In places, the strange Scottish duo known as North London Spiritualist Church vaguely remind one of the more accessible moments of Americana psychedelic gods Flaming Lips; other times (see Michelle Conway's sultry harmonies on "Gin Palace") they simply disconcert with their musical sweetness. On Electric Music, the vocals are distant, almost ethereal. The instrumentation on this spiritual, haunted album is often much more earthy. A toy drum machine picks out the grooves to "Junked Power"; samples of a deep gospel voice finish up the otherwise spooky single "Psychics F. O. ", recorded at the old Cocteau Twins studio; vibes and a guest bridge vocal from dub king Bim Sherman colour "Baptised By The Piano King". Electric Music is one for all those who still miss the first High Llamas album. -Everett True.

This complex sound sculpture was created by Brian Eno in 1978 and was even installed for a while at the Marine Terminal of New York at LaGuardia Airport. The ambient-minimalist soundscape has been alternately described as background Muzak, a profoundly artificial musical milieu, and a groundbreaking studio creation. Eno designed Music for Airports from a few simple notes and the serial organisation of variable tape loops that didn't quite match up. It's a groundbreaking elaboration on the aural/spatial dimension that utilises silence, piano, synthesizer, female voices, and, most importantly, the technology of the studio. A true metaclassic, the "music" is divided into four distinct movements. This record is the first of Eno's ambient series and is undoubtedly the best. -Mitch Myers Eno's theory of the "discreet music" he called ambient was far from the modern chill-out room: the idea was that it should function at very low volumes, unobtrusively coloring the atmosphere of a room. Evolving by tiny gradations, the long pieces of Music For Airports (the first in a series of albums that followed the statement of purpose Discreet Music) defy close attention, but then they're not meant to be listened to consciously; they're meant to serve as a counterpoint to the frantic arcs of travel, or rather to be imagined in that setting. -Douglas Wolk.

So much unnecessary fuss was made over Enigma's juxtaposition of the sexual and sacred. After all, Prince had been doing it for years, and his take on it was far more interesting-and a lot more daring. But Enigma's MCMXC A. D. did manage to work a lot of people into a lather, both on the dance floor and behind the pulpit. Their inclusion of chanting monks in "Sadeness", over wooshy ambient noises and a slower hip-hop-appropriated beat was a sensation. "Callas Went Away" promised more than it could deliver, although "Mea Culpa" stands as one of the few shining moments on the CD. The idea of mixing new age aural wallpaper with beats that you can do a slow grind to is actually rather intriguing. Spicing it up with controversial religious chants isn't a bad idea either. But there's got to be something personal to it. [+]