Author Archives: Arcana

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About Arcana

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

Switched On – Various Artists – Silberland Vol.3: The Ambient Side Of Kosmische Musik 1972-1986 (Bureau B)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The Silberland series from Hamburg label Bureau B has looked at Kosmische Musik and The Driving Side Of Kosmische Musik in previous volumes, covering electronic music from 1974 to 1984. This third instalment casts the net a little wider, unearthing pioneers of ambient music from as far back as 1972.

There are some familiar names among the tracklisting – Brian Eno, Moebius, Roedelius, Faust, Conrad Schnitzler to pick just a few – but Bureau B have cast the net wider still, in their words “coasting far beyond the familiar rhythmic terrain to explore crystal caverns and emerald pastures, immersing listeners in the ambient side of this alternative Allemagne. Building on the tape loops, tone poems, and minimalist compositions of the 60’s avant-garde, these musicians utilised the sweeping scope of the synthesiser to create expansive meditations on outer-planetary escapism, human connection, and the natural world. This compilation offers a survey of this singular era, blending pioneering voices with lesser-known artists for an immersive sonic experience.”

What’s the music like?

Ambient, of course – but full of bubbling creativity too, and intelligently structured. There is a lot to learn here for the intrepid musical explorer, while the big names are a reliable draw for those approaching cold.

Many of these pieces balance a broad ambient canvas with foreground activity, to really good effect – and with the indication that more classical composers such as Steve Reich or Philip Glass were providing subtle inspiration in the background. Roedelius, an original, balances a serene upper line above lightly pulsing activity in Veilchenwurzeln. Hope Is The Answer gurgles approvingly under the watchful eye of Rolf Trostel, as does Conrad Schnitzler‘s Electric Garden, while Serge Blenner‘s Phrase IV explores a kind of cosmic minimalism.

What also impresses greatly here is the sonic range of the label’s choices, with the soft-grained, guitar-led Tedan a rather beautiful addition from Lapre. The wispy trails of Riechmann‘s Abendlicht paint an evocative pictures, reassuring in their consonant harmonies – as is the regular pulse of Per Aspera Ad Astra, a reassuring beacon in the hands of Adelbert Von Deyen. Moebius and Plank explore slow, dubby terrain through Nordöstliches Gefühl, in contrast to the restful Southland from Rüdiger Lorenz.

Does it all work?

It does – with repeat plays rewarded handsomely, the detail just above the broad ambience of a lot of these tracks revealing more with every turn.

Is it recommended?

Wholeheartedly – an essential purchase for anyone interested in electronic music from the 1970s and 1980s. Silberland vol.3 is a highly enjoyable and occasionally quirky on a genre that has grown to become one of the most active and creative areas in music today.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,642 – Saturday 30 August 2025

On Record – Matt Haimovitz: Thomas de Hartmann – La Kobsa (Pentatone)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Thomas de Hartmann is a composer whose profile has soared in recent years, thanks to well timed album releases from Wyastone and Pentatone, and a recent Proms debut where the Violin Concerto was performed by Joshua Bell, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Dalia Stasevka.

Today Pentatone make a small but meaningful addition to their discography. Cellist Matt Haimovitz has already recorded the composer’s Cello Concerto, but now he adds a meaningful extra in the solo work La Kobsa, composed by de Hartmann in exile in 1950.

The press release writes, “While the recording was made at Skywalker Sound in California, the emotional core of this project lies in Haimovitz’s four-city tour of Ukraine with the Odesa Philharmonic in May 2024, made possible by a grant from the U.S. State Department. During his journey, he performed impromptu sets in public squares and for wounded soldiers, accompanied by a documentary film crew, and brought de Hartmann’s music to his homeland for the very first time.”

What’s the music like?

Running in two short movements, La Kobsa begins with a deeply felt utterance, a profound piece from the cello:

The second part is more playful and optimistic, a dance with a rustic edge, which finds Haimovitz in exuberant but poignant form:

Listen / Buy

You can listen and explore download options from the Pentatone website

Published post no.2,638 – Friday 29 August 2025

New music – Dustin O’Halloran: The Chromatic Sessions EP (Splinter Music)

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adapted from the press release by Ben Hogwood

Award-winning US pianist and composer Dustin O’Halloran releases new single Red – the second single taken from his forthcoming The Chromatic Sessions EP, to be released on 8 October on Splinter Music. An improvised piano piece recorded in a single take in his Reykjavík studio; it’s a rather beautiful private moment to make up the second of three tracks forming The Chromatic Sessions’EP.

It’s been a productive couple of years for O’Halloran. Late last year he scored two films, including Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut Eleanor the Great, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. His ambitious 2024 album 1 0 0 1, released on Deutsche Grammophon, was an immersive concept album that asked questions about the place of human consciousness in the age of AI.

