Our favourite vinyl releases of the week

Essential weekend listening.

This week’s rundown is by VF contributors Annabelle Van Dort, Emily Hill and James Hammond.

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Ryuichi Sakamoto

Coda

(WeWantSounds)

Buy

A Japan-only release in 1983, Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Coda gets a first international release on vinyl this week. Featuring acoustic piano reinterpretations of his soundtrack to Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, drum machines and layers of synthesizer are stripped away in favour of the alluring simplicity of Sakamoto alone at the piano. His beautiful rendition of the title track to Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence is worth the price of admission alone, yet as a suite of Sakamoto’s solo piano music there are many more reasons within for Coda’s enduring popularity. – JH

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Nuron

DAT Tapes Vol 02

(De:tuned)

Buy

Nuron aka Nurmad has accelerated the sound of emotive UK techno, taking things to a new level of cognitive understanding through his work in the ’90s and beyond. DAT Tapes Vol 02 is a second retrospective collection of his work, primarily recorded in the late ’90s. Having moved to the UK in the mid-’80s, Nurmad experienced the full effect of the warehouse party scene. He translated those emotions through the house and techno coming from the States into music that would inspire a generation. – EH

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Various Artists

Cosmic American Music: Motel California

(Numero Group)

Buy

Numero Group’s first Cosmic American Music compilation looked to the “golden ingots of dollar bin detritus” that were birthed from a glut of 1970s country rock. Adopting the same formula for a companion release, the wake of the Eagles’ commercial success and the underheard gems of private press substructures provide the focus here. From the psych-tinged harpsichord runs of “Country Spice” to the folk-rock twang of “Suzy Siquenza” – curious intersections of folk, country and rock music converge within the grounds of Motel California. – JH

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Hawksmoor

Oneironautics

(Soul Jazz Records)

Buy

Hawksmoor’s second outing on Soul Jazz is a striking paean to the great early experimentalists of electronic music, fusing looping Kosmiche grooves — think CAN, Cluster and NEU! — with the pastorally-tinged soundscapes of Eno and Fripp. A worthy follow-up to last year’s Telepathic Heights, Hawksmoor’s layered analogue synthesisers and driving drum machines conjure a striking sonic world coloured by moments of true beauty. – AVD

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IMOGEN

Metanoia

(Tresor Records)

Buy

Berlin’s Tresor club and its label offshoot are home to some of the most exciting names in techno including IMOGEN, whose debut on the label channels the very core elements of techno’s resistant sound. The EP Metanoia, a six tracker named after a theological term meaning ‘fundamental change of mind’, explores the difficult twists and turns the artist has encountered this past year. Travelling through different mindscapes of sadness to acceptance through fierce basslines and driving percussion, Metanoia ends in a state of ethereal ambience. – EH

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Mattias De Craene

A House Where I Dream

(Viernulvier)

Buy

Belgian saxophonist, composer and producer Mattias De Craene releases his alternative soundtrack to Alejandro Jodorowsky’s surrealist cult classic, The Holy Mountain — out now on Ghent’s VIERNULVIER Records. Capturing the innovative electronic minimalism of Don Cherry and Ron Frangipane’s original score, A House Where I Dream is an elegiac and transcendent composition with echoing melodies that fade and transform like a dream. – AVD