Back catalogue: Leftfield

Review: Uboa's Impossible Light marks a significant shift from the ambitious darkness of previous work. Xandra Metcalfe's latest release merges otherworldly sounds with raw human emotion, creating a captivating blend of intense darkness and poignant beauty. Throughout Impossible Light, Uboa explores a heightened sense of urgency and directness, particularly in addressing themes of trans experiences and societal marginalisation. Tracks like 'Endocrine Disruptor' contrast serene melodies with explosive beats, while 'The Puzzle' immerses listeners in heavy synths and impactful percussion. 'Gordian Worm' transitions from harsh noise to a more structured electro-industrial sound and 'Pattern Screamers' delivers a powerful vocal performance amid distorted, mechanical noise. The seamless flow between 'Jawline' and 'Weaponised Dysphoria', alongside the emotional depth of 'Sleep Hygiene', underscores Uboa's skillful talent at balancing it all.

Review: Foam On A Wave is a brand new London-based reissue label. Its first offering is a carefully dug out delight from Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond aka Ultramarine, one of the UK's foremost ambient techno artists. Folk is a seamless weaving together of "unique instrumentation and sonic influences into rich, ethereal soundscapes" that have all been fully remastered for this 30th anniversary release. Mixing up organic and synthetic sound is what this pair did best and this album has a kaleidoscopic pallet drawn from Canterbury's jazz-infused psychedelia, the contemporary Benelux scene, and plenty in between. It manages to be both thoughtful and playful, serious yet irreverent, and has aged as well as a fine wine.

Review: In March, Izabel Caligiore decided to launch a label named after her superb Lullabies For Insomniacs show on Redlight Radio, with its debut release coming from the excellent Sugai Ken. Lullabies For Insomniacs now returns, proffering a debut LP from the impeccably obscure Unearth Noise. Full of clandestine mood pieces, droning textures, unsettling pitched-down IDM rhythms, mutant wind chimes and deep space explorations, Prayer & Resonance does a fine job balancing dark and maudlin material, with tracks that feel more gently positive. At 17 tracks deep, it takes a little time to fully take root in your consciousness, but the musical rewards are more than worth the effort.

Review: Upsammy's 2023 stonker Germ In A Population Of Buildings now comes to vinyl via PAN. Continuing in one very particular aspect of the Amsterdam musician's craft - her interest in architecture and environmental design, and how that plays into and informs on sound - this LP evinces ideas of a rewilded modernist edifice, avoiding static textures in favour of a 'constantly shifting' sound. An IDM record teeming with electroacoustic textures, all of which sound "alive" - wood, brick, steel, ceramic, concrete, you name the building material - it seems that Upsammy's intent is to physically model almost every possible foley impact on the planet and arrange it into a single whimsical symphony. A digital audiophile's dream.