Category Archives: On record

Switched On – Sudan Archives: Athena (Stones Throw)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Born in Ohio and raised in Los Angeles, Brittney Parks is an artist who successfully evades categorisation under her alter ego Sudan Archives. Athena is her debut album, released on Peanut Butter Wolf’s Stones Throw imprint. That label placement suggests she will have leanings towards rap and hip hop – but that turns out to be a presumption on the part of the listener.

What’s the music like?

Original and fascinating. Sudan Archives is a vocalist capable of song and speech – but in addition she has another string to her bow in the form of a violin. Self-taught, she uses the instrument in melodies inspired by African rhythms and inflections.

These distinctive sounds make her music instantly recognisable, the violin used for middle ground melodies or as an upfront presence. Confessions enjoys the harsher tones of the instrument, complementing her sultry voice, but on the slow Black Vivaldi Sonata she coaxes rich tones of a more electronic timbre, overlaid in the foreground by plaintive pizzicato. Glorious takes a wiry unison melody that has a folk-based charm, while even the short interludes use the violin well, House of Open Tuning II offering a charming sound that makes the listener wish it would develop into something longer.

This attention to detail on the melodic front takes place over slower, versatile beats that work well in the context of hip hop, soul and R&B. Sometimes they cross between the two, as on Coming Up, complemented by the violin. Often Parks’ vocals are frank and personal, talking straight to the listener. ‘When I was a little girl I thought I could rule the world’, she begins on Did You Know – but before long it’s a realisation. ‘Did you know that life isn’t perfect?’, she declares.

The track sets the scene for an ambitious album based on her experience as a twin. Through that perspective she offers lyrics ‘testing the boundaries between good and evil, and vulnerability and strength’. There is a good deal of tension afoot, though songs like Iceland Moss offer a bit more contentment.

One of the album’s finest songs is Limitless, a richly scored number where the chorus is murmured softly. It is at once catchy and pertinent: ‘Living this on our fingertips, Don’t sweat it, just get it, We’re too cool to admit it, All we have is the internet’. Pelicans In The Summer is also excellent, a poignant song that closes the album with a plea, ‘I just want you to remember I never lied, never lied’.

Does it all work?

Yes. Athena is a refreshing experience for anyone tired by musical restrictions in a lot of the more chart-based hip hop and R&B. Sudan Archives refuses to get weighed down by those unwritten rules and trends, making music that is directly expressive and seemingly reflective of her as a person.

Is it recommended?

Yes. This is really interesting and original work from someone who is musically and emotionally frank without ever resorting to attention seeking. ‘Just feel it, don’t fight it, just feel it,’ she says on Green Eyes, and that is pretty much the advice to heed for Athena’s potential listeners. The album will make a strong impression, that’s for sure.

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Switched On – Detroit Love 3 mixed by Wajeed (Detroit Love / !K7)

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What’s the story?

Carl Craig is building up some healthy momentum with his Detroit Love mix series. With Stacey Pullen and Craig himself having delivered techno-rich instalments, attention turns to Slum Village co-founder and Dirt Tech Reck label head Wajeed.

His is a very personal take on the city’s music, having grown up with its soul and hip hop, not to mention the rich house and techno tradition to which he has more recently moved. He describes his contribution as a selection of tracks ‘from a small group of my favourite contemporaries from Detroit and abroad’.

What’s the music like?

Pretty bouncy – at least from the start. Wajeed fires the starting gun with a couple of mid-tempo tracks with a spring in their step, 14KT’s We Out Chea and Blackloops’ Higher.

Wajeed’s references to hip hop and jazz are subtle but lasting, making themselves known in Tall Black Guy’s Coffee Room before the mix heads for deeper territory with Patrice Scott and the cool vibes of The Detroit Upright.

With the mix settling into its groove quickly this is an ideal way into the evening, whether staying in or going out. If it’s the latter you will definitely benefit from Rocco Rodamaal’s Someday, a gospel-tinged number reworked by Brian Tappert rework, and from the rolling drums of Ninetoes’ Stand Up.

The sound perspective widens for D-Love Music’s Celestrial, a warm-hearted addition with its big brush strokes of spacey synths, which leads into Damon Bell’s Mermaid Blues, with persuasive vocal contribution from Camille Syfia. Roddy Rod’s Overbite has a strong bit of piano work and Matthew Law’s Minimariddim a good instinctive feel, stripping the textures back.

The bounce is back for Joss Moog’s persuasive 196, before the drums roll more for Teflon Dons’ Gonna Tell Me. LADYMONIX gets some really good warehouse-style percussion for WhoRU, leading to the chopped up vocal of Harry Romero’s Revolution.
DJ Rimarkable’s I’m In Trouble has an excellent vocal, one of the stand-outs of the mix, and this paves the way for a closing duo of Lux’s groove The Set Up and Preslav & C. Scott with warm grooves to finish on Achey Breaky.

Does it all work?

Yes. Although Detroit Love is likely to be labelled as a techno series Wajeed proves there is going to be much more to it than that, with a commendable willingness to bring in the city’s other important forms of music commendable and definitely suited for the long term.

Is it recommended?

Yes. It will be interesting to see where Detroit Love goes next, for although we’ve had three volumes there are so many more musical back streets to navigate. Even if it heads for techno again there is a huge pool of more than able DJs from which to choose!

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Switched On – R Plus: The Last Summer (Loaded Records)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

When R Plus released singles Summer Dress and Those Were The Days in an undercover style earlier in the year there was a lot of chat as to who could be behind the music. Now R Plus has been revealed as a close relative of Faithless.

