Spiritchaser is the seventh studio album by Dead Can Dance, and the last before Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard went their separate ways. It expands on its exploration of world music, and like Into the Labyrinth, was recorded at Quivvy Church, Perry's personal studio in Ireland. The album was dedicated to Lisa Gerrard's deceased brother, Mark Gerrard. The track "Indus" contains a melody that is very similar to that of "Within You Without You", a Beatles song that George Harrison wrote and recorded with Indian musicians in 1967. Although not deliberate, Perry and Gerrard were asked to contact Harrison for his permission to use it; he granted it, but the record company insisted that they give him partial songwriting credit on "Indus".

2024 release. Charm is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Clairo. It is her first self-released studio album after her previous two albums were released by Fader and Republic respectively. It is the follow-up to her second album, Sling.

With this amazing album, Dead Can Dance fully took the plunge into the heady mix of musical traditions that would come to define its sound and style for the remainder of its career. The straightforward goth affectations are exchanged for a sonic palette and range of imagination. Calling it "haunting" and "atmospheric" barely scratches even the initial surface of the album's power. The common identification of the duo with a consciously medieval European sound starts here – quite understandable, when one considers the mystic titles of songs, references to Latin, choirs, and other touches that make the album sound like it was recorded in an immense cathedral.

Six CD set exploring Cranes' output on the Dedicated label, 1989-1997. Includes albums, b-sides, remixes, rarities and live recordings. Formed in 1986 by siblings Alison and Jim Shaw, Cranes remain one of the most distinctive bands of the late 1980s and 1990s, their ever-mutating sound defying categorization and existing outside of the zeitgeist. Their recorded output during their initial ten-year incarnation is collected together here for the first time, from the raw 1989 mini album 'Self-Non-Self' (originally released on Bite Back!) through to the sophisticated 1997 epic 'Population Four'. Curated and overseen by singer Alison Shaw on behalf of the band, and resplendent in artwork by 4AD legend Chris Bigg (with detailed liner notes and discographic information), 'Collected Works Vol 1' serves as timely reminder of Cranes' magnificence as they evolved from stark, noisy soundscapes to bolder, more elaborate instrumentation and arrangements. With hints of ethereal rock, dream pop, shoegaze, industrial and neo- classical, theirs was a sound truly like no other.

An album and a singles collection at the same time, Fab Four Suture stitches together four limited-edition EPs Stereolab released in the fall of 2005 and spring of 2006. Over the years, the group has made a reputation for having EPs and singles – and therefore, singles collections – that are just as good, if not better, than their albums, as comps like Switched On and Aluminum Tunes attest. Stereolab has also always been very democratic about making sure fans can get their hands on nearly all of their more obscure releases in some form or another; while Fab Four Suture is a little different than their other collections in that it was designed to form an album upon the completion of the EP series, in terms of its quality, it's on par with the band's most enjoyable comps. By combining the looser, more experimental feel of their EPs with the album format, Fab Four Suture ends up being more organic-feeling than Stereolab's previous album, the lovely but occasionally distant Margerine Eclipse.

Realizing that trip-hop was a dead end, at least as far as hipness goes, Morcheeba expanded their sonic palette on their second album, Big Calm. Trip-hop and dance rhythms remain, but the trio has spent more time writing songs, crafting an album where pop, lounge, film soundtracks, reggae, jazz, and electronica all peacefully coexist. Consequently, Big Calm is a stylistic tour de force, evidence that Morcheeba have turned into a mature, sophisticated group with impeccable taste. Occasionally, the album can sound a little distant, as if the fusions and productions were more important than the actual songs, but the trio is so musically adept, and Skye Edwards' voice is so enchanting, that Big Calm become irresistible in its own way.

Few bands have come to single-handedly rule a genre as well as Stereolab. The only question remaining is which genre. The band's machine-funky grooves, oddball synthetic washes, and disturbingly flat vocals suggest a futuristic disco where the survivors of nuclear war have settled for alienation anthems that recall the "space-age bachelor pad" music of the distant innocent past. But this is all conjecture. No one knows what the music of the future will sound like. (Heck, we once thought by the year 2000 we'd all be walking around in Lost in Space outfits.) Stereolab, however, are certainly what we think of.

The most amazing thing about Stereolab's Margerine Eclipse is how much of a surprise it is. It's not just that it's a fantastic record–Stereolab have made plenty of those. But since 1996's classic Emperor Tomato Ketchup, they've been deconstructing and breaking down their mix of exotic lounge pop and progressive Krautrock, throwing up cyclones of electronic mist. It's yielded some beautiful, but cold and distancing work. Eclipse shocks you with the contrast. Filled with the warmest possible intentions, it invites you to fall in love with its kind thumps and aural flotsam. Anchored by a test pattern baseline and a sly beat machine, the title track wanders around the edges, breaking into the main groove only to smoothly dissolve in a bittersweet end. Sounds like any other Stereolab song, right? But here–stripped down, dynamic, and alive–it's simply charming.

