Back catalogue: Leftfield

Review: Repping Sugar Records and Tanum Sounds, Winsome comes through with three really interesting perspectives. 'Tab' is a unique and highly springy piece of work as it works and wriggles its away around some well sculpted table drum hits and sub plunges. '24gb' takes us down a much dreamier pathway, sitting somewhere between Indian Ropeman and Chicken Lips. Finally 'Who' closes this stunning EP with a faraway drone. Intense.

Review: Aus-based label Southern Lights welcomes Michal Wolski for an avant-garde techno outing here that takes you into futuristic sound worlds. 'Stargaze' opens with suspensory synth loops that take you into celestial worlds and 'Moonless Night' then lays down light, airy patterns and motifs with a ritualistic edge. 'Return To The (Dis)Comfort Zone' detailed minimal techno for deep excursions and 'Rainfall' has a fantastically warped bassline. 'Omen' is another atmospheric and cinematic closer that sounds like a trip through an underwater cavern.

Review: The legendary German producer behind such mythical techno names like Acid Jesus and Alter Ego delivers an eclectic exploration of electro and acid with 'Pan Sonic Youth'. This release shows his ability to create genre-bending soundscapes and analogue textures, each of the four mixes offering a unique perspective on the original. Side-1 starts with the acid version which is a deep, addictive dive into heavily drenched acid sounds. Harnessing the spirit of 80s electro, its bold, immersive energy demands attention. The original version follows, delivering strong electro rhythms and a sharp, immediate impact. Both versions are sure to wow any listener. Side-2 opens with the drone version, where heavily processed analogue tones create a dense, experimental atmosphere. Jorn's 'Thee Church Ov Acid House Balearic Mix' reimagines the track as a chill-out anthem, blending beachy vibes and lounge influences while retaining the original's spirit. Closing the release, the 'Sampledica Dub' deconstructs the original into abstract fragments, offering a more avant-garde, interpretive take. Wuttke's ability to create so many different versions of one track is truly amazing in itself, and add the extra demension that a true veteran brings and you have one unmissable piece of vinyl.

Review: Wild Up continue their exploration of Julius Eastman's work with Julius Eastman Vol. 4: The Holy Presence, out June 21, 2024, via New Amsterdam Records. Opening with Our Father, a haunting duet performed by Davone Tines, the album delves deep into his spiritual side, blending choral elements with his signature avant-garde style. This release highlights Eastman's unique, mystically charged compositions, including The Holy Presence of Joan D'Arc, with cellist Seth Parker Woods' multi-tracked performance showcasing Wild Up's profound dedication to Eastman's powerful legacy.

Review: This new one from our favourite US ambient outlet takes the form of a selection of long-form compositions from artists who are close to the label. As such it's a perfect reflection of its signature sound - deeply immersive soundscapes, slowly shifting synths and meditative moods made with a mix of hardware tools, guitars, pedals and even baritone vocals. It's named after a Norwegian term for warmth and intimacy, which certainly plays out from the evolving loops of 'A Whisper' to the textured melancholy of 'Canaan' and the reverberant drift of 'Coronation Ring'.

Review: Long-time European techno innovator Joachim Spieth has hooked up with Agustin Mena aka Warmth for a debut collaborative album that blends their shared love for expansive soundscapes and atmospheric compositions. Warmth is the Spanish ambient producer who is also behind the SVLBRD alias so these two know a thing or two about how to get the most out of their machines and so they prove here across an album of seven immersive tracks. They are rife with organic textures and evoke a sense of space and timeless longing, all with a gently persuasive sense of movement.

Review: Los Angeles-based composer Tashi Wada steps out with his long awaited debut album, What Is Not Strange?, and a fine first solo outing it is too. It is by far his most ambitious and widescreen work to date and it comes laden with plenty of emotion as a result of the fact that it was written and recorded over a period that encompassed the death of his father and the rather opposite feelings of experiencing the birth of his daughter. As such Wada reflects inward to explore various themes including being alive, mortality and finding one's place in the world. His unique song based expressionism goes from ecstatic to denser forms and starker contrasts. It is a wonderful experiment and immersive listen.

Review: Sydney-based friends MP Hopkins and Mary MacDougall bring a haunting edge to folk music here. 'Weeds' is like lo-fi horror film music with tape-recorded radio static giving a foreboding atmosphere. 'Clay Graffiti' sounds like a post-apocalyptic ghost story with the spoken word conjuring images of landscapes tormented by wind and life dissolved. The group clearly have a knack for sequencing and the finer details of what makes a great album. After the intense end-of-the-world feel of the track that closes side A, Side B opens with 'Yellow Rose', which feels like spring; lyrically, in the bright piano, guitar and through the vocal timbre. It gives a sense of renewal that wouldn't have the same impact if it wasn't for the harsh winter feel of the track before it. But don't mistake this for anything twee - experimental folk is taking over the underground cultural zeitgeist and Warm Currency are an important part of that. This is the band's third release on the Horn of Plenty label and it's a solid follow-up to Returns (2022) and Live at the Petersham Bowling Club (2023).

