Various Artists : Early Modulations / Vintage Volts (Caipirinha)

Among Mute readers, there is known to be a hardcore Modernist element, the kind of people for whom minimalism is a religion, who salivate over obscure pieces of analogue technology, who throw out their treasured childhood possessions because they clutter up their loft. This one will appeal to them. A collection of early electronic experiments from the nineteen-fifties and sixties (including work by Cage and Xenakis), this fascinating (though intermittently scary) collection of sine waves, squiggles and oscillator noises throws up some moments of icy beauty.

Hari Kunzru <hari AT metamute.com>