Back catalogue: Leftfield

Review: In late 2023, Tokyo-based musician Daigo Sakuragi moved to London where he revisited recordings made with fellow Japanese artists. Inspired by the city's energy and atmosphere, he crafted Togenkyo, a 28-minute fusion of early 2000s folktronica and contemporary ambient music that now comes as two long continuous pieces on one slab of vinyl. Layering immersive synth textures with spatial production, he grounds the piece in organic drum and bass grooves while a saxophone elegantly weaves through the soundscape. Togenkyo reflects an inner utopia that is attainable yet imperfect and is a comforting, meditative work.

Review: "The final episode of this soap-opera of a band will be released in the form of a 7 inch on 24.01.2025." If this is your first encounter with De Nooit Moede, then welcome to the wake of the best group you sadly only cottoned onto when they were posting about their final release on Instagram. The Brussels seven piece's swan song certainly fits the bill for funeral soundtrack, with RIP's garage-punk-wave washing through your mind with equal parts melancholy and swagger. Four tracks run from the staccato-step of 'Doopsel', which opens the scoring and sets the mood perfectly, through the more melodic 'Sluiswachter', blissfully downtrodden 'Fake Niet', and motoring 'Alledaagse Nachten'. Each is as infectiously groovy as the next, and cooler than pretty much everything else you will have been listening to this week/month/year. More Flemish attitude, please.

Review: The Trails label, as is often the way in so many cases in electronic music, is the natural next step for the party crew of the same name. Having established a sound and a community, they now branch out with music from associated producers all keen to offer up their shared musical visions. First up, the label introduces friend and graphic designer Bogdan N?stase aka DJ Bogdan. Setting a fine tone from the off. the EP explores melancholy, introspection, mystery and hope, all infused with a nostalgic nod to 2000s electro-techno and synth-pop. The A-side opens with 'Shade Detector,' an energetic peak-hour anthem which is followed by the melancholic 'Freakshow Parallax' for after hours. The B-side features 'Videofreex,' a versatile party gem before closer 'Fantana Cartezian?' is a twisted minimal techno homage to Bucharest's lost history.

Review: Poet, librarian, Mancunian, father, husband, uncle, brother. Mike Garry is many things to many people, but tonight, Matthew, his voices guides our eyes upwards, inviting us to stargaze to one of Orbital's most emotionally resonant and timeless pieces of rave noise. Belfast Revisited would be one way to describe it, taking some of the classic and unmistakable elements of that anthem and turning it into something new. First and foremost freshness comes with the spoken word addition - a thoroughly positive, passionate and amorous declaration of unending love that could feel jarring depending on whether you always felt 'Belfast' was reflective and slightly melancholy, or not. Gone too are the breaks, replaced now by stadium-sized four-to-the-floor turning what was once the end of the night walking home at dawn into something that sounds way more 11PM at the concert.

Review: Aaron J's Sure Thing kicks on towards its tenth release with a superb new 12" packed with fresh techno jams. Myriad different mods, grooves and tempos are on offer here starting with the puling rhythmic depths of Vardae's 'Pahlevan' then moving on to Kick21's 'Bright Interface', a dark and haunting low-end wobbler. Atavic's 'Subconscious' is a heady one with ambient cosmic pads over deeply hurried, supple rhythms then while Tammo Hesselink & DYL combine to mesmeric effect on the carefully curated broken beat brilliance of 'Accent Award.' A forward-thinking EP for sure.

Review: Yugoslavia went through unthinkable turmoil during the break up of the Soviet Union, which is why it is all the more astounding even all these years on that it had quite such a fertile and innovative music scene. In 1984, Zoran Jevtic and Zoran Vracevic were a key part of it and helped revolutionise the sound of the day by introducing synth-pop, breakbeat and hip-hop with their Data and The Master Scratch Band projects. Their releases paved the way for modern electronic sounds and this album dives deep into that era and compiles their earliest unreleased works from between 1981 and 1983. It's a daring exploration of genres including industrial, EBM, minimal synth and electro-funk. It adds up to a true digger's gem that will significantly elevate your vinyl-hunting credentials without having to do the hard work yourself.

Review: Michele Soavi's Italian cult horror masterpiece is now 30 years old and has more than stood the test of time. With music composed by Manuel De Sica, the soundtrack masterfully captures the film's darkly comedic and eerie tone by blending gothic atmospheres with electronic grooves and jazz undertones. The score balances sinister and mundane moods effortlessly to perfectly complement the film's unique narrative. This special edition honours De Sica's genius and exemplifies his ability to create haunting yet melodic compositions that resonate with fans of both horror and film music.

Review: This superb recording of a Live FM Broadcast captures the wonderful Depeche Mode at their dynamic peak during the Songs of Faith and Devotion tour. Recorded in San Francisco, this live set detailed their evolution as they blended dark synth-pop with raw, rock-infused energy. Classics like 'Rush' and 'World In My Eyes' shine alongside then-newer, grittier tracks that showcased Dave Gahan's electrifying vocals and Martin Gore's emotive songwriting. The high-quality audio helps immerse you in the band's onstage charisma while offering a nostalgic yet timeless revisit to a wonderful period in the band's history.

