Back catalogue: Classical

Review: This EP is the first collaborative work by Andrea Belfi and Jules Reidy. Berlin-based and hailing from Italy and Australia respectively, the duo blends compositional precision with improvisational freedom. During a residency at Berlin's Callie's-a 19th-century factory turned arts space-they and engineer Marco Anulli crafted four expansive tracks in which Belfi's masterful drumming interlaces with Reidy's shimmering guitars and electronic textures. The opener layers just-intoned guitar figures over delicate brushwork and climaxes with a synthetic surge and tracks like 'Oben' and 'Alto' explore shifting grooves, propulsive rhythms and dynamic soundscapes.

Review: Apparently James Adam Brown had one very definitely theme in mind with There Is Space Under Your Seat. Put simply, he wanted to explore aural interpretations of the human desire to create mental breathing room by pausing emotions to process feelings when circumstances become overwhelming. And, let's face it, they frequently have a habit of doing just that.
Recorded at ICP Studios in Belgium, after demos were laid down in his own facility deep in the stunning Yorkshire Dales, it's hard to imagine a more fitting setting for these ideas to form. A place that's equal parts bleak and beautiful, and certainly remote (in UK terms, at least). So what we have here is sometimes eerie, always stunning, packed with spatiality and a tangible emotional quality you will not be able to escape from.

Review: Something's Up! is a masterful compilation that features the eclectic brilliance of John Barry's film scores. Curated by Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley, this collection highlights Barry's transition from a British arranger to a pop icon, renowned for defining the sound of the Cold War spy movie era. Focusing on music from 1964 to 1967, this album features Barry's iconic work on James Bond classics like Goldfinger, Thunderball, and You Only Live Twice, cementing his influence on the spy genre. Beyond Bond, Barry's contributions to films such as The Ipcress File and The Quiller Memorandum exemplify his ability to blend tension with sophistication. The collection also includes less-celebrated but notable scores like those for King Rat, The Chase and Seance on a Wet Afternoon, reflecting Barry's diverse range and ability to craft memorable themes beyond the mainstream. Barry's music, characterised by its lush orchestration and emotive power, extended its reach from the silver screen to the vinyl, resonating with listeners even if they hadn't seen the films - and his exceptional talent and enduring legacy in film music is on full display here,

Review: Contemporary classical seems to be having a bit of a moment in the sun right now as it breaks out of its traditional confines and makes a mark on the wider world. Bartellow, who is one-third of the Tambien project and also goes by the name Beni Brachtel in the classical scene, is back on ESP Institute with a second full-length. Noosphere brings together parts of some of his theatrical scores for WUT, Odipus and Antigone and Der Zauberberg amongst others. It takes in cues from Baroque and Impressionism with plenty of sweeping drama and moments of intense emotionality across four sides of sound.

Review: Originally recorded in September 1982, September 23rd would likely not recognise the DUMBO neighbourhood of Brooklyn in which it was conceived. Post-industrialisation, the area became known as a hotbed for artists due to the inexpensive loft spaces up for grabs, but today has been gentrified thanks to its position - Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass. One thing that hasn't changed in that time is just how spectacular William Basinski's pieces are. Comprising two parts, original piano sections played by close friend and world famous drag artist John Epperson (AKA Lypsinka) were recorded onto a handheld cassette machine, before being fed through a Frippertronics loop and feedback loop tape delay system, with incredible results. Rich, strange sonic textures, beautiful but fleeting moments of melody and a depth that sounds like you can dive into it.

Review: September 23rd is the debut release of William Basinski's new Arcadia Archive series and it features a previously unreleased gem recorded in September 1982 in his first loft in Brooklyn's pre-gentrified DUMBO. This early work, derived from a high school piano composition, evolved significantly after Basinski recorded it using a portable cassette deck on a piano owned by his neighbour, John Epperson at 351 Jay Street. Initially unimpressive, the piece transformed through Basinski's use of the John Giorno/William Burroughs cut-up technique and Frippertronics loop system to yield remarkable results. This discovery adds a captivating layer to Basinski's nearly five-decade career.

Review: September 23rd is the first release in William Basinski's new Arcadia Archive series. Recorded in September 1982 in his first loft in the DUMBO neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, September 23rd is a recently unearthed early entry in what has become a hugely inspirational and influential catalogue. Built from a piano piece that Basinski composed in high school in the mid-1970s, September 23rd quickly evolved into a vastly different work, upon its revisitation. Using the John Giorno and William Burroughs cut-up technique, Basinski fabricated an elaborate Frippertronics and feedback loop tape delay system, resulting in the quiet but dramatic set of sounds and resounds you hear here.

