PhilharmonicsPIAS ****

Looking for a beautifully left- of-field sonic synthesis of what happens when you transplant a musician from straitlaced Copenhagen to the everything- goes creative climate of Berlin? Say hello to Agnes Obel. Operating from the winning principle that less is more, Obel's musical palette veers from pretty piano cycles ( Falling Catchingbrings the ambient/minimalist likes of Erik Satie and Ludovico Einaudi to mind) to the kind of fragile singer- songwriter strokes of Stina Nordenstam, Sufjan Stevens, Joanna Newsom and Ane Brun. Riverside, Just So, Brother Sparrowand a startlingly pure version of John Cale's Close Watch generate the warmth that comes from listening to someone you know is pitch- perfect, and who will be so much more popular in 12 months time. See myspace. com/ obelmusic

Download tracks: Brother Sparrow, Close Watch