music, involved in this ever-fickle, ever-changing label landscape to not love his take here. Feel free to check it out below.

My favorite track on here is the opener "Enchanted Pool Suite" by Lenny White. As described in the notes (I'm paraphrasing), it's a mix of classical and jazz fusion, all harp plucks, lush strings that breaks into a prog jam where Lenny puts on a drum clinic paired with guitars, violins and keys soloing their brains out.

There's no bins for this kinda shit in your local record store. There may not be any other songs in the world that even share the profile. And for that, I am eternally thankful for the important work done by Numero and like-minded labels, digging deep to open our ears. The payoff is absolutely worth it.