Back catalogue: Classical

Review: Commissioned by Meow Wolf for their Omega Mart immersive art experience in Las Vegas, Amon Tobin delivers the kind of horizon-expanding epic you would hope for from one of the world's most respected living electronic music visionaries. Running at 20 minutes, give or take 40 seconds, this collection of movements worthy of an odyssey may have been designed for a specific context, but they don't have to be trapped there forever. While nothing will compare to diving headfirst into Meow Wolf's critically acclaimed installation piece, a kind of sci-fi takedown of advanced capitalism and blind consumerism in a morally bankrupt world, separating sounds from space still makes a big impact. Noises from the future, soundscapes from the depths of a truly astounding mind, this is nothing if not captivating.

Review: Chocolate Hills is a duo made up of Paul Conboy and Alex Paterson, Orb founder and Orbscure Records boss. Their excellent Yarns From The Chocolate Triangle is one of those albums that is tailored made for listening to on good quality headphones, a lush and world class ambient soundscape with vivid designs and bright colours all in high definition. It draws on library music, exotica, kitsch, Balearic, downtempo, folk, spaced out pop and even d&b, all loosely based on an imagined nautical journey to the Bermuda triangle and back. All is calm at sea as you bob and drift on these roomy and magnificently realised sounds, mixing organic and electronic sources and taking a more gorgeosuly idiosyncratic route than the latest Orb album.

Review: Taylor Deupree and The Humble Bee have hooked up for their first collaborative album, Re: Case Studies, an immersive and pensive ambient beauty. It was originally conceived as a solo project and Deupree's abstract feedback loop-based compositions were shelved until discussions with the label prompted him to invite a collaborator. Craig Tattersall, aka The Humble Bee, responded with his own sonic interpretations and built on Deupree's foundations. The result is a cohesive yet distinct collaboration that honours the original while evolving into something new so what began as an unfinished idea is now a full-fledged and thoughtful, layered exploration of sound.

Review: Japanese artists Yumiko Morioka and Takashi Kokubo unite for a journey through blended piano, atmospheric synth and nighttime field recording. Both Morioka and Kokubo are pioneers of Japanese new age import, with the former lyricist, pianist and composer trailblazing with her sole 1987 album Resonance and the latter composer and musical environmentalist responsible for a string of geometrically-charged, fantastical LPs from 1980 onwards. Morioka herself makes a welcome return to music after taking a staunch step back to raise her family in the late 80s; her music has since been quietly cherished, and now Gaiaphilia evidences her not-lost ivorian flair, with her piano melding blissfully with pop-out sea- and soundscapes.

Review: For the first time on vinyl, through Karl Records, comes a limited edition and furtive Yoko Ono retrospective, in conjunction with the over-100-strong, Sweden-headquartered ensemble and community network The Great Learning Orchestra. These unlikely recordings were made at the time of the musician and performance artist Ono's 1964 multimedia collection Grapefruit, a cornerstone of what would later become known as "conceptual art". Grapefruit itself is a large artist's book, with a large vellum spine and browned parchment paper; it contains a series of "event scores" that outline, rather than permit the performances of, many different performance art pieces. The effect is apocryphal and ominous, as though the real performance of these instructive works may have accursed or deleterious effects. "Like a musical score, Event Scores can be realized by artists other than the original creator and are open to variation and interpretation"; and yet, Ono's book is a one of one, having never been reproduced or thus made collectable. Pre-dating John Cage by about a decade, the "event scores" described therein have now been performed by The Great Learning Orchestra, where hardly any of the performances / pieces have ever been captured sonically or laid to disc. This record changes all that, realising Ono's bewildering text instructions as tremulous suites, made up of clattering material hits and harrowing string instrumental assaults.

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: This reissued gem offers meticulously crafted aural rituals that delve into sensual electronic music and human sexuality. Founded by Adi Newton in 1978 to merge art, science and sonology while embracing innovative, multidisciplinary approaches, The Anti Group served as a platform for exploring psycho-acoustic research and this 1994 album was recorded over three years. It is among their more accessible works - never more so than now when it debuts on vinyl after 30 years. As well as the original pieces, it comes with four bonus tracks including a film soundtrack and a remix.

Review: Astonishingly, a decade has now passed since Todd Gauthreaux first donned the Tapes & Topographies guise. Since then, he has released countless inspired and immersive albums, offering up an attractive ambient sound rich in drifting chords, densely layered sound design and contemplative musical motifs. Plumage, his first full-length excursion of 2024, sees him pop up on ROHS! for the first time. He's typically delivered the goods, matching ocean-deep ambient soundscapes with slow burning, melancholic melodies, evocative flashes of field recordings, hazy aural textures and twinkling, occasionally sorrowful, piano solos. It's arguably one of his most accessible and aurally striking sets to date - not bad for someone whose output has been consistently excellent for some time.

Review: Breton artist Yann Tiersen's new album is divided into two distinct parts, each with its own identity. Rathlin from a Distance features eight introspective piano pieces named after locations Tiersen visited during his 2023 sailing tour, such as the Fastnet Lighthouse and the Faroe Islands. The music evokes introspection and tranquillity throughout and creates a meditative atmosphere that makes a lasting and cathartic impact. In contrast, The Liquid Hour is an expansive blend of electronic and psychedelic rhythms born from Tiersen's reflections on political and social change during his time at sea. The section's haunting melodies and Emilie Quinquis' vocals make a great counter to part one.

