Ambient/Drone charts

Review: Ten year anniversary? Has it really already been ten years since Recondite's sophomore album 'Hinterland' came out?! Recondite almost single-handedly was responsible in many peoples eyes for the resurgence in techno during the early 2010s. After beating down the doors of Ghostly International for many years, the fans finally get their wish in the shape a new, shiny reissue. Coming on smokey black vinyl this time, nobody has a reason to not have this record in their collection. Included are legendary tracks like 'Stems', 'Clouded' and 'Leafs'. Many think that not only is this the best Recondite album but one of the best techno albums of the year 2013.

Review: The Analogue Attic microverse is defined by a unified commitment to the deepest ideas of where house music can head, and no one embodies that spirit better than Alex Albrecht. On this latest 12" he's heading into the velvet folds of low tempo chugger 'The Blacksmith' and downtempo dream state 'Coles Ridge' with elegiac piano sparkling atop fathoms-deep pads and the softest of percussion. This is house music as a vessel for pure relaxation and sentimental meditation, and across six tracks Albrecht offers up balm after balm to soundtrack oceanic realms of calm - a much needed tonic for the frenetic pace of modern life.

Review: Via his Lord of the Isles alias and contributions to Firecracker's Mac-Talla Nan-Creag project, Neil McDonald has proved particularly good at unfurling atmospheric, melodious and immersive electronic music. While much of it has been ambient in nature, there have been fine dancefloor excursions, and on this third solo album, Subtle Thoughts, he showcases the full range of his talents. We get a mix of sparkling, spring-fresh IDM, evocative ambient soundscapes, locked-in ambient techno, his take on bleep-and-breaks ('Open Mode'), widescreen electronic epics ('Subtle Thoughts') and the kind of hard-to-pigeonhole blasts of life-affirming brilliance that mark out the work of only the most talented of producers (see 'Medhi'). His best album yet by some distance.

Review: French outfit Chateau Flight have spent two years in the studio making music, playing around and experimenting and now the fruits of that work are presented on this new album La Folie Studio. It is full of the sound of analogue machines conversing and the artists themselves speaking through their darkened basslines or eerie pads. Occult worlds are crafted, ambient soundscapes are cooked up and leftfield cosmic explorations occur throughout a journeying album full of a wide range of emotions. This lovely record features guests on the odd track such as Johnny Nash on guitar, Cosmic Neman mumbling on 'Mange', John Cravache playing 'his special organ" and Bony Bikaye singing on 'Esika Molimo Ezali'. It's an occult world of left of centre sound that will keep you coming back for more.