Category Archives: On record

Switched On: Various Artists – Pop Ambient 2024 (Kompakt)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The first Pop Ambient compilation was released in 2001 – since when our need for ambient music is arguably greater than it has ever been, and the annual wander down Pop Ambient lane has become one of the most reassuring fixtures in the electronic music calendar. Arriving near the close of the year, it always coincides with the point where the end of year rush is starting to get too much.

As with previous years, it is a carefully selected blend of Kompakt favourites and rarities, none of them in a rush to get anywhere, and none of them containing any drums or rhythm tracks.

What’s the music like?

Regular listeners will know what to expect here – music suspended in time, with long drawn out notes that slowly shift across the sonic landscape. Many of the productions appear weightless, taking the listener through a dense cloud of ambience that soothes the fevered brow.

Yet while the music is familiar, Kompakt always manage to bring us something new. That means that while the listener is immediately soothed by diving into the ambience of T.Raumschmiere‘s Eterna 2, Mikkel Metal‘s Octarine offers a pattern of distinctive, metallic chimes that draw the listener in. Sono Kollektiv also presents an ambient face on Ever Last Thing but this track has dramatic crescendos within, pulling the ear towards them on headphones.

Joachim Spieth and Głós deliver the sort of weightless gem we have come to know and love from this source, Panta Rhei turning out to be a bottomless wonder, while Blank Gloss deliver some considered but rather beautiful guitar work on Weedless Hook.

Other airy beauties include Morgen Wurde’s Hiernach, with trumpeter Tetsuroh Konishi, and a similarly improvised space where Reich & Wurden make room for Alex Linster and Joel Jaffe on Orbit. Finally Segensklang (Bergfrieden) and Ümit Han (Nirgends) deliver atmospheric moods, the latter with a wandering melodic line.

Does it all work?

It does. None of this will come as a surprise to regulars, but that is a good thing – for Kompakt’s quality threshold is always high.

Is it recommended?

Definitely – with as much enthusiasm as all the others. Pop Ambient needs to remain a permanent fixture in our listening year.

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On Record: Smoove & Turrell – Red Ellen (Jalapeno Records)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The seventh album from Smoove & Turrell is named after Ellen Wilkinson, an early Labour politician who played a prominent role in the Jarrow march – an event on which the band draw inspiration as they tackle the state of the world today.

What’s the music like?

This is a really strong album, not afraid to show its vulnerabilities but countering them with a show of strength, all brilliantly handled by a fine band and their excellent vocalist.

“So sorry I started this party before you”, says Echoes, a forthright song addressing the end of a relationship. Empty Bottle Serenade deals with an equally fragile subject, its grief kept close to the surface but expressed positively. Violet Hour looks at the other side, a chunky number with a great hook and a good deal of funk.

It is typical of the impressive resolve shown here, channelled through the power and poise of singer John Turrell. Geno’s Discotheque feels the funk, but Joy is the choice cut on the album, a rousing anthem to come back to again and again. Meanwhile Mary’s Song generates a strong groove, laced with strings, while The Light exudes positivity through its choral highs. The title track itself is thought provoking and beautifully sung, Turrell’s thoughtful lyrics complemented by a tasteful trumpet solo.

Does it all work?

It does – and Red Ellen is notable for the strength of its songwriting, with barely a weak link to be found.

Is it recommended?

It is – another feather in Smoove & Turrell’s generously filled cap.

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Published post no.2,029 – Monday 4 December 2023

On Record: Moritz von Oswald – Silencio (Tresor)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

For his latest musical project, Moritz von Oswald is studying the voice. He is doing so through two contrasting generators of sound, the human vocal cord and the synthesizer – and is stripping the music right back to basics.

With vocal works from composers such as Ligeti, Varèse and Xenakis in mind, he takes a very minimal approach, stripping the textures back to the bare minimum. Where electronics are involved, he has used specific models, listing the EMS VCS3 & AKS, Prophet V, Oberheim 4-Voice and the Moog Model 15. Where vocals are involved, he has also used specific models – 16 of them in fact, the singers of Vocalconsort Berlin, recorded in Ölberg church.

In the words of the accompanying text for the album, “the recordings of the choral versions were then incorporated into the synthesized parts of the album and brought into a new electronic context; in Silencio, the focus is not on using one means to imitate the other, but to sonically discuss the tensions and harmonies between the two worlds and create a dialogue between them.”

