The audio companion to David Toop's excellent book advances the case he made, that Les Baxter, Aphex Twin, The Beach Boys, Herbie Hancock, King Tubby and My Bloody Valentine are all related by their effect on sound pioneering. A double-disc set, Ocean of Sound impresses not only with its incredible diversity of musical styles, but with how easily these artists work next to each other. The second disc includes consecutive contributions by Paul Schütze, the Velvet Undergound, Holger Czukay of Can, The Beach Boys, African Headcharge and Sun Ra. Besides illustrating Toop's point beautifully, the album is an excellent addition to the collection of any wide-ranging ambient fan.

Arguably Richard James' first full-length CD, comprised of various EPs from the early '90s when he was experimenting on his homemade electronic gear and cranking out material that surpassed the work his peers were putting out. Few others knew how to bend the rules of electronic music quite the way James does, and this skill bleeds into present day because he sets the standard for what is always on the horizon. He can turn an atonal collection of sounds into something that transcends the dancefloor, and therefore many of the pieces here require the listener's full attention. His imitable and straightforward track "Digeridoo" finally gets to CD not once but twice, both as the original recording and later as a live version recorded in Cornwall in 1990…

Blurring the boundaries between classical and popular music may not be much of a new idea anymore, but there are still artists who can make it sound fresh and exciting. Alarm Will Sound is one of them, and the ensemble's latest project represents a significant jump in ambition from its musically impressive but conceptually safe all-Reich debut. For Acoustica the group chose 13 compositions by the well-respected electronica artist Aphex Twin (aka Richard James) and re-created them as closely as possible using only acoustic and electric (as opposed to electronic) instruments – violins, clarinets, celesta, oboe, trombone, electric guitar, etc.