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About Arcana

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

Switched On – Craven Faults: Standers (The Leaf Label)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This is a big year for the elusive minds behind Craven Faults. On the horizon is a debut live show in September, where their modular synthesisers, cables and organs will be extracted from the old textile mill where they work, and presented to the public.

Part of that presentation will surely include Standers, the outfit’s second album. A large scale piece, it moves towards a large scale approach that sees four of the six tracks clocking in at more than ten minutes each. Their approach is self-described as ‘a self-contained analogue electronic journey across northern Britain, viewed through the lens of a century in popular music.’ This time around the perspective around the landscapes they create in music is shifting, looking at how their outlines have been shaped by the elements and by human settlers. The interaction between the two provides plenty of raw material for composition.

What’s the music like?

Rather like the artwork. Craven Faults make music of the exquisitely shaded black and white variety, with a combination of panoramic drones and detailed foreground work that makes a lasting impression and keeps the listener coming back for more.

The longer form of composition definitely suits Craven Faults’ music, as it allows each scene to be set, subtly shaded and crafted.

First track Hurrocstanes – which appears to be a historical name for Haddock Stones, in North Yorkshire – makes a striking start. Over the course of a quarter of an hour it emits a regular, tolling chime that is equal parts foreboding and comforting, as the musical landscape beneath pulses with activity, subtly shifting from the root note and back again.

Even more impressive is Sun Vein Strings, a blast of light from its massed banks of keyboards but also with plenty going on elsewhere. The 18-minute epic becomes a series of twisted electronic moves, the lines expanding and contracting with hypnotic regularity, and with the syncopation throwing the listener off the beat.

The shorter tracks are equally concentrated. Severals rises impressively from the depths, its synthesizer lines gaining in stature, while Odda Delf gains a probing piano line.

Descriptive writing is at the heart of Craven Faults work, and the outdoors certainly beckons on a track like Meers & Hushes, describing nature’s efforts to cover the trails of human industry. Its regular pulse suggests past activity, while the drones are highly descriptive. The music rises to a higher pitch, slow riffs playing off each other.

Does it all work?

Yes. Craven Faults have the ability to make music indoors that very clearly portrays the landscapes around them, and the blend of natural and mechanical elements feels just right.

Is it recommended?

Yes. On this evidence the live material will be fascinating to chart – but taken as a standalone work, Standers represents a very fine achievement and a cornerstone of this year’s British electronica.

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In concert – Josephine Lappin, Salomon Orchestra / Edmon Colomer – Gerhard’s Soirées de Barcelone, Falla & Turina

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Josephine Lappin (piano), Salomon Orchestra / Edmon Colomer

Turina Ritmos Op.43 (1927)
De Falla Noches en los jardines de España G49 (1915)
Gerhard (ed. MacDonald) Soirées de Barcelone (1936-9, comp. 1995-6)

St. John’s, Smith Square, London
Sunday 21 May 2023

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

The Salomon Orchestra celebrates its 60th anniversary this season with three concerts of real ambition. The second saw a collaboration with Edmon Colomer, whose advocacy of Spanish music in general – and Roberto Gerhard especially – was evident throughout this programme.

His second ballet, Soirées de Barcelone was also Gerhard’s largest project before the collapse of Spain’s republican government forced him into exile. A piano suite from the 1950s was the only realized portion of a work otherwise known through an orchestral suite made soon after the composer’s death. At least until 1996, when musicologist Malcolm MacDonald finished the orchestration of the whole ballet and so enabled its broadcast during Gerhard’s centenary. MacDonald’s edition was duly receiving its first public performance in the UK this afternoon.

Set in the Pyrenees at the St John’s Eve festivities, with rituals of fire purification and fertility as its scenario, Soirées… falls into three substantial tableaux where the prevalence of Catalan folk songs and dances is imbued with a motivic density and orchestral virtuosity anticipating Gerhard’s maturity. The first of these, The Crowd, features three of the items from the suite and finds this score at its most immediate; the second, Eros contains the deepest and most imaginative music – notably the sombre initial Notturno and vividly evocative Apparition of Eros. Emotional intensity falters slightly in the third tableau, The Weddings, but there is no want of impetus as the work builds to its culmination in an eloquent Sardana that resolves scenic and musical issues, then a Coda which sees the piece through to its effervescent close.

