Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Estonian contemporary classical musician Arvo Part is by now perhaps best known for his devastating opus 'Spiegel Im Spiegel'. But to focus solely on this ascendant piece would be to do a disservice to the best of his works, of which there is not only much, but also a personally idiosyncratic method that suggests genius. Mississippi Records expand on this elusive and fascinating musician's oeuvre, helping disseminate a new collection of renditions by Boston-based chamber orchestra A Far Cry. Part's music is ternary, and he is responsible for the use of the term "tintinnabular" in music theory: a far cry from the bell-related meaning of the term, tintinnabular music refers to a specific compositional style in which one hand arpeggiates the tonic triad (plays notes 1, 3 and 5), while the other hand ascends the remaining notes of the scale in stepwise motion. Decidedly minimalist, then, the versions of 'Silentium' and 'Vater Unser' in particular render Part's technique in full naked technicolour, with their thin strings building to gobsmacking, tearjerking heights. No wonder that, so famously, of his sparse compositions, Part had this to say: "I have nothing to say... It is dangerous to say anything, because if I've said it already in words there might be nothing left for my music."

Review: In celebration of Arvo Part's 90th year, his latest release showcases the Estonian composer's continued exploration of minimalist, spiritually charged sound . Part's work has always sought to blend the sacred with the secular, and this collection of new renditions brings forward the timeless resonance of his choral and orchestral compositions. Opening with 'Littlemore Tractus,' based on John Henry Newman's reflections, the piece sets the tone of quiet, introspective change that permeates the entire work. His music, a dialogue between sound and silence, invites profound contemplation, with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir under Tonu Kaljuste's direction offering nuanced, deeply attentive performances. Compositions like 'Vater unser,' showcase Part's ability to transform liturgical text into transcendent musical experience. There's an undeniable spiritual gravity in pieces such as 'Cantique des degres' and 'Sequentia,' where strings and vocals weave in delicate yet forceful patterns, revealing a steady undercurrent of renewal. The rich textures in these works evoke both a longing for and a reconciliation with the past, capturing Part's life-long exploration of sacred music's dialogue with the world. The album culminates with 'Vater unser,' an evocative reworking that brings together choir, strings, and piano, offering a meditative close to an album that is as much about reflection as it is about the continued forward momentum of Part's artistry. Recorded in Tallinn's Methodist Church, this latest chapter is a continuation of the Part-Eicher partnership that has defined so much of his career, expanding the legacy of albums like Tabula rasa and reinforcing Part's place as one of the most significant voices in contemporary classical music of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Review: Parus is a Belarusian ethno-ambient project blending pagan songs with modern soundscapes and Zara is their debut album. Led by ethnographer and folk singer Hanna Silivonchyk, the record features traditional Belarusian songs in various dialects, all accompanied by synths and field recordings crafted by Anton Anishchanka. The tracks were gathered during ethnographic expeditions across Belarusian national parks, and songs like 'Soniejka' and the title cut offer intimate reflections on life, love and mythology. It connects to the past while maintaining a deep personal edge that makes Zara a fascinating exploration of Belarusian culture.

Review: Pianist. Conductor. Composer. Impressario. Extraordinaire. We could probably leave it at that with Piero Piccioni, but for the sake of clarity let's get clear. One of Italy's most prolific film composers of the mid-late-20th Century, this monolith of big band and jazz wrote more than 300 movie scores in his career, and also lays claim to membership of 013, the first jazz outfit broadcast in his home country following the fall of Fascism in 1944. Born in Turin, one of the epicentres of Italian music, Cadaveri Eccellenti was a 1977 crime thriller about Lino Ventura, Italy's top homicide detective, who is investigating the assassination of a judge. Full of intrigue, mystery, and tension, not to mention that underlying sense of sexiness which seems to pervade European flicks of this era, by now you can probably imagine how cool the score is.

