Category Archives: On record

Various Artists – We Are The Children Of The Sun compiled by Paul Hillery (BBE Music)

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What’s the story?

Sometimes the cover of a book can say it all! This is definitely the case with BBE’s sunshine collection, which presents an anthology of rare tracks with a distinctly Balearic tint. Compiler Paul Hillery works from a flexible brief, allowing him to cast the net wider stylistically and include examples with a folk, MOR or funk flavour.

What’s the music like?

Ideal for hot weather. Most if not all of these names will be unfamiliar, which is a great starting point for future discoveries Airborne‘s Marie is a blissful example of the compilation’s ability to bring the sunshine directly out of the speakers, a reverie that sings “Spread your wings and fly me away”.

Among the others well worth noting Alex Crispin‘s Effert is a beauty, an airy loop of bell sounds and a chant-like vocal. The effortless groove of Checkpoint‘s I Send You All My Love makes its mark, with a lovely oboe countermelody – while there are a couple of notable flute solos in the selection too, tastefully played and not overdone.

There are particularly sultry offerings from David Datunashvili and Diana Pequeno, strong West Coast feels from Guy Maxwell and Mike Baumann / Tom Huntington, whose Man Of Misery channels the work of Gibb brothers a little. There is a burst of energy from Guy Schwartz, with the expert storytelling of Ride That Train, in contrast to the woozy harmonica, scrambled piano and ticking hi-hat of Michael Welch‘s Phone Home. Meanwhile Monica Rypma‘s Let Love Flow is a highlight, bigger 80s drums and appealing vocal reminiscent of Swing Out Sister. Pixie Lauer‘s regretful Sunday Morning adds a touch of sweet melancholy, and back on the instrumental solos theme there are some enjoyable, noodly guitar efforts, none more so than that on Phillip John Lewin‘s excellent song Fear Of Flying.

Does it all work?

It certainly does the job! A blissful time in the company of Hillery, who offers a nicely balanced set that never gets too cheesy but always stays well above 20 degrees.

Is it recommended?

It is, a blissful listen.

On Record – Ghost Power: Ghost Power (Duophonic Super 45s)

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ghost-power

written by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Ghost Power is the meeting of two minds – Jeremy Novak (Dymaxion) and Timothy Gane (Stereolab, Cavern of Anti-Matter and Turn On). The pair have both made tracks for Duophonic Super 45s in a solo capacity, but now they unite for a ten-track instrumental album, recorded both remotely and in person in Berlin and New York.

What’s the music like?

A lot of fun. This is music made for pure enjoyment, but there are plenty of levels to it as well. Both musicians are clearly well voiced in 1970s funk and movie music, for they make descriptive pieces that use the band in a virtuosic way.

Panic In The Isles Of Splendour is a great example of this, with drum fills, keyboard bleeps and propulsive bass lines that tell of the influence of Krautrock, too. By this time Asteroid Witch has already given us a burst of break beats, the equivalent of a Ghost Power signature tune.

On the softer side sit atmospheric tracks like Inchwork, a smoky affair laden with suspense – again offering the listener the equivalent of a 70s crime series or movie. It is one of the album’s best tracks.

Grimalkin combines the two elements. In music Lalo Schifrin would be proud of, it evokes a sultry day but with all sorts of shenanigans taking place in the shadows over another dusty drum beat. Then we have the crowning glory, the Astral Melancholy Suite, a fifteen minute epic. Early drone sections sandwich a mysterious interlude, the listener seemingly underground with eerie echoes and atmospherics, before the music starts to bubble and oscillate, as a classic Krautrock track might do, gathering momentum. Then the bottom falls away and we are left with some wonderful synth sounds, and a rippling mid-range texture to finish.

Does it all work?

It does. There is no pretence on this album, just a clutch of really good instrumentals packed with great riffs. They never outstay their welcome.

Is it recommended?

It is. Fans of Stereolab should drink it up, but to be honest if you are a fan of Can and the like then there is a good deal to enjoy here.

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On record – William Wordsworth: Orchestral Music Vol.4 (Toccata Classics)

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wordsworth-4

Liepāja Symphony Orchestra / John Gibbons

William Wordsworth
Jubilation Op.78 (1965)
A Spring Festival Overture Op.90 (1970)
Confluence Op.100 (1976)
Symphony No. 7, Op. 107, ‘Cosmos’ (1980)

Toccata Classics TOCC0618 [59’21”]

Producer Normands Slāva
Engineer Jānis Straume

Recorded 4-5 February and 16-18 June 2021, Amber Concert Hall, Liepāja, Latvia

Written by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

Toccata Classics continues its survey of William Wordsworth’s orchestral music with a fourth volume featuring the composer’s Seventh Symphony, alongside three other pieces that reflect his increasing concentration and refinement of thought during those latter decades of his life.

