Commune V/A

Ange David-Guillou, fresh off the back of October's En Mouvement and its accompanying Mouvements Organiques, released in February, develops her compositional skills with The Valley Of Detachment a potent and formidable study in writing for the saxophone family. Dead Light's Spiral Down Dears continues with the rich warmth of their debut album. Their distinctive, nostalgic sound, created using analogue tape recorders, closely microphoned instrumentation and a handmade approach to effects and synthesis is as affecting here as ever, building slowly to an emotional climax. Lastly, Snow Palms, aka David Sheppard, transforms labelmate Matt Dunkley's Cycle 12" from orchestral grandeur into a multi-layered, highly evocative exercise in synths and mallets, using chopped-up vocal samples and lush electronics along the way.