Back catalogue: Leftfield

Review: Tigran Hamasyan's latest album, The Bird of a Thousand Voices, is his most ambitious work yet and one inspired by a traditional Armenian tale. This transmedia project includes a staged play that premiered at the Holland Festival back in June of this year plus two cinematic music videos, a documentary video, and an online game. The ancient firebird tale, passed down through spoken word over the generations, symbolises the modern world's quest for connection amidst ecological, psychological, and spiritual challenges. By blending Armenian traditional music with jazz improvisation, Tigran, who himself is one of today's most innovative jazz pianists, continues his artistic collaboration with filmmaker Ruben Van Leer to create unique musical experiences.

Review: Those interested in Japanese cartoons should know Space Adventure Cobra. First broadcast in 1982, it is now considered one of the country's finest animated TV series. This triple-vinyl box set celebrates Kentano Haneda and Yuji Ono's music from the series, combining compositions featured on the show with unheard extended versions and tracks that never made the cut first time round. Musically, it's a mix of Japanese disco, sax-sporting lounge jazz, jazz-funk, neo-classical movements and eccentric interludes, all doused in layers of cosmic dust and stargazing colour. The release also comes packaged with a 12-page booklet telling the story of the series and the making of the appealing, endlessly entertaining soundtrack.

Review: How do you start describing the Mad Max universe to someone who's never been to the Mad Max universe? A relentless post-apocalyptic chase sequence across waterless badlands where H20, oil and ammo are the key motivators, alongside personal safety? A landmark science fiction that swerves high tech in favour of brute force and scavenged equipment and infrastructure? How about: a vision of a dried up, barren, desolate future where desertification and the absence of stuff are the defining factors? Australian cinema is at its best when opting for unsettling quiet and sparse settings, and Mad Max set a precedent for that. The modern incarnation of the 1979 original upped the special effects ante and made things a whole lot busier, but never lost that feeling of isolation and vulnerability. Now the latest instalment in the 21st Century series continues where predecessor, Fury Road, left off, and Tom Holkenborg clearly understands what it should mostly sound like. The dull thud of distant machines, a spluttering engine passing by, and near silent tension are the highlights here.