by Ben Hogwood, with text lifted from the press release
Contemplating the role of the album format in an attention-deficient society, Speedy J presents Walkman — a constantly shifting, 90-minute soundtrack to a journey of your choice. Jochem Paap‘s first solo album in over 20 years is a freewheeling, 20-track testament to his decades-deep studio skill and sonic versatility, running from skewed rhythmic rabbit holes to exploratory tonal abandon. You can listen to the first single, Arp Δmp Chasm, below:
For Paap, the traditional idea of the album had become obscured by listening habits and the non-stop information barrage of our digital lives. Having moved on from his breakthrough years releasing LPs and touring off the back of them, he was more inspired to develop his many-sided STOOR project and feed into a bigger artistic body of work than the temporary shelf-life of a single release. As is natural for any artist, his perspective shifted over time and he found himself drawn back to the idea of an album, realising he connected best with longer releases while he was on a walk, out for a run or generally in transit one way or another.
With an endearing call back to the humble Walkman, Paap (above) selected an hour and a half of material created during studio sessions at the beginning of 2025, perfectly sized to fit on two 45-minute sides of a cassette tape. As has long been the case for his studio practice, there were no fixed intentions when sitting down in the STOOR lab to start making noise — just a wealth of experience and an expansive set of tools to start exploring with. From hours of jams Paap pulled together standout moments and moulded them into a mixtape-like narrative ranging from two-minute beat nuggets to full-tilt techno workouts and immersive ambient drops. Every sound is intentional, but the overall delivery is instinctive and curious, showing multiple new dimensions to Paap’s sound and offering unpredictability at every turn.
‘Arp Δmp Chasm’ opens the album up in a thick blanket of humming, harmonic waves with an electric emotional charge, while ‘Ctrssalms17 (Cold Render)’ journeys through evocative blooms of melancholic, gritty pads and rugged, half-submerged tech funk. ‘Modern Birds (Origin Edit)’ reaches skywards with grand sweeps of dynamic, brilliantly rendered synthesis. From the dexterous drum science of ‘Drift Vector’ to ‘Osc Hop (Slow Collapse)’s lurching, beatless swamp of synths, on Walkman even the briefest snapshots leave an impression that lasts beyond the quick-scan cycle of the modern music experience.
With his return to the album format, Paap’s message is clear – put your headphones on, get outside and lose yourself in the sound of an artist constantly committed to moving forwards.
Sunbeam Of No Illusion takes its title from correspondence between Ralph Emerson and Walt Whitman, which is described as “cheeky acknowledgement of the mutual admiration of this project’s partnership”.
For this is the first time Ben Seretan and John Thayer have worked together directly on a project, though their musical paths have crossed on occasion before. Here, they blend largely spontaneous instrumental thoughts with field recordings, literally throwing open the studio door to let the light in – the sunbeam of the title, perhaps. The list of instruments used gives an idea of the density of the project, and the variety of sounds open for use:
Ben Seretan is credited with Fender Rhodes Piano, Moog Matriarch, Juno 106, Supro Lap Steel, Lowrey Organ, Teenage Engineering KOII, Electric Guitar and Assorted Guitar Pedals, while Thayer is listed on Lexicon Prime Time, Delta Labs Effectron II, Crystal Rattles, Temple Block, Brushes, Grass Shakers, Field Recordings, Digitakt, Modular Synthesizer, Tape Echo and Tascam Porta Studio.
What’s the music like?
Extremely restful. This is the musical equivalent of sitting under a big tree in warm weather. There is a breath of breeze here and there, and occasionally the leaves part to reveal a warm burst of sunshine – or they might close in with an unexpected chill.
Whatever happens, the music is drenched in appealing, consonant harmonies and warm textures, beckoning the listener out into the open. Some of these figures are elusive, such as on Memory Garden or Little Winds, where the music floats delicately and wisps of melody make themselves known. The electronic breeze on Valley Spirit is immediately appealing, while the closing Peat Fire, an evocative number with cymbals imitating kindling, is a beauty.
Does it all work?
The unhurried nature of this music is an antidote to fast-paced living, with Seretan and Thayer’s instinctive improvisations unfolding in their own sweet time.
Is it recommended?
It is. An album where the listener can get close to the wind and the trees without having to leave the room they are in, basking in the delights of what Ben Seretan and John Thayer have created. Their descriptive musical pictures are an ambient delight.
Taking time to pay tribute to an old, sadly departed friend. Martyn Granville would have been 62 today, and I realised I had not yet dedicated music to him on these pages, for Martyn sadly left us in May 2014. Here is his favourite classical piece, the wonderful Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams, from a lockdown session revealing its emotive core:
by Ben Hogwood, with text lifted from the press release
On Friday, London imprint Mercury KX announced Pioneers, a collaborative album honouring the radical women and gender-expansive artists who reshaped the language of electronic music. Inspired by the landmark documentary Sisters with Transistors, the project brings together a new generation of composers, producers and sonic experimenters to celebrate electronic music’s unsung heroines, not through imitation but through continuation.
Released across two digital chapters this spring, Pioneers forms a living lineage. Twelve new works respond to figures who transformed tape, voltage, voice and performance into tools of liberation.
Side A arrived on Friday 27th March, opening in a state of expanded awareness. You can listen on YouTube music
Arushi Jain’s No Way Back (for Pauline Oliveros) draws from the philosophy of Pauline Oliveros and her practice of Deep Listening. Composed in Raga Bhairav and structured around sustained vocal tones and modular synthesis, the piece treats listening itself as irreversible transformation. Once heard deeply, there is no way back.
