Category Archives: On record

Happy National Album Day…

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Last year saw a very successful first run for National Album Day, where we were all encouraged to listen to our favourite album in full at 3.33pm. (I listened to Radiator by the Super Furry Animals in case you ask!)

The sequel is already here today – the year of Don’t Skip. This is to encourage us back to the idea of listening to a single body of work from one musical source rather than a playlist, and to lengthen our attention spans as we do so.

This return to album-playing first principals, warts and all, may well mean taking in some of those puzzling instrumental interludes or hidden tracks (especially if you like progressive rock like I do!) but equally it will offer the chance to marvel at those tracks buried in albums that were quite clearly singles in waiting.

For lovers of classical music, National Album Day should also be heartily encouraged. The classical album might be more of a movable feast than its pop counterpart, but the same principles apply, and Arcana has decided to humbly offer up a few favourites that fit the album format.

One successful way to produce a classical album is to focus in on the music of a particular country. Even better, you can follow the brief of Michael Tilson Thomas and the London Symphony Orchestra, focusing on a particular composer in exile or relocated from home. This example is a thoroughly engrossing look at Stravinsky’s time in America. With brilliantly played pieces short and long, serious and humorous, it is an album to which I return often:

English music fits perfectly into this way of thinking too. Recently the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Rumon Gamba have been looking at the world of British Tone Poems for Chandos – and the recently-released second volume is a gem, with works from diverse sources such as Dorothy Howell, Vaughan Williams and John Foulds:

Another point of departure is the inspiration of a particular artist. On this disc from BIS featuring works inspired by the clarinettist Benny Goodman, Martin Fröst revels in the delights of music by Copland, Hindemith and Malcolm Arnold:

Alternatively if you are a classical performer, you can go for works written for your own performance. The great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich was one of the first artists to carry this one through – and this 1975 combination of concertos for cello and orchestra by Dutilleux and Lutoslawski is a winner:

If you are a singer, you can bring the words into play. Language or poetry can form the inspiration for a record, as it does with this wonderful collection from Anne Sofie von Otter and Bengt Forsberg. La Bonne Chanson was the first record of song I bought, and it stays with me today:

It is interesting to see how newer classical artists have approached the format. Sheku Kanneh-Mason offered something for everyone on Inspiration, his first release, catering for both the newcomer to the cello or the established listener. Either will surely enjoy the Shostakovich Cello Concerto no.1, but also his arrangement of Bob Marley‘s No Woman No Cry:

Finally I offer up two of my own favourite classical albums, both from the ECM label – which celebrates its 50th anniversary next month. The first is composer-themed, an introduction to the haunting sound world of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt in definitive performances, including a magical version of Fratres for twelve cellos:

The second is led by organist Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, and includes a dazzling account of Dance IV by Philip Glass, the culmination of an album including works by Pärt and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Listen and be enthralled:

All that remains is for me to wish you a happy National Album Day, whatever you end up listening to – and if you do, please share them below!

Ben Hogwood

On record – Jürgen Bruns conducts Hanns Eisler’s Leipzig Symphony (Capriccio)

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Eisler
Leipziger Sinfonie (1959-62: compl. 1998 Medek)*
Trauerstücke aus Filmpartituren (1961/2: arr. 2015 Bruns/Fasshauer)*
Nuit et brouillard (1955: original film score)**

*MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, **Kammersymphonie Berlin / Jürgen Bruns

Capriccio C5368 [63’22”]

Producers *Stefan Antonin, **Gideon Boss
Engineers *Martin Staffe and Robert Baldowski, **Stefan Haberfeld and Regine Kraus

Recorded **9 November 2015 at Konzerthaus, Berlin; *15-16 August 2018 at MDR Studios, Leipzig

Written by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

An important disc of orchestral works from Hanns Eisler (1898-1962), each a first recording and confirming the continued distinctiveness of his music over his final years in (then) East Berlin, when more ambitious plans were constantly thwarted by the East German authorities.

What’s the music like?

Eisler essayed symphonic pieces across his output, notably the Deutsche Sinfonie that is his largest concert work.

