"From conception to release this record was born from unwavering passion, deep seated respect, and irrepressible love...a celebration of (so-called) misspent youth, big dreamers dreaming big, and the wide-eyed adventurers who helped cement the movement in the annals of club culture."
A curated testament that past sounds still make for perfect soundtracks. Our Compilations and Reissues of the Year list for 2025 carries forward ambient subterranean scenes, soul-funk grooves, indie rock relics, contemporary songwriting and cosmic rock.
The compilation topping 2025's list celebrates an important time in musical history, resurrecting the soft, nocturnal pulse of London’s squat-party chillout rooms, reminding us of a time when ambient was both radical and communal. Elsewhere, landmark albums have returned in finer form, Hawkwind’s Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music, the iconic reverb-drenched guitar of Vini Reilly as The Return of the Durutti Column (celebrated with a 45th-anniversary edition) or The Making of Five Leaves Left, lifting the veil on Nick Drake’s creative process.
Amidst another year of great new music, these are the recorded works which have still pulled us in to look back, and almost definitely always will.
Deeper listening to some of our favourite artists' craft. Scroll for our Top 30 Compilations and Reissues of the Year, including Rough Trade Essential titles and exclusive vinyl editions.
Various – Telepathic Fish: Trawling The Early 90s Ambient Underground
A flashback to chillout music's most adventurous era, this remarkable compilation released via hardcore jungle revival label Fundamental Frequencies revives the spirit of party crew Telepathic Fish. Promoted and run by Chantal Passamonte (aka Mira Calix - RIP), David Vallade, Mario Aguera and Kevin Foakes (aka DJ Food), the Telepathic Fish days mark the first ripples of UK ambient techno and the free party underground, when rave met introspection and chill-out rooms became sanctuaries for sonic explorers. Curated with care by David Vallade, Mario Aguera and Kevin Foakes with Chantal in mind Telepathic Fish compiles irresistible ambient house and downbeat from the likes of Barbarella, Caustic Window (Aphex Twin), Nightmares on Wax and Global Communication. Both a document and a trip that proves that electronic music’s softer frequencies once offered escape, empathy and connection — and still do.
"A necessary snapshot of the often overlooked after-hours ambient chill-out scene; from conception to release this record was born from unwavering passion, deep seated respect, and irrepressible love. For it, and everyone involved, to receive such a triumphant affirmation (Rough Trade Compilation of the Year) is also a celebration of (so-called) misspent youth, big dreamers dreaming big, and the wide-eyed adventurers who helped cement the movement in the annals of club culture. Thank you, and float on."
Doug Shipton (Fundamental Frequencies)
Hawkwind – Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music
Atomhenge
A cosmic curveball from one of Britain’s great space rock institutions. First released in 1976, Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music saw Hawkwind shapeshift, trading galactic chaos for sleeker, funkier propulsion, bridging countercultural grit with glam-era polish. Restored and expanded here, the album’s sci-fi swagger remains unmatched. This reissue captures the era when vocalist Robert Calvert returned to the band, a major influence on the creative direction of the band lyrically for the next three years.
Cut at Abbey Road Studios, The Astounding Sounds reissue features the exact original album artwork that graced the original Charisma Records vinyl release, with inner bag and an additional illustrated liner notes insert.
EXCLUSIVE: Rough Trade Exclusive red and yellow splatter vinyl.
The Durutti Column – The Return of The Durutti Column (Anniversary Edition)
Factory Records’ quiet outlier is restored, all drifting guitars, melancholic minimalism and unspoken emotion. Marking its 45th anniversary, London Records presents new editions of the timeless 1980's debut, remastered from the original tapes and cut at half-speed for vinyl. Vini Reilly’s playing remains a study in understatement, emotion pouring from the spaces between notes. Half dream, half diary, entirely singular. A reminder that Manchester’s most radical act might always have been its gentlest.
Various – All The Young Droids
Night School
An electric anthology of tomorrow’s pop. All The Young Droids gathers a new generation of producers and vocalists channeling the emotional charge of electronic futurism, from neon-lit hyperpop to robotic soul. Compiled by Philip King, the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe songwriters enthralled by the new music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, and Daniel Miller's Mute Records.
Black 2LP + booklet or transparent green vinyl.
