Back in stock: Modern Classical

Review: To say there's a meditative quality to Golem Mecanique's third album would be like saying air is something we breathe. The nom de plume of French multi-instrumental Karen Jebane, the album title directly quotes the final comments made by Pier Paolo Pasolini in his last ever interview, given just days before his body was found on an Italian beach after being brutally murdered. "We are all in danger", he quipped. From what, or who, we are still trying to figure out, 50 years on. Siamo Tutti In Pericolo doesn't look to answer the great mystery of what happened to the great filmmaker and auteur. But it does look to feelings of tension, quiet unease, and opaque mystery for its incredibly atmospheric tomes. This is deep dive stuff, reliant on a combination of refrained notes, echoes, and sombre, spiritual voices inviting us to push through into some other state of consciousness. Whether that will shed any light on anything is, of course, the real question we need to answer.

Review: Recorded at the legendary Eglise du Saint-Esprit in Paris, Blue Veil is the very first time we've been given a record fully dedicated to the incredible solo cello work of Lucy Railton. A spectacularly talented composer who is a master of the world's most mournful-yet-beautiful instrument, this is as much of a heart-stopping performance as it is a concept work of art. In many ways, Blue Veil is an experiment in resonance. If it were synthesised, we might refer to it as drone, although by nature the label infers a level of dullness. Here, we're talking about the natural refrains of an orchestral sunrise, the ebb and flow of contemporary classical tides. We're invited in, hypnotised, lulled and then let go. Free to wander back into the world after a brief respite from its relentless pace.