Picked!

Recorded at Hamburg's Laiszhalle Philharmony 'True Life / In Flames' follows up on Christian Naujoks' debut album from 2009, and this time around Dial's cherished composer relinquish all electronic instrumentation for an authentic and intimate chamber music sound. Recommended.

Ólafur Arnalds arrives on the big screen with his soundtrack to the Demi Moore starring film 'Another Happy Day'. But fear not: Your cherished Icelandic composer has not succumbed to Hollywood opulence. This is a fragile and intimate album of elegiac chamber music. Simply beautiful.

Experimental guitarist Oren Ambarchi matches the intimacy hinted at in the album's title with two songs, the fragile 'Salt' and the more Emeralds-like 'Fractured Mirror', which frame the two remaining, more drone-like tracks of 'Audience of One'. Lovely.

Commissioned by Unsound festival in Krakow in 2010, this collaboration between Ben Frost's electronic and Daníel Bjarnason's orchestral works manages to depict the poignant atmospheres of desolation, grief and emotional complexity of Tarkovsky's classic. Incredibly beautiful music.

After his elegant contemporary dance scores last year, Peter Broderick takes to soundtracking the documentary film 'Confluence' about the disappearance of several young girls in Idaho around 1980. The depth of despair and fear is felt without even knowing the narrative, a moving album.

Ghostly International presents a beautiful album by Polish musician Michal Jacaszek, whose 'Glimmer' draws from classical music, folk and ambient. 'Glimmer' is a melancholic and magical album to get lost in and a must for fans of Dakota Suite or Peter Broderick. Recommended.

'Dropped Pianos' is somewhat of a companion piece to Tim Hecker's masterful 'Ravedeath, 1972' from earlier this year - nine piano sketches recorded in the album's preparation. Exploring more sombre moods and transparent instrumentation, 'Dropped Pianos' is a fantastic work in its own right however. Highly recommended.

'Felt' is the second album of Berlin-based Nils Frahm, who imbues his neo-classical piano composition with an aura of melancholic pop weightlessnes. The album has a subtle electronic edge, harmonies reminiscent of Apparat or The Knife, while the sounds of the actual workings of the piano make the recordings eerily transparent. Great album.

Picked!

Picked!

Live recording of a 6-channel concert in which Thomas Lehn, analogue synth improviser and computer music whiz Marcus Schmickler meet once again. Together these modern legends of analogue and digital electronic create an absolutely riveting, spine-tingling 46 minutes of masterful experimental sonics.