Back in stock: Leftfield

Review: Hailing from Atlanta, Andre 3000 continues to redefine the contours of musical experimentation with his latest sonic offerings. On 'Moving Day', a piece first showcased in last year's short film documenting his recent work, the OutKast veteran trades in his usual genre-defying flow for the smooth, ambient tones of a cosmic flute. The track unfolds like a slow-motion dream, where the melodies drift in and out of focus, capturing the disorienting yet soothing experience of moving through transitions. Then comes the reversed version, 'Day Moving', which inverts the gentle flow of the original, adding an unsettling, almost ghostly quality as the music warps and loops. The third track, 'Tunnels of Egypt', brings in an unexpectedly grounded yet still vast atmosphere, with its deep, resonant percussion and sparse instrumentation evoking a journey through both time and space. Andre's recent forays into the abstract have seen him abandon his commercial past in favour of an introspective exploration that challenges both him and his audience. Across these three tracks, he once again demonstrates his ability to balance complexity with restraint, creating something both otherworldly and deeply personal.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Ghost Dubs aka. Michael Fiedler returns to pile on the Pressure. Following recent acclaim-gatherer Damaged, this extension of the LP further serves to distend the dub, surveying and excavating fossil-rich terrains of soiled bass and coarse texture. Six reconstructed dub reformations, only two tracks, ';Chemical Version' and 'Wired Version', were previously available digitally; both introduce the record as warped yet unassuming undercuts, ripe for the meditating-to. 'Thin Dub' dissolves the mood into an echo-drenched texture; the track is marked by an up-down, contradistinct set of tuned impacts. 'Dub Craft', meanwhile, snatches the crown for most subby tune of the year.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


The fourth ever solo studio album from the acclaimed electronic artist and composer Laurel Halo, Atlas is intended to guide the listener through their own subconscious mind, coming as an intense sequence of soaring ambiences and beatless jazz montages. Finding its footing in instrumental improvisation by Halo herself, plus featuring artists Coby Sey, James Underwood and Lucy Railton - and then blowing any assumptive connotation with jazz out of the park with its subtly effected vocal processing and electronic tinkerings and washes thereafter - fans can be sure that this is not going to be your stock experimental affair.