Following on from Rob’s lovely New Year selections, Alex is here to share some treats that February sent his way. You can also get these monthly picks straight to your inbox through our substack

I’ve been digging a lot of environmental-leaning sounds this month, so hopefully as the sun comes out and spring comes ever closer, you can sit under a blossoming tree and take in some of these sounds. I’ve also thrown in a remastered re-release of a favourite album of mine, as well as something older I’ve discovered this month.

This month we also announced our debut release as a label, Gardenia. It’s been a real labour of love over the last few months, and we couldn’t be prouder with how it’s turned out. It’s available for pre-order now, and it’s releasing fully on the 15th of March.



Anyway, I hope you enjoy the picks.

~Alex

I had to stay true to my word and kick things off with the most environmental piece on this list. Released on Californian imprint Katuktu Collective, this album is a beautiful nod to the environmental and new-age pioneers. The warmth on this release is enveloping - it would be really difficult to not feel some level of peace whilst listening to it.

Austrian three-piece Panghalina are ostensibly a free-jazz outfit, but you’d forgive me for not quite realising this when I stumbled across ‘Glass Lake’. I’m always partial to haunting vocals, but the intricacy and interplay of the two voices on this track really stand out. The rest of the album ventures into slightly more chaotic terrain at points, but it’s underpinned by a really well refined sonic palette giving you a guide-rope of sorts as you travel through the album.

This album was a real treat when I came across it at work this month - easily one of my favourite musical moments of the year so far. Out on French label IKKI, the work is an audio-visual collaboration between The Humble Bee and Offthesky, resulting in a fine art book, and this wonderful album.

As you can probably tell from my picks, I have a real affinity for acoustic sounds woven amongst electronic tones and production techniques, and this album captures this intersection beautifully. One of those albums that can pull the ground from beneath you, but in a really comforting way.

This is a very recent find for me, and came out just a few days ago, but nonetheless, this two track release from Andriy K was one of my highlights from this past month. It’s dizzying throughout, and the raw percussive sounds layered with some really nice organic textures works really well. Dubby ambient warpers inside.

I feel like this might be the case for a lot of ambient fans, but I’d say my route into loving ambient music as much as I do now was through bands like sugar plant. Newly remastered (actually came out in late January!), happy originally came out in 1998 and definitely inspired some of my current listening tendencies.

Lush tones throughout this record, with the crystal clear vocal production and clear nods to shoegazers My Bloody Valentine merging in a really unique way. Whilst this is a bit of a divergence from my usual selections, I couldn’t miss the chance to share this album when I saw the remaster on Bandcamp - hope you enjoy it!

For my final pick, I’ve gone with From a Story Now Lost by Norwegian composer Anja Lauvdal which came out back in 2022. I was lucky enough to be introduced to Lauvdal’s music at Sembireve festival late in 2023, but it took me a while to finally get round to listening to this album.

~Alex