Last Supper /Oxford Suite (part 1 - with Ed Alleyne Johnson)
Into The Metaverse/Homo Deus Part 2
Outro
Review: Sasha's latest album was initially created to soundtrack Da Vinci Genius, a unique, immersive, multi-media exhibition celebrating the life and work of the inventor, artist and all-round Renaissance man Leonardo Da Vinci. Crafted in cahoots with a string of contributors to his popular Scene Delete set, the score (and subsequently this album) cannily combines neo-classical music (inspired by both vintage and more contemporary composers), the sweeping grandiosity of movie soundtracks, bubbly electronica, colourful ambient soundscapes, occasional nods to 15th century choral music and Sasha's usual emotive musical motifs. As the set progresses, it eases closer to the dancefloor sound the veteran DJ/producer is most famous for - which will delight his legion of fans - without ever fully committing. This is, after all, an immersive, eyes-closed listening experience first and foremost.
Review: Deep Valley is a new collaborative work by Australian artists Seaworthy aka Cameron Webb and Matt Rosner and they came together for it during a week-long residency at Bundanon Art Museum in New South Wales. The property which was gifted to the Australian public by artists Arthur and Yvonne Boyd in the 1990s offers a unique landscape along the Shoalhaven River and is surrounded by sandstone cliffs and diverse wildlife. Drawing inspiration from Boyd's belief that "you can't own a landscape," Deep Valley combines the inspiration of that setting with environmental recordings, guitars, piano, and electronic processing all of which aim to highlight the transient nature of ecosystems and encourage you to reconnect with the sounds of nature.
Review: Four years ago, Jon Linksey brought his Sectra project to Tectonic to the first time, serving up an impossible-to-pigeonhole set that combined his love of abstract noise, drone, industrial, techno and warped dancehall. The producer expands on these ideas on Through The Static, his first album to be released on anything other than cassette. In some ways it was designed with the CD format in mind, with the 13 'official tracks' - decidedly dystopian, angular and frequently intense affairs full of mutant rhythms and flashes of genuine musical emotion - being joined by a five-track bonus EP that can apparently be heard "through" the sound of static bolted onto the end of the EP. It's an interesting and unusual idea, but it's the adventurous and experimental qualities of the main album that makes it such a vital listen.
Review: Orb offshoot project Sedibus has proved popular with fans for two reasons: it reunites Alex Paterson with Andy Falconer, who worked extensively with the Orb between 1990 and 1994, and the music they make recalls some of the pair's best moments of that period - albeit with a quite different instrumentation. Seti, the pair's sophomore album, has been described by their label, Cooking Vinyl, as "ambient unplugged". That only tells half the story. While it does boast all manner of acoustic instruments - sitar, guitar, piano, tabla and other percussion - it also features Paterson's trademark spoken word snippets and the dreamiest of electronic chords and aural textures. With beautiful, immersive and typically lengthy compositions, it feels and sounds like a grown-up version of the Orb's mightiest early 90s work.
Review: Seefeel's new album Everything Squared marks their first release since 2011, on which the "first ever shoegaze-electronica band" flex a positively retroactive take on the sound they sired. From the opening 'Sky Hooks' - a track which weaves an oxbow shape through small bankside groves of nymphlike-vocals in the peaks, and determined plods through ambient dub subterrains in the troughs - to the penultimate 'Hooked Paw', a similarly dubby but comparatively gnosis - a sophistic dream-blear for vocals and detuned atmoss at 140bpm, recalling the surreal ambient fort-das of HTRK or Clouds - this is not a record to be listened to lightly, despite its comeback status.
Review: Shabaka Hutchings' Perceive Its Beauty is a profound and meditative musical journey that celebrates the richness and grace of African culture. Through a diverse ensemble of renowned musicians, Hutchings invites us to immerse ourselves in a sonic landscape that evokes the beauty and bounty of the Motherland. The album's meditative quality stems from the restraint and collective nature of its creation. The instruments seem to float effortlessly, creating a sonic cloud that carries echoes of Afro-Asian music and the tranquil sounds of nature. Yet, within this understated atmosphere, individual brilliance shines through. The artistry of Jason Moran on the piano and the ethereal voices of Moses Sumney and Eska add layers of nuance and emotional depth. In an era often marked by division and disharmony, Perceive Its Beauty offers a refuge of unity and peace. It invites us to transcend superficial boundaries and embrace the beauty and grace that resides within and around us.
Review: Marseille's IOT Records is the home for Azu Tiwaline's latest dubbed out and dreamy pads and manipulated field recordings. It's her second album and is another one that stands up to her reputation for being a true innovator. Following on from Draw Me a silence in 2020, Teh Fifth Dream is an hour long session that veers from reverberating and bass heavy steppers to next level synth-scapes. Field recordings made in the desert of her native El Djerid, in South Tunisia, feature heavily as do tombak drums and modular synths from Franco-Persian spar Cinna Peyghamy.
Review: London-based Australian vocalist, producer and multi-instrumentalist Penelope Trappe has always made immersive, enveloping and deeply atmospheric that sidesteps convention. It was that uniquely haunting and emotive approach to ambient and electronica that earned her deals with Optimo Music and Houndstooth, amongst others. Now signed to One Little Independent, Trappes has pushed the boat out further on Requiem, a mournful and bittersweet musical meditation in which her distinctively sweet-but-drowsy vocals rise above manipulated cello textures, hushed field recordings, ambient textures and intriguing electronic sounds aplenty. It's bold, beautiful and at times breathtakingly brilliant, once again marking Trappes out as an artist with a genuinely unique musical vision.
Review: By Scott Hansen's previously prolific standards, we've had to wait a fair old while for a new album. Infinite Health, the third Tycho album for Ninja Tune after years signed to Ghostly International, is by design something of a reset: a self-proclaimed meditation on "hope for the future" mixed with a "requiem for the past". Stylistically, that also means a return to his electronic roots, with colourful, melody-rich and sun-splashed synth sounds combined with unfussy beats and breaks, toasty basslines and glistening, AM radio-friendly guitar licks. It is then, regardless of the inspirations behind it, a classic-sounding Tycho album - as highlights 'Phantom', the instrumental deep synth-pop dreaminess of 'Devices' and the lo-fi, trip-hop influenced shuffle of 'Green' emphatically prove.
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