Category Archives: On record

Switched On – NETHERWORLD: Algida Bellezza (Glacial Movements)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

There is a deeply personal story behind the composition of Algida Bellezza. The man behind NETHERWORLD is the founder of Glacial Movements, Alessandro Tedeschi, and he wrote the core music of the album, which loosely translates as ‘frozen beauty’, in 2015. Each of the five ‘movements’ were born – literally – as he cradled his new daughter. In June 2019 the music was mixed and mastered by Tedeschi’s good friend, sound engineer Matteo Spinazzè Savaris – and the completed album ready for release.

As the cover would suggest it is a great example of Tedeschi’s chilly ambience, which this time takes the all-important Greenland sled dog as its principal focus. The titles of the five tracks all relate to a prominent species of the area – respectively Vulpes lagopus (Arctic Fox), Somniosus microcephalus (Greenland Shark), Orcinus orca (Orca), Monodon monoceros (Narwhal) and Ursus maritimus (Polar Bear).

What’s the music like?

Tedeschi has a way of working that is both ambient but incredibly intense too. The five soundscapes here are characterised by thick textures that resemble weather systems, each putting forward prominent melodic features that work in slowly orbiting loops.

Vulpes lagopus is large in scope, the arctic fox taking very slow, recurring musical breaths, establishing ‘D’ as a tonal base but allowing for other thoughts too. Somniosus microcephalus is almost claustrophobic, its profile like that of a big ocean liner or an incredibly dense cloud with small musical points of reference to hang on to. It effectively wraps the listener in a comforting swathe of cotton wool.

Orcinus orca captures the good and the bad of the killer whale, the passage of a large body expertly portrayed but also its foreboding and potentially inflammatory nature. Monodon monoceros – like the narwhal it portrays – is slower and gentler, the music dominated by soft minor key chords.

Finally Ursus maritimus matches the white of the polar bear, with a lovely sound the listener can really dive into. Tedeschi uses a big bass drum and cymbal effect akin to large waves crashing in the near foreground, before the music settles onto a long sustained note and ultimately settles to rest – even hibernation.

Does it all work?

Yes. Tedeschi brings remarkable depth to his compositions, a blend of easy on the ear ambience and cautionary harmonies that imply everything on the surface is not as comfortable as it seems. This is cold, wintry music that moves slowly, best summarised in visual terms like an icebreaker in the Antarctic – but also managing to portray the five different species in the track titles.

Knowing of Tedeschi’s connection to his little girl only heightens the emotional impact of the music.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Despite its difficult title, Algida Bellezza is typical of Glacial Movements’ output. It works for listeners approaching it from the electronic side but also the classical, where listeners will appreciate the natural, stately development of its ideas. Crucially it is also incredibly ambient and immersive!

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Switched On – Quarion: Shades (Drumpoet Community)

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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!

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Switched On – Piksel: Places (Modularfield)

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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.

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Switched On – Lapalux: Amnioverse (Brainfeeder)

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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.

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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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