Adelaide-raised, London-based composer Matthew Shlomowitz’s new album Avant Muzak is a witty, absurdist masterpiece of contemporary sound art. My instant reaction to the first track Popular Contexts 7: Public Domain Music is “What in the world am I listening to?” It seems an accidental greeting between Angelo Badalamenti, a Japanese train station, and reggae. And if that doesn’t bring a smile to one’s face, few albums will.

As justified by Shlomowitz in the notes: “Composition is not so much about creating musical material as what you do with it.” And indeed, he has reconstructed the sounds of the physical world to create his own pocket of reality, in...