GOLDFRAPP / Seventh Tree (2008)

The in-your-face Glam/Electro-pop of the previous two albums was dropped on this release, in favour of a calm and dreamy synthesizer Folk sound that drifts along nicely. Happily, the dramatic change of pace didn't mean a similarly dramatic drop in quality. The music is a good fit to Alison's vocal tones, including her indecipherable pastoral mumblings, and even when it seems forced she's confident enough to convince us that it doesn't. Some things haven't changed, though, there's still theft (aka homage) on many tracks from artists of a bygone era, most notably from The Beatles at their most psychedelic.

Songs of Note: Little Bird; A & E

4 roads to somewhere lush out of 5

SONIC AREA / Music for Ghosts (2012)

Music for Ghosts is weird. It's similar to what Sigh produce conceptually (the soundtrack to a film that doesn't exist) but a million miles removed from them musically. Instead, it's a successful merger of looped and distorted rhythms, creepy carousel harpsichord, theatrical horror movie piano, prog synth organ, and occasional haunting sound effects and samples. It's an avant-garde waltz through the history of music inspired by film, and through film inspired by music. It's less dreamy than the aesthetic suggests, but no less bizarre. For fans of the weird.

Songs of Note: The Living Carousel; Never Ever More

4 invitations to the danse macabre out of 5

DEAD VOICES ON AIR / Mawson’s Will and Other Stories (2012)

Experimental/Dark Ambient project from Mark Spybey. Each track is named after a place, event or person that has influenced him in some manner. How that translates into audio in Spybey's brain is anyone's guess, but what we get at the end of the day are sounds layered atop other sounds until they produce a new kind of manufactured sound. You'll appreciate the construction more if you've ever spent time in an editing suite, because mood, atmosphere, timing and editing aren't as easy as most people think.

Songs of Note: Mawson's Will; The Tenant and His Cure (Pt2)

3½ tinged crackles out of 5