Category Archives: On record

On Record – Dave Harrington, Max Jaffe & Patrick Shroishi: Speak, Moment (AKP Recordings)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

One of jazz music’s strongest qualities is improvisation, and the way musicians are encouraged to speak with freedom and walk a tightrope, to see what they are capable of.

Such a statement can certainly be applied to these three musicians, who improvised this recording on the afternoon of their very first meeting. Dave Harrington contributes guitar and electronics, Max Jaffe looks after the drums and percussion while Patrick Shiroishi is the saxophonist, as well as contributing bells and tambourine.

What’s the music like?

Consistently engaging – and inventive with it. There are four longer form pieces here, and the shorter Ship Rock. Each finds the players fully engaged while the extra-long pieces are well structured, with imaginative changes of colour to aid the ebb and flow.

Staring Into The Imagination (Of Your Face) is immediately notable for Jaffe’s sensitive brush work and Shiroishi’s well-judged vibrato, the saxophone given a nicely poised solo. How To Draw Buildings is something of an epic that bursts with sonic invention, with smoky and psychedelic moods that feature some powerful, long notes on the sax.

Dance Of The White Shadow And Golden Kite has a great urgency, breaking out into manic episodes, while Harrington’s guitar shapes the start of Return In 100 Years, The Colors Will Be At Their Peak. This track is full of incident, becoming fractious as each instrument strives to be heard.

Does it all work?

Largely. With such an instinctive approach – and such little preparation time – it is a risk to open out the broad canvas in this way, but the musical chemistry is such that these three musicians succeed in their endeavours.

Is it recommended?

It is. There is fiercely passionate music to be heard here, and imaginative use of the colours available. Hopefully the trio will continue their musical quest, as it would be interesting to chart their ensemble work over a period of years, to see where it takes them.

For fans of… Jeff Parker ETA Quartet, Ben Monder’s Amorphae, Body / Head, 75 Dollar Bill

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Published post no.2,119 – Saturday 16 March 2024

On Record – MINING: Chimet (The Leaf Label)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The story behind this remarkable album is best read through quotes from the MINING Bandcamp site and press release, as it bears repeating.

“Chichester West Pole Beacon, also known as Chimet, is a comprehensive weather information system recording conditions in Hayling Bay, West Sussex, both in real-time and historically. Located at 50° 45′.45 N, 00° 56′.59 W, approximately one mile from the entrance to Chichester Harbour, the instrumentation on Chimet records data including air and water temperature; barometric pressure; wind speed and direction; water depth; wave height, period and frequency; and time of day.

Over a period of seven days in October 2017, the devastating Atlantic Hurricane Ophelia fed straight into another weather event, known as Storm Brian in the UK. MINING mapped the data from this storm onto various musical values and parameters, including harmonic range, pitch, density and volume – resulting in a continuous piece of electronic sound design that directly traces the contours of the two storm systems. After several iterations, improvised instrumental performances were added on piano, cello and synthesiser.

The album was created using 2,016 sampled data streams, collected every five minutes between 0030 on October 16th 2017 and 0025 on the 23rd, translating seven days of information into 67 minutes and 12 seconds of detailed and evolving music. With mother nature orchestrating the piece, she is joined by intuitive and powerful improvisations on piano, cello and synthesiser. The recording captures the sense of building expectation and tension, the dropping air pressure, the rising winds, the interlocking storm systems and the serene aftermath. The shifts are seamless, monumental and open to the elements.”

MINING was conceived by Craig Kirkpatrick-Whitby, with sound design and programming from PJ Davy. The improvised contributions on piano, cello and Lintronics are all made by Matthew Bourne.

What’s the music like?

Intense, yet ambient at the same time. The circumstances of composition mean that Chimet is certainly best heard as an uninterrupted stream (pun intended), describing the weather activity in remarkable detail.

Yet the crowning achievement of this project is that in their work together, Craig, PJ and Matthew have made something that has deep emotional content. The sound ‘beds’ are effectively drones, slowly shifting in deep colours, over which Bourne is able to work some carefully thought improvisation.

Ophelia develops very slowly, over a quarter of an hour, but there is something immediately ominous about its approach. The synthesizers pile up, with the occasional intervention from the piano – with layers of notes in swirling harmony, before they gradually retreat. Petrichor poses more of an initial threat, the foreboding low synth sounds presenting a dark outlook, before the relative calm of Latent – a slow piano meditation – dispels the worry.

The central section starts with a piece depicting Chimet itself, the remoteness of the open water apparent in Bourne’s distant musings on the piano. Then, with Arise, a series of long cello notes provide a swell in the texture, moving seamlessly into the elongated Force 10 Pts. 1 & 2. Here the held notes feel bleaker, until the inexorable build that piles them up towards the sky, a regular ticking holding everything in place. There is a strong sense of the ravaged seas, of craft blown this way and that, but also Chimet standing tall throughout.

The epilogue, Debris, has a synthesizer motif depicting the aftermath, with matter falling back to earth and settling, the long note underneath held until it passes from audible range.

Does it all work?

It does. For such incredibly slow music to maintain this level of intensity is remarkable indeed, something few artists can achieve. The melodies may be minimal, but getting caught up in the sweep of the extended piece is inevitable.

Is it recommended?

It is – a proper musical experience that should be played from start to finish, so the listener can get the whole awe-inspiring weather events recreated in their own environment.

For fans of… Loscil, Stars of the Lid, Biosphere

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Published post no.2,118 – Friday 15 March 2024

On Record – Whitelands: Night-bound Eyes Are Blind To The Day (Sonic Cathedral)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Whitelands are a breath of fresh air. With shoegaze an area of music populated mostly by white males, it is refreshing to report the ascendancy of a black quartet who have been supporting Slowdive on a recent UK tour.

