Albums

Max Richter - 6/10

Sleep (Deutsche Grammofon)

Is classical the new ambient? It seems that way, as the likes of Hauschka and acts from the Erased Tapes stable (Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds and co) continue to use orchestral palettes for long-form textual music that can work magic in post-club collapse situations.

And now, here comes renowned composer Max Richter, with an eight-hour piece of music (although there's a condensed one-hour version, too) which was designed for listening to while sleeping.

Despite its length, it's not pushing any boundaries: it's smooth and sweet, with nothing to give you nightmares, but as a piece of high-class chillout music, it works very well. It will save you a lot of time building playlists, too.