Review: The Disintegration Loops man William Basinski has linked up with acclaimed experimental composer Janek Schaefer for this new collaborative record on Temporary Residence Limited. What they cook up is a suite of very unassuming songs that are all dedicated to the late and great avant-garde composer Harold Budd. The record was eight years in the making and is as timeless as ambient gets with 42 minutes of gently undulating sonic terrain gently and quietly detailed with subtle skill and placid melodies. It is as beautiful as it is absorbing once you really give yourself over to the sounds.

Review: Original soundtrack for Past Lives, featuring an original score by Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen, as well as the original song 'Quiet Eyes' by Sharon Van Etten. One of the foremost romantic films of the 2020s so far, Past Lives is set in Seoul, SK, and follows two beloved childhood friends over the course of 24 years; detailing the personal trials, love triangles and vagaries that inevitably stem from a romance torn apart in childhood and brought back together again in adulthood. Bear and Rossen's soundtrack is pressed on cloud white vinyl, with original paintings by renowned artist Na Kim.

Review: California's James Bernard is a much-loved regular on this label as well as being a veteran of the wider ambient scene who has been hard at it for more than three decades. His latest outing on Past Inside The Present with Anthene (aka Brad Deschamps of Toronto) is Soft Octaves, an album that finds them crafting a series of sounds using electric six-string bass. It has a huge range from the deepest depths to the wispiest of highs and each of the tracks here was recorded in one single take. The results are spellbinding indeed and the range of the bass's sonic ability is astonishing as it sounds at times like a cello, at others woodwind and is always intriguing.

Review: Natalia Baylis based her first album for Touch Sensitive around the fortuitous discovery of an Italian-made CRB Elettronica Ancona Diamond 708 E organ at the recycling centre, in what now seems like a fated outcome for the Irish ambient artist. Feeding the wonky sound of the instrument into swirling pools of processing, she used one of her father's old photos of three ladies bathing in the sea to set her angle of approach - and so Mermaids came to be. Enchanting, mysterious and flowing like the ocean, we couldn't think of a more fitting title for this mesmerising album.

Review: Originally released in 2017, Phantom Brickworks by Bibio (Stephen James Wilkinson) was an ambient exploration of abandoned sites around Britain, blending improvisation and composition to capture the lingering human presence in decaying locations. Now, the sequel, Phantom Brickworks (LP II), arrives as a ten-track double LP, complete with an MP3 download code. Mastered by Guy Davie and cut by Hendrik Pauler, this new record shifts focus to more intriguing landscapes, both real and legendary. From vast scars on the terrain to memories buried in folklore, Bibio's soundscapes evoke spaces lost to time but still resonant in history.

Review: Billow Observatory returns to the fully ambient realms of their 2012 debut with a deeply introspective, percussion-free release that drifts through spectral soundscapes. Created by Jason Kolb and Jonas Munk, the duo's transatlantic collaboration has matured across four full-length albums marked by precision and emotional depth. Here, abandoning traditional structure, the album instead looks to harness the power of chance and randomness with shimmering guitar textures that crackle and dissolve like dust in water. It evokes a world slightly out of sync that is brooding, haunting and beautifully immersive while underlining their place as masters of refined, atmospheric ambient music.

Review: Billow Observatory is a collaborative project from Detroit-based Jason Kolb and Denmark's Jonas Munk which explores ambient with a certain post rock sensibility. Following gracefully on from 2022's Stareside album, this new LP in fact gathers together two separate EPs from the duo and presents them as one listening experience. There's a delicacy to tracks like 'Garden of Four Streams' which speaks to Japanese environmental music, but still the projects maintains its affinity for ethereal chambers of sound as much as fragile foreground sonic figures. This is a high-grade strain of ambient with a depth of sound which will capture your attention from the very start.

Review: Using a variety of tape stocks, Black Swan creates a haunting atmosphere that evokes the sensation of uncovering long-lost, sacred recordings hidden in time on his ninth album, Ghost. The New York-based artist reveals that he was inspired by musique concrete and ambient while making the record, which is made up of 20 pieces that all form a continuous suite. Each track varies in length and complexity from short and sweet sketches to more elongated studies and that are made from intense layering and harmonic surges using an array of tape stocks. The result is a haunting, unearthly atmosphere that sounds perfect in this cassette format.

Review: New York-based Black Swan returns with an impressive ninth album on ambient gold mine Past Inside The Present. The is the CD version (we also have it on cassette) and it's a record that blends analogue recording techniques to blur the lines between memory and reality. Influenced by musique concrete, ambient and dark drone traditions, the album is a continuous suite of 20 tracks that reflect a spirit navigating the physical world. Some are short vignettes while others evolve over longer play times with layered intensity. Standouts include 'Like Dust, I Linger' with its tender warble and 'Ad Infinitum' which is lit up with shimmering synths. It's another triumphant work from Black Swan.

