Album: Max Richter, Infra (Fat Cat Records)

Infra started as a commission by Royal Ballet choregrapher Wayne McGregor and was first heard at the spellbinding performance in 2008 of his highly acclaimed ballet.

Based on Eliot's The Waste Land, Infra is a journey in 13 episodes, emerging from a blur of static and finding its way in a repeated phrase that grows in loveliness.

Stripped of the dancing, and of Julian Opie's strong design, this expanded score for piano, electronics and string quintet largely speaks to Richter fans, but it is also one for the archive of minimalism.