Back catalogue: Leftfield

Review: Joseph Kosinski, famous for his direction on 'Tron: Legacy' scored by Daft Punk, wanted to go a completely different direction for 2013's 'Oblivion' starring Tom Cruise. An emotional, epic soundtrack composed by French electronic act M83 was the only real option for him - a match made in heaven. Immediately, 'Jack's Dream' and 'Waking Up' are cinematic and vast in scope with blaring strings that swell in ways that only movie soundtracks can. A complete departure from Anthony Gonzalez's megahit 'Midnight City', 'Oblivion' is an orchestral affair that is bold and punchy, with soft and ethereal ambient patches scattered throughout. The title track is a major standout, featuring Norwegian talent Susanne Sundfor, a favourite vocalist and frequent collaborator of Royksopp. Expect the unexpected, but prepare to be amazed.

Review: Neon White was released to rave reviews in 2022, receiving multiple nominations and awards and featuring on many 'Best of' lists. This is, by no means a stretch, partly due to the sensational soundtrack that scores the combination of fast-paced speedrun-based platforming and visual novel worldbuilding parts of the game. That OST is the brainchild of Matt Stephenson, the founder of the New York alt duo Machine Girl, inspired mainly by the early works of 'RePorpoised Phantasies' and 'Wlfgrl', which centre mainly around bubbly electro-funk and breakcore cuts.
'The Burn that Cures' contains all of the non-level tracks, that soundtrack the conversations you have with your fellow neons or the ambience of certain realms of heaven that Neon White traverses. Printed on two marbled discs, referencing the adversary's Blue and Neon Green, the cover art is made by none other than artists and lead producer Esposito himself, featuring Neon White and Red in one of many sensual moments throughout the story. A big stand-out track is 'Holy Ground', a late-game track that is as unsettling as it is calming, the ambient synths washing over the ear is heavenly.

Review: With a superhero like Spiderman being recognised the world over by those who've legitimately never even held a comic book, it makes sense that any film adaption should rely on the current sounds of the modern era to deliver an entertaining and reliably engaging soundtrack. Where 2002's game-changing Sam Raimi adaptation boasted a retrospectively cheesy bevvy of nu-metal adjacent radio rock with the film's lead single even being penned by Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger, the music selection on this latest experimental animated series of films; Across The Spider Verse, turns to the current realms of radio dominating pop-rap. Overseen by acclaimed trap producer Metro Boomin and enlisting a who's who of modern artists such as Don Toliver, Lil Uzi Vert, Future, Nas and A$AP Rocky to name just a small handful, the collection serves equally as an of the time and on the pulse soundtrack, but also as a banging collaborative compilation of some of the best hip-hop acts in the scene today.

Review: Mike Paradinas amassed a fine body of work under the stage name u-Ziq through the 1990s. The Planet Mu label head is currently reissuing some of it with Lunatic Harness, his fourth album form 1997, the latest to get the treatment. It came out of the so-called drill&bass movement but was more pretty than most from that niche sub-genre. While Aphex Twin and Squarepusher always went for abrasive textures, he delves into more celestial and suspensory sounds rich in shimmering melody. It remains one of the best IDM albums of any era.

Review: Eleven miasmic, brooding tape meditations from the legendary Bryn Jones, reissued and packaged by Ukrainian label I Shall Sing Until My Land Is Free. Recorded in the immediate wake of the Oslo I accords, the album both bares Jones' stance on the peace pact and eerily predicts its aftermath, with humming, resonant drones, tinny vocal fragments and reversed percussion colliding in aural analogues of political tension, distrust and cyclicality. Overall it is an equally meditative and ominous listen, peppered with many of the hallmarks of mid-nineties Muzlimgauze productions, from swung, steppy, proto-DMZ ride cymbals, to plucked FM synth MIDI earworms, to his ever-present swathes of darkly churning string drones. Essential!

Review: Final Symphony II delves deeper into the cherished melodies of the Final Fantasy series. Renowned composers Roger Wanamo and Jonne Valtonen skillfully craft rich and intricate arrangements of Nobuo Uematsu's iconic compositions from FF5, 8 & 9. Additionally, Masashi Hamauzu offers a captivating suite inspired by his monumental original score for Final Fantasy XIII, while Valtonen sets the tone with his atmospheric opening piece 'In a Roundabout Way - Fanfare'. Pianist Mischa Cheung shines brightly in the spotlight, captivating audiences with his masterful performances in 'For the People of Gaia' and the emotive solo arrangement 'You Are Not Alone'.