The Leipzig Symphony was commissioned by that city’s Gewandhaus orchestra but, at the time of Eisler’s death, consisted of a folio of sketches and memos given definition by Tilo Medek (1940-2006) to commemorate the composer’s centenary. Drawing mainly on film scores (as Eisler had done in his six orchestral suites), these four movements make for a quirky yet compelling entity: unfolding from the pungent contrasts of the initial Prelude and Idyll, via a restive slow movement then a sardonic scherzo both entitled Con moto, to a closing March without Words whose bracing impetus is typical of Eisler at all stages of his career. Some aspects – notably a percussive onslaught at the end of the second movement – are likely interventions by Medek (briefly a pupil of Eisler), though overall the expressive content and formal follow-through have an authentic quality such as makes this piece a necessary addition to the Eisler catalogue and one that warrants repeated exposure.

The other two works are both film scores. In the instance of Funeral Pieces of Motion Picture Scores, its nine miniatures were extracted by Jürgen Bruns and Tobias Fasshauer from music for two films about the Holocaust. The moods may be consistently subdued, but the motivic repetition Eisler threaded ingeniously through these scores has enabled a cohesive sequence whose end returns deftly or without contrivance to its beginning. Given that both films were forgotten soon after being made, this arrangement constitutes a worthwhile act of restitution.

Night and Fog presents a rather different proposition. This half-hour piece is in fact the entire score to a documentary about Auschwitz shot (partly on location) by Alain Renais and whose acclaim facilitated his subsequent film career. This is now available on DVD and mandatory viewing, yet Eisler’s contribution is entirely viable on its own terms. Its 13 numbers (lasting between 30 seconds and five minutes) again opt for understatement.

Peter Deeg’s insightful booklet note indicates how the studio musicians seemed nonplussed by Eisler’s insistence on emotional restraint, but the resulting music is its own justification; whether in more ominous episodes (not least one entitled Herr Himmler), or the final movement that encapsulates its subject in a threnody of Mahlerian anguish. Never was Eisler’s ‘commitment’ more explicit.

Does it all work?

Absolutely. It helps that the playing of both MDR Symphony and Berlin Chamber Symphony orchestras feels unerringly attuned to the angularity yet also plangency of Eisler’s expressive ambit, ably guided by the versatile Jürgen Bruns so all three pieces leave a lasting impression.

Is it recommended?

Indeed. To get the measure of Eisler, the collection of (mainly) Berlin Classics recordings – now available on Brilliant Classics – is an essential purchase, but the present disc is a vital supplement and a further significant release from the always enterprising Capriccio label.

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For more information on this release and to purchase in multiple formats visit the Capriccio website

Switched On – Kompakt: Total 19

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Cologne label Kompakt is one of the cornerstones of electronic music and techno. Around this time every year they dip in to the catalogue for a Total collection of exclusives, an annual occurrence for nearly two decades now – and as important as it ever has been for main man Michael Mayer, who oversees this selection.

He goes for a mixture of old and new, established and just setting out – all offering a rich variety of nearly three hours’ music. The aim, as Mayer says, it to ‘reinforce the bond between artists and listeners. They’re like your favourite restaurant round the corner’.

What’s the music like?

Mayer serves up plenty on the Kompakt menu. The first act of the double concentrates on the label’s staple acts, the likes of Jürgen Paape, Jörg Burger and Voigt & Voigt, the brothers delivering reliably strong techno.

Perhaps the two best tracks of the first part are Tom Demac’s Serenade, a really broad and lovely piece of piano-led, richly textured electronica – and the Albert Luxus track In Den Arm Bitte!, remixed with warm colours by Julian Stetter. DJ Balduin’s expansive E.W.B.A. is a fine piece of work, broken beats and big textures. Rex The Dog’s Vortex makes a strong impression too, as does Jonathan Kaspar’s fluid effort Renard.

Arguably it is the second part of newer material that makes the stronger impression, though it does get a bit more samey with its monotone minimal tracks towards the end. Fahrland makes an especially good contribution with Yesterday, darkly dramatic and with elements of Chicago house from Mz Sunday Luv, while the growling lower end bass of Extrawelt’s Pink Panzer gets the complement of some extra acidic tweaking up top. Patrice Baumel gives attitude with Grace, ANNA lets loose at the sharp end of techno with Remembrance, while Raxon proves a driving force with Dark Light.

Does it all work?

In the majority, yes. From the warmth and vulnerability of Weval’s opening track Are You Even Real to the final flourish of Gui Boratto’s 618, via the Kölsch mixing desk, this is a set of tracks that Mayer has clearly spent some time over. The high level watermark remains.

Is it recommended?

Yes – Kompakt are still on their game on this release, and the appearance of Total in the calendar is a reassuring reminder that their high quality thresholds are unlikely to dip any time soon.

