Category Archives: On record

On Record – Kathy Hinde: Twittering Machines (TBC Editions)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Twittering Machines is an audiovisual performance by Kathy Hinde that won an Ivor Novello award in 2020. This recorded version presents a single composition, split over two sides of vinyl, marking the centenary of Beatrice Harrison’s famous BBC broadcast, where the cellist duetted with a nightingale, drawing attention to the bird’s perilous plight.

Her study looks at the disrupted environmental cycles that may threaten its future, in a direct and confrontational way, drawing attention to unsettling interactions of humanity and nature. She uses John Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale in a morse code translation, used as ‘a metaphor for humanity’s existential struggle with the climate crisis.” The poem has a counterpoint of music boxes, bird imitation toys, singing bowls, gongs, synths and field recordings, along with the voices of British ornithologist Peter Holden MBE and Bavarian bird imitator Helmut Wolfertstetter, which Hinde has cut onto dubplate.

Thus Twittering Machines profiles not just birds but social media outlets of the same name, its name gaining double meaning as the album becomes a ‘lament for our fast-dying planet.’

What’s the music like?

Both enlightening and unsettling – and affecting, too. The Morse code at the start is an arresting combination when paired with the birdsong, but as it dulls and the birds take over the sense of unrest is real, in spite of the ambience of the natural sounds.

Side B features a spoken description of the chaffinch from Peter Holden, and as it proceeds the monologue becomes detached from the sounds around it, which take on more reverb. Soon the bells take over, resonant to the point of overpowering the listener with their rounded profile, and the piece, having reached an apex, subsides back to the messages of the Morse code.

Does it all work?

It certainly achieves Kathy Hinde’s objectives and presents a powerful case in defence of the birds’ welfare. This is a musical message that proves difficult to ignore.

Is it recommended?

It is – but with caution, for this is certainly not music or sounds for all moods and can prove uncomfortable on headphones. Yet that is the point, for Twittering Machines is a powerful wake-up call, a reminder that nature – and birds in particular – are not to be taken for granted.

For fans of… Erland Cooper, Rautavaara, Cabaret Voltaire

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Published post no.2,206 – Tuesday 11 June 2024

On Record – BEAK>>: >>>> (Invada Records)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

There is a refreshing lack of information to go with the new BEAK>> album. It is, quite simply, the need of a group of people to make music, with no back story in particular – just the love of what they do and can achieve together.

This is probably why >>>> does not have more of a distinctive title, as the music is left alone to have the best possible impact. It was recorded at Invada studios in Bristol, the sessions dotted around to accommodate the band’s touring schedule.

There is, however, a story behind the opening track Strawberry Line, which is a tribute to Geoff Barrow’s much-loved dog Alfie, who appears on the album’s cover.

What’s the music like?

Compelling. As the band say, it works best listened to in one breath from start to finish, where the listener can appreciate how the grooves take hold through the album.

The Alfie tribute, Strawberry Line, starts with a solemn, chorale-like figure, which eventually acquires a groove and grows to impressive heights. The Seal has a clipped rhythm and greater urgency, while Windmill Hill starts the more beat-driven section of the album with an appealing, wonky groove.

From here on the bass heads are in for a treat, thanks to the grooves of Hungry Are We and Ah Yeh, which has been around for a little while, and makes a very strong impact in this LP version. As the album progresses the spirits rise further, with a brilliant bass line on Bloody Miles and some clanging, metallic percussion that propels Secrets towards the 1980s in the company of a buzzing synth code.

The closing Cellophane is an unsettling affair, however, going through a woozy vocal and distracted band passage before suddenly gaining momentum like a dance of death, careering into the buffers at the end.

Does it all work?

It does – and the bigger the system the better for this affair, so that the bass driven tracks make their mark and the woozy, psychedelic dressing gets its full perspective.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. BEAK>> are continuing on their compelling path of sonic innovation with this powerful and multifaceted piece of work.

For fans of… Portishead, Magazine, Cabaret Voltaire, Can

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Published post no.2,198 – Monday 3 June 2024

On Record – Howe Gelb: Weathering Some Piano (AKP Recordings)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Howe Gelb is a seasoned musician of many projects, so it is entirely within character to see him popping up with a solo piano album for AKP Recordings.

Made in his Arizona dwelling, it is a private affair, with Gelb on the piano in an adobe room insulated with denim, ensuring the acoustic is intimate and without reverberation.

Discussing the album, Gelb says, “Nature is in itself an improvisation. It can never be an accurately nor consistently planned thing. It should also be noted an extreme climate resonates with emotional wherewithal. Thus, these captured pieces of pianistic atmospheres are simple paintings of the horizon, a semi still life, the net result of allowance, and never intended to be drawn again. Resonance achieved via residence.”

What’s the music like?

