
If you want to crank the “relax” knob until it breaks the fuck off, then make sure to grab Avec Laudenum by Stars of the Lid. Originally released on the obscure Belgian label Sub Rosa two years ago, Avec Laudenum now gets a wider North American release through Chicago art-rock label Kranky (also home to the first three releases by premier avant-rockers Godspeed You Black Emperor!). Avec Laudenum is a haunting exercise in melodic repetition and drone-based layering. Definitely a must for any ambient fan. Finally, after seven years in rare-release limbo, Boards of Canada’s fabled Twoism has been remastered and reissued by Warp Records. First released on their own Music70 label long ago, Twoism is classic Boards: haunting melodies and ghostly analog atmospheres create unsettling and hypnotic moods while solid backbeats get heads bobbing.