What’s the music like?

If the Fifth Symphony and Cello Concerto (recorded on TOCC0600) represent a highpoint of Wordsworth’s orchestral output, the works that follow are only relatively less ambitious and equally personal. The four heard here appeared at five-year intervals. Subtitled ‘A Festivity for Orchestra’, Jubilation is akin to a ‘concerto for orchestra’ in its intensive while unshowy pursual of those possibilities inherent in its opening fanfare-like idea; one which returns near the close of this engaging piece to provide a rounding-off of good-humoured decisiveness.

A Spring Festival Overture is even more self-contained in its demeanour, though the gradual emergence of activity out of the sombre introduction is a telling metaphor for the coming of this season and the musical discourse attracts attention purely through its dexterity of thought.

Had Confluence been Wordsworth’s ‘sixth symphony’, no-one could surely have doubted its rightness given this music’s motivic density and textural subtlety. As it is, these ‘Symphonic Variations’ are a notable staging-post in the composer’s odyssey towards ever more distilled expression – the variations proceeding as distinct yet interrelated episodes where most of the instruments have a soloistic spot. The penultimate section, with its allusion to Elgar’s Violin Concerto, finds Words worth at his most felicitous and the final build-up at his most visceral.

Scored for comparably sizable forces, the Seventh Symphony continues a process of formal elaboration across a single, unbroken span – its seven sections less a series of variations as a succession of paraphrases on ideas which are nothing if not rarefied. Appropriate, then, that its ‘Cosmos’ subtitle should embody a lifelong fascination with the universe – whether in its astronomical or spiritual dimensions. Inclusion of a prepared tape suggests something more radical than is the case – pre-recorded material limited to two slowly repeating string chords that recur at crucial formal and expressive junctures to channel underlying momentum over   a course inevitable as to its ultimate destination. Paul Conway’s booklet note implies this as being Wordsworth’s most original orchestral work and the present writer would not disagree.

Does it all work?

Yes, though this is not the place to start for anyone new to Wordsworth’s music (the previous instalment with the Fifth Symphony makes for an ideal point of entry). Playing the works in chronological order (rather than Opp. 90, 107, 78 and 100 as on this disc) reveals ever greater focus on motivic essentials allied to an understated while often questing harmonic sense that may have reflected their composer’s immersion in the Scottish East Highlands or the wisdom accrued with age, yet the experience feels never less than absorbing and sometimes profound.

Is it recommended?

Indeed. The playing of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra is comparable to that on earlier volumes, while John Gibbons directs with his customary ear for detail and care for balance. Hopefully a fifth volume, perhaps including the hitherto unheard Sixth Symphony, will not be long in coming.

Read, listen and Buy

You can read Richard’s review of the first three volumes in the Wordsworth series on Arcana, clicking here for the first volume, here for the second and here for the third

You can listen to clips and purchase this disc from the Toccata Classics website. For more information on WIlliam Wordsworth, click here. For more on the performers on this recordings, click on the names for websites devoted to John Gibbons and the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra respectively.

On Record – Broadcast: Mother Is The Milky Way / Maida Vale Sessions / Microtronics Vols. 1 & 2 (Warp Records)

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mother-is-the-milky-way

written by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Broadcast were one of Warp Records’ treasures in the label’s earlier years, yet their output came to a sudden halt with the tragic early death of singer Trish Keenan in 2011. At that point the band were at the peak of their creative powers, which makes this set of reissues and rarities all the more poignant.

The triple pack of rarities is effectively a companion piece to the band’s discography, bringing forward a lost album (2009’s tour-only release Mother Is The Milky Way), a set of BBC sessions from Maida Vale, including three appearances for John Peel, and Microtronics, a two-volume set of 21 instrumentals released as tour-only specials in 2003 and 2005.

What’s the music like?

Fans of the band will not be disappointed – and while many will surely own a good deal of this music, having it reissued in a single pack with due love and attention gives it extra special appeal. It is instructive to be reminded just how imaginative the band were, and how their Englishness shines through in the meeting point of acoustic and electronic.

