Author Archives: Arcana

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About Arcana

My name is Ben Hogwood, editor of the Arcana music site (arcana.fm)

On Record: Various Artists – Tru Thoughts 2023 (Tru Thoughts)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Tru Thoughts really are one of the most generous labels around. Not content with cramming their Shapes compilation series full of good things, here they are with a 24-track highlights reel celebrating the year 2023, curated by label head Robert Luis.

What’s the music like?

As always with their compilations, Tru Thoughts draw from a wide variety of musical styles but bring them together in an order that makes perfect sense – as well as ensuring there are liberal sprinkles of exclusive and essential content.

A few of the tracks are revived – among them Moonchild’s acoustic version of Cure, Hot 8 Brass Band’s now legendary cover of Sexual Healing, and a welcome remaster for Lightning Head’s highly enjoyable Me & Me Princess.

Sandunes – who made a strong impression on these pages – is represented by The Surge, along with tracks from new label talent including The Sindecut, Born74 & Onj, Nenor & Eyal Rob, Call Sender, and Running Loving Something.

Energy-wise all bases are covered, from the thrilling drum and bass given out by WheelUP and Abacus to the cool Salamanda remix of Anchorsong’s Windmills, a lovely time out moment. Yet perhaps the one track that best represents the feelings generated by the whole compilation is North Street West – aka Ashley Beedle – remixing the wonderful Grateful by Luman Child.

Does it all work?

It does – and as ever with Tru Thoughts the listener is left marvelling at the musical invention on display, drawn from such refreshingly large cultural and geographical spaces.

Is it recommended?

Yes indeed. Another good year for Tru Thoughts is complete, as the label close in on a quarter of a century tantalising our eardrums.

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Published post no.2,032 – Thursday 7 December 2023

New music – Edmund Finnis and Clare Hammond present Youth

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by Ben Hogwood

Pentatone have announced the release of a new EP from pianist Clare Hammond, presenting piano works by composer Edmund Finnis. The new music has a deeply personal resonance for the pianist.

The EP begins with Youth, a set of brief pieces recalling an image, sensation of place, significant encounter or a moment of vivid perception. Each musical image is conveyed as clearly and directly as possible, written for the piano in a focused, uncluttered, personal way.

The EP closes with Lullaby for Emmeline, commissioned by Hammond and her husband on the occasion of their daughter’s birth. Evocative and enchanting, these works share a kinship with some of the most famous piano cycles inspired by childhood experiences, while their magical and ethereally beautiful nature are also characteristic of Finnis’s iridescent musical approach.

“Ed and I initially discussed working together on a new piece when we were students at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama”, recalls Hammond. “It took us 10 years to find the right opportunity, but was well worth the wait!”

Talking about the music itself, she describes it as “relatively simple but seems immediately to touch the heart. It is beautifully evocative, moving, and stays with you long after hearing it. I gave the premiere at Milton Court in the Barbican, have performed it across the UK (including for a BBC Radio 3 live broadcast), and shall be playing it again at the Harrogate International Music Festival on the 24 March 2024. Youth has become a very important piece for me and I feel honoured to have been involved in its creation.”

For Finnis, meanwhile, the EP is a step in a new direction. “It’s a great joy to be able to share this first release of my music for solo piano. Since I was young, the keys of the piano have always been for me a private space in which to think, invent and dream. Many of the sounds and ideas within this collection of short pieces have been in my mind and under my fingers for a long time. They are like memories. I’m indebted to my friend Clare Hammond for the artistry, grace and lucidity she brings to this personal music.”

You can listen to an excerpt from Youth on the Pentatone website

Published post no.2,031 – Wednesday 6 December 2023

Switched On: Various Artists – Pop Ambient 2024 (Kompakt)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The first Pop Ambient compilation was released in 2001 – since when our need for ambient music is arguably greater than it has ever been, and the annual wander down Pop Ambient lane has become one of the most reassuring fixtures in the electronic music calendar. Arriving near the close of the year, it always coincides with the point where the end of year rush is starting to get too much.

As with previous years, it is a carefully selected blend of Kompakt favourites and rarities, none of them in a rush to get anywhere, and none of them containing any drums or rhythm tracks.

What’s the music like?

Regular listeners will know what to expect here – music suspended in time, with long drawn out notes that slowly shift across the sonic landscape. Many of the productions appear weightless, taking the listener through a dense cloud of ambience that soothes the fevered brow.

Yet while the music is familiar, Kompakt always manage to bring us something new. That means that while the listener is immediately soothed by diving into the ambience of T.Raumschmiere‘s Eterna 2, Mikkel Metal‘s Octarine offers a pattern of distinctive, metallic chimes that draw the listener in. Sono Kollektiv also presents an ambient face on Ever Last Thing but this track has dramatic crescendos within, pulling the ear towards them on headphones.