Review: Lacinia is the newest cycle of compositions by Italian composer and guitarist Stefano Pilia and it extends the metaphysical and mathematical explorations introduced in his acclaimed 2022 album Spiralis Aurea. Drawing from sacred geometry, number theory and ancient musical traditions, Lacinia unfolds as a series of immersive sonic meditations. Acoustic and electroacoustic textures from strings, horns, organ, percussion and synths are all carefully interwoven and Pilia creates cyclical, ritualistic structures that evoke composers like Arvo Part, Eliane Radigue and Sarah Davachi. Inspired by liturgical music and the eternal return of transformation, Lacinia aims to seek meaning through harmony, stillness and resonance. The

Review: Two of life's great escape artists, Polo & Pan, or Paul Armand-Delille and Alexandre Grynszpan, first bonded in the chronological hinterland of nightlife's operating hours, at the iconic Parisian nightclub, Le Baron. We weren't there, but in our minds they talked about quantum theories, and maybe came up with the phrase "everything everywhere all at once". But nobody can be sure. Apart from the artists. Since then, they've committed themselves to creating beautiful, weird, tropical house-synth-pop-electronica stuff which they say transcends moments and places, people and cultures. 22:22 is their triumphant return after four years without a full length, and it's every bit as good as fans were hoping for. Dive in, the water is lovely - wherever in the time-space continuum it is.

Review: Munich-based trio Prepared craft a hypnotic and high-energy journey that blurs the lines between chamber music, jazz and minimal dance. The trio i Chris Gall on prepared piano, Flo Riedl on bass clarinet and Christoph Holzhauser on drums i merges cyclical motifs and layered patterns into a trance-inducing soundscape. Drawing comparisons to Steve Reich, Jonny Greenwood and Dawn of Midi, their music pulses with rhythm and repetition, creating a hypnotic Gesamtkunstwerk that feels both innovative and timeless. Recorded live in a single room without overdubs, Module is a state-of-the-art production. Utilizing advanced 3D miking techniques for Dolby Atmos, the recording captures the raw interplay between instruments with breathtaking clarity. Across four expansive tracks divided into ten parts, the album flows through moods and textures. 'Modul Eins' opens with a downtempo introduction before evolving into an upbeat, swinging groove. 'Modul Zwei' offers a cinematic, film noir feel, while 'Modul Drei' dips into hip-hop beats with introspective breaks. The 15-minute opus 'Modul Vier' swells through four sections like changing seasons, showcasing the trio's virtuosity and cohesion. With Module, Prepared prove that repetition can be a riveting genre-defying experience that's impossible to forget.

Review: Thom Yorke and Mark Pritchard revive the collaboration first aired on the latter's 2016 album Unde The Sun, this time across a full album reportedly four years in the (top secret) making. It's a compelling synthesis of Yorke's atmospheric melancholy and Pritchard's textured production. It expores a range of moods, from the uneasy tension of 'A Fake In A Faker's World' to the hypnotic rhythms of 'Back In The Game', while the eerie, spectral qualities of 'This Conversation Is Missing Your Voice' reveal the pair's ability to intertwine experimental soundscapes with a visceral emotional pull. Standout moments include 'Gangsters,' where Pritchard's intricately layered beats mesh with Yorke's haunting vocal delivery, and 'Wandering Genie,' which closes the journey with a strange sense of release. The music takes unexpected turns, not just as a statement of collaboration, but as a reflection of two artists playing with the unknown, pulling their sonic worlds into unexplored spaces. Each track is a feather in the cap of their combined ingenuity, with Yorke's vocal vulnerability and Pritchard's production wizardry in full synergy.

Review: Begun in earnest during the COVID-19 pandemic, after the former had remixed the latter's new Radiohead material, Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke exchanged much of the for their new record Tall Tales remotely. Forerun by new single 'Back In The Game' then 'This Conversation Is Missing Your Voice', the album takes shape as a surreal mythopoesis, warping back in time to 2020's plague, where the former track's hyperreal music video (dir. by Jonathan Zawada) sees a rooftop figure defenestrating art itself amid grotesque figures bearing the worst of a mutant contortionist slice-of-life. Yorke has said that the album was crucial to him, describing the music-making process as "mental."