Ambient/Drone charts

Review: The Advisory Circle's Mind How You Go is a haunting and evocative album that transports listeners back to the eerie world of 1960s and 1970s public information films. Inspired by the chilling soundscapes of these films, the album captures a sense of nostalgia and unease that is both poignant and unsettling. The album's music is both catchy and unsettling, with its eerie melodies and haunting vocals creating a sense of unease. The lyrics, which often focus on themes of danger and caution, add to the album's unsettling atmosphere. Mind How You Go is a masterpiece of nostalgic electronica. It is a record that is both haunting and beautiful.

Review: While there's no doubt the Middle East has stepped into the electronic music limelight in recent years, catalysed by good (a rebalancing of media focus within dance culture) and bad (controversy surrounding events like MDL Beast and the media's desperation to keep 'breaking new territory' in a world growing smaller by the day), Fatima Al Qadri is not part of this wave. A Senegal-born Kuwaiti, the US-based artist has been doing very good things for well over a decade (2010's 'Muslim Trance' mix is a must hear), creating everything from music exploring meeting points between Arabic traditions and contemporary synth work, to sound installations for renowned galleries. No stranger to Kode 9's Hyperdub, her third outing on the imprint since 2014 puts dark, atmospheric ambient out on the streets of Dakar after dark. Or something like that.

Review: Back in 2005 we might not have predicted what a phenomenon Ghost Box would become. In the years since, the label has become a beacon for the hauntological exploration of Britain's inherent oddness creeping just below the surface. Julian House's graphic design is a huge part of the label's artistic merit, and it figures his music as The Focus Group follows a similarly aesthetically rigorous direction. There's a pastoral collage quality to Hey Let Loose Your Love which takes you right back to the 70s, with beautiful musical passages offset by surrealist samples and unexpected diversions into the recent history of these wyrd isles.

Review: Vladislav Delay can manipulate sound like few others. Where he gets his ideas from is anyone's guess but we're presented with a laid more of them here in the first of five EPs in a series. This one finds the man born Sasu Ripatti deconstructing his soundscapes into whirring machines, metallic textures and chopped dup dubs. It is sound art as much as club music but will still work on the more adventurous dance floors out there. 'Three-Room Problem' in particular is an eerie and unsettling piece but one that leaves you wanting more.

Review: Sasu Ripatti continues to plunge into techno abstraction through his Hide Behind The Silence series. It's but one outlet for the seemingly constant stream of innovative sound emerging from the Finnish pioneer's studio, and on this fourth 10" he's offering up more compelling studies in noise, texture, rhythm and space. 'Death Of A Bassdrum' seems to take aim at techno by burying a 4/4 kick under a twitchy, uncomfortable bed of scuffs and scrapes, while 'Post-Mortem' diverts into space-building sonics where found sounds and artful reverb create a vibrant, three-dimensional space to explore with your mind's eye.

Review: So what happens when a European post-punk outfit meets an American 'ambient country ensemble'? The answer: A Nanocluster. In fact, three. This being the third. Immersion first met SUSS in September 2021, and the results were mesmerising. Three years on and the impact was no less staggering. Originally landing in September 2024, part tres takes us into the kind of musical places we're used to finding Spiritualized or Mogwai, and even then the references are misleading. For as many times as Nanocluster Vol. 3 sucks us into a thick soup of ambient and atmosphere, inviting us to get lost in opiate cloud formations, it also asks us to jump on board a stream train of rolling and driving rhythms, juggernauts gathering depth and complexity as they forge ahead. A stunning collection of highly evocative and incredible musical instrumentals.