Category Archives: Switched On

Switched On – Dot Allison Subconsciousology (Lomond Campbell remixes) (Sonic Cathedral)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

When Consciousology was released in 2023, Arcana noted its “dreamy textures and contours providing enchantment and, ultimately, escapism“. We also complemented Dot Allison’s vocals harking “back to some of the memorable folk-inflected voices of the  1960s and 1970s”.

Electronic beatsmith Lomond Campbell, however, has seen the potential to make this album “deeper, darker and dancier”, departing from the pastoral outdoors to take the music underground to a club. The pair were introduced by Hannah Peel, after which Campbell remixed Ghost Orchid, from her previous album Heart-Shaped Scars. So impressed was Allison that she asked him to remix the whole of Consciousology.

What’s the music like?

Campbell is notable for his consistently inventive approach to beat making and colour shading, and that is certainly the case here.

He has a refreshing originality that complements Allison’s thoughts and lyrics, too. Double Rainbow shifts restlessly, with added colour from arpeggiated synths. Allison’s haunting voice suits Campbell’s inventive beatmaking on Bleached By The Sun, which harks memories of Kavinsky’s Night Call – in a good way. Meanwhile Mother Tree breaks out into a psychedelic, dubby groove Andrew Weatherall would be proud of.

Weeping Roses is the real eyeopener, as it unexpectedly opens up into a big room floor filler, with what Allison notes is the “light and dark clash of worlds and sounds that Lomond has created from the roots and stems of the original.”

Comparisons are inevitably drawn with Allison’s work as part of One Dove, and in a good way – for electronic music feels not only like Dot Allison’s home turf, but an essential part of her musical make-up that drives a great deal of creativity.

Does it all work?

Yes – and it there is something refreshingly rugged about the end result, putting Dot Allison’s voice through a very different emotional wringer.

Is it recommended?

It is – but should be heard right next to the original, to appreciate Lomond Campbell’s creativity and Dot Allison’s emotional connections. Both forces are extremely well matched here.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,639 – Wednesday 26 August 2025

Switched On – Alison Goldfrapp – Flux (A. G. Records)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

As Goldfrapp continue their hiatus as a band, singer Alison Goldfrapp adds a second notch to the belt on her solo career.

Most of Flux was made in Sweden, working with producer and songwriter Stefan Storm, with the renowned Richard X also appearing in a collaborative guise.

What’s the music like?

For Alison Goldfrapp, this is a relatively safe move, but it certainly plays to the strengths of her vocals. The songs are well-written, with some telling explicit stories. By a quirk of fate Sound & Light was written earlier on the same day that Goldfrapp saw the Northern Lights for the first time, and it captures the rarefied atmosphere of their appearance.

The vocals are ice-cold, the productions clean and relatively clinical, and many of the songs become earworms after a few listens. Hey Hi Hello is an excellent opener, while the sultry Reverberotic works up a sweat at a slower beat. Find Xanadu brings the best out of Richard X, with a fine vocal to boot, while some much-needed heat is added by Ordinary Day, a quality pop-house cut spending time by the pool.

Does it all work?

It does, though there is a wish that Goldfrapp would let herself go emotionally a bit more. These are excellent club cuts, but most are on safe ground where feelings are concerned.

Is it recommended?

It is, thanks to some classy work in league with Stefan Storm and Richard X. Alison Goldfrapp remains one of the most recognisable voices in pop music currently, and she certainly knows her way around a dancefloor. Add a bit more explicit feeling and her music would be irresistible.

Listen / Buy

You can explore purchase options for Flux on the Piccadilly Records website

Published post no.2,638 – Tuesday 26 August 2025

Switched On – Molly Joyce: State Change (130701)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

State Change is a suite of ‘seven electro-acoustic tone poems’, from a deeply personal source. When aged seven, Molly Joyce was involved in a car accident that resulted in a permanent injury to her left hand, which was nearly amputated. A great deal of surgery was carried out to restore the hand to something approaching working order, though even now it is still impaired.