Listening to this album gives the impression of eavesdropping on a pianist from the room next door. Gelb’s conversational way of playing is at once appealing, the soft tones of the piano providing an ambience like no other.

The musical language is simple but in a rewarding sense, like an Erik Satie Gymopèdie might be. Weathered itself wears a distracted look, as though the pianist is preoccupied with looking out the window, but Barometer is more structured and completely charming. There is light humour in Coffee vs Rain and Puddle Jumpin’, and a touch of humidity in The Promise Of Thunder.

Gelb’s melodies have light inflections and ornaments, suggesting a jazz influence that sits in the middle ground. Although the reverberation is deadened by the recording conditions, Gelb keeps the sustain pedal down for much of Rhapsody In Cloud Formation, the pitches colliding softly with consonant overtones until an unexpected ending in the lower pitches.

Perhaps the most meaningful piece is the extended central opus, The Sky That Can’t Make Up Its Mind. Here the thoughts and moods are varied, at times going off centre but then coming back, exploring each end of the piano with a youthful mind. There are sudden sharp bursts of clarity and a surprisingly discordant centre, before the piece comes home to rest having traversed all the moods.

Does it all work?

It does. With an intentionally lazy, improvised approach, Gelb has made an instinctive album that allows the mind to wander.

Is it recommended?

It is. Weathered Piano is a pleasing anecdote to the more clinical piano sound served up alongside many a morning coffee. It is a charming piece of work, a more than pleasant distraction for home listening.

For fans of… Erik Satie, Chilly Gonzales, Joep Beving

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Published post no.2,189 – Saturday 25 May 2024

On Record – Yaya Bey: Ten Fold (Big Dada)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Brooklyn artist Yaya Bey returns with a new album for Big Dada, her response to a difficult year in which her father died. Grief can often act as a powerful stimulus within music, and Bey has responded with a candid document, her lyrics channelled through a wide scope of musical forms.

What’s the music like?

Bey is a captivating vocal presence, and Ten Fold is a meaningful and ultimately positive response to those life events. She has clearly been through the wringer but is not afraid to face her feelings head on, copying the listener in on her experiences.

Her father, Ayub Bey – also known as Grand Daddy I.U., pops up at regular intervals with snippets and samples, and there is an underlying positive mood. Her versatility means the music travels through smoky soul, intimate house / garage hybrids, and off kilter funk, as in all around los angeles, which is brilliantly sung. crying through my teeth and me and all my niggas present a frank assessment of her feelings, while the final let go is a fitting culmination.

Does it all work?

It does – Yaya Bey pulls the listener in, converses directly and has you rooting for her long before the end.

Is it recommended?

Very much so – a captivating vocal presence showing how music can be the best possible medicine when dealing with the loss of a loved one. Anyone who has experienced that difficult time will find much to enjoy and relate to here – while musically it is a triumph.

For fans of… Erykah Badu, Ty, Sampa The Great

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Published post no.2,189 – Saturday 25 May 2024

On Record – Group Listening: Walks (PRAH Recordings)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Clarinettist Stephen Black and pianist Paul Jones are back for a third album as Group Listening, but with a twist. Whereas the first two albums, Selected Works Vols. 1 and 2, were cover-based, Walks is an album of original compositions.

These include Frogs, inspired by an experience Jones had on holiday in Madeira, where a group of frogs were collected under a bridge, their croaks amplified and echoed in a chorus caught in a field recording.

Walks is also inspired by Robert Walser’s novella The Walk, and its recognition of the space achieved when out in the great wide open under your own steam.

What’s the music like?

Group Listening are really on to something here, the clarinet and piano base acting as a springboard for some imaginative compositions and sonic backdrops.

Field recordings continue to play a big part in their work, and the introductory 5 1°29 09.6 N 3°12 30.6 W sets the music in perspective with footsteps and birdsong, the Walks made real as though we are going somewhere outside. The steady pace is reflected also in New Brighton, where softly voiced thoughts unwind over an easy four to the floor beat, giving a sense of awakening.

Frogs is the standout composition, framed by the remarkable field recording but responding with a tender clarinet duet in play. Hills End is dubby but full of bloom, while Grey Swans, the longest composition on the album, has murmuring clarinets offset by a regular chime from higher piano. Old Reeds has a triple time lilt, hinting at a very different sort of dance.

To close, Pavane IX opens out into the airy Denge, with a deep electric piano sound suggesting the walk has reached a large body of water.

Does it all work?

It does. There is an appealing freshness about this music, made instinctively but realised with sensitivity in the editing too.

Is it recommended?

Yes indeed. Walks is a really enjoyable complement to the first two Selected Listening albums, but it suggests even more creative times lie ahead – and that Group Listening are only scratching the surface of what they might achieve in the future. Definitely a pair to keep an eye on.

For fans of… 

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Published post no.2,185 – Tuesday 21 May 2024