Back catalogue: Classical

Review: Active now for some 40 years, Hiull's Andrew Chalk explores the quiet, intimate spaces between melody and texture, highlighting fleeting moments with a painter's touch heer across 15 tracks. While his previous release, Songs of the Sea, unfolded in long, in depth waves, Dioramas embraces succinct pieces in each composition showing a look into a world rich with hushed tones and slow-moving beauty. There's a gentle warmth that permeates much of the album, as if the music is unfolding in soft light. 'The Carrach' introduces a folksy lilt, its melody turning over itself like a jewel slowly spinning on a dial. 'The Changes' evokes a meditative solemnity with its rich, organ-led hymn, while 'Lonely House' closes the album with stretched, whispering strings that shimmer like reflections on water. These small but striking details never disrupt the album's stillness but instead highlight Chalk's ability to subtly shift focus, revealing new layers of depth in each listen. A master of texture and restraint, Chalk continues to refine his singular approach to ambient and drone, weaving together fragile yet deep soundscapes. On Dioramas, the British Andrew Chalk returns to the art of miniaturism, crafting delicate, self-contained sonic vignettes that feel like carefully composed dioramas in sound.

Review: Immersive but not ambient, the sleeve notes claim. It's not hard to see where the copywriter was coming from, either. SloMo A/V is testament to the months and years DJ and procure Chloe Thevenin has spent building soundscapes in her studio, honing the kind of skills necessary to create this level of lush and depth of, err, depth. Teaming up with Dune Lunel, a Paris-based art director who has been working within and around culture for two decades, and Adrien Godin, of ECV Digital, what's here is actually just one part of a greater whole. If you've been lucky enough to catch a SloMo A/V performance, you'll already know where this is going. Listening to the audio alone is captivating, sounds grow and develop from the faintest quiet to something that's, well, not loud, but certainly powerful and hypnotic enough to bore directly into the mind's eye. The experience forces you to slow down, reflect, consider, and ponder, sounds that inspire the imagination and speak to our third eye. Now, just imagine if this was accompanied by the visuals Chloe's project is based on when experienced live.

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: The Cosmic Tones Research Trio's All Is Sound is a profound blend of healing music rooted in gospel, blues, and spiritual jazz. Led by alto saxophonist Roman Norfleet, alongside cellist Harlan Silverman and pianist Kennedy Verrett, the trio creates an immersive soundscape perfect for meditation and mindfulness. Each track unfolds with a peaceful, meditative quality, gently building layers of sound through the interplay of sax, cello, piano, flutes and even didgeridoo. The album's melodies are delicate yet rich, reminiscent of the spiritual jazz of Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, and Pharoah Sanders. Tracks like 'Creation' and 'Black Rest' invite deep introspection, while 'Peace Prayer' and 'Nada Brahma' echo with a restorative, almost mystical atmosphere. With its slow-building compositions and organic instrumentation, All Is Sound offers a unique, serene listening experience a d a powerful healing force. The trio's commitment to creating purposeful, mindful music shines through, making this a great example of work in the contemporary spiritual jazz genre.

Review: Oxide Manifesto serves as an audio sketchbook, exploring a unique approach to music creation by blending obsolete machines with experimental composition. The album embraces the imperfections of magnetic tape, such as wow, flutter, wonky pitch, and tape hiss and so, explains the artist, makes the recording equipment as central to the process as the music itself. The method involved quickly composing ideas, deconstructing them onto tape loops, and performing with reel-to-reel machines and effects. The whole thing was recorded in a tiny, temperature-fluctuating studio on Hornsey Road and the final album reflects a collection of sound-art experiments that are structured and fragmented and capture the raw creativity of what was a hugely hands-on process.

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.