Category Archives: On record

Switched On – Albrecht La’Brooy: Healesville (Apollo)

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What’s the story?

Albrecht La’Brooy – the Melbourne duo of Sean La’Brooy and Alex Albrecht – bring this 40-minute album of improvised ambience to calm our nerves. Their Spotify biography tells the real story, describing an approach looking to ‘modernise the classic jazz format while walking ambient music through the rainforest and down to the shore. Absorbing Australia’s landscape to craft enlightened, on the fly performances that are never to be missed and never to be repeated’.

What’s the music like?

‘Natural ambience’ is the most appropriate description, for the music is rooted in field recordings made by the pair. On Healesville these include noises associated with tending the land – a tractor is especially prominent – but also a wider sound scape which includes bird noises, indistinct voices and other sounds caught on the breeze. Above this are long, held notes, a slightly shrill bird-like sound and softly intoned piano unisons or chords with plenty of sustain, which unfold like an improvised chorale. The held notes behind can range from one single pitch to thicker clumps but always feel consonant in their make-up.

The fact that two of the five tracks on this album bear the word ‘lullaby’ tells a lot of the mood and tempo at which Albrecht La’Brooy operate, but as well as relaxation there is positive energy to be found in abundance, especially in the piano playing. Sean’s Lullaby may have a good deal of reverb, but its stream of consciousness respectfully echoes Satie and Debussy.

Does it all work?

Healesville is a supremely calming listen, experienced at its best on the morning commute but equally effective in a quiet room. It sets an incredibly restful outdoor scene, making the listener feel as though they are lying on their back in a field with no reason to get up any time soon.

Is it recommended?

Yes, and especially to every commuter whose fevered brow needs soothing!

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Switched On – Mount Liberation Unlimited: Mount Liberation Unlimited (Studio Barnhus)

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What’s the story?

Mount Liberation are from Stockholm, Sweden, and they make music best described with the words ‘space’, ‘funk’ and ‘percussion’ in the same sentence. Tom Lagerman and Niklas Janzon used to be in a band together but found they were enjoying themselves too much in their new project, signing to Axel Boman’s Studio Banhus label. This is their self-titled debut album.

What’s the music like?

Mount Liberation Unlimited is a thrilling ride. Bolstered by heaps of live percussion, their take on space disco is packed with riffs, quirky harmonic asides and a strong rhythmic base. Welcome To Organic is a great illustration of their approach, with a breezy hook, cut up vocal, beefed up percussion and a feelgood vibe – yet if anything it is eclipsed by Gospel (Makes My Body Move In Sinful Ways), a particularly funky number with filtering and drum fills to work an absolute treat on the dancefloor.

Prozac is similarly full of upward looking sentiments, ‘Krauten’ has a driving bass and solid drum track that would do the likes of Justice proud, while later on Techno Thrills and Ecstasy Pills ends in a lush, Balearic warmth giving the effect of a sonic bath to the headphone listener.

Does it all work?

It’s irresistible. Any album that has the ability to put a smile on its listener’s face within five minutes has to be admired, and not only do the pair manage that but they maintain the feeling even in tracks like the seven minute Climb Me Up, with its twinkling xylophones.

Is it recommended?

This is an excellent piece of work that repays multiple listens. Its organic approach, hook-laden and cunningly developed with a healthy sense of humour, is to be admired. Most of all it’s a heap of fun!

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Switched On – Haiku Salut: The General (Secret Name)

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What’s the story?

This is a really intriguing proposition, in which instrumental trio Haiku Salut are invited to score The General, the silent Buster Keaton film of 1926. The group have until now built their reputation with three intricate and intimate instrumental albums, all containing music that translates well to a memorable live experience of subtle imagination. This would seem to be an ideal opportunity for expansion, for the band to show their talent for the bigger screen. The soundtrack runs for the whole film, clocking in at an ambitious 79 minutes.

What’s the music like?

Much more varied than regular listeners might expect. That’s not a criticism of previous albums, more an observation that it is easy to mistakenly pigeon hole a band! If like me you had them down as pedalling intricate electronica, building on small melodic loops to more expansive effect, you would be pleased to note the number of different styles Haiku Salut naturally work in to the fibre of this record.

Initially the pairing of graceful piano and subtle electronics is familiar, and is typically effective, but the sighing motif in the main theme of Start has a sinister undertone and is unsettling. In the centre of the soundtrack, Cannon plays some brilliant sonic tricks with its massive reverb and a held drone chord, expanding the band’s sound considerably, while Train Steal produces big beats to go with the depiction of the crime itself.

This wide range of moods continues to Chopping Wood, where solemn keyboard chords intone like thoughtful brass, or Hide, where a four to the floor beat gives softly voiced energy. ‘Reunited’ conveys its emotion simply through piano, with a watery accompaniment, Firewood crackles with an energetic if subtle beat, while Obstructions has the friendly chatter of loops. The final number of the 23, Finish, returns us to the same outlook as the opening – but that slightly sinister undertone has still not gone away.

Does it all work?

Yes, and without the moving pictures there is still a strong narrative thread running through this music, which leaves a lasting impression. While the subtleties are still on show, Haiku Salut show really impressive ambition and a taste for bigger and more imaginative sounds. The potential is clearly there for the trio to score a lot more films in the future, given the thought and imagination applied here. Their style will continue to win a lot of friends through its melodic approach and interesting textures.

