Achingly gorgeous and hauntingly stark, Mark Hollis' self-titled debut picks up where he left off with Talk Talk's Laughing Stock seven years earlier, re-emerging at the nexus point where jazz, ambient, and folk music collide. It's quite possibly the most quiet and intimate record ever made, each song cut to the bone for maximum emotional impact and every note carrying enormous meaning. Hollis paints his music in fine, exquisite strokes, with an uncanny mastery of atmosphere that's frequently devastating. And if anything, his singularly resonant voice has grown even more plaintive with the passage of time, which – combined with the understated artistry and minimalist beauty of tracks like "The Colour of Spring" and "Watershed" – makes Mark Hollis a truly unique and indelible listening experience. His obvious understanding of the power of silence aside, one prays he doesn't again wait for the seven-year itch to strike before returning.

Waves of Distortion’ brings in some of the OG (original ’gazer) classics – Ride’s peerless ‘Vapour Trail’, Lush’s ‘Sweetness and Light’ from 1990 and Chapterhouse’s ‘Pearl’ from 1991. They are all incredible and timeless tunes. Then there are some others that were never really a part of that other great music press construct, The Scene That Celebrates Itself, in the case of The Telescopes and their fantastic 1991 single ‘Flying’, and Spirea X’s ‘Chlorine Dream’ from the same year – both are indicative of the post-rave psychedelia that coloured everything at the time and fit perfectly within the Shoegaze scene at the time.

Perhaps Tom Waits' most cohesive album, Bone Machine is a morbid, sinister nightmare, one that applied the quirks of his experimental '80s classics to stunningly evocative – and often harrowing – effect. In keeping with the title's grotesque image of the human body, Bone Machine is obsessed with decay and mortality, the ease with which earthly existence can be destroyed. The arrangements are accordingly stripped of all excess flesh; the very few, often non-traditional instruments float in distinct separation over the clanking junkyard percussion that dominates the record.

Under Wraps is the 15th studio album by the band Jethro Tull, released in 1984. The songs' subject matter is heavily influenced by bandleader Ian Anderson's love of espionage fiction. It was controversial among fans of the band due to its electronic/synthesizer-based sound, particularly the use of electronic drums. Dave Pegg has been quoted as saying that the tracks cut from the sessions for Broadsword and the Beast would have made a better album, while Martin Barre has referred to it as one of his personal favourite Tull albums. The album reached No. 76 on the Billboard 200 and No. 18 on the UK charts. The single "Lap of Luxury" reached No. 30.

Collection includes all studio albums and two compilations by English musical group Talk Talk. The group had a string of international hit singles including "Today", "Talk Talk", "It's My Life", "Such a Shame", "Dum Dum Girl", "Life's What You Make It" and "Living in Another World". In their later years the band's commercial appeal receded, but their critical reputation increased as they moved from synthpop to a more experimental form. Their final two albums, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock, were highly acclaimed and remain influential to experimental alternative rock genres, especially post-rock.

Since their formation in Croydon, South London in 1994 Archive have operated as masters of their own destiny, eschewing prevailing trends for a more unique musical blend of their own. Founding members Darius Keeler and Danny Griffiths joined forces with South London rapper Rosko John, and Iranian-born singer Roya Arab for 1996’s trip-hop tinged and critically acclaimed debut album ‘Londinium’. Various line-up changes over the years saw Keeler and Griffiths deciding to retire the idea of the "lead singer” in favour of a more flexible collective approach.

Broadcast were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1995 by Trish Keenan (vocals, keyboards, guitar) and James Cargill (bass). Their musical style blended elements of 1960s American psychedelia with experimental electronica, incorporating samples from various sources, and earned the band a cult following. Collection includes: Work And Non Work (1997); The Noise Made By People (2000); Haha Sound (2003); Tender Buttons (2005); The Future Crayon (2006); Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age (2009).

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, A Silver Mt. Zion (just one of its many names) came to life in 1999 as a project for Godspeed You! Black Emperor member Efrim Menuck in his attempt to learn to score music. The original idea was pushed aside, and the project would go on to become a group setting, and was more in touch with the idea of the organic growth and exploration of music than the heavily composed and arranged theoretical work of Godspeed. Inspired to record an album of the music that had been made, Menuck built up the first version of A Silver Mt. Zion, taking on violinist Sophie Trudeau and bassist Thierry Amar, both known as collaborators in the Godspeed family. The band made its live debut in 1999 and released its first album, He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms…, on Constellation in 2000. Still known as A Silver Mt. Zion, the band expanded its membership in 2000 – adding cellist Beckie Foon, guitarist Ian Ilavsky, and violinist Jessica Moss – which led to the first of many name changes.

