New releases last two weeks: Modern Classical

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: Swedish composer Ellen Arkbro's Nightclouds is a deeply introspective and romantic turn that collects five solo organ improvisations recorded across Europe in 2023-24. Departing from installation-based compositions, Nightclouds explores slow, chordal improvisations rich in texture and atmosphere while drawing on sacred music, ECM jazz and minimalism. Along the way, Arkbro creates immersive soundscapes that balance austerity and emotional depth while shifting between meditative stillness and modernist tension with standout recordings like 'Morningclouds' and two variations on the title track. Through meticulous mic placement and tonal clarity, Arkbro draws you in with the intimacy and vastness of her sonic world.

Review: While he may well be best-known for his nostalgic, synthesiser-powered Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan project, Gordon Chapman-Fox has also put out some fine music under his given name - not least 2023's ambient opus on Castles In Space's 'Subscription Library' offshoot. On Very Quiet Music To Be Played Very Loudly, Chapman-Fox delivers four expansive ambient soundscapes. He sets the tone with the Vangelis-esque synth suspense and spacey creep of 'Components', before opting for sustained, almost neo-classical sweeps and delay-laden electronic string sounds on 'Fringe'. 'Emphasis' is immersive and quietly picturesque, while closing cut 'Singular' is dark, moody and quietly paganistic - a kind of imaginary soundtrack to a 21st century folk-horror movie.

Review: Some 13 years have now passed since Mississippi Records started reissuing private press albums by Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, an Ethiopian Orthodox nun, pianist and composer whose naturally religious-inspired works frequently took spiritual music to fascinating new places. Here the label turns its attention to 1972's Church of Kidane Mehret, notable not only for being recorded live in various churches across Jerusalem, but also for the use of harmonium and pipe organ as well as Emehoy's beloved piano. The original album, which in line with her other album features intricate and mood-enhancing solo translations of orthodox liturgies, has here been expanded via the inclusion of two further piano pieces from 1963's ultra-rare Der Sang Des Reeres - a set of which only 50 copies were ever produced.

Review: The Expanded Edition of Alan Howarth's They Live brings new life to the cult classic 1988 film's soundtrack. Howarth is well respected, not least for his collaborations with John Carpenter, and here captures the film's eerie tension and anti-consumerist themes with moody synths, bluesy motifs and minimalist sound design that is always hugely evocative. This expanded edition offers remastered audio and additional cues that heighten the mood and deepen the atmosphere. The music's hypnotic, slow-burning energy perfectly mirrors the paranoia and grit of the movie, so it's a landmark score in sci-fi and horror soundtracks.

Review: Jameszoo aka Mitchel van Dinther returns with a cinematic journey blending jazz and contemporary classical. Written for Dutch ensemble Asko Schonberg, percussion group HIIIT, and Jameszoo's trio, Music for 17 Musicians explores themes from his 2022 work Blind. Central is a self-governing player piano controlled by custom algorithms creating autonomous musical decisions which add a unique, experimental edge. The music reflects van Dinther's fascination with detaching composer identity to invite active, unbiased listening. It is packed with rich orchestration and smart electronic interplay that nods to Steve Reich's classic while pushing onto new frontiers.

Review: You don't sell 5.27 million copies of anything without doing something right. Winner of the E3 Game Critics award for Best Platform Game in 1999, to name just one of countless nominations and awards, Donkey Kong 64 was one of the best loved titles on the iconic Nintendo 64, and represented two years of programming, coding and designing on the part of legendary software house, Rare. Amazingly, considering this was almost three decades ago and cartridge-based titles are usually regarded as the stronghold of chip music, Grant Kirkhope's score is anything but and still sounds fresh. From aptly titled opener, 'DK Rap', to the meandering jazz closer 'Candy Kong', featuring David Leo Kemp on sax, via 'Angry Aztec' and its Indiana Jones vibe, and the John Williams-esque 'Mine Cart', it's all so enjoyable.

Review: Pianist Rachel Grimes is Rachel's and their sophomore album Music for Egon Schiele was originally released in 1996 on Quarterstick Records as a live score for a theatrical production about the titular Austrian painter. The performance of it was premiered in 1995 by Chicago's Itinerant Theater Guild with Grimes and two string players. The music is intimate and emotionally rich material that is stripped down to chamber pieces that rise and fall with real intensity. More focused than their debut Handwriting, this album blends melancholy, romance and beauty into a deeply affecting narrative that lingers long after the final note.

Review: Secret Garden is the Norwegian-Irish duo of Rolf Lovland and violinist Fionnuala Sherry and here they celebrate the 30th anniversary of their iconic debut, Songs from a Secret Garden. First released in 1995, the album won over global audiences with its blend of classical and folk, laced with Celtic and Norwegian emotion and some subtle new age undertones. It features the Eurovision-winning track 'Nocturne', which helped launch the duo into international acclaim. Elsewhere, there are whimsical melodies, ancient flutes, Lord of the Rings style Middle Age soundscapes, heartfelt emotions and plenty of clean, serene and timeless sounds that still offer great catharsis three decades on.

Review: If Inside the Rose, the fourth album from These New Puritans, was a long-winded production process - spanning six years of work - but saw the Essex outfit return with immediate force, the follow up is much more of a slow-burner at the consumption end. It's a stranger, more experimental and, arguably, visionary example of what these guys do best. And it couldn't feel more engrossing. Deep, immersive, almost ceremonial, powerfully uplifting ('Bells' is particularly life-affirming stuff), it saturates you in gorgeous emotional indie-choral-chimes, and sucks you into these gripping narratives that fall somewhere between swooning electronic, drummy alternative rock and a place which is really only These New Puritans.

Review: The Eyes Wide Shut soundtrack was released in 1999 and weaves together haunting classical pieces, jazz standards and eerie original compositions by Jocelyn Pook. Her track 'Masked Ball' stands out as a chilling centrepiece that add to the film's surreal and unsettling mood. The inclusion of Chris Isaak's sultry 'Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing' and Shostakovich's haunting 'Waltz 2' deepens the psychological tension. The album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media so was essential to the film's mysterious atmosphere. Pook's work, paired with Ligeti, Liszt and jazz legends still stands up as a great mix of seduction and suspense.