Back catalogue: Classical

Review: In 1976 Anthony Howarth produced a documentary film about the Badabi tribe in Southern Iran. Each spring, this indigenous group would make the difficult journey across the Zagros mountains and valleys to ensure their sheep had new pastures to graze. Led by Jafar Qoli, the movie chronicles this epic trek and various events along the way. Taking breathers only for weddings and mediation between contacts, and grappling with torrential rain and perilous terrain, among other challenges, it's an inspiring odyssey to say the least. The music fits the bill perfectly, bringing together the legendary Persian songwriter, editor and singer Shush? Guppy and revered English singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Gerald Thomas Moore, transporting us to a time, place and people long-since committed to memory.

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: River: The Timbre of Guitar #2 Rei Harakami is a luminous tribute to the late Japanese electronic composer Rei Harakami by Ayane Shino. By reimagining his ambient soundscapes through classical guitar, Shino delicately transforms 10 of his compositions into serene, intricate acoustic pieces. Her interpretations capture the warmth and floating quality of Harakami's originals but offer a fresh, introspective perspective. Her masterful ability to bridge electronic and classical genres leaves you in awe as you float amongst the mellifluous melodies and expressive guitar playing, with the sound of squeaking fingers on fret boards adding a sense of character that adds to its allure. A magical listen.

Review: SoiSong, the collaborative project of Ivan Pavlov (CoH) and Brit industrial music royalty Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson (Throbbing Gristle, Coil), was a brief but enduring exploration of electronica's least charted realms. Coming to in 2007, the duo fused Pavlov's raw digital landscapes and Christopherson's dark, whimsical touch, bringing a bold debut and stark break from convention, blending artificial vocals with live drums, jazz noir with tropical textures, and synthetic sounds. The boundaries of genre are brushed up against, with tracks like 'Dtorumi' and 'J3z' pushing the limits of post-90s electronic experimentation. A new mix of 'Lom Tum Lai Kwee', meanwhile, adds a hallucinatory grandeur, while the closer, 'Ti-Di-Ti Naoo', evokes transformations from rehearsal to performance.

Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Atmospheres is soundtrack that delivers the amazing experience of Jeremy Soule's award-winning, ethereal soundscape for the legendary Skyrim. Known for creating atmospheric scores for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Guild Wars, Soule, alongside Bethesda's Audio Director Mark Lampert, crafts a sweeping soundtrack that perfectly encapsulates Skyrim's majestic yet perilous landscapes. This edition features a splattered black and clear vinyl design, housed in a refined gatefold jacket with UV spot highlights. Soule's Skyrim Atmospheres track, a formidable 42-minute piece, is a journey through the serene yet haunting soundscapes that define Skyrim. The soundtrack captures the power and beauty of this open-world game, giving players and listeners a deep sense of the rugged, mythical realm of Skyrim. Though subtle and introspective, the compositions exude a haunting grandeur, with resonant toms, dramatic horns, and flowing melodies that evoke both serenity and unease. Receiving Game of the Year honours and numerous RPG awards, Skyrim has become an emblem of immersive world-building and its soundtrack enhances the game's lasting appeal. Even outside of gameplay, Soule's music strikes a chord with listeners, evoking feelings of adventure, mystery and heroismiqualities that make this album a timeless masterpiece.

Review: A cross-hemispheric exchange gave rise to Nocturna, the first collaboration between New Zealand composer Andrew Thomas and German sound artist Joachim Spieth - the former's first for Affin after long-held stints Kompakt. Beginning with Thomas's piano sketches, composed during a Southern Hemisphere summer, the material was passed to Spieth just as light returned to the North. A subtle transformation ensued; Spieth preserved the piano's fragile warmth as its edges came sculpted across ambient textures and restrained sound design. A peek-a-boo of presence and absence is scripted, where each decision to withhold a note feels as resonant as those included. Clipped reverb gargantuans contrast to crystal clear piano scales on our favourites, 'Lumina' and 'Amethyst'.

Review: An ambitious, thought-provoking collaboration that merges radical improvisation with meticulous songcraft. Inspired by Francisco Goya's Los Caprichos painting, the album interrogates modern anxieties through a fusion of classical composition and lyrical introspection. Mark Springer, known for his spontaneous, real-time piano compositions, crafts haunting pieces performed by the Sacconi Quartet, while Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant 's unmistakable vocals lend a poetic depth to the work. Recorded across multiple locations in 2023istrings in Surrey and Tetbury, piano in Brussels and vocals in Londonithe album benefits from its layered, almost collage-like construction. This fragmentation mirrors the project's thematic preoccupations: the disjointed state of contemporary society, the corruption of truth and the divisiveness of social media. Tennant's lyrics, shaped by Goya's grotesque and satirical visions, meditate on deception, power and the erosion of collective trust. The interplay between Springer's expressive piano and the Sacconi Quartet's controlled precision is key to the album's success. Tracks move fluidly between moments of stark beauty and eerie unease. Tennant's vocal performances are restrained yet evocative, delivering lines that echo both personal reflection and broader cultural critique. The arrangements are elegant yet unsettling, reinforcing the album's central tension between order and chaos. Sleep of Reason is not an easy listen, nor does it aim to be. It is an intellectual and emotional work, one that rewards deep engagement. In blending classical refinement with pop craftsmanship, Springer and Tennant have created an album that is an eloquent response to a world teetering between enlightenment and darkness.