New releases last two weeks: Ambient/Drone

Review: First released three years ago and now receiving a deserved reissue, I Am A Tree I Am A Mouth is undoubtedly one of the most magic albums by Australian-American sprano and composer Jane Sheldon - an artist famed for her unique, voice-based works. While the album is not entirely made up of layered vocals and vocalisations - Sheldon employs long, languid ambient drones and textures throughout - they're naturally the focal point. Most of the lyrics (mostly sung, but some spoken) are taken from Rainer Maria Rilke's 1995 tome The Book of Hours (meaning Sheldon largely sings in German), and these are delivered in all manner of inspired ways. The results are uniformly dazzling, blurring the boundaries between chamber music, neo-classical and ambient music's experimental fringes.

Review: Akte is the Cologne-based event series rooted in timeless ambient, minimal and techno sounds and here it launches its own record label with a debut 12" EP by founder Philipp Stoffel. Featuring four original tracks and a signature remix by dub-techno icon VRIL, these sounds are less about cooking up direct dancefloor tools, more about immersive storytelling. The EP channels dub textures and deep sound design that compresses the emotional depth of an LP into a tight, cohesive selection. With mastering by the legendary Stefan Betke aka Pole, it's a top draw package with vision and substance aplenty.