Back catalogue: Leftfield

Review: Black Truffle presents a formerly unheard live album by rudra veena master Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, recorded in the North Indian city of Vrindavan at the Druhpad Samaroh festival in 1982. Dagar was a nineteenth-generation descendant of the musical Dagar family, famed for their meditative approach to the tradition of Hindustani court music. The rudra veena is a large and low-pitched string instrument amplified by two huge, hollowed-out gourds, and Dagar became the first modern dhrupad musician to perform with it as an instrumental soloist. True to form, in this recording of Dagar, in which he performs the night raga 'Yaman Kalyan', we hear all manner of frozen tanpura stasis; twisting, hovering drones; gracefully bent notes. Dagar weaves a complex web, bringing the recording to a fitting, measured conclusion, in contrast to the unrestrained virtuosity rounding off most performances by his contemporaries. This edition is adorned with beautiful archival photographs of Dagar taken by Swedish percussion legend Bengt Berger and accompanied by detailed notes from Bradford Bailey.

Review: This sophomore album from Istanbul-born, Berlin-based electronic composer and sound artist Huma Utku explores psychological phenomena through a series of sonic essays. Drawing on her background in Psychology, Utku combines her academic and artistic practices in this ambitious release and includes recordings from her Elektronmusikstudion residency in 2020. The album also features synth intrigue, electroacoustic, experimental techno, industrial and spoken word all brought to life with piano, strings and vocals. Utku creates a dramatic, unsettling soundworld here while exploring themes of grief, consciousness, dream analysis and psychological symbolism. It's a truly intimate exploration of the human condition.