Key to the project is Rollo Armstrong but his sister Dido also plays a key role, having worked on the project alongside her recent album.

What’s the music like?

Some of the productions are Rollo on his own and are essentially down-tempo Faithless, sitting by the pool rather than heading towards the dancefloor, as they undoubtedly would have done with the edge of Maxi Jazz‘s vocal.

Dido’s vocal contributions work really well here, complementing the synths on the likes of the woozy Summer Dress and Cards. Landing and Together make a classy pair at the start, while Those Were The Days is top notch Rollo, a Balearic winner that is the equal of any of his solo projects over the last 25 years.

The dividing track will probably be Ozzie Girl, its tale of a holiday ‘romance’ vividly evocative of a summer holiday but not to everyone’s tastes.

Does it all work?

At times there could be more of an edge to the music, which does occasionally enjoy its comfort zone a little too much. Generally however The Last Summer is a success, Rollo’s honed production skills and instincts delivering a strong sunshine album.

Is it recommended?

A qualified recommendation. Faithless fans will enjoy its curiosity value and the effectiveness of the songs, not to mention the heat-soaked instrumentals. This is certainly music Rollo can make with ease, and it would be good in the future to see him really pushing his undoubted talents further once again.

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Switched On – Steve Hauschildt: Nonlin (Ghostly International)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Chicago-based Steve Hauschildt is in a rich vein of musical form at the moment, and follows up last year’s Dissolvi album with Nonlin, his second for the Ghostly label. The ex-Emeralds member has been recording while on tour, drawing from varied climates and cultural hubs such as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Tbilisi and Brussels.

Hauschildt’s Bandcamp page describes his integration of ‘modular and granular synthesis’, and a technique of recording that plots grid-like backdrops, with subtle melodic loops, and treble lines that are relatively free to improvise.

What’s the music like?

This combination of a relatively rigid order for the background and free melodic presence in the foreground is effective throughout Nonlin, which manages to be both relaxing and stimulating at the same time.

Hauschildt eases us in with the soft and slightly moody outlook of Cloudloss and Subtractive Skies, which pulse with shimmering loops while evoking the bigger spaces their titles imply.

As the album progresses so we hear more the beats and the sharper edges of the producer’s analogue gear. Attractor B has depth to its beats while Nonlin itself is machine like, with busy patterns and noises. Reverse Culture Music has a nice poise, Hauschildt using twinkling motifs up top and broad notes and sounds to create the space below. The last two tracks, The Spring in Chartreuse and American Spiral, are more obviously techno-based, the latter starting serenely but gradually twisting its lines.

Does it all work?

Yes. Hauschildt is a reliable source of quality, easy to listen to but never standing still either.

Is it recommended?

Yes, for the point above. Hauschildt’s body of work has no duds – and Nonlin is another extremely solid addition to the canon.

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Switched On – Space Dimension Controller: Love Beyond The Intersect (R&S Records)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Love Beyond The Intersect is the second album from Belfast-based Space Dimension Controller, aka Jack Hamill. Like its predecessor, 2016’s Orange Melamine, which drew from old VHS tapes, this one has an analogue and organic feel to it.

For the storyline Hamill goes back further to the 2013 debut Welcome to Mikrosector-50, renewing an acquaintance with its protagonist Mr 8040. In a refreshing break with the norm, the entire press release sets out the story.

It tells that Mr 8040 has crash landed on a strange planet, following a ‘space dust and vecta grog fuelled burnout’, and he is looking to escape in any way he can. The album follows his trials, tribulations and encounters, which become more emotional than he probably anticipated, and resolves with a neat twist that wouldn’t have been obvious at the beginning.

What’s the music like?

Deep orange may have been the colour last time out, but this time it’s deep purple – in colour only mind, not musical style! If anything Love Beyond The Intersect does reflect that colour though, being dark but more spaced out than its predecessor. There is still a good deal going on musically, but Hammill pans out to take in the surroundings, using expansive textures to complement the close-up, dub inflected places to which the music goes.

These include PVLN, where fragments of deep spoken word can be quite unnerving, recalling some of the work of Jimmy Edgar. Voices Lost To Empty Space, which is quicker and quite minimal with a busy bass line, portrays our subject’s desire to get a move on. He comes to a halt in Intersect Encounter though, where the planet’s heavy atmosphere has a sluggish effect on our subject.

The funk quotient definitely increases as the album progresses, with Early Steps adding a bit of disco and Sundown On Memory Point tripping along nicely. Alone In An Unknown Sector is cool – with those deep vocals back again – and has a nice loping beat and fuzzy backdrop, capturing weird lights and vapour trails. It’s quite a delicate approach to funk that reveals more with each listen, capped nicely by the title track, which chugs along in slow disco fashion.

Does it all work?

Yes. It’s fun to be able to approach the music of Love Beyond The Intersect on two levels. The concept album, as vividly brought to life by Hamill, fires the imagination – or you can just enjoy the album as a well-planned series of excellent, atmospheric tracks that make a really satisfying whole.

There is a pleasing urban grit to Hamill’s approach, and a decent amount of funk too. Parallels with The Orb would be valid at this point, but with less bonkers humour and a more subtle, endearing approach.

Is it recommended?

Yes, because there is more to Love Beyond The Intersect than initially meets the ear. What is never in doubt is Hamill’s clever storytelling, imagination and subtle electronic flair.

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