Review: This deluxe vinyl reissue presents the original Bride of Frankenstein soundtrack featuring remastered audio, new artwork, and estate-approved likenesses of Elsa Lanchester. Directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff and Lanchester, the 1935 horror classic is widely regarded as one of cinema's greatest sequels and was rightly celebrated as Whale's masterpiece. The movie was added to the U.S. National Film Registry in 1998 for its cultural significance and this historic release has been sourced from master acetates at Syracuse University and Universal's archives and marks the first time the film's original score is available on vinyl.

Review: We Are Winter's Blue And Radiant Children features Mat Ball (Big Brave), Efrim Manuel Menuck (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion), and Jonathan Downs and Patch One (both Ada). Their new album, No More Apocalypse delivers six haunting lullabies infused with heavy distortion and electronic rhythms. Ball and Menuck initiated the project during the harsh Montreal winters, seeking warmth and solace in their music. Later, they brought in Downs and Patch to enrich their vision. The album explores the theme of observing despair from a place of safety. Menuck's lyrics, freed from traditional meter, offer vivid, photorealistic imagery. On the opener 'Rats and Roses,' he describes a city struck by an unnamed disaster, drawing on local details like neighbors poisoning birds while dealing with rats. The track builds to a powerful crescendo with blown-out synths and guitars. 'Dangling Blanket From A Balcony (White Phosphorous)' recalls Michael Jackson's infamous balcony incident and comments on white phosphorous, a wartime technology causing severe burns. The final track, '(Goodnight) White Phosphorous,' is a lullaby reflecting on the horror of white phosphorous falling outside one's window. No More Apocalypse Father is a profound blend of illumination and despair. The album captures the conflicting emotions of witnessing horror from a place of comfort, evoking a sense of ambivalence that is far from passive. It's a powerful, immersive experience that resonates deeply.

Review: This project began in 2018 when Jonny Campos was on a break from playing guitar with Grammy-winning Lost Bayou Ramblers and recorded ambient pedal steel passages at Kirkland Middleton's house. The resulting tracks are named after vanished Southern Louisiana waterways and evoke a sense of impermanence. The music flows like a dream, slipping into consciousness as a serene, meditative experience or a deeply resonant one. The album first came digitally and on cassette via Nouveau Electric Records in 2020 but now lands on vinyl thanks to DFA.

Review: London's Loraine James has built her signature sound through a mix of refined composition, gritty experimentation and intricate electronic programming. Under her Ghostly International alias Whatever The Weather, she explores emotional temperature and environment. Her second full-length offers a warmer tone compared to its predecessor by moving from an arctic cover photo to a desert scene. Mastered by Josh Eustis, the album blends hypnotic atmospheres and rhythmic textures with diaristic field recordings. The lead single, '12-C,' weaves melody and texture into a soul-stirring groove and is exemplary of James' imaginative and genre-defying approach.

Review: "One might thus regard the Welsh rarebit as a Machine in which a process is applied to the conditioning and perception of the world of bread and cheese." Suffice to say, John White might not have had the same ideas about what constitutes Machine Music back in 1976 as you do today. This is also the first time we've ever managed to get a reference to Welsh rarebit into the first line of writing about a record, so everyone is learning something today. "The Machines" White refers to are the individual tracks themselves, all recorded between 1967 and 1972 and all comprising different combinations of a thing. Six pairs of "bass melody instruments" made 'Autumn Countdown Machine', different permutations of "the articulations 'ging, gang, gong, gung, ho!'" comprise 'Jews Harp Machine'. And 'Son of Gothic Chord' is crafted from the sequential chord progression of four keyboard players, spanning an octave. Conceptual experimental and wildly imaginative stuff on the borderline of electronica, abstract, mathematical and something otherworldly.

Review: Windy & Carl's album Consciousness encapsulates the duo's exploration of ambient and drone music with a warmer, more pastoral feel compared to their previous works. Absent are the vague dread and claustrophobia, replaced by buoyant soundscapes that evoke sense of tranquility. The song titles themselves, such as 'The Sun' and 'Elevation,' reinforce this lighter tone. 'The Sun' opens the album with simple yet direct electric guitar chords, setting the stage for the serene journey ahead. Even tracks like 'Balance (Trembling)' touch on darker shadings but quickly transition to glowing, comforting tones. Tracks like 'Elevation' and 'The Llama's Dream' contribute to the dream-like atmosphere of the album, with shimmering tones and ethereal vocals adding to its hallucinatory quality. 'Resolution' concludes the album with a final, contemplative note. Consciousness shows Windy & Carl's dedication to perfecting the drone. While there may not be a major departure in style, the album is commitment to crafting immersive sonic experiences. For fans of ambient and drone music, Consciousness is another great album to have and enjoy.

Review: Wladimir Manshanden and Wladimir M is something of a Dutch techno legend for those who know. He is an Eevo Lute originator and now makes his latest mark on the venerated Delsin label with 2024. It's an evocative and widescreen work of techno poetry with deft rhythms and rich sound designs making for an otherworldly feel. Spoken words detail each piece next to lush ambient pads and widescreen synthscapes as supple and deep rhythms unfurl and evolved down low. It's an intriguing, personal work that draws you in close and keeps you there throughout