Icelandic musician, Ruxpin (Jónas Þór Guðmundsson), presents a textured set of downtempo ambient and breakbeat soundscapes on his debut on Elektrolux. Many of the tracks here are quite minimalist with sustained passages to allow the music to take deep breaths. Others layer the same meandering mood over sparse jungle rhythms.

Grade: B-.

0.3

Norman Feller’s Elektrolux release delivers a wide variety of beautifully-produced and nicely-arranged mostly instrumental downtempo tracks. Deeply contrasting musical soundscapes provide a rich listening experience. Frameless Structure, Northern Lights, Tiefenrausch, and Arcade of Passion stand out among a dozen cuts that flow well into a pulsing abstract whole.

Grade: B.

0.3

Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, and Stanley Tucci lead a talented cast in this Oscar-nominated drama about a young journalism graduate, Andrea (Hathaway), who goes to work for a perfectionist fashion mogul (Streep). Eventually, Andrea has to learn to make her own choices and follow her own path in life.

Grade: B.

0.3

German producer, Rauschfaktor, debuts on Elektrolux with this set of downtempo tracks that wander from spaced out sound experiments to dreamy instrumental pop treatments. The compositions here suffer from identical synthesizer patches used ad nauseum across multiple tracks with a similar feel. Unfortunately, none of these songs particularly stands out.

Grade: C.

0.3

MAS 2008’s debut on Elektrolux records features eighteen tracks that range from abstract dreamy downtempo soundscapes to ambient electro house cuts. The textures here flow from one song to the next without anything grabbing the listener’s attention. Some of the composition and production here seems hurried and lacking consistency.

Grade: C+.

0.3

Estelle Montenegro’s debut album from Germany’s Elektrolux Records takes his listeners through a set of tracks that range from deep downtempo lounge cuts to slowish tech house tunes. Many of the tracks are interesting from an arrangement standpoint, but are challenged by inconsistent production and weird contrasts in sound quality.

Grade: B-.

0.3

Five diverse characters struggle with life, love, and their careers in New York City in this small well-written independent picture. This character study features a tight script and good acting. Glenn Close, Elizabeth Banks, James Marsden, and Jesse Bradford turn in believable performances of flawed and sometimes confused characters.

Grade: B+.

0.3

This Disney wilderness adventure is based on the best-selling book by Canadian conservationist Farley Mowat, in which he travels to remote Arctic Canada to investigate wolves in their natural habitat. This film adaptation features gorgeous cinematography and brings the author’s work to the masses in an easily accessible way.

Grade: B.

0.3

In this engrossing album, Jacek Sienkiewicz delivers nine lush spaced-out minimal techno grooves. The music here ranges from downtempo and dreamy soundscapes to fast, driving tech house tracks aimed squarely at DJs. High production craftsmanship, interesting arranging, and detached attitude makes this textured collection of songs an unexpected surprise.

Grade: A-.

0.3

Danny is a dissatisfied tinkerer who gets drunk, affixes a number of helium-filled weather balloons to his deck chair, and flies away to a quaint little town where he reconstructs himself. Rhys Ifans and Miranda Otto star in this picturesque comedy, a story of reinvention, redemption, and unlikely romance.

Grade: A-.

0.3