Is it recommended?

Yes. The General continues to impress in subsequent hearings, either in fragments or in a listen to the whole picture.

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On record – Clare Hammond, Swedish Chamber Orchestra / Nicholas McGegan: Mysliveček: Complete Music for Keyboard (BIS)

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Clare Hammond (piano), Swedish Chamber Orchestra / Nicholas McGegan

Josef Mysliveček (1737-1781)
Keyboard Concerto no.1 in B flat major (late 1770s)
Six Easy Divertimenti for Harpsichord or Piano-forte (1777)
Keyboard Concerto no.2 in F major (late 1770s)
Six Easy Lessons for the Harpsichord: Sonatas 1-6 (1780)

BIS BIS-2393 [74’22”]

Producer and Engineer Thore Brinkmann

Recorded March 2018 at the Örebro Concert Hall, Sweden

Written by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Not many composers could claim to have influenced one of the greatest composers to have lived, but Il Boemo (The Bohemian) could do just that. Josef Mysliveček, to whom the nickname was applied, was a Czech composer of rare standing and a mentor to Mozart in the 1770s. He had a life of eyebrow-raising but ultimately tragic events, culminating with his death in great poverty in Rome in 1781, having nearly lost his nose a couple of years earlier to a botched operation.

Clare Hammond’s interview for this site puts more musical detail onto his fascinating tale. More importantly this disc for BIS serves notice of Mysliveček’s standing as an important musical figure and prodigiously talented composer. If you like Mozart, his music is a natural but essential step for further exploration.

What’s the music like?

Really enjoyable. The Piano Concerto no.1, where Hammond is joined by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Nicholas McGegan, has a sparky personality, with plenty of vigour in its fast outer movements and elegance in the softly voiced central slow movement. There is an economy of thought, too – it finishes quickly with the minimum of fuss.

Clare Hammond clearly loves this music, and she plays with poise but also enjoys the instinctive nature of Mysliveček’s writing. The solo works are notable for their compressed construction, never threatening to outstay their welcome and on occasion producing unexpectedly dark undercurrents.

She is alive to these and handles the technical challenges really well. The Six Easy Divertimenti sound anything but unless they are in her hands! She makes the most of their tendencies to surprise, as in the mysterious pauses on some pretty exotic chords in the fifth piece.

The Piano Concerto no.2 has some notable syncopations in its first movement, as well as some adventurous harmonic diversions, before slipping into the minor key for a profound slow movement. Some of the music is contrary, staying away from big technical displays when you might expect them, but the third movement has a spring in its step nonetheless.

The Six Easy Lessons (again sounding pretty difficult!) bring parallels with the keyboard music of Domenico Scarlatti, and receive crisp and characterful performances. The second movement of the First Lesson reminds of the Czech composer’s tendency to spice up his melodies with chromatic movement, and this is one of many good tunes to be found throughout these spirited pieces.

Does it all work?

Yes. The structure of Mysliveček’s output from Hammond gives an ideally balanced disc, with the concertos complemented by the solo works. The clarity of her performance ensures it can be heard in the best possible light, and recording from the BIS engineering team is ideal.

Is it recommended?

Yes, and it fills a gap in the 18th century discography. Here is an important figure on whom the spotlight so rarely shines – and we are grateful to Hammond and McGegan for directing it to the right place.

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You can buy this release directly from the BIS website

Switched On – GLOK: Dissident (Bytes)

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What’s the story?

Ride’s Andy Bell has pulled together all his solo recordings to date under the GLOK alias. GLOK – the German word for ‘bell’ with a crucial letter missing – has been an undercover enterprise until now, an anonymous project brought to life by Bytes chief Joe Clay, a Ride fan himself.

As this story suggests Bell is modest about his side project, but now he has been ‘outed’ as a one-man band, expect to hear a lot more of this music as the year progresses, even allowing for a new Ride album due in August.

What’s the music like?

Dissident unwittingly taps into the success of recent TV series such as Deutschland 83 and 86, where the pleasures have been as much about the music as they have been the plot. Yet as Bell looks back to the 1980s and further, he brings in the influence of Krautrock luminaries such as Can, Neu! And Bauhaus. He does this without compromising his own skills as a guitarist and his credentials as a much-loved ‘shoegaze’ producer.

Keith Tenniswood has remastered the whole album, which unfolds at a very natural pace. The title track clocks in at nearly 20 minutes, but is one of those productions you can completely lose yourself in, the main riff turning away in the background while running through a series of filters, the drum beats receding and then coming back with extra depth.

Bell expands his outlook with the subtle groove of Kolokoi (the Russian word for ‘bell’) and the airy textures and firm kick drum of Pulsing, which has a tempo suitable for dub-infused house. Cloud Cover adds a reminder of his first known discipline as a guitarist – a nice acoustic meander here – while the closing Exit Through The Skylight introduces chattering beats and a more processed feel.

Does it all work?

Yes. Bell has equal headspace for the past and the present, setting the mood perfectly with tracks that are suitable for both ends of the day. ‘Dissident’ on its own shows he can master big structures with durable ideas, while the shorter tracks teem with melodies, subtle humour and a refreshing lack of pretence. The album repays both foreground and background listening, preferably in a hotter climate!

Is it recommended?

Yes. Ride fans will love it, but the recommendation extends to anyone with a love of instrumental music and synthesizers.

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