Since remixing Radiohead's "Climbing The Walls" into a horizontal classic, `chill out' champions Zero 7-Sam Hardaker and Henry Binns-have gone from strength to strength. This third album from the duo is highly anticipated to say the least. Will the duo stick with the floozy, fuzzy, lounge-heavy sound that has made them famous? Or will they make an Air-style u-turn into rock/harder electronica territory. The Garden does it all. Enlisting vocalists Sia and José Gonzalez (Henry has a go too), the document displays many links back to previous work-warm synths, French pop flair, subtle world music influences-but also showcases a keener sense of experimentalism and a more driven, assertive sound. The contrast between the sultry, folky Gonzalez (who supplies four tracks, including a reworking of his own great track "Crosses") and the more soulful, upbeat Sia (who supplies three) introduces an interesting dynamic and help Zero 7 achieve what is ultimately a more mature and interesting direction. -Paul Sullivan.

A greatest-hits package sampling four Enigma discs released between 1990 and 2000, LSD-Love Sensuality Devotion splendidly documents the influential output of Michael Cretu, a techno-bohemian who successfully creates cinematic, otherworldly New Age musical suites. Now, more than a decade removed from the arrival of Sadeness (Part 1) and its eyebrow-raising mix of sacred and sensual subplots, people can debate whether Cretu's music represents savvy commercial calculation or satisfying art. LSD suggests a split decision, though tracks with intriguing blends of atmosphere and rhythm, such as "Gravity of Love", "TNT for the Brain" and "Morphing Thru Time", reveal an inventiveness that demonstrates Cretu is capable of more than sophisticated novelty tunes. Two new songs, neither especially noteworthy, open this package. Meanwhile, remastered older tracks segue beautifully to exude a satisfying, seamless unity. -Terry Wood.

After the sprawling ambient opus that was their debut LP, Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld, The Orb voyaged into new interstellar realms for the follow-up. The languid rippling soundscapes and far-out samples persisted, but Dr Alex Patterson and Thrash introduced uptempo beats to the brew, lending the album a chunkier, less meandering feel which was reflected in its commercial success. "Blue Room" was the longest single in history at a touch under 40 minutes long, while the centrepiece was the staggering "Towers Of Dub", which married abstract electronica with some of the mightiest bass this side of Kingston. An LP which sees The Orb at the peak of their tripped-out talents, before their later slide into a self-indulgent, sonic miasma. -Ed Potton An ambient-techno classic, UFOrb captures Alex Patterson and his sonic henchman at their early peak. While the Orb had already created a dance-floor and chill-out-room sensation in 1991 with Little Fluffy Clouds, this follow-up disc displays Patterson's talent for fusing ambient music with dub science and a club culture mindset. Incorporating psychedelicized samples over the era's reigning techno beats and deep reggae bass lines, heady compositions such as "Towers of Dub" and "Close Encounters" are excessive in length but consistently entertaining. The album's highlight is an 18-minute version of "Blue Room" (there's a 40-minute version out there, too), which features the sensual bass playing of Jah Wobble and the oscillating guitar of coproducer Steve Hillage. A most serious contribution to the legacy of the modern DJ. -Mitch Myers.

"Dead Skin Cells", "Cerebral", "Spineless Jelly": the song titles on the second full-length from U. K. duo Future Sound of London (a. k. a. Gary Cobain and Brian Dougans) almost read like chapter subheadings from a Biology textbook. And not without reason. Evolving beyond the florid environmental techno of their previous Accelerator and the hit single "Papua New Guinea", Lifeforms concentrates on Future Sound of London's painstaking construction of tiny, crystalline arrangements of organic sound. Guest stars include Curve's Toni Halliday, percussionist Talvin Singh and guitar pioneer Robert Fripp, but you'll be as hard pressed to identify their individual contributions once they've been diced and folded into the mix. Too animated to be tagged "ambient", yet not as propulsive as earlier Future Sound of London offerings, the intricate charms of Lifeforms proliferate with repeated listenings. [+]