Various – Paul Weller Presents That Sweet Sweet Music
Ace Records
A handpicked selection from one of British music’s most dedicated custodians, The Modfather, Paul Weller. The Jam and Style Council singer-songwriter's crate-digging instincts shine through this joyful collection - from obscure soul 45s and freakbeat deep cuts to modern mod revival treasures. Whilst the core is vocal soul, Paul reaches deep into the vinyl archives to revisit a wicked instrumental from the flipside of the Isley Brothers' 'Twist and Shout' from 1962 and the funky jazz of the Headhunters' 'God Made Me Funky'.
EXCLUSIVE: Rough Trade Exclusive orange and yellow vinyl.
Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell (10th Anniversary Edition)
Asthmatic Kitty
A decade on, Carrie & Lowell still stops time. Sufjan’s hushed folk masterpiece remains one of the most affecting explorations of grief and grace in modern music. This expanded edition amplifies its intimacy with unheard demos, live versions and studio sketches that reveal the tenderness beneath every whisper. Sparse yet infinite, it captures the moment an artist turned personal loss into communal solace. We’ve heard few albums that feel so deeply lived in.
Indies exclusive violet vinyl + limited folded A3 print & 4o-page booklet.
The Lemonheads – Car Button Cloth (Deluxe Expanded Clothbound Edition)
From Lemonheads' trademark melody to eclectic covers of the bluegrass standard, Evan Dando’s bittersweet masterpiece, The Lemonheads' seventh record, now gets its due, newly restored as a lavish clothbound reissue, adding B-sides and demos that highlight Dando’s talent for weaving melancholy into melody. A 1996 cult record turned classic, Car Button Cloth found The Lemonheads adrift yet inspired - sardonic, fragile, and full of indelible hooks.
EXCLUSIVE: Rough Trade Exclusive blue vinyl + clothbound sleeve.
Various – Soul Psychédélique (The Sounds of Psychedelic Soul and Funk 1967–2024)
Two Piers
From Parliament to Khruangbin, from blaxploitation grooves to 21st-century reinventions — Soul Psychédélique is a technicolour odyssey through decades of rhythm and revolution, bringing together legends of the Soul Psych scene, such as Curtis Mayfield, The Chambers Brothers, Marlena Shaw, The Temptations, and the brilliant ‘Sugar Man’ by Rodriguez. This project connects the dots between acid-fried funk, socially conscious soul and cosmic R&B, celebrating how Black artists stretched sound and spirit into other dimensions. A compilation to educate and keep you dancing.
Purple & orange vinyl with artwork insert.
Nick Drake – The Making of Five Leaves Left
UMR
A quiet myth revisited. This companion piece to Nick Drake’s 1969 debut dives deep into the sessions that birthed one of folk’s most enduring treasures. Studio takes, alternate arrangements, unseen photographs. The warmth of Joe Boyd’s production, the soft ache of Drake’s voice, the stillness between chords: all preserved with clarity.
Over 30 previously unheard outtakes from the sessions, compiled across three discs, accompanied by a 60-page book printed on special textured paper stock, written by Neil Storey in collaboration with Richard Morton-Jack, complete with full track recording details, charts and recording history.
Jason Isbell – Something More Than Free
A modern Americana classic returns to remind us what honest songwriting sounds like. Something More Than Free captures North Alabama native Jason Isbell at his peak — his storytelling raw, compassionate and deeply human. This new edition highlights the record’s soul: working-class poetry and hard-won redemption set against Muscle Shoals grit. Isbell's voice carries that truth like gospel and ten years on, the songs hit harder than ever - bruised, brave and utterly alive.
Indies exclusive denim blue vinyl.
11-30
Explore the full top 30 compilations featuring the following titles...
Dream Syndicate - Medicine Show: I Know What You Like (Deluxe Edition)
Popol Vuh - Hosianna Mantra
Various - Unlock Your Mind With Morning Glory – Compiled by James Endeacott
Various - Sandworms (The Songs Of Howe Gelb and Giant Sand)
SOPHIE - PRODUCT
Hot Chip - Joy In Repetition
The Fall - 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong
Drop Nineteens - 1991
Various - Gather In The Mushrooms - The British Folk Underground 1969 - 1975
Husker Du - 1985: The Miracle Year
Q Lazarus - Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazarus
The Fall - Singles Live Vol 1: 78 - 81
Television Personalities - Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out: The Television Personalities Radio Sessions (1980-1993)
Various - Chip Shop Pop - The Sound of Denmark St 1970-1975 - Bob Stanley Presents
Aphex Twin - Classics
Studio - West Coast
Richard Hawley - Coles Corner (20th Anniversary Edition)
Dub Syndicate - Stoned Immaculate
Various - Safe In My Garden
Hawkwind - Hall Of The Mountain Grill