Like Hamlet’s ‘sheeted dead’ in the Roman streets, Buenos Aires-based experimental cello/bass/piano trio Eriza squeak and gibber on their debut album Arde, out now on Pan Y Rosas Discos. But it’s a noise that bites deeply into the consciousness – if you’re in the mood for it. By Will Pinfold

Field recordist and musician Kate Carr’s ‘I Had Myself A Nuclear Spring’ is a peculiar album caught somewhere in the crossroads between sound and music, nature and industry. It’s a listening experience which gains vastly in richness when heard in the context of its recording. Probably not for everyone. BY Will Pinfold

British composer Lauren Redhead’s new album Ijereja challenges the listener, but also calls into question the role of the composer herself. It’s a fascinating, multifaceted work which doesn’t give up its secrets easily. By Will Pinfold

Bath White, the latest EP from 50FOOTWAVE, the power trio fronted by indie legend Kristin Hersh (of Throwing Muses fame) is an explosive, unpredictable and gripping collection of angular and sometimes abrasive songs. A perfect distillation of feral energy, intuitive musicianship and passionate but never obvious songwriting, Bath White isn’t always an easy listen but it remains vital where more superficial ‘punk rock’ thrills but quickly palls. By Will Pinfold

Ukrainian composer Egor Grushin’s new album Once embodies virtues that have rarely been needed more than they are now. Logical, elegant, humane and harmonious, it’s a perfectly balanced, modern-yet-timeless collection of compositions for piano and string quartet which is as cerebrally satisfying as it is emotionally involving. By Will Pinfold

With his new mini-album Upstepping, cellist Oliver Coates consolidates his position as an innovative experimentalist and sound artist with a collection of tunes that use the instrument for both melody, percussion and sheer noise. Ultimately though, it’s his incisive compositional skill that makes this album of mostly dance-oriented tracks so satisfying. By Will Pinfold

Cate Le Bon’s Crab Day is a strange haunted doll’s house of an album; tackling her elusive subjects with a disarmingly childlike apparent directness, the album feels both alien and familiar, intimate and yet distant. While a little uneven, its moments of emotional significance outweigh the more twee elements and even at its least essential it reiterates just what an expressive singer Cate Le Bon has become. By Will Pinfold

Cellist Christopher Bell’s Rust is an album of rough, richly atmospheric songs with a vibrant, archaic feel. More of a showcase for his songwriting skills than a virtuoso display of experimental cello techniques, it’s a collection of songs with an organic, bluesy charm; but its reference points are sometimes a bit too obvious. By Will Pinfold

Vourca/Fahy is an extraordinary work of folk archaeology; less a collection of traditional tunes than a recreation of ancient ritual music, using both archaic instrumentation and modern technology. It’s not pretty, or even necessarily likeable, but French-Swiss trio La Tène have made a work of undeniable power and baleful majesty. By Will Pinfold

On Richard J. Birkin’s new album, Vigils, the composer and multi-instrumentalist reveals himself once again as a writer of music which balances beautiful surface lightness with real emotional depth. A haunting, haunted record, its atmosphere of mysterious familiarity is at once comforting and lonely. It’s really nice. By Will Pinfold

Egor Grushin’s Dominicano is a breath of fresh air; the Ukrainian composer/pianist’s debut album is a collection of charming, elegant and moving classical pieces for piano and strings with a direct and timeless appeal which transcends fashion and avoids sentimentality. Wonderfully wordless, it is the perfect antidote to so much of the text/context/subtext-laden music of the twenty-first century. By Will Pinfold

Sadness and loss are universal after all, and V takes those feelings and transforms them into very nice tunes. Probably not indispensible, but a very accomplished piece of work and probably their best to date. By Will Pinfold

The perfect marriage of everything-including-the-kitchen-sink glitch-laden sonic experimentation and beautifully crafted songwriting, Blemishes, the debut EP by Kib Elektra is a treat for those with an ear for detail and will make you wish you had better headphones. An incredibly accomplished piece of work; indomitable, fragile and beautiful. By Will Pinfold

An unearthly and at times genuinely beautiful synth/shoegaze album with charmingly wistful baroque pop tendencies. Made by Candy Claws members but, ironically far sweeter sounding than that band and perhaps recommended most highly to listeners with a tolerance for the dreamiest of dreampop. By Will Pinfold

Like the soundtrack to a recurring dream; it’s beautiful, familiar and slightly sad, an album to bask in and one that is most highly recommended to those who like Skalpel at their most subdued. By Will Pinfold

Overall, When Shall This Bright Day Begin is a beautiful and unusual album, but it’s also somehow familiar. – By Will Pinfold

Quiet experimental noise is perhaps the hardest of all music to define (let alone to market) and seems to attract accusations of pretentiousness far more than its harsh cousin, but one of the strengths of Causings is that they make no claims whatsoever for their work; “They build portraits and landscapes from odds and ends in the home and garden”. That much is undeniable, all else is speculation and interpretation. By Will Pinfold

A trio of great, simple, gut-level pop songs, and like all great pop artists they know exactly when to end them; they are short, sweet ‘n’ sour and leave you wanting more. By Will Pinfold

The Iggy Pop persona; wild but articulate, sensitive but tough, turns out to be the perfect vehicle for delivering Whitman’s vivid, sensual free verse. An unexpected triumph and, like so many of Iggy’s best records, utterly life-affirming. By Will Pinfold

Great tunes, superb performances and eerie frissons aplenty; seems like the break did them good. By Will Pinfold

How you respond to the phrase ‘sound artist’ may tell you whether this album is for you or not, but listen anyway; it may not be clear what, if anything, Lisa Busby is trying to communicate with Fingers In The Gloss, but it may well keep you coming back to scrutinize its depths. By Will Pinfold