Ghost Box Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Back in 2005 we might not have predicted what a phenomenon Ghost Box would become. In the years since, the label has become a beacon for the hauntological exploration of Britain's inherent oddness creeping just below the surface. Julian House's graphic design is a huge part of the label's artistic merit, and it figures his music as The Focus Group follows a similarly aesthetically rigorous direction. There's a pastoral collage quality to Hey Let Loose Your Love which takes you right back to the 70s, with beautiful musical passages offset by surrealist samples and unexpected diversions into the recent history of these wyrd isles.

Review: Large Plants made quite a splash with their debut album on Ghost Box last year. Primarily the project of Jack Sharp, it was a noticeable swerve for the synth-heavy label towards classic 70s hard rock, but somehow it all fits together. That sense of destiny continues wholeheartedly with the swiftly delivered follow-up The Thorn, which features a shift in approach towards a more psychedelic, folk-inclined and prog-tickled sound. There's still plenty of heft in the rhythm section, but Sharp sounds much more pastoral in his tone, and the songwriting on this outstanding sophomore album follows suit.

Review: Analogue synth spooks rejoice, Pye Corner Audio is back with further explorations of the sweet spot between nostalgic fuzz and circuit-borne futurism. Ghost Box is a spiritual home for Martin Jenkins' flagship project, and he continues to edge out the scope of the Pye Corner sound without derailing the fundamental atmosphere. On The Endless Echo, warm, pulsing melodics set to eerie keys abound, and there's a fine balance between gorgeous ambient atmospheric pieces and sinewy, danceable rhythms, but Jenkins manages to sound fresh and inspired even while reliably holding true to the overall project aesthetic.

Review: Pye Corner Audio is one of the fundamental projects on Ghost Box, as Martin Jenkins indulges his hauntological synth fantasies on an increasingly fertile seam of investigation where drone, wave and death disco can all intersect. Jenkins has never been trapped by retro-fetishism with his analogue sound, and on The Endless Echo he's all the more inspired as he meditates on themes of science fiction and the illusory nature of time. Throbbing, chugging beatdowns sit comfortably alongside spatial, beatless investigations, all sculpted with the masterful touch that comes from considerable experience and a generous assortment of vintage boxes.