Red is a partner piece to Gold – released last month – with a final chromatic track titled Blue set to follow. The theme of colours emerged organically during the process of writing and recording. “It wasn’t something pre-planned,” says Dustin. “I was improvising on the piano every day, and I realised I was always thinking about colours as I wrote. When you have the mic set up and you’re recording, it puts you into deep focus. There’s something about that red light being on that really pulls you into the moment.”

O’Halloran has long experienced synaesthesia – a mingling of the senses that may sound familiar to many. It can be something as simple as a taste snapping us back to a place we’ve been, a familiar scent triggering a powerful emotional flashback, or – in Dustin’s case – a certain sound evoking the feeling of a colour. “I believe that people are more synesthetic than they realise,” he says. “It’s something that you can tune into. All sensations are ultimately translated in the brain — and I think you can learn to connect different parts of those sensations together.” Such connections are a theme that runs through ‘The Chromatic Sessions’ – including the connection between Dustin and his audience.

Each of the three singles that form ‘The Chromatic Sessions’ EP come with downloadable sheet music when bought on Bandcamp, allowing listeners to play the music themselves. It’s a gesture born of O’Halloran’s heartfelt wish to forge a closer relationship with his listeners. “Releasing music digitally feels so distant and disconnected,” he says. “And I think we’re all looking for connection. When people get involved in playing the music, it becomes part of them in a different way. It becomes communal. It becomes theirs.”

Published post no.2,637 – Thursday 28 August 2025

Switched On – Dot Allison Subconsciousology (Lomond Campbell remixes) (Sonic Cathedral)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

When Consciousology was released in 2023, Arcana noted its “dreamy textures and contours providing enchantment and, ultimately, escapism“. We also complemented Dot Allison’s vocals harking “back to some of the memorable folk-inflected voices of the  1960s and 1970s”.

Electronic beatsmith Lomond Campbell, however, has seen the potential to make this album “deeper, darker and dancier”, departing from the pastoral outdoors to take the music underground to a club. The pair were introduced by Hannah Peel, after which Campbell remixed Ghost Orchid, from her previous album Heart-Shaped Scars. So impressed was Allison that she asked him to remix the whole of Consciousology.

What’s the music like?

Campbell is notable for his consistently inventive approach to beat making and colour shading, and that is certainly the case here.

He has a refreshing originality that complements Allison’s thoughts and lyrics, too. Double Rainbow shifts restlessly, with added colour from arpeggiated synths. Allison’s haunting voice suits Campbell’s inventive beatmaking on Bleached By The Sun, which harks memories of Kavinsky’s Night Call – in a good way. Meanwhile Mother Tree breaks out into a psychedelic, dubby groove Andrew Weatherall would be proud of.

Weeping Roses is the real eyeopener, as it unexpectedly opens up into a big room floor filler, with what Allison notes is the “light and dark clash of worlds and sounds that Lomond has created from the roots and stems of the original.”

Comparisons are inevitably drawn with Allison’s work as part of One Dove, and in a good way – for electronic music feels not only like Dot Allison’s home turf, but an essential part of her musical make-up that drives a great deal of creativity.

Does it all work?

Yes – and it there is something refreshingly rugged about the end result, putting Dot Allison’s voice through a very different emotional wringer.

Is it recommended?

It is – but should be heard right next to the original, to appreciate Lomond Campbell’s creativity and Dot Allison’s emotional connections. Both forces are extremely well matched here.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,639 – Wednesday 26 August 2025

Switched On – Alison Goldfrapp – Flux (A. G. Records)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

As Goldfrapp continue their hiatus as a band, singer Alison Goldfrapp adds a second notch to the belt on her solo career.

Most of Flux was made in Sweden, working with producer and songwriter Stefan Storm, with the renowned Richard X also appearing in a collaborative guise.

What’s the music like?

For Alison Goldfrapp, this is a relatively safe move, but it certainly plays to the strengths of her vocals. The songs are well-written, with some telling explicit stories. By a quirk of fate Sound & Light was written earlier on the same day that Goldfrapp saw the Northern Lights for the first time, and it captures the rarefied atmosphere of their appearance.

The vocals are ice-cold, the productions clean and relatively clinical, and many of the songs become earworms after a few listens. Hey Hi Hello is an excellent opener, while the sultry Reverberotic works up a sweat at a slower beat. Find Xanadu brings the best out of Richard X, with a fine vocal to boot, while some much-needed heat is added by Ordinary Day, a quality pop-house cut spending time by the pool.

Does it all work?

It does, though there is a wish that Goldfrapp would let herself go emotionally a bit more. These are excellent club cuts, but most are on safe ground where feelings are concerned.

Is it recommended?

It is, thanks to some classy work in league with Stefan Storm and Richard X. Alison Goldfrapp remains one of the most recognisable voices in pop music currently, and she certainly knows her way around a dancefloor. Add a bit more explicit feeling and her music would be irresistible.

Listen / Buy

You can explore purchase options for Flux on the Piccadilly Records website

Published post no.2,638 – Tuesday 26 August 2025