Mother Is The Milky Way makes a strong impression, and could almost have been recorded during lockdown given its quotient of birdsong and field recordings. The murmured awakening of In Here The World Begins makes a strong impression on headphones, while scenes such as the fuzzy backdrop to Elegant Elephant evoke dappled sunlight. Meanwhile I’m Just A Person In This Roomy Verse has a low register musing but also interference as the listener crosses the dials on the imaginary radio.

maida-vale-sessions

The Maida Vale Sessions are special. Drawn from four different sessions between 1996 and 2003, they have poise and elegance, but also macabre elements and psychedelic tendencies that give the music an appealing unpredictability. The autumnal waltz of The Note (Message From Home) is the perfect place to start, while the wonderful Come On Let’s Go is great to hear again. The insistent phrases of Look Outside make a strong impression, as do the willowy, chromatic arpeggios of the harpsichord on The Book Lovers. A stately Long Was The Year, and the exquisite twilight shadows of Echoes Answer, with an extended coda, are highlights of a session from 2000, while the twinkling lights of Pendulum are the highlight of a session from August 2003.

microtronics

The Microtronics album is fascinating. These snippets are descriptive musical postcards, colourfully shaded and showing off a broad range of styles. The electronic bossa nova of Microtronics 2 is striking, while Microtronics 3 – as with many of the recordings – give a strong sense of eavesdropping in the band’s workshop. Microtronics 6 throws some sonic grenades, while other snippets of note include the clattering drums of Microtronics 12 and the playful keyboard stabs of Microtronics 17.

Does it all work?

Yes. These three documents give a fascinating look under the bonnet of Broadcast’s creative process, while the fully formed songs prove their worth in the sessions. The pastoral element of Mother Is The Milky Way, meanwhile, are full of springtime vitality and promise.

Is it recommended?

Yes – to fans and newcomers alike, providing the newcomers avail themselves of the band’s studio albums too. They will not be disappointed.

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On Record – Dana Gavanski: When It Comes (Full Time Hobby)

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written by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The story behind When It Comes is a powerful one. The second album from singer-songwriter Dana Gavanski, it celebrates the voice as an instrument, from the perspective of recovering lost vocal cords. She uses the album to bring her voice back to a musical way of thinking, a celebration of music itself.

The story explains the album’s precise but very natural vocal style, with strong communication the name of the game.

What’s the music like?

Bewitching. Gavanski has a lovely voice, bolstered by an accent that celebrates her heritage – Canadian raised and of Serbian descent, recording in the UK – as much as it celebrates her voice as an instrument. Gavanski’s partner James Howard deserves a great deal of credit for the instrumental support, and how he makes the voice the star of the show but creates a lovely tapestry behind it.

There is simplicity to this music, but welcome quirks too. I Kiss The Night, with its pure arpeggios, is the most obvious example, rooted in the ‘simple’ key of C major but actually revealing more layers with closer listening. The Reaper finds subtle humour in its straight faced delivery, with increasingly hypnotic offbeat vocals as it progresses. Gavanski’s vocal is beautifully weighted throughout both songs, as it is for Letting Go, an expressive admission that “I need your love” with hints of vulnerability around the edges in the oblique harmonies.

Bend Away & Fall has a different atmosphere entirely, powered by metallic harpsichord but with comforting sighs in the vocal line. It is a charming song. By contrast, Lisa – the most substantial song on the album – creates a portrait from the viewpoint of the sea, watching subjects pass by day after day. For the author it is about recognising what’s in front of her, in this case a richly coloured and textured seascape, brought to life in multicolour.

There are elements of Stereolab vocalist Laetitia Sadier in her delivery, also a little Jane Birkin and Cate Le Bon, but these should be used as guides rather than influences, as Gavanski’s style is very definitely her own. Knowing To Trust, the closing song, shows the voice at its purest and most romantic, bringing the listener in close with its often hushed delivery. “I know your face”, she coos at the end.

The instrumentation is often worth listening to on its own, responding to the voice with music of dexterity and colour. The Day Unfolds gets locked into a charming, hypnotic repetition, and the same fate befalls Indigo Highway, its gentle triple time oscillations complemented by Gavanski’s longer phrases.

Does it all work?

It does. There is both strength and vulnerability in Gavanski’s singing, and the album works its magic through this combination, with a rich mixture of styles and moods.

Is it recommended?

It is. When It Comes is often a memorising album. Dana Gavanski has created a rarefied atmosphere that offers us a route in to the very soul of her music. She is a profound singer and songwriter whose emotive music deserves to be heard far and wide.

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Warp Records website