Category Archives: On record

Switched On – Kennebec: Departure (Night Time Stories)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The Olympic Peninsula in Washington state is a world away from downtown New York, but the two link Eric Phillips’ first album as Kennebec. Suffering from the sensory overload that many can experience in one of the world’s most vibrant cities, Phillips and his friends were looking for an escape, and their time in the Northwest gave them not just solace but musical impetus.

Phillips is now based in Portland Oregon, but Departure will serve as a musical diary of his Washington sojourn.

What’s the music like?

Departure is the result of two years’ musical endeavour, but rather than sounding like a long, laborious piece of work, it is notable for its freshness. The wide open textures speak of pure musical and mental freedom, while the rich selection of instruments and textures suggest a complete lack of restrictions. The musical language is open too – with electronica as a loose base, Phillips and friends explore Western musical forms but are open to inclusion and variety.

In the course of its 35 minutes Departures makes good and imaginative use of Mirabai Peart’s violin and viola, with a silvery tone the base for Kalahari and some nice, multiple string work on A Monsoon. Phillips also uses the ngoni and kalimba in the course of his musical explorations, as well as classical guitar – all of which he plays himself. They give tracks like Pipe Dreams and As We Grow Older a rarefied air.

Add to this some imaginative studio-based rhythms and you have a flexible style of music that rewards several approaches.

Does it all work?

Yes. Departure works from several musical angles. Electronica lovers will enjoy its fresh approach and freely cast rhythms, while traditional music fans will appreciate the sensitive blending of different styles. This is fusion of genres at its best, done in a way that needs no labelling at all.

Emotionally the music is very open, reflective on occasion but imbued with a fresh energy at others, as though the creator has emerged from a particularly good and invigorating night’s sleep. Spend more time with it and it will have a similar effect on you, the listener!

Is it recommended?

Very much so. Departure works at either end of the day and provides the opportunity of a clean and clear mindful state for its listeners. Think of it as a palette cleanser and a fresh approach, and you will take plenty from its charms.

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Switched On – Recondite: Dwell (Ghostly International)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Recondite has been criticised for sounding the same between albums – as recently as the last few days – but when your output is as beautifully set up as his it would seem churlish to change your style unless you feel a strong conviction to do it. Real name Lorenz Brunner, he also recognises that his devoted fanbase thrive on his ability to continue doing what he does so well – and Dwell is the result of those endeavours.

What’s the music like?

Introverted but rhythmic. Dwell stays on the darker side where harmonies and atmospherics are concerned but there is a strong element of comfort to its vibes, a nice balance of warmth and cold.

Nobilia and Black Letter are two of the best tracks, both with starry flickers. In spite of the delicate drum tracks there is still a good deal of movement too. Mirror Games explores some rather lovely effects that are the sonic equivalent of dancing light patterns, refracting out over a bigger perspective. Moon Pearl is dubby, with light and shade, while Interlude 2 and Surface also explore a slower tempo to good effect. Wire Threat is extremely deep, the muffled kick drum and held bass a bed for slowly shifting, twinkling keyboards to move over.

Does it all work?

Yes. Brunner’s music reveals more than you think it might on first listen, describing a picture the listener can create for themselves. It is darkly shaded and nocturnal, but is ultimately a strong companion to have around. Turn the music up and it works well in a small club space too.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Our perception might be that Recondite may not be challenging himself overly, but it takes great craft and invention to keep interesting in electronic music. Dwell is full of good things, and provides proof that Brunner is still producing some beautiful music. Those who already love his output will see no reason to hesitate here.

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On record – Devonté Hynes & Third Coast Percussion – Fields (Cedille Records)

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Devonté Hynes
For All Its Fury
Perfectly Voiceless
There Was Nothing

Devonté Hynes and Third Coast Percussion

Cedille Records CDR 90000 192 [60’49”]

Producer Jesse Lewis
Engineer Kyle Pyke

Recorded 17-20 July 2018, Chicago Recording Company & 13-14 October 2018 (Electrical Audio)

Written by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

It has become quite a challenge keeping track of Devonté Hynes’ musical activities of late. While releasing a mixtape of quality offshoots from his Blood Orange project (reviewed on Arcana here), he has also released the soundtrack to Queen & Slim. With those in the can, there was always a danger this set of compositions, his most ‘classical’ opus to date, would fall below the radar. Indeed it did on its release in October – but Arcana decided to pick it up and write about it!

There are three pieces here – the substantial For All Its Fury and two shorter pieces, Perfectly Voiceless and There Was Nothing. Hynes wrote them on a Digital Audio Workstation, sending them to Third Coast Percussion for arrangement and orchestration, before meeting up with them to record the works in the second half of 2018. All three pieces have their roots in dance, and were originally written for choreography by the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago company.

What’s the music like?

Accomplished, stylish and with a few surprises in store – but Hynes’ music needs the chance to establish itself. Those familiar with his language might expect his forays into longer compositions to be relatively simple in content, but Fields shows that not to be the case. Instead he takes his lead from the shorter form songs for Blood Orange, picking motifs and textures with the flexibility to blossom into something more substantial.

Reach and Blur, the first two movements of For All Its Fury, set out a picture of cloudy ambience, reminding us of Hynes’ love of Debussy. Only in Coil does the music really begin to flex its muscles. This takes place through a deceptively simple marimba riff that Hynes takes through a number of settings and developments. The murky ambience returns, with warm synthesizer chords, and the music – though sonically attractive – threatens to lose its direction.