Joachim Spieth and Głós deliver the sort of weightless gem we have come to know and love from this source, Panta Rhei turning out to be a bottomless wonder, while Blank Gloss deliver some considered but rather beautiful guitar work on Weedless Hook.

Other airy beauties include Morgen Wurde’s Hiernach, with trumpeter Tetsuroh Konishi, and a similarly improvised space where Reich & Wurden make room for Alex Linster and Joel Jaffe on Orbit. Finally Segensklang (Bergfrieden) and Ümit Han (Nirgends) deliver atmospheric moods, the latter with a wandering melodic line.

Does it all work?

It does. None of this will come as a surprise to regulars, but that is a good thing – for Kompakt’s quality threshold is always high.

Is it recommended?

Definitely – with as much enthusiasm as all the others. Pop Ambient needs to remain a permanent fixture in our listening year.

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On Record: Smoove & Turrell – Red Ellen (Jalapeno Records)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The seventh album from Smoove & Turrell is named after Ellen Wilkinson, an early Labour politician who played a prominent role in the Jarrow march – an event on which the band draw inspiration as they tackle the state of the world today.

What’s the music like?

This is a really strong album, not afraid to show its vulnerabilities but countering them with a show of strength, all brilliantly handled by a fine band and their excellent vocalist.

“So sorry I started this party before you”, says Echoes, a forthright song addressing the end of a relationship. Empty Bottle Serenade deals with an equally fragile subject, its grief kept close to the surface but expressed positively. Violet Hour looks at the other side, a chunky number with a great hook and a good deal of funk.

It is typical of the impressive resolve shown here, channelled through the power and poise of singer John Turrell. Geno’s Discotheque feels the funk, but Joy is the choice cut on the album, a rousing anthem to come back to again and again. Meanwhile Mary’s Song generates a strong groove, laced with strings, while The Light exudes positivity through its choral highs. The title track itself is thought provoking and beautifully sung, Turrell’s thoughtful lyrics complemented by a tasteful trumpet solo.

Does it all work?

It does – and Red Ellen is notable for the strength of its songwriting, with barely a weak link to be found.

Is it recommended?

It is – another feather in Smoove & Turrell’s generously filled cap.

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Published post no.2,029 – Monday 4 December 2023

On Record: Moritz von Oswald – Silencio (Tresor)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

For his latest musical project, Moritz von Oswald is studying the voice. He is doing so through two contrasting generators of sound, the human vocal cord and the synthesizer – and is stripping the music right back to basics.

With vocal works from composers such as Ligeti, Varèse and Xenakis in mind, he takes a very minimal approach, stripping the textures back to the bare minimum. Where electronics are involved, he has used specific models, listing the EMS VCS3 & AKS, Prophet V, Oberheim 4-Voice and the Moog Model 15. Where vocals are involved, he has also used specific models – 16 of them in fact, the singers of Vocalconsort Berlin, recorded in Ölberg church.

In the words of the accompanying text for the album, “the recordings of the choral versions were then incorporated into the synthesized parts of the album and brought into a new electronic context; in Silencio, the focus is not on using one means to imitate the other, but to sonically discuss the tensions and harmonies between the two worlds and create a dialogue between them.”

What’s the music like?

In a word, striking. This is very much a case of less is more in a musical sense, and although the album’s concept suggests quite a mechanical and unfeeling approach, the results could not be more different.

What von Oswald has achieved here is remarkable, a set of music that moves between extremely restful, consonant drones and much more dissonant, darker passages. Here he is helped beyond measure by the Vocalconsort Berlin, whose virtuosity was clearly key in getting the required results. The synthesizers, of course, are capable of hitting every note required of them, so it should not be taken for granted that humans can do the same. When they do, and the vocal capabilities are stretched by high, low or extremely sustained notes, that extra effort comes across here in an emotional sense, depicting stress and disquiet.

The long, sustained nature of much of the writing means this is an album in which the listener can fully immerse themselves, and we move between sections easily and instinctively. Silencio may be quite a long album, but it doesn’t feel that way with music of this intensity.

Does it all work?

It does – provided the listener can invest a number of repeat listens. Then the enormity of von Oswald’s achievement can be fully grasped. A word, too, for the outstanding members of Vocalconsort Berlin, whose virtuosity knows no bounds.

Is it recommended?

It is, enthusiastically, providing a reminder that von Oswald is a composer of depth, imagination and craft. Silencio is a remarkable and intensely rewarding achievement.

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Published post no.2,028 – Sunday 3 December 2023