Category Archives: Switched On

On Record – Laurence Pike – Possible Utopias for Jazz Quintet (Balmat)

Posted on by
Reply

Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

“A thought experiment equipped with drumsticks, circuitry, and the desire to go beyond hardwired limits”. So reads the Bandcamp appraisal of Laurence Pike’s first album for the Balmat label – which doesn’t behave as its title implies.

“My loose concept was: What does music sound like when the expectations of late capitalism are removed from it?”, says Price. “How might a jazz musician from an idealised culture of the future, or even another world, utilise musical language when the conventions of style and marketing are no longer a factor in music making?”

For one thing, Pike is the only consistent presence through the album, the ‘jazz quintet’ being a figment of his vivid imagination. Three occasional guests are credited, however – alto saxophonist Ben Lerner, pianist Novak Manojlovic and Nico Callahan, described as providing ‘additional synthesis’.

The utopias are very real, going beyond jazz in search of ambient, electronica and post-rock.

What’s the music like?

Rewarding. Pike’s varied work as a soloist but also as part of Szun Waves, Pivot aka PVT, Triosk and Liars means he has an acute ear for what works with percussion – and that reaps dividends here.

Pike’s sonic palette is impressively varied. On one hand is Manojlovic’s freely flowing piano on Guardians of Memory, where urgent pulses are detected from hi hats and tapped cymbals. Often his music suggests the weather – an approaching storm, the wind in the trees, a humid day on the edge of a desert. All these things and more could be determined by The Shame of Jazz to Come, with its brooding synth pads and rustling percussion, but elsewhere Pike’s thoughts are more fractured and dislocated.

Saxophonist Lerner”s contributions are telling, while Pike’s ability to evoke nocturnal scenes is maintained in the subtly atmospheric Night Bird and dappled beauty of Possible Utopias itself.

Does it all work?

It does – because Pike’s music has refreshing details of unpredictability, original textures and riffs, and a feeling for the listener that all this is taking place outdoors, under the stars.

Is it recommended?

It is – and proves a fine addition to an already impressive solo body of work.

For fans of… Szun Waves, Luke Abbott, James Holden, Portico Quartet

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,920 – Wednesday 17 June 2026

On Record – Thomas Bangalter: Mirage (Erato)

Posted on by
Reply

Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Mirage is the latest work by Thomas Bangalter, formerly of Daft Punk, to show his credentials for a more through-composed style of composition. Bangalter had an education in classical music, which can be felt through the cleverly constructed songs Daft Punk made, and perhaps most vividly in their score for Tron: Legacy.

More recently we have heard an orchestral album, Mythologies, a sizeable ballet characterising a series of wonderful and awful creatures – following in a line of French composers who have done this with such wonderfully pictorial writing. Mirage, however, is an electronic score, conceived by choreographer Damien Jalet and contemporary artist Kōhei Nawa, with the ballet premiered at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 2025. It continues to tour Europe throughout 2026.

What’s the music like?

Very different to Mythologies, and arguably less colourful – but more compelling.

Mirage is a very slow build, a brave tactic from Bangalter but one well worth sticking with, especially on headphones. Starting with the pulse of a sonorous bass note, like a subterranean signal from another planet, the wave form starts to go wavy, as though the electromagnetic winds were picking up, and that slight shift is critical to the momentum of the ensuring piece. On Part II the drums get bigger and momentum builds through fidgety hi hats, the sense of forward movement increasing like an accelerating train.

Part III cuts to a bass drone before what feels like the mirage itself on Part IV, shapes dancing in the middle ground before an ominous wavering of the drone pulls the rug from under the listener’s feet. Part VI opens out into wide space before mirage images appear again, rich in colour. The tension relaxes audibly into Part VII, dappled figures and light interference suggesting the space beyond. Then, as a conclusion, Part VIII drops again towards inaudible bassy figures, the distant knock confirming the signal is still out there.

Does it all work?

Yes, though is clearly most effective if you experience the whole piece in one sitting, on equipment that can do justice to the range of frequencies employed.

Is it recommended?

It is. Bangalter’s musical trajectory will be very interesting to watch, for here he is aligning himself more with experimental composers such as Xenakis rather than the French ballet masters. The suspicion is that his sweet spot will be somewhere between the two, and will include both electronic and acoustic instruments, and hopefully on the Erato label, whose livery appropriately dresses this release. An auspicious second album, and highly recommended.

For fans of… Daft Punk, A Winged Victory For The Sullen, John Murphy, Vangelis

Listen / Buy

You can explore purchase options for Mirage on the Presto Music website

Published post no.2,919 – Tuesday 16 June 2026

Switched On – Max Cooper: Feeling Is Structure (Mesh)

Posted on by
Reply

Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The music of Max Cooper continues to fire the imagination. His latest album is borne of a commission from the Royal Albert Hall for a live show, and he chose to explore “the relationship between physical form and human emotion.”

The press release nails his ability to fuse deep thinking and raw emotion. “Across 10 spatial audio-visual works, Cooper examines how structure in sound, architecture, biology and art, shapes the way we feel. Musically, Feeling Is Structure leans into Cooper’s more intricate and deliberate compositional side. Rather than improvisation, the record focuses on carefully designed systems and processes that build evolving sonic architectures. Precise at the micro level, but deeply emotive in impact.”

What’s the music like?

Very satisfying, especially on headphones. There is always a lot going on in Max Cooper’s music, with a great level of detail revealing itself with repeated listening. That said, the first few encounters are satisfying too, as there is a lot of feeling behind these beats.