Review: This recording of the Philadelphia Orchestra performing Sergei Prokofiev's 1936 story and orchestral score Peter and the Wolf was recorded in 1977 and was originally released in 1978. The role of the narrator on the recording was initially offered to both Peter Ustinov and Alec Guinness who both turned it down, before David Bowie agreed to take on the role, supposedly as a Christmas present to his son. On the B-side is another equally as charming piece of recent classical history, Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra as narrated by Hugh Downs.

Review: London-based producer Box5ive is best known for bass-y reverberations, putting together potent UK-sounding club stuff for labels like Panel Audio and Well Street Records. A new direction found, co:clear now presents a stunning and beautiful collection of gentile ambient and drone material which is as transportive as it is trippy. A sunrise, a breathwork session, an odyssey through the mind's eye, a real work of art. At its most lush, Grey Space gives us the spatial twinkles of 'Sour Kiss', or the whispered exhales of 'Rough Sleeper', 'In Grey Space' and its sense of vast emptiness, and the crystalline harmonies on 'First Name'. At its loudest, we have the occasional beats and echoed notes of 'Omni74' and the blissful, d&b-chill of 'Blind' and 'Sell A Door'. The point being, this is never loud or overbearing, but always seductive and immersive.

Review: Originally released on tape by SicSic in 2014, Aprilnacht commemorates a decade of music from Brannten Schnure and marked the spring in a tetralogy of albums about the four seasons. When it was first released, Brannten Schnure consisted solely of German musician Christian Schoppik; it was only after this period that he'd continue to hone is gothic folk romanticism and pastoral neoclassical sound, thereafter enlisting the help of vocalist Katie Rich as well. Now reissued by the esteemed Aguirre Records, Aprilnacht returns for a second haunting, retro-spectrally calling to mind its eerie sound collages and dusty sampler assemblages.

Review: The cream of contemporary ambient dub, Civilistjavel! (Tomas Boden), is back on the scene with Brodfoda. Through twelve roman numerical movements titled I through XII, the initially anonymous artist makes a subtle affective turn here. Earlier commanding the interest of the now sadly felled Low Company trunk - one of the best seedlings of which has to be the FELT imprint - Brodfoda sacrifices Boden's earlier emphasis on dubiously emotive but still progressive dub pieces in favour of a deeper mood-disclosure; a more expansive, but still demure, dozen tracks of grained-out audio-sepias and cathartic vocal swells, which creep up on the listener like latent realisations, as though they were always there somewhere in the mix-murk. The vocal contributions, this time from Mayssa Jallad and Laila Sakini, as ever lie among the most welcome contributions to Civilist's output, with 'IX' portraying an especially towering sense of depth, awestruck palpation.

Review: Ganna Bryzhata aka Bryozone hails from the historic Black Sea port city of Odesa and plays bass in Chillera, a dub trio with a psyched-out take on space rock. Now her ever shape shifting electroacoustic experiments arrive in the form of a solo debut album that has been long awaited by fans. It is an ambient album of highly serene quality that tracks an effortless nautical flow as well as hitting at industrial dud-scapes. There is an alluring wistfulness in the melodies and ethereal loops and icy, atonal drones that really keeps you locked in throughout.

Review: This is a real gem of the English jazz revolution - Chitinous by cellist Paul Buckmaster stands tall as an obscure masterpiece. Renowned for his collaborations with legends like Miles Davis and David Bowie, Buckmaster leads a colossal orchestra of 51 players, featuring top English musicians including trumpeter Ian Carr and drummer John Marshall. Recorded in 1970, the album showcases Buckmaster's mastery of the cello and keyboards and is organised into suites where the music seamlessly blends classical, contemporary and jazz influences, offering broad yet evocative compositions. This reissue reminds us of Buckmaster's innovation as well as the era's renowned musical experimentation.

Review: On his return to China in 2019 after a period away, Brock van Wey noticed a "strange, sound emitting item" on the table. It was a handmade 'steel tongue drum', a unique percussion instrument associated with spirituality and meditation in Asian culture. A few days later, van Wey recorded an extended jam of himself playing it, and later overdubbed electronic sounds, melodies, chords and textures. The result is The Depth of Rain, the long-serving ambient and drone artist's second Bvdub album of 2024. Where some of van Wey's ambient sets can tend towards the intense and claustrophobic, The Depth of Rain is a genuinely melodious, evocative and spring-like affair that ebbs and flows wonderfully throughout, providing entertainment and sonic bliss in equal measure.