Where Océano culminates in a stand-off dialogue between acoustic instruments and Murcof's electronica, on The Versaille Sessions, it's the blending of these apparently diametrically opposed forms of musical expression that leads the way. If Corona's mixture of classical instrumentation, electronica and visual art told us anything, it's that Murcof is pushing conventions and genres to their respective breaking points.

The Versailles Sessions is a recording of a specially commissioned piece of work that recently showcased at an annual festival of light, sound and water in France. Using baroque instrumentation as a starting point (harpsichords, viola da gamb, flute and violin) Murcof then dismantled what was recorded and re-imagined it all through electronic means. Whether that means a bit of heavy reverb here and there, or the almost glitchy fingernails-on-blackboard effect of the strings on Louis XIV's Demons, the result is often exhilarating and challenging.

There are no tunes to be found here at all. This is art as music, this is music as art. You can decry Murcof as pure chin-stroking hogwash if you like, but to immerse yourself in his albums thoroughly is pure joy.

The lilting drone that introduces A Lesson For the Future, Farewell To The Old Ways is accompanied by a heavenly voice that soars out of the speakers. This eventually gives way to a harpsichord that initially sounds as if it should be played jauntily by someone in a dusty old wig before Murcof modulates the sound so that it sounds as if it's being played under water through a wah-wah pedal by a terminally depressed goth.

Mixing baroque classical music with electronica means that this isn't strictly new-classical or straight electronica. This sidestepping of genres means that for the most part Murcof's music feels fairly unique. We've all heard soundscapes before, certainly, but rarely has there been anyone that fuses two genres so perfectly that they compliment each other to such a degree.

Perhaps the whole album is summed up best in opening track Welcome To Versailles where drone and atonality rule the day and the live instruments puncture the whirr of machinery occasionally. It feels like a journey to the heart of darkness, where nothing makes much sense, where experimentation is encouraged, and where time and labels simply don't exist.

To wallow in this 11 minute monster is to be immersed in a world that is comforting and slightly scary at the same time. So far Murcof has taken us to the cosmos, and through the oceans; it's well worth joining him at Versailles.

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Mercury Prize 2009 nominees