What’s the music like?

In a word, striking. This is very much a case of less is more in a musical sense, and although the album’s concept suggests quite a mechanical and unfeeling approach, the results could not be more different.

What von Oswald has achieved here is remarkable, a set of music that moves between extremely restful, consonant drones and much more dissonant, darker passages. Here he is helped beyond measure by the Vocalconsort Berlin, whose virtuosity was clearly key in getting the required results. The synthesizers, of course, are capable of hitting every note required of them, so it should not be taken for granted that humans can do the same. When they do, and the vocal capabilities are stretched by high, low or extremely sustained notes, that extra effort comes across here in an emotional sense, depicting stress and disquiet.

The long, sustained nature of much of the writing means this is an album in which the listener can fully immerse themselves, and we move between sections easily and instinctively. Silencio may be quite a long album, but it doesn’t feel that way with music of this intensity.

Does it all work?

It does – provided the listener can invest a number of repeat listens. Then the enormity of von Oswald’s achievement can be fully grasped. A word, too, for the outstanding members of Vocalconsort Berlin, whose virtuosity knows no bounds.

Is it recommended?

It is, enthusiastically, providing a reminder that von Oswald is a composer of depth, imagination and craft. Silencio is a remarkable and intensely rewarding achievement.

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Published post no.2,028 – Sunday 3 December 2023

Switched On: The Black Dog – Music For Moore Street Substation (Dust Science Recordings)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

There is a lot of multiform art coming off The Black Dog’s production line at the moment, their Bandcamp page regularly refreshed with new ventures and creative projects. The latest is a limited CD and digital album release of the music accompanying their exhibition My Brutal Life.

For the showing they used the top floor of Moore Street Substation, a space ‘rarely open to the public and often shrouded in mystery’. Their soundcheck revealed the space had a natural reverberation of over 9.7 seconds, meaning the original soundtrack designed for My Brutal Life would not work in such a wide open setting. Therefore they set about a set comprising remixes of the original material and new pieces, ensuring viewers were comfortable as they moved around the space.

What’s the music like?

The reverberation problem has proved a benefit for listeners, for although the music in this sequence is simple in make-up it provides a very effective ambient set.

There is a thick ambience throughout, The Black Dog immediately reflecting the space in their music, either through slow and majestic chord sequences (The Light That Never Goes Out), twinkling motifs that pierce the gloom (Kirk Test Tones Sequence, Béton-Brut (Deconstructed), Hey Serry, The Jefferson Sheard Choir) or drone-based pieces with indistinct voices (Theme Of The Substation, The Mundane)

Elsewhere there are soft, reflective moments such as Busbar Connection and Villa Göth Calling, where the outlook is sombre and grey – but still with an appealing ambience.

Does it all work?

It does exactly what The Black Dog wanted, giving viewers space and perspective as they peruse the art.

Is it recommended?

It is – a complement to the original soundtrack and the visuals. They may be releasing a lot of music at the moment, but The Black Dog certainly aren’t stinting on quality.

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Switched On: All Is Well – A Break In Time (Compost / Drumpoet Community)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Fred Everything (real name Frédéric Blais) started A Break In Time as an exercise in calming meditation during lockdown – its function to do as the title suggests, a break from the stress.

It wasn’t long before he realised that the music was taking form and had album-making potential so, donning the All Is Well moniker, he worked on realising the project as a homage to ambient music in general, looking back to early works from Carl Craig and Black Dog, as well as the legendary Warp compilation Artificial Intelligence.

What’s the music like?

A Break In Time is certainly ambient, but occasionally it brings to the surface an underlying tension explained by when it was written. Blais writes instinctively well in this form, the tracks are really well structured, and the voicing is such that the listener can choose whether to take the music from background to foreground. It is equally effective in either form.

Day One establishes calming, warm textures, but the music takes on more movement with tracks like Forever And A Year, where active percussion is paired with wavy keyboard lines, creating a curious tension. Risqué has a rising motif that can prove disorientating too, like a distant alarm – but by contrast a track like At Well matches synth riffs with washes of colour.

Does it all work?

It does. Blais has achieved a really satisfying blend where musical instinct and a keen sense of structure go hand in hand.

Is it recommended?

It is – this is an album with staying power, and the ability to create its own unique atmosphere. Another fine piece of work from Fred Everything.

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