At just over 50 minutes, Soirées… is a tough assignment for any orchestra, so all credit to the Salomon for rendering its many intricacies with unfailing commitment and no little panache. It helped to have Colomer at the helm, his understanding and empathy being evident through the care over phrasing and frequent textural finesse. Only on occasion were tempi marginally under-speed to accommodate the exacting rhythmic syncopation though, as he steered a fine reading to its close, there was little doubt as to the sheer power and imagination of this music.

A dependable pianist in the Gerhard, Josephine Lappin impressed as soloist with Manuel de Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain, whose pervasive concertante writing often benefitted when heard from the rear of the platform. A steady yet flexible tempo for In the Generalife brought out some mysterious and even ominous undertones, while the alluring lilt of Distant Dance ensured this headed seamlessly into In the Gardens of the Sierra de Cordóba with its interplay of energy and eloquence before the performance ended in a mood of gentle rapture.

Few of Joaquín Turina’s orchestral works are revived these days, which seems more the pity as this composer was arguably the deftest Spanish orchestrator of his generation. Subtitled a ‘Choreographic Fantasy’, Ritmos made for a scintillating curtain-raiser – its six continuous sections demonstrating unforced musical logic as well as an appealing overall atmosphere. The Salomon players rendered it with infectious enjoyment, reminding one that such pieces – indeed, those in this concert as a whole – are all too infrequently heard in UK concert halls. Colomer provided an extensive spoken introduction to the Gerhard, hopefully a work he will yet record in its entirety. He rounded off this memorable concert with a breezy medley from the Zarazuela, notable for principal flautist Roy Bell taking the solo spot with his castanets.

You can read all about the 60th anniversary season and book tickets at the Salomon Orchestra website Click on the names for more on conductor Edmon Colomer and composer Roberto Gerhard – and for an article on this concert visit the composer’s publisher Boosey

On Record – James Ellis Ford: The Hum (Warp Records)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

James Ellis Ford has a most impressive musical CV, whether on the front line or behind the scenes. As an active member of Simian, Simian Mobile Disco and The Last Shadow Puppets, he has never been short of a burning riff or two. These two very different musical outfits enjoyed a more progressive form of rock and then a searing, acidic complement to The Chemical Brothers.

As a producer, Ford has lent production savvy to the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Foals, Klaxons and Jessie Ware among others, and most recently played a big part behind the scenes on Depeche Mode’s new album Memento Mori. He has also produced the upcoming Blur album, The Ballad Of Darren. With all that work in the bank, his first solo album proper – on which he plays all the instruments – could be seen as time off from the day job! Yet it is a meaningful achievement, and clearly good enough for a label as illustrious as Warp to sign him up.

What’s the music like?

Largely unscripted – in the best possible way. Ford’s musical diary to date has shown his ability to move between genres with no effort, and The Hum does this while sticking to a principle of pure musical enjoyment. On occasion the approach is reminiscent of his early days in Simian, when they used to support bands such as Emerson Lake & Palmer.

It is good to hear James singing as well as playing all the instruments, for his voice fits in well with either the psychedelic approach or the pastoral one. I Never Wanted Anything is quite sweetly harmonic in this regard, while The Yips is a brilliant contrast, its creeping riff leaning towards progressive rock.

Pink Floyd cast an attractive shadow – Us and Them especially – as Tape Loop #7 and Pillow Village establish the mood of the album, and on Golden Hour a rich multi-layered vocal comes forward. Squeaky Wheel glints with a touch of the industrial – with passing references that flit between pastoral contentment and the abrasion of Cabaret Voltaire.

A pair of instrumentals in the middle hit the spot. The woozy title track lulls the listener into a false sense of security before Ford goes all-out funk and prog in equal parts, a loping groove and chunky synthesizers giving Caterpillar rich slabs of colour.

Ford moves through the gears on Emptiness, another eventful number, before the soft, warm postlude Closing Time, with a melody that uncannily shadows the Neighbours theme tune.

Does it all work?

Yes. There is very little padding here, and Ford has plenty of interesting ideas – so the mind and ears are always stimulated.

Is it recommended?

Yes, with enthusiasm. Pretty much everything Ford has been involved with has musical vitality and progression, and this solo album is no exception. With any luck it is the start of a series, rather than a one-off.

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In concert – CBSO / Robert Treviño – Mahler’s 10th symphony

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City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Robert Treviño

Mahler, ed. Cooke Symphony no.10 in F sharp major (1910)

Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Thursday 18 May 2023

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has a notable association with Mahler’s Tenth Symphony – realized by Deryck Cooke – having given memorable performances with Simon Rattle and more recently with Sakari Oramo. This evening’s account was to have been taken by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, but her indisposition brought American conductor Robert Treviño to the helm for what was a memorable performance that vindicated (if such were needed) this ‘performing edition’ and hinted at what might develop into a notable partnership in the future.

