Back in stock: Modern Classical

Review: Lawrence Englsh's new album was born out of a commission by curator Jonathan Wilson to create a sound environment for the Naala Badu building at the Art Gallery of NSW. It is a deeply atmospheric album that explores the relationship between sound and architecture and reflects the building's design, with its name meaning "seeing water" in the Gadigal language. The piece was crafted with a collaborative spirit by incorporating contributions from a diverse group of artists including Amby Downs, Claire Rousay and Jim O'Rourke. The resulting composition blends ambient textures and long-form sound prompts that capture the essence of place as an evolving, subjective experience. It's a work that highlights the porous nature of sound, and as a standalone work also succeeds in sinking you in deep.

Review: Grand River's (Aimee Portioli's) fifth studio album (her first after the brilliant In uno spazio immenso, her debut for Caterina Barbieri's label Light-years label) began as an installation in 2022. Having since evolved into multi-channel, 4DSOUND, and stereo formats, the record has bridged every hurdle to live performances it could possibly face. The 36-minute composition is divided into two parts: Portioli recorded various winds and transformed them via layering and pitch adjustments, fashioning the wind itself into an instrument. Going so far as to align the gusts to a 440hz reference and tuning particular instruments to windward passages, Portioli went with the wind, yet still wound up more alive than ever. Wind and synthesizers merge seamlessly, erasing the line between natural and human-made sound; silent until it meets an object, air currents produce an array of tones, from whispers, to roars, to melodies.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


The fourth ever solo studio album from the acclaimed electronic artist and composer Laurel Halo, Atlas is intended to guide the listener through their own subconscious mind, coming as an intense sequence of soaring ambiences and beatless jazz montages. Finding its footing in instrumental improvisation by Halo herself, plus featuring artists Coby Sey, James Underwood and Lucy Railton - and then blowing any assumptive connotation with jazz out of the park with its subtly effected vocal processing and electronic tinkerings and washes thereafter - fans can be sure that this is not going to be your stock experimental affair.

Review: Mathew Halsall's Manchester-based Gondwana label reaches out to Hanakiv, a young composer and musician from Estonia who is now based in London. She has a sound couched in meditative piano but with influences from experimental, classical and her own cultural heritage. She has formally studied composition and has a real love of nature as well as mavericks like Aphex Twin, all of which come out in these challenging but ultimately rewarding sounds. They are often both soothing and cathartic yet edgy and inventive in the way the chords are paired with busy wind sounds, shimmering vocals and tense melodies.

Review: Belgian composer Elisabeth Klinck delivers her debut album Picture A Frame, via Hallowed Ground, and in doing so channels a haunting evocation, which, at the same time, sounds as though it were captured on an imperfect medium. The result of a collaborative process that saw her working closely with artist Oscar Claus, the album features eight pieces for violin, electronics, and field recordings, recorded in an abandoned monastery and a small village in the Spanish Pyrenees. An intimate, tremulous record, and an exquisite gem for audiophiles unafraid of lo-fi, we hear the chain-rattlings and wails of ghosts throughout it.

Review: There's no denying that Under The Skin was a cinematic triumph, and cemented Scarlett Johansson's status as a screen powerhouse capable of dynamic and highly varied performances of consistently high standards. The story of a young woman making her way through Scotland, seducing men and then doing horrific things to their bodies. An allegorical tale wherein the on-screen alien portrays the experience of immigrants and females trapped in a world of toxic masculinity, director Jonathan Glazer's long-awaited return to feature filmmaking is a bonafide classic.

Part of the reason behind its power is Mica Levi's incredible score. Taking inspiration from the work of Gyorgy Ligeti, a master of horror scores whose fleeting sounds and moments of near-silent tension can be heard on landmark such as The Shining and Lontano (both renowned for the effectiveness of their soundtrack), this isn't so much music as we know it, but aural motifs and movements designed to create a feeling of relentless unease.

Review: Glasgow-based, Rome-born Loris S. Sarid, like many during the pandemic, found himself placing his focus in all new places once he was locked down with little to do. As such his close care for a little tomato plant, grown on a windowsill in his flat, gave him an unusual spark of inspiration which led to this album, Music for Tomato Plants. It is his homage to "the unapparent courage of simplicity, and the beauty and lightness of the most ordinary things." In real terms, it is a lush ambient exploration with melodies that are optimistic and hopeful. Sustained chords unfurl like new growth, fresh percussive lines emerge like ripened fruit and the whole thing is beautifully pure and innocent.

Review: Bugge Weseltoft and Henrik Schwarz first crossed paths on 2011's Duo, a sophisticated blend of Schwarz's cosmic disco tendencies and Wesseltoft's exquisite jazz piano. It was understated, but brimming with inspiration, and it's widely hailed as something of a modern classic. As such, it's a treat to see the pair reunited for Duo II, once more on Jazzland, but if you were expecting a repeat of the first album, think again. With guest vocalists and musicians stirred into the stew, Schwarz and Wesseltoft explore all kinds of new terrain without losing that immediacy and delicacy that made their first joint effort so charming.