New releases last two weeks: Leftfield

Review: Still riding high from the success of his superb re-make of Manuel Gottsching on Test Pressing ('A Reference to E2-E4'), Alex Kassian returns to Pinchy & Friends - who released his similarly popular 2021 EP 'Leave Your Life' - after a three-year break. Beginning with the lusciously languid, Balearic, effects-laden and sonically layered title track ('Body Singer', where Jonny Nash style guitars and tumbling sax motifs rise above a sparse drum machine beat and shoegaze-esque aural textures), the Berlin-based producer offers up a loved-up mix of weightless ambient bliss (Kinship), kosmiche soundscapes (the sun-flecked 'Skinship'), revivalist Krautrock (the Can-after-several-spliffs headiness of 'Trippy Gas') and immersive, cinematic excusions (the gorgeous 'Mirror of the Heart').

Review: Khotin - or Canadian electronic musician Dylan Khotin-Foote if you prefer - returns with 'Peace Portal', a six-track suite gliding us through a tantric slow motion, threading gauzy textures through ambient, Balearic, and soft-focus downtempo. After a decade refining his palette across releases for labels like 1080p and Ghostly International, here he reserves some of his most intimate and glowing material for his own platform, Khotin Industries. Opener 'You Made My Weekend Wonderful' sets the tone with choir-like vapour trails and delicate piano, while 'HP 1' follows in a dream state of sub-bass eddies, flowing seamlessly into the playful skip of 'Druid Dance'. The B deepens the haze: 'Vacation (Spam Free Mix)' evokes luxury resort liminality with plush pads and sunkissed low-end, 'Oasis Bioreference' drips warped acid through a slow-motion filter. Each piece is a postcard from somewhere gently unreal.

Review: As the official soundtrack to Claire Sanford and Josephine Anderson's documentary Texada, New-York based composer Elori Saxl's latest record comes issued on a steadfast, standalone vinyl edition. Texada explores the evolving connection between people and the remote Texada Island, British Columbia, shaped by ancient limestone formations and industrial history. Saxl transforms these themes into sound, blending analog synthesizers, processed baritone saxophone (by Henry Solomon) and field recordings of water and rock. Her compositions evoke stone textures and the lunar-tidal motion of waves, with tracks like 'The Quarry' capturing the drive of resource extraction, and 'The Most Special Place' reflecting nostalgia and discovery, merging human and geological scales.