Gather, the seventh section, restores the momentum with busy xylophones and chimes, creating a lovely space with bowed marimbas, after which the music floats and creates an enchanting world with the chimes of Tremble. Those chimes spill over into the treble-rich Cradle, before Hynes starts to work in the lower reaches and rich sonority of the marimba sound. This section – Press – generates the most energy, before evaporating into the ambient wash of Fields itself, which then builds to a substantial and satisfying finish.

The other two pieces are self-contained. Though their titles indicate they will be lacking, Perfectly Voiceless and There Was Nothing do have some appealing music. The former busily gets on with creating loops and developing them, though doesn’t quite break free of the influence of Philip Glass. The instrumental colours are again really attractive, and the surrounding musical ambience is rather beautiful, with the shrill treble of chimes complemented by rich, lower marimba writing. There is a sense of petering out at the end, however.

There Was Nothing starts with more soft, starry-eyed ambience, the colours familiar from the other pieces, but there is more evidence of electronic manipulation here with a warm backdrop to the fluttering marimba figures. There is a less obvious shape to this piece – inevitably, given the title – but it has a broader set of textures which are charming on headphones.

Does it all work?

Most of the time. On occasion it feels as though Hynes’ music loses its sense of direction, but given the context of the pieces they serve their brief well. Fields is certainly an appealing album to listen to for its warm colours and consonant harmonies, and Hynes shows enough technique in his mastering of percussion instruments to suggest there is a lot more potential here.

Is it recommended?

Yes. If you’ve followed Hynes’s various pseudonyms, but especially Blood Orange, you will enjoy the warm colours presented by Fields. Hynes’ understated and poignant vocals may be missing, as well as an electronic drum kit, but his next level of expression – analogue percussion instruments – serve him well.

There is however the nagging feeling that these are works in the early stages of progress, but that in itself is intriguing. It will be very interesting to follow where Hynes goes next, and how his obvious talents are harnessed.

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You can read more about Fields at the Cedille website, together with options for purchasing on analogue and digital formats

Let’s Dance – Crosstown Rebels present Spirits III (Crosstown Rebels)

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Various Artists – Crosstown Rebels presents Spirits III (Crosstown Rebels)

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

In the press release for the latest instalment of their Spirits compilation, Crosstown Rebels founder Damian Lazarus explains why the series has become so important to him. He sees it as ‘a very important annual mission in which my focus is to uncover some of the most exciting new underground music and piece it together in a way that makes a statement for the label. In discovering new artists and putting them side by side with established people we are setting new agendas for sound and for the future. These are battle weapons, freshly unearthed anthems, deep experiments and awakenings’.

What’s the music like?

Very much in keeping with the press release. There are several striking cuts here, and as Lazarus says it’s a very healthy blend of the known names and new ones. Not surprisingly the known names includes Lazarus himself, and his Ergot starts proceedings with a deep track whose riff almost slips down the back of the music.

Elsewhere the chunky beats and bass of Denney and James Dexter’s Transcend are a hit, as is the brooding Creatures Of The Night from Aiwaska with Jimmy Wit an H. Arguably the most distinctive and memorable track comes from Cipy and Knowkontrol, whose Newark has a really good falsetto vocal as its main hook. Dennis Cruz gives a nice trumpet imitation of an elephant to add a bit of humourous deep jazz to Mother Earth, while Harry Romero reinforces his reputation for fine house music with the excellent It’s You, a kind of mini chant that really gets going over bleeps and a nippy beat. The tempo drops a bit for Eli & Fur at the end, their collaboration with Brothertiger She’s Just A Wanderer a loping piece of dub-house that works really well.

Does it all work?

Yes. It’s well laid out and delivered, and does exactly what a fan of Crosstown Rebels would want it to do.

Is it recommended?

Yes, for the above reasons! House music is the main name of the game here, but Damian Lazarus has put together a really good set of forward facing Spirits that deserve to be heard.

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You can buy the compilation from the Phonica Records website here

Switched On – BUNKR: The Initiation Well Remixed (VLSI)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

BUNKR’s album The Initiation Well proved to be one of the sleeper electronic hits of 2019, showing off the ability of Brighton’s James Dean to present an album of really well thought out electronica.

Now as a companion piece he has commissioned an album’s worth of remixes, with eight very different interpretations ranging from Digitonal to preston.outatime.

What’s the music like?

Both calming and invigorating, in equal measure. The collection is presented in a logical order, so we begin with a dreamy Digitonal remix of For The Birds, setting the scene beautifully as the track is left in suspension, bisected by a soft piano.

Fujiya & Miyagi do a typically fuzzy take on Solitary Drift, with added flutter and distortion that suits it really well – and their own half-whispered vocals. Octavcat then ensure Solar Wings takes off with its broad chords and busy rhythm.

The upfront, block beats of preston.outatime take Left For Dust to a tougher dancefloor, while Jonathan Krisp gets some acidic squiggles going against the slow moving backdrop of The Initiation Well itself. East Of Eden acquires more bleeps and movement, a really nice glitchy bit of techno applied by Lextron, while the remix of Docking Procedure finds Infinite Scale going under the surface with a head-nodding bit of dub. Finally label heads Echaskech apply their typically robust beats to a heady remix of Left For Dust.

Does it all work?

Yes. Importantly this set of remixes works as an album too, such is the intelligent arrangement of different tempos, textures and beats. All the BUNKR originals are complemented but remain recognisably the work of Dean himself.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. If you liked the original album you’ll find this imaginatively realised remix collection complements it perfectly.

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