XL レコード& CD

Review: By now, you should all know the story of Atoms for Peace, the new all-star leftfield rock outfit founded by Thom Yorke and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. Amok is the five-piece's full-length debut, following a couple of well-received singles on XL and 50 Weapons. While there are obvious similarities with the path Radiohead have taken over recent years - curious beats influenced by dubstep and IDM, haunting soundscapes and intoxicating compositions - there's far greater warmth and vibrancy to the songs than some of Yorke's other projects. Ultimately, it sounds like what it is: a bunch of experimental-minded mates getting together to make music. It comes highly recommended.

Review: In early 2024, contemporary jazz cats BADBADNOTGOOD reported that they returned to the studio energised by recent international shows and collaborations with artists like Daniel Caesar, Charlotte Day Wilson and Baby Rose. The Canadian trio of Al Sow, Chester Hansen and Leland Whitty then joined with friends including Felix Fox-Pappas, Kaelin Murphy and Tyler Lott for an intensive recording week at Los Angeles' Valentine Studios. The result was the Mid Spiral series which explores distinct themes of Chaos, Order and Growth. Released initially in three digital parts, this genre-blending project now arrives on CD via XL and is another superb listen that explores how their roots in instrumental jazz fuse with hip-hop, neo-soul and funk.

Review: There was naturally much excitement when A Moon Shaped Pool, Radiohead's surprise ninth studio set, popped up on streaming and download services back in May. Here it gets a CD release, offering those who prefer physical products a chance to bathe in its' woozy eccentricities. Seen by some as a return to their arty rock roots following an extended period spend exploring electronics, the album's 11 tracks draw on a variety of influences (krautrock, ambient, Pavement, James Blake, Stockhausen, intense melancholia etc.), with predictably impressive results. Occasionally elegant, string-laden and grandiose, always beautiful, and sometimes intensely moving, A Moon Shaped Pool is undeniably up there with the band's best work.

Review: Given his innate ability to craft intensely atmospheric and often fundamentally unsettling music, it seems apt that Thom Yorke has finally got around to producing a film soundtrack. It's fitting, too, that said soundtrack is for Luca Guadagnino's weirdo remake of 1977 Italian horror flick "Suspiria". Yorke nails the brief, delivering a string of chilling, otherworldly instrumentals that not only draw on his well-established love of dark ambient and gruesome electronica, but also foreboding neo-classical movements and sparse, wide-eyed arrangements. There are a smattering of superb vocal moments, too, with recent single "Suspirio" - described by one broadsheet reviewer as "the saddest waltz you'll ever here" - standing out.