Back catalogue: Leftfield

Review: A true enigma, an artist that represents all that was fascinating and romantic and alluring and intriguing about 20th Century sounds, Brian Eno was always going to need a feature length documentary, when the time was right. Premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Eno, Gary Hustwit's ode to the man, myth and legend, wowed critics and blew audiences away. Not least because it uses a computer programme which selects footage and edits the movie so a different version is shown at every screening. Innovation befitting Eno, removing the visuals and focusing on the sounds readjusts our vision to bring Eno into greater focus. The breadth of what's on this soundtrack is remarkable, from upfront indie on 'Stiff' and the weird folk-pop of 'Spinning Away', a John Cale collaboration, the ghostly post-rave of 'Cmon' with Fred Again, spectacular pianos of 'Motion In The Field', ethereal ambient vocals on 'There Were Bells', the angular punk dominating 'Third Uncle' - we could go on, and on, and on.

Review: Eno is a new and groundbreaking documentary that explores the multifaceted career of musician, producer, artist, and activist Brian Eno. Compiled from extensive footage, music, and interviews, each screening of the film is different as it delves into Eno's music, art, and ideas. Accompanying this cinematic journey is a soundtrack spanning Eno's illustrious career, from early solo works to recent collaborations. Released on CD, the album features tracks from 14 different albums, including three previously unreleased recordings. 'Lighthouse #429, the first track from Eno's Sonos radio station, offers a glimpse into his extensive archive and overall this album celebrates Eno's influential legacy.

Review: Brian Eno, legendary master of ambient music and Beatie Wolfe, the LA-based conceptual artist known for her innovative blend of the physical and digital, unite for a collaborative sonic exploration. Throughout 2024, the two artists recorded material that bridges the boundary between deeply personal emotions and universal experiences, creating an evocative soundscape. The work pulses with the distinctive energy of Eno's ambient prowess, while Wolfe's haunting vocals add a layer of intimacy. On tracks like 'Milky Sleep' and 'Hopelessly At Ease', the listener is swept into a dreamlike state where time feels suspended. These moments of calm are balanced by the more urgent, yet still deeply meditative, 'Suddenly', which sways between serenity and tension. The delicate interplay between light and shadow becomes even more palpable on 'A Ceiling and Lifeboat', where the quiet sense of stillness gives way to a profound sense of rebirth. There's a sense of movement throughout the releaseiparticularly on 'Breath March', where rhythm and texture converge with palpable energy. Eno's atmospheric layers create space for Wolfe's voice to become a thread, guiding the listener through these reflective, almost sacred-feeling sonic spaces, where every note invites introspection and feeling.

Review: Brian Eno's career has always been about explorationiof sound, technology and the emotional power of music. After pioneering ambient music, Eno has consistently sought out new ways to blend different genres and voices and his latest collaboration with Beatie Wolfe continues this tradition. Wolfe, a British-American artist with an innovative approach to music and activism, complements Eno's atmospheric world with her emotive, alternative vocals. Their work, recorded in London, moves seamlessly from the meditative to the experimental, with tracks like 'Big Empty Country' offering stark contrasts between the brightness of the day and the shadows of the night. This release is not only a nod to Eno's sonic experimentation but also a testament to his lasting influence as an artist who always seeks to connect art with broader societal issues, especially the environment.

Review: Brian Eno, a towering figure in ambient music and a master of sonic landscapes, has shaped the contours of modern music through his production collaborations with iconic artists like David Bowie, Talking Heads and U2. His latest work with Beatie Wolfe, a conceptual artist from Los Angeles, encapsulates a career of endless reinvention. Recorded in London, the collaboration weaves together the worlds of alternative vocals and ambient soundscapes. 'Big Empty Country' serves as a vivid contrast between light and darkiits day and night versions embodying the very essence of Eno's immersive, evolving sound. Much like his work as part of Roxy Music and beyond, this release is both forward-thinking and introspective, grounded in a shared commitment to environmentalism and artistic exploration. It's a meditation on space, sound and feelingian unbroken thread in Eno's enduring legacy of artistic expression.

Review: Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe join forces on a dual release infusing two distinct musical visions rooted in shared environmental concern. Their new joint release unfolds across two sides, with Luminal offering a vocal-led collection leaning into alt-pop ambiances and timbres, before Lateral rears itself in counterpart as a seamless ambient composition, making up a study in contrast and connection. Recorded in London, the project reflects Eno's lifelong exploration of mood and atmosphere, alongside Wolfe's ongoing push to blur the lines of digital innovation and tactile experience. The project builds the activist art works of Wolfe, a British-American concept artist based in Los Angeles, named by WIRED as one of "22 people changing the world," and tracks the expression of music beyond language or form.