Review: The second album from Stefano Ghittoni and Bruno Dorella following 2019's Estatico. The duo again explores a rich soundscape blending experimental techniques with elements from both popular and underground music. Beginning with ethereal electroacoustic tones, the album evolves with delicate rhythms, arpeggiations and broken beats that cook up a moody, introspective atmosphere. Textural depth comes from the well worked samples, tape manipulations, field recordings and other unconventional sounds that are all seamlessly interwoven with traditional instruments. Drawing from electronic experimentation, psychedelic minimalism and shoegaze, this is a complex, immersive beauty.

Review: After a two-decade interlude, Jim O'Rourke's Moikai returns with Spectral Evolution, a major new work by Rafael Toral. Making his name in the mid-1990s with influential guitar drone platters like Sound Mind Sound Body and Wave Field (both reissued by Drag City in recent years), Toral has never been one to rest on his laurels repeating past glories. In the early years of the 21st century, Toral began his "Space Program", a 13 year investigation of the performance possibilities of an ever-expanding set of custom electronic instruments, played with a fluid phrasing and rhythmic flexibility inspired by jazz. Dedicated to honing his skills on these idiosyncratic instruments, Toral founded his Space Quartet, where his mini-amplifier feedback integrates seamlessly into the frontline of a classic post-free jazz quartet rounded out with saxophone, double bass, and drums. Since 2017, Toral's work has been entering a new phase, often still centred around the arsenal of self-built instruments developed in the Space Program, but with a renewed interest in the long tones and almost static textures of his earlier work; he has also, after more than a decade, returned to the electric guitar. Spectral Evolution is undoubtedly Toral's most sophisticated work to date, bringing together seemingly incompatible threads from his entire career into a powerful new synthesis, both wildly experimental and emotionally affecting.

Review: Japanese duo Torso's latest on their Ozato label offers an immersive blend of cello, flute and tape that defies expectations of contemporary classical music. Featuring bowed strings, shimmering flute and rich reed instruments, the duo's compositions draw from indie-pop structures and 1980s cafe music to concoct stripped-back yet lush sounds that recall Arthur Russell and Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Torso subverts musical hierarchies with addictive, breathtaking results here and though this is refined, accomplished and innovative material, it is also free from pretension.

Review: Brighton-based Australian vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Penelope Trappes drops her fifth full length album and invites us on a bare bones, spiritual journey. Making herself incredibly vulnerable in the process, these are the kind of tracks that induce meditative and psychedelic trains of thought, haunting and beautiful, blissful and tense. Cello drones, gothic aesthetics, a king of futurist folk, at least some of the inspiration for which has come from time spent in isolated corners of Scotland. You can almost feel the wind blowing through the room as A Requiem lures and entices, breaks and mends hearts. Ambient, neo-classical, trance inducing works of wonder. This is the kind of record that can help make you see the world for what it is, and realise just how lucky we are to be here at the same time.

Review: London-based Australian vocalist, producer and multi-instrumentalist Penelope Trappe has always made immersive, enveloping and deeply atmospheric that sidesteps convention. It was that uniquely haunting and emotive approach to ambient and electronica that earned her deals with Optimo Music and Houndstooth, amongst others. Now signed to One Little Independent, Trappes has pushed the boat out further on Requiem, a mournful and bittersweet musical meditation in which her distinctively sweet-but-drowsy vocals rise above manipulated cello textures, hushed field recordings, ambient textures and intriguing electronic sounds aplenty. It's bold, beautiful and at times breathtakingly brilliant, once again marking Trappes out as an artist with a genuinely unique musical vision.

Review: Twinkle3 are a trio made up of accomplished flautist Clive Bell and electronic experimenters David Ross and Richard Scott. Their latest project welcomes the legendary David Sylvian into the mix alongside Kazuko Hohki, who was in 80s synth pop oddity Frank Chickens amongst other projects. Their collective venture for Cortizona treads predictably unpredictable territory, where minimalism, sound design and free improvisation merge into a meditative, distinctive whole. The woodwind and electronics intertwine in sublime fashion, resulting in a compelling trip for anyone who appreciates delicacy and risk in their leftfield electronica.

Review: Yellowstone is an American neo-Western drama centered on the Dutton family, whose massive cattle ranch borders Yellowstone National Park, the Broken Rock Indian reservation, and land developers. Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, and Kelly Reilly play the crossfire-caught Dutton family, and composer Brian Tyler, influenced by his experience in a Native American music group, evokes such turmoil and unchecked exploitation, through traditional Native American sounds and Western elements; percussion, woodwinds, and exotic instruments alongside cellos and basses are all incorporated, invoking the harrows of modern factionalism.

Review: Past Inside The Present label head and ambient powerhouse zake and Tyresta follow up their recent and well-received The Worlds We Leave Behind with Jade, a companion album that expands on previous themes in three long-form tracks. It's a deep blending of pregnant drones and delicate details that is typically organic and analogue. 'Jade No. 1' layers analogue textures that make for a comforting, melancholic embrace, while 'Jade No. 2' features more fractured melodies and natural sounds that bring a sense of peace and calm. The third cut, 'Waiting For the Light,' is a lofty one with soft synths and orchestral gravitas that with the other two pieces make for a contemplative and reflective listen.