Back catalogue: Leftfield

Review: This beautifully presented box set gathers all five albums from Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoti's V.I.R.U.S series, a collaborative project spanning five albums originally released between 2002 and 2011. Disc one (Vrioon) sets the tone, with Sakamoto's beautiful (and frequently effects-laden) piano motifs rising above glitchy minimalist rhythms and experimental ambient soundscapes. The albums that follow offer subtle shifts in their collaborative sound whilst retaining the same core artistic approach, with the pair frequently alternating between poignant, slow-burn minimalism and emotive, mood-enhancing ambient maximalism. Throughout, the pair beautifully balance hard-wired electronic experimentalism with classical musicality.

Review: While not as widely known or celebrated as those who came in his wake (and cite his work as an inspiration), Rephlex alumnus Bogdan Raczynski makes music every bit as alluring - and, like one of those he influenced, Richard D James, a fan of playful press releases and eye-catching interview quotes. He's variously described his amusingly new title as an AI-made attempt at EDM, the soundtrack to a rejected Tesla infomercial, a collection of ten-year-old tracks and a bid to crack "the lucrative coffee shop playlist market". Whatever the truth, it's a melodious, warm and ear-catching collection of cuts that flits between cheery electronica, off-kilter IDM, immersive and maximal club cuts, joyful ambient soundscapes and short, sweet numbers that refuse to outstay their welcome. Another winner from a master of his craft.

Review: This is the CD version of Ghosts, the third solo album from Polish pianist and composer Hania Rani, courtesy of Mathew Halsall's Gondwana. It comes after an artist residency in Switzerland in an abandoned sanitarium amongst the mountains so is inspired by the numerous rumoured ghosts that inhabit the hills. Lead singles 'Hello' and 'Dancing with Ghosts' take drastically different approaches, with the former being an electro-ambient take on lounge jazz sensibilities and 'Dancing with Ghosts' being a moody and grumbling duet ballad with Patrick Whatson. The whole album has a lingering sense of finality and creeping doom and is another absorbing listen from front to back.

Review: Hania Rani has a knack for blending the ethereal with the intimate, and her latest offering, Nostalgia, captures that perfectly. This is her first live album, but it's much more than just a performance recording. Filmed at the Polish Radio studios in Warsaw, it feels like a love letter to a place steeped in history and meaning for her. The space itself, with all its ghosts and hidden stories, becomes a character in the album, lending an air of mystery and depth to Rani's signature mix of piano, voice, and electronics. Nostalgia moves through delicate melodies and cinematic arrangements, with Rani's touch feeling both familiar and experimental. She brings the studio's spirit alive, layering sound and memory in a way that feels both spontaneous and deliberate. This isn't just a snapshot of a live show; it's an immersive, intimate dive into Rani's creative world. With its mix of lush textures and haunting vocals, Nostalgia solidifies her status as an artist who can create both in the moment and with timeless grace.

Review: Was there anyone who combined soul and synth pop this well with such expert instrumentation as this band?! This collection captures two iconic sessions for the John peel show recorded during the early 1980s, showcasing a beloved band at their creative peak. Remastered for a fresh listen, the album highlights their ability to craft memorable melodies and intricate synth-driven soundscapes. The funky, melodic opener boasts a strong chorus and infectious groove, setting the tone for an engaging journey through soulful pop. An upbeat, feel-good gem in 'Some People I Know To Lead Fantastic Lives ' follows, blending frenetic rhythms with shimmering synth textures that radiate warmth and optimism. An important hit for the band, 'Wishful Thinking' demonstrates clever songwriting and a catchy structure that's impossible to resist, solidifying its place as a synth pop classic. The collection also includes a stunning downtempo track with 'Watching The Rainclouds' , rich with soulfulness and unique instrumentation, showing the band's range and ability to evoke deep emotion through delicate melodies and expressive keyboard work. This compilation is a fantastic snapshot of their evolution and a reminder of their enduring influence. Fans old and new will find much to love in this expertly curated and beautifully remastered release. China Crisis continues to be more respected as time goes on.

Review: Since returning in 2015 following a two-decade long hiatus, post-punk experimentalists The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus has offered up a trio of admired albums. Even so, The Dream We Carry is still the multi-media-loving Liverpool collective's first new full-length for four years. It's an inspired set all told, with the band shrouding their beautiful neo-folk and ethereal compositions in simmering strings, dusty sound design, oodles of effects, and all manner of samples and field recordings. It's quietly picturesque and exquisitely crafted, providing a mixture of musical melancholy and hopeful positivity. It comes highly recommended.

