Back catalogue: Post Rock/Experimental

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, 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: Stephen Vitiello, Brendan Canty and Hahn Rowe pull strings in strange and rewarding directions on Second, the chameleonic follow-up to their 2023 debut piece First. Vitiello, having left behind a vista's trail of ambient, lowercase and electroacoustic work with the likes of Taylor Deupree and Pauline Oliveros, now sketches raw forms with Rhodes, guitar and modular gear before looping in Canty and Rowe. The former adds drums, bass and piano with typical restlessness; the latter, once of Hugo Largo, folds in bowed guitar, viola and 12-string textures. There's a thread of freeform drift here, but it's sotted in dub weight, Krautrock pulse and post-punk lean. "We're coming from three different schools," Vitiello notes. Throw in a guest spot from Animal Collective's Geologist on hurdy gurdy, and it's a strange little world built on sideways logic.