Review: Illuminating the remarkable, and largely otherwise undocumented, creative ferment within and between the British and American scenes of experimental music during the mid to late 1970s, Dialogo's box set - made in full collaboration with all of the composers or their estates - contains the entire ten album output of the label, completely remastered and housed in faithful mini-replicas of their original covers and liner notes, as well as an extensive booklet. Over the last few years, the Italian imprint has showed a remarkable dedication to the history of experimental music via reissues of seminal artefacts from the Cramps catalog, and important albums by Piero Umiliani, Ennio Morricone, Bruno Nicolai, Enrico Rava, and others. This initiative now takes on a towering scale with the first ever box set gathering the entire ten album collection of Brian Eno's Obscure Records, originally issued between 1975 and 1978. A truly groundbreaking body of recordings - many of which have remained out of print and difficult to find for decades - it contains some of the most important, influential, and enduring music to emerge during the second half of the 20th Century, which collectively reconfigured the terms of Minimalism and laid the groundwork for the emerging movement of Ambient music over its short, three year run.

Review: Now here's a rarity for you. Not even many of the most committed megafans know that Brian Eno, Holger Czukay and J.Peter Schwalm, accompanied by Raoul Walton and Jern Atai, performed a secret live music show, outside the esteemed Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany, situated in the city of Bonn, in August 1998. Forming a part of the opening party of Eno's Future Light-Lounge Proposal multimedia installation, this furtively-recorded album hears an exclusive slice of incidental "high-altitude food music", of course made during Brian Eno's airborne ambient era. Now reissued via Gronland, this five-piece cut of sophisti-ambi-krauttronica makes for a welcome surprise.

Review: Roger and brother Brian Eno have already assured their legacy as pioneers of experimental ambient music. Mixing Colours was their first album on Deutsche Grammophon and this reissue reminds us why the par are so well known for revolutionising music-Brian through innovative pop treatments and Roger with ambient synth/piano works. This collaboration reflects their shared genius and guides you through rich soundscapes blending mood and place into immersive auditory experiences. Crafted over several years, this poetic collection highlights the brothers' mastery and is a deep dive into ambient sound.

Review: Originally conceived to accompany an installation at the 2022 Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, Selkie Reflections is very much a thing of beauty, and a work in two parts. On the A-side, you have Alliyah Enyo re-working the original tape loops used at the show into a strange, enchanting, and immersive series of hypnotic and occasionally haunting vocal calls. Flip to side B, and Florian T M Zeisig, under the alias Angel R, takes all that and turns it inside out, onto its head, and down into the depths of the selkie's world - a mythical creature capable of shapeshifting between seal and human form which features heavily in Scottish folklore. Beguiling and enchanting, prepare to be submerged in a place of beauty, bliss and mystery.

Review: Marc Ertel's Live At Black Circle on Past Inside The Present US arrives on limited edition cassette and is another sublime ambient entry into this now legendary label's impressive offerings. He has served up similar here before alongside the likes of boss man zake and this time goes deeper than ever into slowly shifting soundscapes that are pregnant with emotion, grey in scale but with a real sense of melancholic beauty. As his tones and timbres evolve, the moods slowly shift and you get ever more subsumed into his sonic universe.

Review: A collection of electroacoustic works exploring the intersection of Moroccan tradition and Western avant-garde, this release features 'Toubkal', 'Sultane', and 'Lectures pour bandes magnetiques', each showcasing the North African composer's unique approach to composition. 'Toubkal', inspired by field recordings of Berber music, pulsates with traditional rhythms and melodies, reimagined through electronic manipulation. 'Sultane', reflecting on themes of land and conflict, alternates between dense rhythmic textures and ethereal vocal passages. 'Lectures pour bandes magnetiques', a setting of poems by Rilke and Mandiargues, highlights the connection between the human voice and musical expression.

Review: Edvard Graham Lewis and Mark Spybey's collaboration fuses electronic rhythms, layered field recordings and ambient soundscapes into an album with striking depth and cohesion. Both artists bring decades of experienceiLewis from Wire, Dome, He Said and Spybey from Zoviet France and Dead Voices on Air. This project, however, ventures into fresh territory, blending experimental sounds with surprising grooves and sly hooks. Crafted remotely, each track unfolds a textured sonic landscape, offering listeners a unique glimpse into the creative synergy between two pioneers of boundary-pushing music.