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Switched On – Carter Tutti Void: Triumvirate (Conspiracy International)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This is the third and sadly final volume in which the trio of Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti and Nik Colk Void join forces – Carter and Tutti being half of Throbbing Gristle, and Void from Factory Floor. The interchangeable trio can operate as solo artists in their own right, but when they unite improvisation is the watchword of the day.

There is a distinct lack of ceremony to their work together, the six tracks on this collaboration referred to as simply T 3.1 and so on. They are not quite presented in order, suggesting the improvisation runs to the album sequence as well as the music itself.

What’s the music like?

Dark and propulsive, like a lumbering machine. With rolling bass and low slung rhythms T 3.2 comes in like the machine cranking into life, sporting a mid-tempo and slightly dubby profile that sounds superbly moody. It sets a guide for the rest of the album, which proceeds with similarly dark colours but is a compelling listen.

T 3.5 is the sort of track that would benefit from visuals, like the soundtrack to a game or movie yet to be written. Again there is a dark presence in the music, but the effects, disembodied voice of Cosey and fulsome beats combine to make an incredibly descriptive piece of work.

T 3.3 is slightly more acidic and industrial, powered again by an insistent rhythm, the machine now in fine form – and it continues to work well in T 3.1 through a chugging beat that sounds a little like mid-period Orb. The foreground features all kinds of metallic flashes and flickers, as though the trio are welding their music live, and the longer the track goes the more mischievous the interventions become.

Finally T 3.6, monotone like many of the others, plays effective games with its sonic perspective and builds rich layers of sounds that are slate-like in colour.

Does it all work?

Yes, Triumvirate offers an incredibly solid counterpoint to the first two releases, and goes about its business in a refreshingly direct way. There is something thrilling about the music’s construction, its industrial sounds that love to reference the thrill of early dub-infused house as their metallic profiles take shape. It would doubtless be brilliant live.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Heavy and brooding it may be, but the construction of Triumvirate is fascinating to take in, glinting in the darkness and working its magic to great effect on headphones.

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Switched On – Joe Armon Jones: Turn To Clear View (Brownswood)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Joe Armon Jones is a man with a vivid imagination and a thirst for collaboration, so it is hardly surprising that he fits into the world of jazz with such refreshing ease. Yet that is not the only world with which he rubs shoulders, as his second album for Brownswood deftly shows. With guests including Georgia Anne Muldrow and fellow Ezra Collective members Oscar Jerome, Moses Boyd and Nubya Garcia, Turn To Clear View promises musical exploration, a feeling furthered by its P-funk style album cover.

What’s the music like?

Turn To Clear View builds on the promise of instinctive music that Jones’ first album for Brownswood, Starting Today, showed. The fact he has followed up that album in less than a year and a half, with other projects on the go, shows the rich vein of creativity he is currently mining.

Crucially, Turn To Clear View is accessible from almost every entry point. If you come to this from the P-Funk of Funkadelic or more outright jazz leanings, or even slower disco and hip hop, there will be something for you here.

Perhaps the most obvious and appealing groove is Icy Roads, a nice syncopated number that works up a light-headed euphoria. Asheber’s vocal on Try Walk With Me is part of a warm welcome to the album, with the telling lyrics ‘time to let go’, while the Muldrow-fronted Yellow Dandelion is a treat, full of colour and expression and with a great keyboard solo from Jones himself.

Gnawa Sweet shows off a lovely, burnished trumpet sound from the Ezra Collective’s Dylan Jones, while (To) Know Where You’re Coming From has a nice breezy ensemble melody with trumpet and sax. Jehst’s vocal on The Leo & Aquarius dovetails beautifully with another sensitive contribution from Jones, before an energetic rap towards the end, while Nubya Garcia delivers a passionate saxophone solo on You Didn’t Care.

Finally on Self:Love the entreaty to ‘be yourself’ from Obongjayar is perfectly timed, effectively bringing the mood of the album full circle.

Does it all work?

It does. Turn To Clear View is a well-crafted yet instinctive piece of work, musically fluid and enjoying the rich colours and individual styles of those involved. Jones is very sensitive to the guests on the album, but is clearly a force to be reckoned with when he comes to the fore.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. Joe Armon Jones has a stellar career ahead of him on this evidence, and the speed of thought he currently has with his musical projects is enviable. It won’t be long until his next move, for sure!

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