The quality of string playing these days means the initial viola melody no longer poses quite the risks it once did. Treviño went on to shape this opening Adagio with a sure sense of how its contrasting themes are drawn into an evolution whose unpredictability is informed by an emotional candour, heard at its most explicit in the climactic dissonance (evidently added at a late stage) such as makes the beatific coda the more affecting. Nor did he fail to tease out the underlying continuity of music shot through with the knowledge of its own dissolution.

Such an issue is more graphically present in the first Scherzo, its contrapuntal texture fitfully realized in the score but here achieved with a deftness making the trade-off between its polka- and ländler-like ideas the more potent. Not least during the later stages of a movement where these themes alternate with ever increasing frequency, as if in a stretto of activity, on the way to the most decisive and even affirmative conclusion found in Mahler’s late music. Treviño’s opting not to tone down those more unlikely percussive touches proved its own justification.

Almost Mahler’s shortest symphonic movement, the Purgatorio is yet crucial to the overall design – the ‘treadmill’ motion of its outer sections exuding acute irony, with the histrionics at its centre firmly held in check so their implications were made more than usually evident.

Performances of this work most often founder in the second Scherzo, but not here – Treviño launching it with anguished intent, while maintaining a persuasive balance between this and the more consoling element which informs its progress. The brief central interlude conveyed exquisite pathos, tension barely receding as the expression gradually and inevitably subsides into crepuscular activity with its fleeting intimations of what went before and what is still to come. Just one bass-drum stroke, surely, is needed to separate this movement from the finale.

That said, the unfolding of this latter left nothing to chance – whether in the sepulchral gloom of its initial bars, the poise of its indelible melody for flute, or a central phase of activity that here emerged as the natural consequence of what went before. Treviño (rightly) retained the additional percussion necessary to make the return of the first movement’s climax the more shattering – the sheer eloquence of what followed building to a rapturous culmination which, as with the closing emotional wrench, drew an unfaltering response from the CBSO strings.

A memorable performance, and one that met with an enthusiastic response. Treviño brought the soloists and sections to their feet, but might have started with trumpeter Jason Lewis and flautist Marie-Christine Zupancic – their contributions typifying the excellence of the whole.

You can read all about the 2022/23 season and book tickets at the CBSO website. For more on Robert Trevino, visit his website

Switched On – Hazel Mills: The Embrace EP (self-released)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Hazel Mills has built up an impressive body of work as a keyboard player and backing vocalist for Goldfrapp, Florence + The Machine and Blur’s Dave Rowntree, appearing on his fine album Radio Songs from earlier this year. As a live performer she has recent stints alongside Hannah Peel on her Fir Wave live dates under her belt, and is currently performing with Will Gregory’s Moog Ensemble in Australia.

This EP represents her first dip into solo waters, exercising her songwriting talent on a quartet of tracks that by her own admission take Eurythmics, Kate Bush, Steve Reich and Delia Darbyshire as part of their inspiration.

Joining Hazel is multi-instrumentalist TJ Allen and drummer Alex Thomas, while Gregory and Tim Bran add extra synths to Fragile Creature and Enclosure respectively.

What’s the music like?

Richly evocative and full of character. The well-chosen songs follow a theme of nature vs modernity, and form a self-enclosed unit. They show Mills to be an impressive and urgent writer and vocalist.

The crushed velvet production of Enclosure is matched by Mills’ descriptive vocals, a combination of euphoria and regret. The Embrace is a complementary ballad, full of yearning and with more than a little drama. Mills’ voice has elements of Kate Bush for sure, but Alison Goldfrapp and Tori Amos are also to be found, while her work on the live circuit has given her a strong sense of timing in the musical storytelling.

Hold The Water is poised but tense, the multi-layered voices set against a harmonically restless, stuttering groove. Fragile Creature is certainly that, but there are hints of unrevealed menace, the wordless sighing of backing vocals adding an icy edge to the picture.

Does it all work?

It does. There is much to savour here, and repeated listening – preferably at volume – reveals impressive attention to detail in the sonics and the production, as well as the depth of Mills’ vocals.

Is it recommended?

Enthusiastically. Fans of all the acts mentioned above will want to hear this, for Hazel Mills has an original voice and intensity. It will be interesting to chart her progress for sure.

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