Prestige Format Picks 💍 16 September 2025

Enigma - MCMXC A.D. / the CROSS of changes

Oh yeah, you’ve heard this. You’ve definitely heard the Pure Moods classic track Return to Innocence but I’d bet you caught a bit of Sadeness in the background of something on tv. These two classics are maybe the most 90s cds out there. Slow hip hop beats, pan flute, Gregorian chant, nature sounds, they’re all here. But also: a surprising amount of Led Zeppelin samples, and enough guitar work that the second album almost counts as nü metal.

Lookfar - Sculpture Gallery / Oneiric Ocean

I’ve written a bit before (1, 2, 3) about the insanely prolific Louie Zong, and I haven’t stopped loving the stuff he puts out. I especially love his dungeon synth project Lookfar, named after an important boat in the Earthsea books. These two collections are charming and delightfully video-gamey. Dungeon Synth as a genre tends to focus on the dungeon aspect, but Zong leans on the synth stylings without drifting into psychedelic noodling or robot rock (not that there’s anything wrong with either of those).

Mydreamfever - 1. Silence Is the New Noise / 2. Blue Lucent Reverie

Mydreamfever is yet another side project from the anonymous genius behind Parannoul and Huremic, but with a focus on noise and ambient electronic music. These two collections are quite different but work together.

1. Silence Is the New Noise is mostly literally noise and found sound, collaged together into a program that feels like walking through someone else’s memory.

2. Blue Lucent Reverie is more musical, and inspired by “paying homage to Japan's CD-era IDM / glitch / ambient pop” according to the artist. It’s floaty and spacious, with glitch intermingled with piano and guitar and even some singing. This is kind of a perfect end-of-summer album, with some good wistful cinematic longing as the season changes.