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Fri 10 Oct 2006ELECTRONICAThe latest releases reviewed.With his third album, composer Max Richter distils the musical ideas of the previous two (the extraordinary debut, Memoryhouse, and the exquisite The Blue Notebooks). Combining readings of Haruki Murakami by Robert Wyatt with spare orchestration and brooding electronica, Songs from Before proposes a cohesive musical narrative that explores the dynamism of colour and tone as much as the drama of theme and pulse. Richter shapes and organizes his densely layered, shimmering soundscape with elegant melodies and delicate rhythms. For all its musical reflexivity and expressive originality, at its core Richter's music burns with an intense lyricism that is as exciting as it is moving - particularly the solo piano interludes Fragment, Autumn Music 1, Autumn Music 2 and From the Rue Viln (with string quartet). www.fat-cat.co.uk       Jocelyn Clarke