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LP Giobbi ★★★ Light Places COUNTER. DL/LP

The hype train around LP Giobbi has reached express speed this past year. The Texan DJ and producer’s effervescent debut, Light Places, justifies that… in places. Giobbi’s ear for feelgood melodies and adroit deployment of snake-hipped grooves are undeniable, but its blend of stadium-friendly vocal EDM and Eurodance will be too sweet, perhaps, for certain palates.

Mark Barrott ★★★★ Jōhatsu REFLECTIONS. DL/LP

Over three decades, Mark Barrott has become a leading light of ambient and an astute shape-shifter; working with the late Virgil Abloh, Louis Vuitton’s visionary artistic director, and devising soundscapes for cruise ships. The graceful, meditative Jōhatsu is Barrott’s first film soundtrack, but his grasp of mood, pace and space make him a natural for augmenting visual narratives.

Oval ★★★★ Romantiq THRILL JOCKEY. CD/DL/LP

The result of a commission by Frankfurt’s German Romantic Museum finds Markus Popp in imperious form. Chords are distorted and jerked out of shape to create powerful percussive tools, but the pioneering glitch artist’s music never tumbles into dissonance. Rather, tracks like the Reichian round of Rytmy shimmer like heat haze on the horizon.

The Orb ★★★ Prism COOKING VINYL. CD/DL/LP

Eclecticism remains The Orb’s energy and dub doctor Alex Paterson and cohort Michael Rendall aren’t taking things easy yet. To trademark electro skank, their eighteenth album lashes panoramic drum’n’bass rollers (Living In Recycled Times) to pulsing deep house (The Beginning Of The End) and amniotic ambient (Prism). Guests include Youth and reggae producer Gaudi. SW