Admittedly, 18 isn't a million style miles away from its predecessor, but this can only be a good thing. If it ain't broke (and let's face it, Play was a pretty hole-free record all told), then don't fix it. Hence the dominance here of Moby's heartbreaking way with strings, pianos and those sampled gospel vocals he's so cleverly made his own. "In My Heart" is familiar territory: a mournful blues voice sat astride the epic swell of military drums and tear jerking symphonia, while further tales of love gone bad surface on the bass-driven "One of These Mornings" and the subtle house simmer of "Another Woman". Is there anyone else out there that can do grief you can dance to? Thankfully "We Are All Made of Stars" does shed a little optimism, and there are some cool collaborations here too. Sinead O'Connor lends fragile breath to "Harbour" while MC Lyte and Angie Stone bring sassiness to the funky hip-hop anthem, "Jam for the Ladies". Welcome back, little man. -Claude Walls.

People get excited about the prospect of a new Boards Of Canada album, and The Campfire Headphase again confirms exactly why. Coming just two years after Geogaddi-a blink of an eye, in Boards terms-this, the Scots duo's third full length LP unfurls 15 tracks of languid, warm, but strangely absorbing soundscapes of eddying beats and trilling synth. Lighter in tone than Geogaddi, the likes of "Satellite Anthem Icarus" replace Boards' eerie undercurrents with a brighter, more optimistic moods. New too is the presence of guitar, albeit often of the heavily-treated variety: "Constants Are Changing" hides ringing acoustic chords in a whirlpool of woozy keyboard wash, while "Hey Saturday Sun" loops a strange, cyclical melody that's nicely complemented by some thrumming synthetic bass lines. Mind you, the album stand-outs hail from a firmly electronic base-see "Oscar See Through Red Eye", which emerges from an ambient cocoon and gradually evolves into a distant cousin of acid house, dry handclaps and psychedelic digital blips dotted in the warm sonic mulch. Perhaps there's not enough fresh here to confirm Boards Of Canada as cutting-edge sonic trailblazers, but as ever, their familiarity remains a strong part of their appeal, and The Campfire Headphase confirms that their quality threshold remains way up there. -Louis Pattison.

Haunting, evocative, mysterious, and magnificent, Enigma's Cross of Changes offers nine musical explorations of sound and sensation that dazzle and amaze. The songs unfold in rolling waves, each more complex and richly layered than the last, yet each fully capable of standing alone as a musically satisfying experience. The standout track on this disc is "Return to Innocence", which combines Native American chanting, Celtic harmonies, and a deceptively simple lyric to devastating effect. At once esoteric and elemental, Cross of Changes is a fine example of the best the genre has to offer. -L. A. Smith.

Talkie Walkie comes five years after their landmark Moon Safari and Parisian mood-enhancers Air are back doing what they do best. Famously shy of ever repeating themselves, JB Dunckel and Nicolas Godin have filled in the years with the poorly received follow-up, 10,000hz Legend (even they think it strange), and an eerily effective soundtrack to Sofia Coppola's Virgin Suicides. Nice enough in their own niche way, but a far cry from what people actually wanted. Happily, Talkie Walkie reunites us with the Air that we love: two hopelessly indulgent romantics with an ear in the past and an eye on the future. It's meltingly good stuff-a collection of cool, cosmic pop songs that dispense with notions of time and space, wallowing instead on a cloud of poignant psychedelia. With vocal duties this time taken by the boys themselves, and gorgeously fragile strings courtesy of Serge Gainsbourg collaborator, Michel Colombier, they get off to a good start. Perhaps the introduction of an outside producer, in this case Radiohead's Nigel Godrich, has forced such beautifully measured focus? Whatever, touchy-feely epics such as the heavenly "Cherry Blossom Girl" sit well next to electronic masterpieces such as "Ran", whose enveloping tracked vocals recall the 10cc classic "I'm Not in Love". -Paul Tierney.