Review: When Italian film director Luca Guadagnino commissioned long-term collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to write and produce the soundtrack for Challengers, he had a clear idea in mind: music rooted in Berlin techno and 90s rave'. Reznor and Ross undoubtedly delivered, creating heavily electronic music that veers between guitar-laden nu-rave ('Yeah x10'), throbbing peak-time workouts (the Moroder-goes-to-Berghain flex of 'Challengers'), tech-tinged nu-disco ('The Signal', 'The Points That Matter'), pitched-black EBM-techno fusion ('Brutalizer') and acid-fired insanity ('Pull Over'). There are occasional nods to more classical movie soundtracks - see the choral versions of Benjamin Britten's 'New Year Prayer' - but for the most part it is a thrill-a-minute ride through deliciously heavy rhythms, basslines and electronics.

Review: Finish dub techno powerhouse Joachim Spieth welcomes UK artist Rhubiqs to his well-regarded Affin label for a debut appearance that sinks you into a widescreen world of ambient lushness. His Aegis of Silence album takes cues from divergent sounds like post-rock and soft ambient as well as drone and even modern classical. It's an ever-shifting soundscape with smeared pads and nostalgia dreams, half-remembered thoughts and a sense of mood that ranges from escapist and blissed out to more ominous and paranoid.

Review: A quadruple box set spanning recordings made between 1968 and 1980 on two-track Revox tape, these previously unreleased works showcase the hypnotic cycles and textural explorations that define kosmische musik. Using his signature Farfisa organ and Echolette tape delay, the pieces evoke the spirit of Roedelius' Selbstportrait series and collaborations with Dieter Moebius and Michael Rother. Rather than a strict retrospective, 90 feels like a timeless sound journey, blending cascading minimalist loops with the organic warmth that has inspired generations. Tracks are unnamed and unmoored from chronology, allowing the listener to experience them as fluid expressions of Roedelius's artistry. The music recalls the meditative brilliance of contemporaries like Terry Riley, while firmly rooted in the experimental ethos of early German electronic music. Released to celebrate Roedelius's 90th birthday, this collection is both a celebration and a rediscovery, offering a vivid portrait of a visionary artist. 90 is a masterclass in innovation and introspection, essential for fans of kosmische and beyond.

Review: In a collaboration for the ages, we hear German kosmische musician Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Cluster, Harmonia) team up with Japanese flutist Yuko Matsuzaki and Berlin Philharmonic analog musician sound engineer Onnen Bock for a nacreous improv blast. Spanning soft, pearly electronica and neoclassical, Moon Garden comprises five works, incorporating techniques and fragments of songs already released. A mythical aura unfurls through synth koto and organic harmonics; 'In The Forest Of Syrinx' establishes a singing bowled, new age aesthetic, segueing into the purely vocal threnody 'Sapphire Jellyfish'. Bridging electronic washes, piano and female vocals, this is a borderless soundscape of exciting proportions.

Review: Rosetta Stone, one of the most enduring bands from the influential second wave of gothic rock, returns with a brand-new studio album called Under the Weather. Known for their dark romance and chiming guitars, the new album stays true to form with lush keyboards and an undercurrent of sinister nostalgia, thanks to bandleader Karl North. Fans can look forward to pre-release singles and a significant media blitz to accompany this album, their first in 4 years. Formed in the 1980s by Porl King and Karl North, Rosetta Stone initially captured the jangly-guitar sounds of gothic rock. Their big break came after supporting The Mission on tour. The band later transitioned to a more electronic sound before disbanding in 1998. Now, gothic mastermind Porl King is back with an album that promises to transport fans back to goth's heyday. Like their namesake, British goth legends Rosetta Stone were pivotal in bridging the gap between the first wave of gothic rock and the emerging underground scene. Their music brought a romantic element to a dynamic era of black fashion and experimental freak culture.

Review: Via their Rubbish Music project, Kate Carr and Ian Chambers use sound to, in their words, "investigate the journeys, transformations and impacts of everyday objects". In the case of their 2022 debut album Upcycling, that meant creating new experimental sound worlds from all manner of discarded things. On sophomore set Fatbergs, they turn their attention to the oily, greasy clogs that form in our sewage system. In practice, that means a mixture of ghostly electronics, gurgling and effects-laden noises of unknown origin, creepy and immersive soundscapes, echo-laden bells, dystopian new-age compositions and unusual - but surprisingly meditative and heady - ambient epics.