LAAPS France Vinyl & CDs

Review: Hardanger is a collaboration between Mariska Baars, Niki Jansen and Rutger Zuydervelt. Named after Jansen's Hardanger fiddle, the album expands on Baars and Zuydervelt's established chemistry after beginning as Jansen's improvisations with Baars adding vocals and guitar, all later shaped by Zuydervelt into two long-form tracks-one an electro-acoustic collage, the other more meditative. Baars blends ambient and folk and is known for collaborating with artists like Peter Broderick, while Jansen is a folk violinist and Zuydervel's prolific output as Machinefabriek is well worth checking as are his film scores and collabs as Piiptsjilling and Fean with Baars.

Review: Ambient music is all about immersion and you'll be hard-pressed to find anything more immersive than this. New York and Iceland-based composer Masaya Ozaki was born in Niigata, Japan and focuses on "the idea of space as a transient entity," which means his work is imbued with astonishing subtlety and beautifully quiet artistry that really draws you and rewards close attention. Mizukara is his fourth such outing and one that melds field recordings, electro-acoustic sounds and lush synth textures into something that is melancholic and utterly absorbing from front to back. Says the artist, ''this album is a reflection of my current life in Iceland. Where does the self begin and where does it end?' Tune in to find out.