State Change is a musical representation of the medical procedures and records behind the slow route to recovery. Joyce was keen, however, for the album not to be a ‘pity party’, but to turn her experience into music.

What’s the music like?

Direct and unflinching, the album unfolds with seven tracks whose titles reflect key dates in the injury and recovery process. August 6, 1999 – the day of the accident – opens with a single, unblinking sine wave, that proves a little uncomfortable in the wrong environment, but opens out to be quite a sonorous drone accompaniment to a melody of long phrases, its roots in chant. The words are matter of fact but describe the situation with unflinching accuracy – ‘Skin is…minimal…flap is…needed.

August 9 1999 is painful, recovery far from the mind as Joyce deploys her ‘chest voice’, shrouded in distortion. The next week, just after a solar eclipse, August 13 + 16 1999 are more fragile but also submissive, the procedure of back to back surgeries showing the shoots of recovery. Distortion and drones are the constant accompaniment, at times intensely threatening – the surgery especially – and culminating in a scream generated by experimental artist Fire-Toolz.

At other times the drones provide comfort, especially when surgery is done. November 24, 1999 moves slowly, Joyce’s vocal an out of body experience, before April 19, 2000 and October 26, 2001 find calmer waters, the latter a release through the removal of pins from her hand. July 27, 2007 is made with the left hand itself using a music glove, and produces music of rare tenderness and vulnerability, the scar size reduced.

Does it all work?

This is vividly descriptive music, and its intensity certainly won’t suit all occasions. Yet State Change is fiercely personal, and has at its core a lasting resolve that makes a strong impact on the listener.

Is it recommended?

It is. A deeply courageous album, a story of overcoming adversity. State Change may be slow moving and is occasionally painful to take in, but it is ultimately a life-affirming album, a release from captivity.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,624 – Tuesday 12 August 2025

Switched On – Kenny Larkin: Chasers / Loop 2

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by Ben Hogwood

It’s been a week for techno in Arcana towers – and following yesterday’s review of Carl Craig’s Landcruising, I have done a bit of a deep dive into the music of his fellow Detroit luminary Kenny Larkin. The results have been consistently inspiring, but I wanted to share two special rediscoveries, in the form of Chasers and Loop 2. Happy Friday!

Published post no.2,620 – Friday 8 August 2025

Switched On – Carl Craig: Landcruising (Expanded Edition) (Cherry Red)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The durability of techno as a form of music is emphasized by the fact that some of the landmark albums in its recent history are reaching significant landmarks. Carl Craig’s Landcruising is one such long player, the Detroit producer’s debut album, originally released on Blanco Y Negro, clocking up 30 years in the game. In a sense the album is a response to classic electronic travel albums such as Kraftwerk’s Trans Europe Express, but was apparently conceived as a soundtrack to driving round his home city of Detroit.

What’s the music like?

Thirty years old it may be, but Landcruising still has the air of the future about it. He achieves this through a combination of movement and serenity that gives the music a rarefied light. Mind Of A Machine has a distinctive snare drum pattern and floating synths, while a free form jazz makes itself known over the contours of Science Fiction, along with a subtle homage to Jean-Michel Jarre.

Technology is more imposing, a little bit threatening even, as is Landcruising itself, though both capture the movement and ever-changing panorama of the window views. Meanwhile Einbahn’s minimal profile and the urgency of They Were are also captivating. Although some of the rhythms are forward and dominating there is also an intricacy at work in Craig’s compositions, the music carefully and delicately shaded at times.

As bonus material there are four added mixes of Science Fiction, with a particularly good contribution from Kenny Larkin, and some evocative notes in suitable font from Bill Brewster, whose note – “the point is not the destination but the journey” – sums the album up perfectly.

Does it all work?

It does. The idea that techno could not create music of meaning or emotion is never further from the truth than it is here.

Is it recommended?

It is – one of the essential documents in Detroit’s storied musical history, and a landmark album in the history of techno. It sounds as modern as it ever did!

Listen / Buy

For more information, head to the Cherry Red Records website

Published post no.2,619 – Thursday 7 August 2025