After 10 years, atmospheric triprock band The Gathering has released a new album. ‘Beautiful Distortion’ is a typical eclectic The Gathering album, although it may be their ‘most dynamic and melodic’ album to date. The Gathering’s signature electronic rock sound is topped with warm Nordic vocals and beautiful vocal lines by Silje Wergeland. Producer Attie Bauw, who also produced The Gathering’s Home and How to Measure a Planet?, collaborated with them on their 11th full length studio album.

Young Team, Mogwai's first full-length album fulfills the promise of their early singles and EPs, offering a complex, intertwining set of crawling instrumentals, shimmering soundscapes, and shards of noise. Picking up where Ten Rapid left off, Mogwai use the sheer length of an album to their advantage, recording a series of songs that meld together – it's easy to forget where one song begins and the other ends. The record itself takes its time to begin, as the sound of chiming processed guitars and murmured sampled vocals floats to the surface. Throughout the album, the sound of the band keeps shifting, and it's not just through explosions of noise – Mogwai isn't merely jamming, they have a planned vision, subtly texturing their music with small, telling details. When the epic "Mogwai Fears Satan" draws the album to a close, it becomes clear that the band has expanded the horizons of post-rock, creating a record of sonic invention and emotional force that sounds unlike anything their guitar-based contemporaries have created.

A minimalist masterpiece a million miles from Nashville country, Kurt Wagner's latest Lambchop album pursues the electronica soundbed and vocoder vocals first employed on FLOTUS. The chilly sheen of its glitchy synth surfaces soon gives way to an envelopng warmth, enhanced by Wagner's crackly vocal, always teetering on the edge of distortion, its electronic soundscapes enhanced by spectral piano melodies, endlessly inventive bass and intiutive drumming from his trio of sidemen. With its melancholic mood and lyrics rooted in reflection and regret, this could be the birth of an entirely new genre - electro-jazz noir.

THE GATHERING Sand & Mercury - The Complete Century Media Years (2008 issue UK 10-CD album boxset - Including no less than 10 CDs, 'Sand & Mercury' is the perfect overview on the band's years on Century Media Records; besides all the classic albums such as 'Mandylion' or 'Nighttime Birds', this box also includes for the first[and last] time the audio tracks on CD of the legendary show at Dynamo Open Air, which was so far only released on the 'In Motion' DVD.

One of Stereolab's many spin-offs and side projects, Monade (pronounced mon-ard) originally featured Laetitia Sadier and Pram's Rosie Cuckston. The duo began collaborating in the mid-'90s, and Sadier recorded the first Monade tracks in 1996 at Pram's studio, with Cuckston playing and also helping to engineer the session. Some of these tracks were released by Duophonic as the Sunrise Telling and Witch Hazel/Ode to a Keyring singles. Sadier continued to record at Stereolab's own studio without Cuckston, and one of these tracks, "Cache Cache," ended up as a B-side on Stereolab's Calimero single. In between her Stereolab duties, Sadier completed enough material for Monade's debut album, Socialisme Ou Barbarie: The Bedroom Recordings, which was released by Duophonic in Europe and by Drag City in the U.S. in spring 2003.

Like the film itself, the soundtrack to Miami Vice is no 1980s retro-ride. Sure, it opens with "In the Air Tonight," but it's a cover by nü metal band Nonpoint taken from their 2004 album Recoil. Director Michael Mann's slick revisionist aesthetics are confirmed on two types of tracks. First, there are the dancefloor-friendly ones like "One of These Mornings" (a collaboration between Moby and Patti Labelle) and a house remix of Nina Simone’s "Sinnerman" by Felix da Housecat. Then there are the more atmospheric offerings, such as a couple instrumentals by Scottish band Mogwai and the last four tracks, that suggest the kind of steel-blue ambiance Mann is so good at creating (especially John Murphy's "Mercado Nueva" and Klaus Badelt & Mark Batson's "A-500"). Odder is the lack of local flavor: there's only a pair of Latin-flavored tracks, Arranca and Emilio Estefan, for instance. Not to mention that if ever there was a soundtrack that should have included at least one Miami bass song, it's this one. As for those who still associate Miami Vice with pastel colors and the 1980s, they're better off checking out the soundtrack to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City–a video game that's actually more faithful to the spirit of the TV series than the movie that bears its name. –Elisabeth Vincentelli

Inevitably, there's some symbolism implied when an artist, after years of lurking behind a semi-obscure pseudonym– head down, eyes averted, shoulders squeezed and high– puts out a record under his common name. Former Third Eye Foundation principal Matt Elliott has spent most of his recording career as a modish UK hipster in a dark disguise: thus, the leap from "Third Eye Foundation" to "Matt Elliott" should involve a nice dose of lurid confessionalism, some newfound honesty, a running-around-naked-in-daylight reinvention of self. Right? Hey, turn this car around! Someone left the personal catharsis at home! The Mess We Made, Matt Elliott's proper debut as Matt Elliott is, at least atmospherically, just as shadowed and sinister as his late, orchestral Third Eye work.