Back catalogue: Classical

Review: A fourth full length from the Montreal-based enigma. Sarah Davachi's electroacoustic compositions have become the stuff of legend and hallucination-inducing live shows, refrains that bore into your mind then soul, detailed and complex ideas borne out in minimalist moods capable of taking listeners beyond themselves, out to somewhere completely new. Talk about a curveball, then. All My Circles Run features five totally unique compositions which all share one common trait - they eschew synthesisers and instead each focus on a different instrument. Hence the titles. 'For Strings', 'For Voice', 'For Piano', 'For Organ', 'Chanter'. But, although the record's core parts represent a different move for the musician, Davachi's incredible ear for subtly powerful sounds remains at the centre of the experience. So prepare to be blown away again. Gently.

Review: Originally released in 2015, this reissue returns to the stunning debut full-length from Canadian electroacoustic composer Sarah Davachi, who is rapidly becoming a big deal in the world of experimental sounds. Emerging from brief but acclaimed releases on labels like Important Records' Cassauna and Full Spectrum, this album marked her as a unique voice within the world of minimalist and experimental sound. Trained at Mills College, Davachi's work reflects a deep understanding of synthesis and acoustic instrumentation, with a focus on patience, atmosphere and tone over flashy modular theatrics. Rather than overwhelming the listener with density, Davachi builds a deep listening album full of impressive tracks. Vintage synths like the Buchla 200, EMS Synthi and Prophet 5 provide an enveloping tonal palette that reveal the composer's intent to create a more intimate, hybrid sonic language. The opening track 'heliotrope' unfolds like smoke rising into a high ceiling, shimmering with evolving harmonic detail. 'wood green' moves from near-silence to a radiant calm. An album of introspection and careful design in a world of maximalist electronics, a rare piece of compositional grace. Its return in reissue form feels not only deserved but necessary.

Review: Portraits GRM offer a split release between Beatrice Dillon and Hideki Umezawa, riffing on 'basho' and Baschet respectively. Dillon's 'Basho' is shaped on the mortar of a Japanese philosophical concept: conceived by Japanese philosopher Kitaro Nishida, basho describes a post-physical plane in which experiences and thoughts interconnect, dissolving subject-object distinctions. Dillon and Umezawa's music both resist fixity, reactivating the listener's attention by way electronic sounds stripped of origin. Umezawa's 'Still Forms', however, contrasts Dillon's firm-footed techno curtails with an entirely beatless piece, exploring the sonic potential of Baschet sound structures: experimental instruments developed in the 1950s by Bernard and Francois Baschet. Electroacoustic cognitions branch out like newly grown synapses on this fresh 12".