Category Archives: On record

Switched On – Quarion: Shades (Drumpoet Community)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Music and colour have a strong relationship of course, one that has been incredibly productive over the years – and which really came to the fore in early 20th century classical music. The bond has remained strong, particularly in electronic music with use of lights and images. It is not a great surprise, then, to find the likes of Quarion – aka Yanneck Salvo – exploiting the connection with an album of different shades. Getting the music to accurately represent a colour, however, is a harder task.

Initially Shades began as a series of EPs but soon outgrew the concept, meaning Quarion’s previously lauded single releases could be knitted together as an album and combined with a few more experimental tracks.

What’s the music like?

The icy washes of Turquoise (’99 til Infinity) begin Shades with a glacial calm, but it’s not long until Indigo (Aries) asserts a rhythm-based presence, with bleeps and percussion that suggest a Detroit influence.

Shades then shows itself to be a really strong albums of tracks that stand as well on their own two feet as they do in the longer playing context. Cobalt is excellent, and is ideally complemented by the beatless Ultramarine. Azure (Émotion), a collaboration with Ripperton, is notable for its subtle layering, while Sapphire lays more acidic squiggles into the electronic mix.

As you might expect Teal allows you to dive deep into lush, exotic textures, while Cerulean is nicely done, with attractive melodic lines and deep beats. Three of the longer tracks are over eight minutes but pass in a flash – Indigo (Aries), Cobalt (Plains) and Azure (Émotion) all develop with an impressive and compelling command of structure.

Blue is definitely the implied colour here, but there are many shades that are beautifully interwoven by Quarion’s craft.

Does it all work?

Yes, and it all feels natural too. The colours and the music behind them are strong matches, and the move between the tougher, more acidic beats and atmospheric washes of sound means that Shades embraces light and dark ends of the spectrum with ease.

Is it recommended?

Yes, strongly. In an age where some seem determined to turn their back on the album format for playlists, while others celebrate the format anew, it is a real plus to see Quarion embracing the format for all its strengths, and putting together such a coherent and ultimately danceable piece of work. From happy experience, Shades is a record that repays many repeated hearings. Ultimately it proves that even if you have been making music at the top level since 2006, as Salvo has, it’s never too late for an album!

Stream

Buy

Switched On – Piksel: Places (Modularfield)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Places is one-third of a multimedia project by Syntrex. Described as ‘an interdisciplinary collective exploring the sense of transition’, it is equal parts contemporary dance (Magnus Westwell), projected animations (Amy Dang) and live music (Piksel herself).

Syntrex: PLACES – Pickle Factory from Amy Dang on Vimeo.

Piksel, real name Ieva Vaiti, is a Lithuanian musician and producer based in London, whose disciplines include classical violin and electronics, with an ever-increasing film score portfolio. The half-hour long soundtrack for Places brings both her specialities together, presented for listening either in eleven separate tracks or one mixed whole.

What’s the music like?

Both descriptive and ambient. Like all good descriptive scores, this is music that as well as fitting the specification works on its own feet.

The track titles are strongly represented by the music. Walk In sets the expansive scene, while Boxes gives a vivid representation of heavy cubes being pushed around, with white noise and electronics squeezing the sound. Breathing senses the wide open air, Travel has a pulsing bass drum – but She Ghetto is rather disarming, the quarter tones and sighing vocals working together to heighten anxiety.

This is ultimately calmed in the musical hug that is Serenity, offsetting the previous tension with weather-based ambience. Time is a little less calm as it shuts off quite dramatically, but that makes way for Home, the jewel in the crown, where Vaiti plays a richly coloured violin solo that soars over the textures.

Does it all work?

Yes. Places is strongly suggestive in its musical descriptions, meaning the listener can approach it without knowing anything of the project to which it contributes.

Ieva Vaiti’s classical and electronic sensibilities work off each other really well, so that the result is a piece of work suiting both approaches.

Is it recommended?

Yes. It works equally well either listening to the divided tracks or the continuous half hour, where the sense of departure and homecoming is heightened.

Stream

Buy

Switched On – Lapalux: Amnioverse (Brainfeeder)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Amnioverse has a pretty heady back story. Its creator, Stuart Howard – known as Lapalux – sees his fourth album as ‘a sort of portmanteau of the amniotic sac and the universe’. That means a study of the continuing life cycle, from birth through life to death and round again.

This is brought to the listener through field recordings of the elements and an impressive battery of modular synthesizers. Each track has a deeply personal edge through the inclusion or stimulus of spoken word from figures close to the composer. That means friends, loved ones and even exes, Howard prepared to get as personal as he needs to for his music to make an impact.

What’s the music like?

With the above taken into account, it is no surprise to report Amnioverse as the most emotional and direct Lapalux album to date. The field recordings give it a big presence on the stereo and a massive sound perspective on headphones, which can be truly thrilling at times, especially when the beats kick in.

The clattering drums on Voltaic Acid are a great example of this, as is Thin Air, where the brooding soundscapes that have built up over time are emphatically released. The album operates on a vast dynamic scale, barely audible in some private moments while others have a thunderous depth to them.

Earth manages to walk the tightrope between both sides. The vocal statement is telling – ‘When we look at the situation, out there in the big world, it just breaks my heart. We just seem to be lost’ – and is capped by a full bodied break beat and wide open sonic backdrop, reminiscent of Way Out West at their very best in the 1990s.

Momentine develops into a widescreen panorama, with a four to the floor rhythm briefly taking charge, while Thin Air and The Lux Quadrant benefit from the glacial vocals of JFDR. However Lapalux leaves the most haunting of all his work until last. Esc has a dislocated vocal which sings, rather disconcertingly, “So long, life breath”. It is a striking way to finish.

Does it all work?

Yes. Be prepared to jump on the very first noise of the album, where a high pitched ‘contact’ noise can be heard – but after that keep the volume up, as it will help full appreciation of Lapalux’s way with wide open sonic textures.

The music reflects its stunning cover, which is from a photograph of James Turrell’s Twilight Epiphany Skyspace installation in Texas. While it was hugely ambitious for Stuart Howard to attempt a musical translation of this, a listen to Amnioverse confirms he has largely succeeded.

Is it recommended?

Yes. It is a relative rarity for electronic albums to get quite so personal in their making, but Lapalux does so in a way that keeps the listener fully on board. You can feel the deep emotion up close, but also pan out to appreciate the sheer scope of Howard’s workings. The beats, too, are superbly manipulated by an artist who continues to plumb greater depths and richer shades of musical colour. Just like the cover.

Stream

Buy

Switched On – Sudan Archives: Athena (Stones Throw)

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Stream

Buy

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

Posted on by
Reply

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!

Stream and Buy (from November 15)