OST

‘Hall of Life’ is an EP by the artist bambinodj. It’s his second release on OST. To quote bino, it’s “a sanctuary” — a zone of infinite sky and slow-drifting currents. It’s a place of outstretched hands and horizons without end, of long sighs and levitation. Not a getaway, but an invitation to rise above. It’s the sound of an artist in pursuit of a conduit to something both immediate and higher. The ambient balearia of opener ‘Deep Blue’ is instant immersion. It flings open the windows to a panoramic expanse, cinematic in scope and lush in texture. Five minutes of concentrated ego death; unbound, paradisiacal. A drumless reconstitution of a sound that’s unmistakably bino’s. It’s followed by the one-two kiss of ‘Drummyfeb’ and the Mikey Enwright-elevating ‘Seastar’, which transplant drums inspired by Afro-Caribbean and Latin rhythms onto tingling synths. ‘Spellfall’ plays host to artist Merely, marrying bursts of distortion to juddering beats, electrifying cascades of piano, and shredded guitar. Pure energy; unearthly light refracted on ocean. ‘Unfurling’ and ender ‘Windwoods’ ebb and flow between tension and a cautious optimism, shedding the strictures of the artist’s earlier ‘trancehall’ pigeonholing. It’s fitting — ‘Hall of Life’ is something unto itself, framing a world of its own —a world that rejects escapism and embraces connection. It all feels right.

Artur Strekalov, aka mu tate, joins the OST roster with another set of dreamtime snapshots that he collages into a plunderphonic scrapbook of new age-y samples, dialog snippets and squirly, bass-heavy rhythms. One for fans of Oneohtrix Point Never, Special Guest DJ, Space Afrika and Ludwig Wandinger, then. Last spotted breaking bread with Nexciya and Exzald S on 2025's 'Labège', Strekalov has become a reliable presence on the dubwise ambient fringe, spreading his influence across imprints like Warm Winters, Experiences and Alex Egan's Utter. He joins New York's OST, home of Organ Tapes, DJ Pitch and shineteac, among others, with 'life of mu', an album that moves beyond the gauzy, downtempo hum of his last solo joint, 2024's 'wanting less'. This one, as the title suggests, traces a more sturdy narrative, avoiding the overtly nostalgic bass-heavy ambiance that rooted its predecessors and emphasising more suggestive soundscapes that Strekalov peppers with movie samples. Opener 'world has ended for me many times...' cuts fluttering, 'Incunabula'-alike synth vamps into radio interferences and a woman's exasperated monologue that's spirals into distortion. It's remarkably open, too - Strekalov doesn't overload us with ideas, letting his story emerge slowly from the pregnant pauses and negative space. A song almost coalesces on 'low desire society' from whirring electronics and wily oscillations, and the IDM influences that emerged on the opener crystallize properly on 'world of'. But as soon as the album takes a more corporeal form, it inevitably turns to gas: 'lost in translation' is a selection of synthetic belches and cinematic cues and 'heavyweight' is anything but, an oozing, tempo-fluxed chug that's latched to its own druggy logic. Ben Bondy shows up on 'memory of a memory' as the track stumbles from warm, Toytronic-era electronix into crunchy emo-rock in the second half, and Yves B. Golden, who helped zhuzh up Ludwig Wandinger's excellent 'Is Peace Wild', adds her side to the atmospheric 'Yves's Story'.