The bleeps and loping beats of Pattern Index set the scene, a dubby rhythm bringing an unexpected similarity with early music from The Orb. Gradually the sonic canvas pans out, with the spacious Becoming supporting what feels like the workings of a large machine.

Cooper uses complex rhythms to often thrilling effect, with This Is A Bridge ratcheting up the tension and releasing a good deal of kinetic energy, while the beats get super busy on Obsessive Compulsive Order. Meanwhile the busy Bass Mosaic reaches all corners of the audio system. Four Tones Reflected and Ebb And Flow are rich sonic tapestries, while the beats retreat for the spectacular spectrum of Chrysalis to fully reveal itself.

Does it all work?

It does. A great deal of thinking has gone into the structure of this album – hence the title – and the quasi-orchestral textures are full of incident and colour.

Is it recommended?

It is. Feeling Is Structure is a deeply effective and thoroughly modern fusion of process and emotion. Max Cooper plays to his strength with music that emphatically ticks the intellectual and emotional boxes. Arguably his most successful album to date.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,888 – Friday 15 May 2026

New Music – Netherworld: The Hermit (Glacial Movements)

Posted on by
Reply

adapted from the press release by Ben Hogwood

Glacial Movements, the ambient and electronic music label founded in Rome in 2006 by Alessandro Tedeschi (Netherworld), celebrates its 20th anniversary with the release of The Hermit, a collection of restored archival recordings from the early 2000s. These recordings, originally stored on deteriorated CD-r and Minidisc formats, were recovered and restored to reveal early experimental sounds full of mystery and emotional depth. These earliest sound experiments emerged while the Netherworld project was still evolving, years before Glacial Movements came into existence.

“I have been going through one of the most difficult periods of my life”, says Tedeschi. “The last two years have had a profound impact on my existence, with a succession of dark thoughts, moments of high tension, and anxiety. At times, I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Inevitably, this has had a significant impact on my professional life, on the management of Glacial Movements, and on the Netherworld project. One rainy day a few months ago, I was home alone with my three-year-old daughter Dafne. The sky was gray with clouds heavy with rain and strong storms. I was in my studio working when, at one point, Dafne started pulling my entire collection of CDs, accumulated over the years, off the shelves. They were all scattered on the floor, total chaos reigned.

As I was tidying everything up, I noticed that there were some old CD-Rs and minidiscs with “2002” and “Netherworld” written on them. I had completely forgotten about these sounds… they were my first experiments, unreleased, never published and never heard by anyone, composed with very basic, low-quality equipment, but full of mystery. I used a microphone to record sounds captured from metal surfaces, broken toys, breaths, voices, and a Tibetan gong. The only synth used was the Novation A-Station rack. I realized that the physical media had deteriorated over time.

Together with my friend and sound engineer Matteo Spinazzè, we carried out a lengthy process of recovering and restoring the audio files. Unfortunately, some of them were completely corrupted and therefore lost forever. However, seven of these files were made available again. Listening to them was a succession of strong emotions. Although they were made many years ago, they resonate with my current state of mind. Anguish, loneliness, darkness… I felt like a hermit, alone in the glacial vastness of my essence. The photos accompanying the artwork are very old, dating back to the first scientific explorations of the 1900s in the Arctic and Antarctic regions of the planet. They were chosen and selected from the archives of museums and libraries in Sweden, Australia, and Wales.”

Glacial Movements has steadily gained international recognition in the ambient and electronic music scenes. The label has collaborated with a wide array of notable artists such as Rapoon, Lull, Aidan Baker, Machinefabriek, Scanner, Murcof, Oophoi, bvdub, Loscil, Paul Schutze and many others, as well as supporting lesser-known talents. Their collective work reflects themes related to the pristine nature of the Great North and addresses urgent issues like climate change affecting the planet. The label expresses gratitude to its artists, audience, and the specialized press for their ongoing support and engagement with Glacial Movements’ activities.

The Hermit will be released on 29 June 2026

Published post no.2,882 – Saturday 9 May 2026

On Record – Ana Roxanne: Poem 1 (Kranky)

Posted on by
Reply

Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Ana Roxanne returns with an album on which she wants her voice to be clearly heard. To that end she has removed the tape noise, looping and layering that has dressed the vocal in the past, so that Poem 1 employs a raw presentation of her, ‘heartbroken and reflective’.

The piano assumes greater importance, with Roxanne noticeably shifting towards classical music, both in titles (Berceuse in A-flat minor, Op. 45) and in her use of source material, with One Shall Sleep taking its lead (or should that be lied?) from a Robert Schumann song.

What’s the music like?

In a word, intense. Roxanne’s voice is an extraordinary instrument, and leaving it in a raw state was the right way to go for maximum emotional impact on these songs.

The music is slow, which only heightens the strength of feeling, the concentrated impact akin to that of a David Lynch movie. For Roxanne could easily have been the centrepiece of Twin Peaks on this evidence, the likes of Untitled II reaching almost uncomfortable strength of emotion as she somehow controls the vocals. Berceuse in A-flat minor, Op. 45 is one of the standout pieces, just Roxanne and her listener in the room, while the Schumann-inspired One Shall Sleep is preoccupied with feelings of loss and grief.

The close-up recording means the intake of breath can be clearly heard on Cover Me, while Wishful (draft) finds deeper hues in the production.

Does it all work?

It does, though given the strength of emotion it helps for the listener to be in the right mood to appreciate Ana Roxanne’s power as a vocalist.

Is it recommended?

Yes. A powerful song cycle for modern times, headed by an extraordinary voice.

For fans of… Julee Cruise, Cocteau Twins, Keeley Forsyth

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,881 – Friday 8 May 2026