Loraine James’ On Time (for Björk) stretches rhythm and atmosphere in tribute to Björk’s boundary-dissolving approach to composition, where digital texture and emotional intensity coexist in constant motion.
For Hand Movements (for Clara Rockmore), Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith honours theremin virtuoso Clara Rockmore, whose invisible gestures shaped one of electronic music’s earliest instruments. Smith channels Rockmore’s balance of engineering precision and hypnotic expressiveness through fluid modular synthesis, tracing motion through voltage.
rRoxymore & Leila Adu summon the avant-pop authority of Grace Jones on I Have Seen That Grace Before. Drawing inspiration from the long-form drama of Slave to the Rhythm, their transcontinental collaboration blurs ambient psychedelia, undulating groove and vocal dualities, reflecting Jones’ fearless negotiation of gender, genre and performance.
On Wind Bathing (for Laurie Anderson), Holland Andrews & yuniya edi kwon transform intimate ephemera into euphoric devotion. Inspired by the singular world-building of Laurie Anderson, the track began with secret violin recordings and love letters before unfolding into something unexpectedly radiant. Intimacy becomes propulsion.
Closing Side A, TAAHLIAH’s Starlight (for Suzanne Ciani) refracts the shimmering architectures of Suzanne Ciani, particularly the romantic synthesiser classic Velocity of Love, into a contemporary meditation where new-age luminosity meets modern electronic form.
Side B, released Friday 17th April, moves deeper into electronic architecture and sonic myth.
Hinako Omori’s You found the allotment (for Delia Derbyshire) pays tribute to Delia Derbyshire’s tape-loop alchemy and mathematical imagination. Built from Moog synthesisers, granulated vocals and analogue tape recording, the track mirrors Derbyshire’s meticulous collage techniques, plotting sound with careful intention.
Kate Simko & Lara Somogyi turn toward the ambient universe of Wendy Carlos on Analog Season. Inspired by Sonic Seasonings and Digital Moonscapes, harp recordings are processed, sampled and re-synthesised into a shared landscape of analogue warmth and microtonal drift, entering into dialogue with Carlos’ expansive and often overlooked ambient work beyond Switched-On Bach.
Footwork innovator Jlin invokes the defiant glamour and rhythmic magnetism of Eartha Kitt on Earth A God, a tribute to performance as power and presence as percussion.
Laurel Halo’s Les Sirènes (for Éliane Radigue) echoes the slow-burning minimalism of Éliane Radigue, embracing sustained tone and psychoacoustic depth where sound becomes environment rather than event.
The album closes with AFRODEUTSCHE’s I See You (for Daphne Oram & Gertrud Grunow), drawing on the philosophies of Daphne Oram and Bauhaus theorist Gertrud Grunow. Created using the Mini Oramics system, the track blends subtle electronics with childlike wonder, offering a meditation on visibility, care and the unseen.
Celebrated for championing boundary-breaking artists, Mercury KX is home to acclaimed composers and innovative musicians such as DJ ANNA, Isobel Waller-Bridge, Ólafur Arnalds, LUXE and Erland Cooper, among many others. The label champions genre-defying, multi-disciplinary artists and curates immersive audio-visual worlds spanning electronic, modern classical, cinematic, alternative and ambient music. With Pioneers, Mercury KX continues that vision, foregrounding work that expands both form and perception.
From early theremin stages to tape machines, from Bauhaus theory to the San Francisco Tape Music Center, from ambient’s outer edges to contemporary club futurism, Pioneers reframes influence as active transmission.
These works do not simply honour the past: they extend its circuitry. Electronic music has always been shaped by women whose innovations were foundational yet often overlooked. Pioneers makes that lineage audible as living voltage.
Tracklisting:
Friday 27th March [Side A – Digital Release]
Side A A1 Arushi Jain: No Way Back (for Pauline Oliveros) A2 Loraine James: On Time (for Bjork) A3 Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: Hand Movements (for Clara Rockmore) A4 rRoxymore & Leila Adu: I Have Seen That Grace Before (for Grace Jones) A5 Holland Andrews & yuniya edi kwon: Wind Bathing (for Laurie Anderson) A6 TAAHLIAH: Starlight (for Suzanne Ciani)
Friday 17th April [Side B – Digital Release]
Side B B1 – Hinako Omori: You found the allotment (for Delia Derbyshire) B2 – Kate Simko & Lara Somogyi: Analog Season (for Wendy Carlos) B3 – JLin: Earth A God (for Eartha Kitt) B4 – Laurel Halo: Les Sirènes (for Éliane Radigue) B5 – AFRODEUTSCHE: I See you (for Daphne Oram & Gertrud Grunow)
by Ben Hogwood Photo of Rachmaninoff, c1900, courtesy of Wikipedia
March 28 was a significant date in the life of Sergei Rachmaninoff. Sadly it was on this day that he died, in 1943 – but the event I have chosen to highlight is the infamous premiere performance of the Symphony no.1 in 1897.
The concert was an unmitigated disaster, due to under-rehearsal and the supposedly intoxicated state of its conductor, Alexander Glazunov. The negative reaction afforded the work caused Rachmaninoff great psychological harm, severely denting his confidence and casting a shadow over many future compositions. This was a great shame, for it is a powerful piece, with original development of its melodic material and an instinctive and fluid compositional style. The finale is lean, its raw power making a strong impact both in concert and on record.
The symphony was not revived until 1945, when a second performance took place under Alexander Gauk, since when the work has steadily gained in popularity. It has been helped by a number of excellent recordings, of which one is chosen here – the Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Rachmaninoff specialist Vladimir Ashkenazy:
Arcana.fm 