Although they have been a going concern since 2018 this is the debut album for the current line-up, with singer and guitarist Etienne joined by Michael (guitar), Vanessa (bass) and Jagun (drums and backing vocals).

It was Slowdive themselves that inspired the band’s current musical direction, though their diverse backgrounds from rock, techno and R&B inform their music too.

What’s the music like?

As refreshing as the band themselves – and the cover art, too. The blast of sound that welcomes Setting Sun is like a jet of fresh water full in the voice, all the levels going to up red with an invigorating wall of guitar sound, one that is soon revealed to contain plenty of melodies.

The band’s diverse influences reveal themselves subtly as the album progresses. While ‘shoegaze’ is the main style – a wall of guitars and softly spoken vocals to complement – there is a funky undercarriage to the beat of The Prophet & I, which typifies the excellent drumming throughout, and the excellent Tell Me About, where Etienne is joined by the softly-sung Dottie for some gorgeous harmonizing.

Sometimes the guitars form the same effect of a wordless choir, on the evocative Setting Sun, other times there are subtly curved melodies, as on Cheer. The slow burning Born In Understanding is a stately mover. Overall though there is an impressive momentum coursing through the album, with one of the best examples being Chosen Light – a combination of guitar sounds you can dive in to, a propulsive rhythm and subtle, warm-hearted vocals.

Does it all work?

It does – and the more you listen the more the melodies stick.

Is it recommended?

Yes. This is a record to bathe in, a sonic spectacular that has at its core some heartfelt songs. More please!

For fans of… Cocteau Twins, The Cure, Slowdive

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Published post no.2,116 – Wednesday 13 March 2024

On Record – Alev & Jas : Bring Your Friends (Bring Your Friends)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

One of the great things about music is its community spirit; the possibilities it offers for making art with friends. Such is the case with Alev Lenz and Jas Shaw, who have been friends for a decade or thereabouts, and have put that friendship on record with a quintet of songs.

Alev Lenz is a talented singer-songwriter whose credits include songs for the screen (Black Mirror and Dark) and also production work with Anoushka Shankar and Roomful of Teeth. Jas Shaw has a good deal of previous with the band Simian, who then morphed into Simian Mobile Disco. He may not have undertaken as much production work as his bandmate James Ford, but his work with Gold Panda as Selling yielded the fine album On Reflection.

This five-track mini-album is described as ‘dreamy lullabies that confirm the pair’s perfect match’, with Lenz saying the album ‘is about friends talking about the state of the world and their souls.’

What’s the music like?

This is light music – but not necessarily in a pop sense, more in its economical use of texture in music and the endearing vocal that floats up top.

The five tracks are very subtly dressed with starry textures, lighting A World Beyond with pinpricks of melody in response to Lenz’s dreamy vocal. Between Two Breaths is even more effective, the voice mulitracked in very close harmony, with comfortable dissonances that pan out beautifully against a spacious backdrop.

Overstrung but Underdamped is a beauty, a meditative track that becomes a calming mantra, Lenz’s voice used to its maximum effect by Shaw who allows only the minimum counterpoint.

Does it all work?

Yes – if only there was more of it! This is definitely a case of quality rather than quantity, with the five songs over in 25 minutes – but they do leave a very positive impression.

Is it recommended?

It is – a brief encounter this may be, but there is a special musical chemistry between these two friends.

For fans of… Beth Hirsch, Cocteau Twins,

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Published post no.2,114 – Monday 11 March 2024

On Record – Sheherazaad: Qasr (Erased Tapes)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This is the first music on Erased Tapes from American artist Sheherazaad, a native to the Bay Area who brought together a number of musicians in New York to record this mini-album.

Sheher has North and South Indian heritage, and became disorientated by moving between the two and America, though when she settled in New York for study she discovered the city’s South Asian arts community and an electronic culture emanating from the UK, which brought her into contact with Arooj Aftab – who produced this record. Singing in Urdu, she was joined by musicians including Basma Edrees (Egypt), Gilbert Mansour (Lebanon), and Firas Zreik (Palestine). The result, Qasr, translates to ‘castle’, or ‘fortress’, and is a deeply personal document of Sheherazaad’s own unique origins.

What’s the music like?

Compelling. There is an outdoor feel to this music, as though recorded barefoot in the very places Sheher sings about.

The first song, Mashoor, features the guitar of Ria Modak – and it proves the ideal foil for the voice, both low in pitch but conversing intimately. Dhund Lo Mujhe brings a burst of energy, though not necessarily positive, for the outbursts of the fiddle are there to help portray ‘a very specific insanity, that of the immigrant experience’. Sheher’s inflections and the pizzicato play off against each other before the voice soars, its vibrato inspiring the fiddle to greater heights.

Koshish (Try) is conversational, the reverberant acoustic capturing the Californian heat, while Khatam (Finished) travels back through time to the accompaniment of rich improvisation on the sustained piano. The final Lehya, the most substantial of the five songs, takes us to a mythical city, its nocturnal beginning the basis for growth to all sorts of colourful shades, before the closing chant, a soft but moving call for freedom.

Does it all work?

It does – though the levels of intensity mean that for full appreciation you need to listen in an environment where you can give Sheherazaad’s music the level of attention it deserves.

Is it recommended?

Yes. This is an artist with a huge amount to say, and the feeling is that on this mini album she is just dipping her toe in the water. There is a whole lot more to come from this explosive and original talent.

For fans of… Khruangbin, William Onyeabor, Shida Shahabi

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Published post no.2,094 – Sunday 25 February 2024