Commonly identified as shoegaze, Slowdive nonetheless exhibited a broader set of inspirations – one that spanned four decades, including folk-rock, dub, and ambient techno – than the majority of their '90s contemporaries. A combination of geographic origin, labelmates such as My Bloody Valentine and Ride, and a sustained predilection for dreamlike harmonies and psychedelicized layers of guitar, led to inevitable restrictive classification. The band's distinctive sound continually evolved from their late-'80s start through 1995, when they closed out their first phase with a misunderstood ambient album that shed nearly all rock convention. Two decades later, while most of the members remained involved with individual pursuits, the band was reactivated for touring and recorded again. Formed in Reading, England in late 1989, Slowdive originally consisted of Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell (guitar, vocals), Neil Halstead (guitar, vocals), Christian Savill (guitar), and Adrian Sell (drums). Goswell, Halstead, and Sell were previously the core of the Pumpkin Fairies, an indie-pop act that had recorded a demo. Savill was a member of Eternal, who released a single on Sarah. Within less than a year, Slowdive signed to Alan McGee's Creation label and released their debut, a self-titled EP of demos.

Stereolab took an unprecedented two years between 1997's Dots & Loops and 1999's Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night, as they tended to personal matters. During those two years, Stereolab's brand of sophisticated, experimental post-rock didn't evolve too much, even as colleagues like Tortoise, Jim O'Rourke, and the High Llamas tried other things. Since each Stereolab album offered a significant progression from the next, it would have been fair to assume that when they returned, it would be with a leap forward, especially since Tortoise's John McEntire and O'Rourke were co-producers. Perhaps that's the reason that the album feels slightly disappointing. The group has absorbed McEntire's jazz-fusion leanings – "Fuses" kicks off the album in compelling, free-jazz style – and the music continually bears O'Rourke's attention to detail, but it winds up sounding like O'Hagan's increasing tendency of making music that's simply sound for sound's sake.

Safe Trip Home is the third studio album by Dido. It was released in the United Kingdom on 17 November 2008. The album features collaborations and production with Jon Brion, her brother Rollo Armstrong, Brian Eno, Mick Fleetwood, Citizen Cope and Questlove. The album was the 44th best-selling album worldwide of 2008. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

Armed with an already extensive catalog of stunning music, Palace return their deeply personal, fourth studio album, Ultrasound. The record's production sees the band reunited with Adam Jaffrey, eight years after working together on their debut album, and arrives off the back of Part I - When Everything Was Lost and Part II - Nightmares & Ice Cream, the band's 2023 companion EPs.

The sixth album from Still Corners is “Dream Talk”. Beautifully arranged, elegant and wistful, Dream Talks is a set of ten carefully crafted classic songs. From the autumnal opener "Today is the Day" to the hot summer night finale of "Turquoise Moon", Still Corners have created a sound that is focused, stylish and seductive. Tessa Murray says, "The genesis for a lot of these songs came from dreams. Every night I would write down the dreams I could remember. While recording I would pull out my book of dreams and sing over various looped phrases Greg had been working on, the repetitive nature of the looping and singing almost felt like going into a trance. A lot of the songs came from that process, it was fun and what I thought were sort of ramblings ended up surprising us with their various meanings and imagery."

Working once again with her brother Rollo Armstrong, who produced the majority of the album, Dido collaborated with a "who's who" of hit makers including Brian Eno, Jeff Bhasker, Rick Nowels and Greg Kurstin to create an album of finely, self-penned songs and soul-baring pop with electro, folk, hip hop, ambient and dance infusions. The album GIRL WHO GOT AWAY is a captivating collection of well-crafted songs and stunning production: from the euphoric "Go Dreaming," to the barbed wit of End of Night, the folky "Sitting On The Roof Of The World" to the dance-y-yet-dark "Blackbir" to the album's title track which Dido shares: "It's one of my favorite songs on the record," she says. "…but I guess it also sums up the last few years for me. Taking a step back from it all and going off to have the whole happy adventure of starting a family and making an album that I really am so proud of. And now I just can't wait for people to hear it."

It's true that Pram has shared the same bubbly, French-pop sound of Stereolab and Broadcast. But that's where the similarities end. A few cuts into The Museum of Imaginary Animals, the seven-piece band – which includes the recent addition of ex-Broadcast drummer Steve Perkins, no less – makes a beautiful departure into a surreal journey of sound. Rosie Cuckston's reserved vocals help, but it's Pram's original combination of devices (flute, trumpet, and theremin, to name a few) that occasionally evoke an aquatic atmosphere, not unlike Meddle-era Pink Floyd. Like the imaginary creature on the album's back cover, this fifth full-length from Pram is certainly mythical.