Category Archives: Switched On

Switched On: Masayoshi Fujita: Bird Ambience (Erased Tapes)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Until now, Japanese multi-instrumentalist Masayoshi Fujita could declare the vibraphone to be his ‘principal’ instrument. It would be top of a long list including drums, percussion, synths, effects and tape recorder. Fujita completed a triptych of vibraphone-based works for the Erased Tapes label in 2018, while continuing to record under his other alias El Fog, where he makes dub music, and in his improvisations with other artists such as Jan Jelinek.

Bird Ambience takes a decisive step to unify all those elements of his musical personality, but at the same time changes his principal instrument from the metallic vibraphone to the wooden percussion of the marimba.

What’s the music like?

Enchanting. Fujita’s ear for instrumental colour is once again immediately apparent when the music for this album begins, and he shows just how expressive the marimba can be, especially when played as softly as it is in Cumulonimbus Dream. He also shows the wide variety of sounds it is possible to coax from the instrument, using different levels of attack and sustain, both in real time and in production, to go with other pitched percussion, ambient melodic lines and carefully managed levels of distortion.

Often the music has an improvised quality, but the styles vary quite markedly. Thunder starts with crisp down beats applied to full chords, the track gradually expanding outwards to fill the headphone space. Stellar adds extra white noise to its beats, the raucous cymbals contrasting with the padded percussion elsewhere. Noise Marimba Tape goes a similar route, its ticking motif gradually taking on new lines and a firm beat, with the occasional distorted aside. Anakreon offers a complement, moving to gentle droplets of melody from the main instrument alone, while Nord Ambient and Pons remove the attack almost entirely for pure, glacial ambience.

Fujita’s judgment with the textures of his other instruments is unerring, and the music is always colourful but never crowded, and not afraid to turn towards discord and distortion as Gaia does. The lovely Morocco, meanwhile, contrasts the watery marimbas with a deep hum from a brass section, building small cells through a more classical method. Finally Fabric sets a lasting spell, sustaining bright textures in an exquisite orbit while time is marked by simple blocks.

Does it all work?

Yes. Bird Ambience is an album that demands your time as a listener for its spell to be wholly cast, since there is a lot going on here that you might miss if you choose the approach of a background listener. Only by listening closely will you appreciate the melodic cells Fujita works with, ranging from clipped marimba phrases to much longer sustained electronics. Each complements the other.

Is it recommended?

Highly. Masayoshi Fujita must have been a little anxious about moving over from the vibraphone, after such a thorough study of it over three albums, but his achievement here is rather special and often deeply moving. Bird Ambience can be relied upon as a cushion from a heavy day, an aid to thoughtful contemplation, or something to bask in as the different sources of sound rain gently on the listener’s parade.

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Switched On: Alessandro Cortini: Scuro Chiaro (Mute)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

A new album from Nine Inch Nails’ multi-instrumentalist Alessandro Cortini, Scuro Chiaro is a play on the word ‘chiaroscuro’, which means ‘the use of light and shadow to give strong contrast’.

As he did on previous solo opus Volume Massimo, Cortini has revisited old personal recordings for the building blocks for a new piece of work. Using these sounds and elements in a new context has enabled him to compose eight dramatic pieces using the contrast of the title to powerful effect.

What’s the music like?

Cortini’s music is compelling from the off, operating in long phrases that seem quite relaxed to start with, but actually build up a good deal of tension. This is heightened by the use of contrasting tones – some harsh distortion is involved, but that is complemented and often cushioned by soft synth pads. The long, sustained notes of Ecco set the scene over the steady heartbeat of a bass drum, after which Chiaroscuro itself stretches over a wide canvas, the music slowly shifting in a gorgeous chorale.

The pace of the album is refreshing, Cortini unwilling to put too much on the palette when the colours in place are already striking. Sempre is a great example of this, creating great tension with the slightest of pitch shifts that puts it in and out of harmony. Verde also has minimal roots, growing from primitive beginnings to a powerful whole, all the while using the same loop.

