ULLA STRAUS Vinyl & CDs

Review: Philadelphia may not shout as loud as America's Big Electronic Music Cities - LA, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, San Francisco - but there's compelling evidence to say it should. Philly-based Ulla Straus is just one name on an ever-growing list of essential listens, her stunning ambient work capable of transporting audiences - at home and in live settings - to completely new places. First released on tape in 2019, Big Room is archetypal Straus, and cemented her place in the pantheons of what some have labelled 'post-bbliss', but we're not sure how appropriate that term is; the sonics here seem to trigger a response in our serotonin receptors for all the right reasons. Lush 'scapes that are never obvious, tones that don't stop exploring even when you'd be happy enough to stay put in every moment forever.