Back catalogue: Classical

Review: From the moment you hit play on 'A New Threat Is Born', the first few minutes on this soundtrack to the acclaimed video game, Resident Evil 3, you could easily close your eyes and feel like you're back sat in front of a TV playing the story through. If you're unfamiliar with the franchise, let's just say it (re)wrote the book on survival horror, and a big part of this was in the scores used to accompany the on-screen tension. Less focused on specific theme tunes and tracks, over time the emphasis has increasingly fallen on building atmosphere and setting up jump scares for unassuming players. On a record, that sounds like a combination of fast moving and quickly developing instrumental movements and intimidating sound effects. Perhaps not the dinner party soundtrack you were looking for, nevertheless it makes a big impact.

Review: This is a delightful celebration of classic cartoon scores that arrives for a special Black Friday 2024 release. The collection showcases the genius of composers like Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn, whose music defined the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies era. Orchestral brilliance and playful synchronisation bring timeless characters like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck to life. With all new remastered tracks, the album highlights intricate arrangements and whimsical motifs that revolutionised animation scoring. Perfect for collectors and nostalgia enthusiasts alike, this one honours the artistry behind some of the most iconic and enduring cartoon soundtracks in entertainment history.

Review: An intriguing project here from perennial Euro disco legend Cerrone, who joins forces with the Symphony Orchestra of Cannes to reimagine 21 of his best-loved and highly influential dance classics. It would be difficult to overstate the Frenchman's contribution to contemporary dance music, having released and produced scores of timeless records in the halcyon days of continental disco. Tracks like 'Supernature', 'Love in C Minor' and 'Give Me Love' are beyond iconic and still appear regularly in the sets and mixes of today's dance heavyweights. They're all here, presented live in all their magnificent glory by the orchestra of 50-plus musicians, directed by the legendary Randy Kerber. As expected, all of the music sounds glorious, with lavish strings, pristine horn sections, and limber percussion bringing every piece to life magnificently.

Review: The third LP in the Chypho series from Jahbulon Records, Episodes in Oceanography, features striking cover art that helps make it another collector's gem. Chypho hails from Huntsville, Alabama and the music here does what it says not he tine - profiles an underwater world in painterly and immersive ambient tones. There are plenty of microscopic details that drift by, shimmering sun rays that piece the surface and implied rhythms that sway to and fro like the shifting sands of the ocean floor. It's a real soother for the soul but a great bit of nourishment for the mind.

Review: Chypho is on a roll with this super trio of albums on Jahbulon Records. The second album in the Episodes in Oceanography series, is another must-cop for ambient lovers and it is enhanced by striking cover art and great mastering. Hailing from Huntsville, Alabama, Chypho's music vividly explores an underwater world through immersive ambient tones and this edition captures subtle, microscopic details in deft melodies, with bright keys breaking the surface and supple rhythms swaying like ocean currents. It's a soothing journey for the soul, offering both relaxation and nourishment for the mind, and is a tranquil, yet thought-provoking place to get lost. Very nice indeed.

Review: Queens Of The Circulating Library stands as a post-industrial masterpiece alongside Time Machines and Soliloquy For Lilith and is a sensory-warping long-form drone. Created by Thighpaulsandra and John Balance, the 49-minute track flows in cyclical waves which echo the minimalism of La Monte Young. Released in 2000, it marked the beginning of a series of evolving compositions and its theatrical opening features Thighpaulsandra's opera-singer mother delivering a dreamlike, declamatory monologue, setting the stage for the trip that ensues. The music shifts like slow-motion surf and is a fine example of Coil's unique ability to embrace extremes and mutation.

Review: Four Rooms reflects a very fun time in Hollywood, or at least the annals of American cinema. Co-directed by Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, the story of the fictional Los Angeles-set Hotel Mon Signor, and the strange, demanding, off-putting, and straight up intimidating guests that stay there on New Year's Eve - just as Tim Roth starts his first shift on the job as bellhop - is full of energy and a carefree, playful attitude. It's the kind of movie which, if it were made today, would no doubt be rushed straight to the bottom of the New Releases section on whatever streaming service you've given in to because it would feel cheap rather than charismatic. But in 1994, catching a quintet of fresh filmmakers on the rise, at a time when positivity reigned and the silver screen still had an ounce of class, means the whole thing worked well. As for the soundtrack, we veer between Americana and a reworking of the theme from 1960s US TV series Bewitched, weird, meditative vocal drone and lounge music.

Review: Coral Morphologic's brilliant debut album guided us through space but with their sophomore LP, if feels much more like we're arriving at a final destinationia vibrant, water-filled world brimming with life. The rhythms are lithe and heavily atmospheric with distant pads, sci-fi motifs and sense of the unknown ever-present. It's brilliantly evocative and cinematic from front to back. To sweeten the deal even further, the album comes with a foldout poster with the fantastically dreamy and otherworldly album art by Robert Beatty

Review: Situated at the crossroads of ambient, post-natural sound design and "hi-tech sacred music", the debut long-form physical release from Milanese trio Cortex of Light presents two seamless compositions that flow without a defined beginning or end. This meditative work blurs boundaries and places you at the heart of an evolving sonic landscape. The release also marks the inaugural collaboration between A.R.X. and Krisis Publishing and unites their visions to bring this evocative project to life. Cortex of Light's artistry offers a deeply immersive experience here that is a mix of experimental textures with a profound sense of timelessness.

Review: Following 2022's Orange, Naarm (Melbourne) based pair CS + Kreme return with a brand new third album The Butterfly Drinks The Tears Of The Tortoise. This time out, the pair decide to head into a world of more dramatic sounds and global soundscapes that fuse organic elements like medieval arrangements, seafaring guitar strums and Sundanese tarawangsa strings with their own signature rhythms and industrial-edged drums. The standout track 'Uki' exemplifies this contrast as it evolves from abstract vocal loops and whispers into an avant-garde acid techno workout with claps and sharp melodies. The album therefore ably showcases the CS + Kreme's ability to merge delicate harmonies with unpredictable sonic structures.

Review: Heart Dance Recordings is a genuinely unique proposition: a new age, ambient and spiritual music label run by, and for, women, offering up decidedly calming music from an ever-growing roster of artists. The Phoenix-based imprint's latest full-length excursion was created by a trio of musicians: flautist Sherry Finzer, percussionist and vocalist Karasvana (real name Ella Hunt) and synthesizer enthusiast-come-guitarist City of Dawn (Damian Duque). There's much to admire about The Journeying Sun, from the daybreak beauty of 'Memory of Awakening' and the immersive, enveloping bliss of 'On Seashores of Endless Worlds', with its haunting chimes and drifting vocal refrains, to wide-eyed aural wonder of 'Resident Wandering' and the simultaneously pastoral and ethereal 'Indefiniteness'.

Review: Certain Path is a serene, piano-driven album by collaborators zake (aka label head Zach Frizzell), From Overseas which is Kevin Sery and City of Dawn aka Damien Duque. This reflective collection of seven pieces invites deep contemplation with tender piano motifs and subtle drones creating a meditative atmosphere. Opening with 'Where Time Slows Down,' the album blends delicate melodies with layered guitar textures. Inspired by Frizzell's wife, the title track offers heartfelt emotion, while 'Avec l'aide de Vincent' honours a close mentor. Throughout, the artists employ nocturnal recording sessions, field recordings and analogue treatments to craft an introspective, evocative listening experience.