Tonal Union Vinyl & CDs

Review: French-born, London based composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Pascal Bideau is Akusmi. This is his new project and it finds him signed to the Tonal Union label for this stunning debut album. It is a genre-busting blend of gorgeously lush sound, with minimalism, broken beats, jazz, ice-cold electronica and an overall rich and symphonic sound defining its cosmic and escapist sound. There are curious moments that remind of the best library music, uplifting synth sequences that cleanse your brain and busier cuts that wouldn't sound out of place in a Four Tet mix. A fantastic debut for sure.

Review: Copenhagen-based Jason Dungan, aka Blue Lake arrives on Tonal Union with a stunning album built around inquisitive approaches to zithers, drones, clarinets, slide guitar and drum machines. It's a pastoral record first and foremost, but it's not bound by musical tradition and instead uses the impetus of post rock as a motivation to explore expressive, evocative spaces through composition and instrumentation. There are countless moments of shimmering beauty scattered throughout this vibrant album, which respond to the time he spent isolated in a remote part of Sweden while crafting the bulk of the music.

Review: Ezra Feinberg's 'Soft Power' is a rewarding listen into enlightened soundscapes. Collaborating with a stellar lineup of musicians, including Mary Lattimore and David Moore, Feinberg crafts an album defined by its abundance of melodies and ecstatic improvisations. From the tender-hearted opener 'Future Sand' to the mesmeric title track and the evocative 'Pose Beams,' each composition exudes a sense of optimism and transformation. Feinberg's compositions, marked by deep humanity, seamlessly blend elements of chamber-jazz, kosmische, and free improv, creating a sonic tapestry that is both immersive and uplifting. It's an album that resonates with emotional depth and artistic vision, leaving a lasting impression on the soul.

Review: Here we go then. Listening to the first two track on Soft Power, Ezra Feinberg's intoxicating third album is quite simply exhilarating. We begin with the gentle and playful, inquisitive electronic balladry of 'Future Sound', which seems to be the very noise of stargazing itself, captured through keyboards and synths set to 'weird'. The title number is equally beguiling, strange and otherworldly. So by the time we're at 'Pose Beams', the track's more solid structure feels like we've finally grounded ourselves, ready for blast-off. That comes with the appropriately-titled 'Flutter Intensity' - which gathers its rhythm like rocket fuel before launching into the stratosphere once again. And it's here we stay, floating on planetary rings and gravity-free air, for the remainder. A record that lead you feeling very fuzzy inside.

Review: Ezra Feinberg's Soft Power is a gentle exploration of quiet music, blending lightly jazz-infused acoustic guitars with psychedelic flourishes. Opening with 'Future Sands,' featuring David Lackner on flutes and electronic wind instruments, the album creates a seamless blend of real and synthetic sounds. The title track, Soft Power, is a buoyant, summer-tinged piece with shimmering guitars, flutes, and synths. Feinberg's style evokes the chamber jazz of Penguin Cafe, particularly on 'Pose Beams,' where pianist Robert Lee and synthist Jefre Cantu-Ledesma engage in a freeform duet. The album's highlight, 'The Big Clock,' combines summery guitars and psychedelic synths, reminiscent of Kate Bush's Aerial. 'There Was Somebody There' follows with its soothing, sailing rhythm, while the closing track, 'Get Some Rest,' features Mary Lattimore's harp in a serene, comforting finale. Soft Power is an unassuming yet deeply comforting album, perfect for quiet moments and summer days.

Review: Passepartout Duo is formed of Nicoletta Favari and Christopher Salvito, whom since 2015 have been on a continuous journey travelling the world's corners, engaged in a creative process they term "slow music". Their most recent record, in collaboration with fellow duo and peers Inoyama Land, Radio Yugawara is the latest reaffirmation of this affinity with the global slow movement, an increasingly, wilfully pan-resistant lifestyle umbrella. This record was recorded in 2023, in the latter duo's Makoto Inoue's hometown of Yugawara, where his family runs a kindergarten, and whose space then doubled up as a recording studio. Made largely with children's instruments - handbells, a glockenspiel, a xylophone, recorders, melodicas, and harmonicas - an obvious association of naif innocence might be taken away from this record, but this is of course a surface interpretation. By the time we've hacked past the surface thickets of 'Abstract Pets', we enter much murkier territory, the slow unfurling of 'Simoom' and the monoized ambient assemblages of 'Mosaic' among the most notable. Through its formative rooting in themes of childhood and play, and titular reference to radio, this dyadic double date portray an effective rep of the act of 'tuning in' - something we can only really do at all in a slower-paced environment.

Review: Laurie Torres is a Canadian musician and composer of Haitian descent and she spent years as a trusted collaborator for artists like Julia Jacklin and Pomme. In 2023, she shifted focus to her own solo work, resulting in her debut album Apres coup. Inspired by contemporary artists such as Tirzah and Valentina Magaletti, the album blends piano, drums, synths and field recordings to create a rich and meditative sound that was recorded at Studio Wild in Quebec. It reflects Torres' journey towards creative freedom and self-expression while exploring themes of introspection, marginalisation and the beauty of imperfection.