Brian Eno leaves the Airports, and moves On Land – but still keeps things pretty much in the spare sound of the Ambient series! The lineup here features a few more extra musicians – including Michael Beinhorn on synth, Jon Hassell on trumpet, Axel Gros and Michael Brook on guitars, and Bill Laswell on bass – but all players are used sparingly, and the overall sound hardly acknowledges their presence. Daniel Lanois helped in the recording of some of the material – an early moment in his famous partnership with Eno – and the tracks were recorded over the space of 4 years – with occasional glimmers of the British countryside through the hazy atmospherics of Eno's landscape. Titles include "Lizard Point", "Tal Coat", "Shadow", "A Clearing", "Unfamiliar Wind", "Lantern Marsh", and "The Lost Day". (Rock, Out Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best albums ever from the enigmatic pianist Wim Mertens – a key solo set after leaving Soft Verdict! This album features the Belgian pianist/composer in a dreamy set of solo works – playing piano and singing along in an eerie wordless style that sounds a bit goofy, but which we still find pretty captivating. Hey, what do we know? We used to see this guy open for punk shows – not at symphony hall! Titles include "Casting No Shadow", "Naviamente", "Hirose", and "You See". LP, Vinyl record album

(Classical, Out Sound) CD

A really amazing project from Mats Gustafsson – and one that's a great reminder of his ability to create music in so many different and incredible ways! This time around, Mats acts as the conductor – at the head of NyMusik Trondheim and Avant Art Ensemble – both larger groups who mix together acoustic instrumentation with electronics, but all in these very spare, often subtle ways that hardly make you aware of their size at all. There are moments of full-on sonic activity, but much of the proceedings focus on smaller sounds and more focused expressions – served up with solo work from Anders Nyqvist on trumpets, Colin Stetson on amplified bass sax, Hedvig Mollestad on tuba, Jerome Noetinger on revox tape machines, and Dieb 13 on turntables – next to other work on cello, violin, prepared piano, accordion, and guitar. Titles include "Mirrors 1", "Echoes 1", "Shadows 2", "Outro", "Intro", and "Reflection". (Jazz, Out Sound) CD

Tracks include "Red Shadows", "Get Moose & Squirrel", "Tribute To John French", "Information Mechanics", and "Meet The Flinstones" – 17 tracks in all. (Jazz, Out Sound) CD