Back catalogue: Ambient/Drone

Review: A dream pairing from opposite corners of the sonic world, British synth polymath James Holden and Polish clarinettist Waclaw Zimpel land somewhere deep in the trance zone on this six-track debut. Opener 'You Are Gods' flickers into motion with modular ripples and clarinet spirals, setting a tone that's at once meditative and exploratory. 'Sunbeam Path' floats toward more radiant territory, while 'Time Ring Rattles' and 'Incredible Bliss' channel fast-paced, arpeggiated fervour. 'Sparkles, Crystals, Miracles' cools the system with ambient drift, before the closer melts into layered organ drama and a reverent air. The pair's range of instrumentation-violins, algoza flutes, lap steel, and modulars-gives each piece a handmade feel, but it's their shared commitment to improvisation and trance that binds it all. Rather than chase genre, they zero in on shared instinct-and let the current carry them.

Review: There are immersive experiences that inspire artists to do great things. Then there's Aboutface heading to the Wampis Territory, in the Peruvian Amazon, to live with the local community, learn a little of how they live and their relationship with the Lungs of the Planet, capturing field recordings collaboratively with those people, and trying to articulate their world through an electronic-organic deep dive album. After you've got over the jealousy about how life-changing that trip was, let's focus on the fundamentals. This is seriously escapist stuff that seems to have been made using every root, branch, and animal encountered during those weeks. The synthesised elements are audible, but take a backseat to what was and is actually there. Or here. Quite unlike anything we've heard this year, it's a stunning way to raise awareness and support for Indigenous-led conservation and initiatives trying to stop illegal deforestation and ecocide.