Review: Die Sexual exist in the world of Adult, of Gary Numan on a night out at Kit Kat Club, Cabaret hedonism, phallic and yonic electronic beats, rhythms and other noises. Elektro Body Musique, the title a play on electronic body music, or EBM to the cool kids, takes the bull by the horn with savage, hyper-lascivious futurist club music that makes you feel like the voyeur and objectifier in equal measure. 11 tracks owe as much to dystopian cold wave as electroclash and synth pop, basslines warbling and bouncing beneath blunt instrument kick drums and savage key stabs, all topped with the kind of energy-inducing snares we often worry were left in the glory days of these sounds. Immediately dark, alluring, and suggestive, it's a strong case for giving in to temptation.

Review: Beatrice Dillon launches her new label with a new album and her first ever entirely acoustic work, which has been performed by Explore Ensemble and commissioned by Mark Fell. This major composition was recorded both in-studio and live at ZKM Karlsruhe in 2023 and it exemplifies Dillon's meticulous approach to sound. The studio version emphasises precise edits and spatial arrangement while the live rendition thrives on the performers' dynamic interpretation to create a captivating contrast. Guided by influences like W.R. Bion's psychoanalytic ideas and Byung Chul-Han's deconstructionist philosophy, part of the joy of listening is to uncover microtonal details and subtle shifts.

Review: Trying to figure out exactly when you'll stick on the soundtrack to Game of Thrones Season 7 isn't easy. But that's not to say Rabin Djawadi's epic score isn't something to behold. From the word go, this is adventurous stuff, rooted in classical but clearly inspired by visions of fantastical beasts, mythical lands and legendary quests. You almost feel like Cersei Lannister or Jon Snow or Daenerys Targaryen are about to knock on for their dinner. Like pretty much everything the Iranian-German film and TV composer touches - Clash of the Titans, Warcraft, Iron Man - there's little here you'd describe as subtle or understated. Even the more sweeping overtures sound like they were born for grand concert halls. So, providing you have the space at home, go for it.

Review: There are some names that genuinely fill you with excitement the moment you even catch wind they've been back in the studio. Dorian Concept is one of them. Revisiting his collaborative project with the Swiss Museum for Electronic Music Instruments for a second outing on the OUS label he runs, the rather logically-titled Music From A Room Full of Synths was inspired by a ten day period in which the artist basically immersed himself in different noise-making machines. Coming out the other end determined to continue down the unplanned, unrehearsed, loose and spontaneous path, his collection was made off-the cuff, as it were, completely live and without sequencing or programming. As you would hope, then it's almost like nothing you've really heard before - jazz, electronica, downtempo, brass-stabbed, freeform, strange and stunning.

Review: Divisive in a big way - with outcry in Mexico over national stereotypes and concern from the LGBTQIA+ community due to its portrayal of gender transition - nevertheless Emelia Perez made a massive impact in the movie world when it landed in August 2024. Now the second most nominated movie in Golden Globe history, it tells the story of a cartel boss who enlists a lawyer to help him disappear and transition into a woman. All of which is told in a musical style, with as many tongues in cheek on screen as there are dramatic moments. The soundtrack, then, is a combination of original score composed by Clement Ducol with French singer Camille, and numbers and speeches performed by the cast, which includes Selena Gomez, Mark Ivan, Zoe SaldaNa and Karla Sofia Gascon.

Review: Motyl is a brand new creative coming together from DYL and Moll+ and this new cassette Noc has been conceived as a soundtrack to go with a book of 'night' themed poetry and imagery. it's an immersive and evocative blend of ambience, field recordings and moody sound collages that range from serene and peaceful to much more ominous and dark.

Review: Dumb Type Theater have been at the forefront of Japan's performance art landscape since 1984, although the years between then and now have seen some significant changes - culturally and in terms of the group. The death of Teiji Furuhashi, one of the central members, is just one example. A pivotal player in performances, he was often tasked with translating the instrumentation and arrangements of musician Toru Yamanaka into on-stage directions. Removed from that context, Yamanaka and Furuhashi's sounds still work incredibly well. There are aspects of Plan For Sleep that evoke the US avant garde of the time, perhaps reiterating the fact that the late-20th Century saw a closing of distances and a shared vision of where the future was heading among broad communities. Sound art, in the most musical and listenable sense.

Review: It's not hard to see just how ahead of their time Dumb Type were. And still are. Founded in Kyoto, Japan, in 1984, the artist collective looked to interpret and portray the changes they could see beginning to happen around them in society - specifically the start of the (information) technology age. Presenting work that took a dark and cynical view of the increasing importance and prevalence of equipment and digital in the every day, they do this though art exhibitions, performances and publications. Audiovisual installations have always been particularly prominent, and Every Dog Has His Day - one of two Dumb Theater albums previously only available on tape, now issued on vinyl for the first time - makes it clear music was never an afterthought. Credited to Toru Yamanaka, who wrote much of their heard work, and the late Teiji Furuhashi, who translated that onto stage, it's an avant garde essential.