Dutch composer Stanley Swinkels grew up with the minimalist ebb and flow of American ambient pioneer Steve Reich and British luminary Brian Eno – ensuring Stratradialis follows in their footsteps, albeit sounding a little more modernistic. Nine lengthy pieces of music dictate sensitive ambiences throughout, and pleasantly variable too. Most albums of this ilk tend to run with a consistent theme, but Swinkels manages to glide from dreamy atmospheres full of optimism through to dark, mysterious fixations. The opening a.m. Garden is beautifully crafted, a silky textural piece containing meditative synths invaded by nostalgic field recordings of streams, bird chatter and barely audible children’s voices. As one falls deeper into Stratradialis evocative haze, the album gets progressively deeper and darker – perhaps even sinister, witness the brooding Scimerian Silence, where sounds warp backwards, alerted by sudden piano strikes and the grainy ba...