The Blue Notebooks is so beautiful that German-born, British-based composer Max Richter should be forgiven for his association with the Future Sound of London’s heavily-polished turd, The Isness. So luxuriant and melancholy are the piano-orchestra-synth melodies of The Blue Notebooks that comparisons to Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works II are right on the mark, especially for quiet tone pieces like “Arboretum” and “Iconography.” However, this album bears a closer likeness to Craig Armstrong’s ambient piano and the hefty themes of Sigur R€s’ collaboration with Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson, Angels of the Universe. Although it’s got a chilly autumn feeling, The Blue Notebooks is worthy of listening to right now.