A few earlier influences creep into Cortini’s work, notably early Jean Michel Jarre in Lo Specchio, while the work of German pioneers of the 1970s are also visible at times. Yet this is music with a deeply personal resonance too.

Does it all work?

Yes. The colours Cortini uses are striking, and the structuring of his tracks is beautifully achieved. Not a note is wasted.

Is it recommended?

It is – an album of electronica with real conviction and depth. Scuro Chiaro is ambient music, but not without scenes of tension and drama.

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Switched On: Blank Gloss: Melt (Kompakt)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Sacramento duo Blank Gloss met through a shared love of punk and experimental music, but their output is the polar opposite – a blissful musical ambience which has drawn the attention of Kompakt. Their track Of A Vessel was used on the Cologne label’s Pop Ambient 2021 compilation, and it features towards the end of Melt, their debut album.

What’s the music like?

Weightless and blissful, but also subtly animated. At no point does Melt feel like musical wallpaper – instead, it takes the listener outside and places them under the stars of the night sky. It is easy to imagine a wide open vista with the music they make, the scene immediately set from the first track Those Who Plant. Of A Vessel makes the same understated and soothing impression as it did first time around, but sounds even better in this context.

There are some nice guitar fragments on Virga, and on Speaking Quietly too, where a dialogue emerges between soft piano and a thoughtful line on steel guitar. Almost Home shimmers in the half light, before Stained Glass reaches the album’s restful destination.

Does it all work?

Yes. If you liked Of A Vessel then you will certainly enjoy Melt, with its very gradual and enjoyable twists and turns. Blank Gloss never restrict themselves to one formula or musical language, and the subtle inventiveness at work here keeps the music in the foreground.

Is it recommended?

It is indeed. If you are in any way acquainted with the output of Kompakt’s ambient stable, you will be glad to know that Blank Gloss have seamlessly become a part of it. Melt is a soft-hued antidote to the pace and stress of modern life.

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Switched On: Zeb Wayne & Ziwi: This Playlist Is Private (Pyramids Of Mars)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

London-based producer Zeb Wayne and Moroccan-born vocalist Ziwi released the well-received Wulfman EP back in 2017 under the name ZW, but now they have a debut long player in the bag, the first release to mark the relaunch of Radio Slave’s Pyramids Of Mars label.

Wayne revealed that the album was written in a matter of weeks, but that recording took several years to complete. He describes ‘a reflection of both that journey and life as a whole’, with ‘moments of simplicity and complexity, light and darkness, joy and sorrow’.

What’s the music like?

This Playlist Is Private certainly tells a story. It is ideally paced, and has an intriguing blend of musical elements. After an instrumental Intro the microphone passes to Ziwi so the story can be told in song, after which we get an atmospheric Outro at the end. Downtempo soul is the overriding form, but there are cinematic touches, smoky atmospherics, subtle grooves and even a sense of cabaret in the way Ziwi brings each of the songs to life.

Love Spillover is a great example of their craft, a beauty with persuasive vocals and a steady, loping tread to the beats. Float bares its soul over minimal backing, while Prisms and People Person are a little reminiscent of fka Twigs’ first album in its vocal twists and turns.

Ziwi’s voice is the obvious reason to stop and listen to this album. It is a beauty, a versatile instrument, and the words are always clear. Yet it would not work so well without Zeb Wayne’s sensitive production, as he knows when to treat the voice a bit, spreading it across the stereo picture. The instrumentation is a healthy blend of analogue and digital, opening out to widescreen strings on People Person and imuR but then closing in to the intimate asides of Maybe Next Time and Keep Calling. Wayne’s approach is instinctive and fresh, and on songs like Wulfman the listener gets the sensation of floating in midair.

Does it all work?

It does – the playlist unfolds naturally, unhurriedly, and there is a good deal of emotion too. Ziwi is a compelling vocal presence throughout.

Is it recommended?

Yes – This Playlist Is Private is a new downtempo album to add to your discography.

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Switched On: Grasscut: Haunts (Lo Recordings)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The roots for Grasscut’s new mini album lie in the footnotes of a previous long player. The 2015 opus Everyone Was A Bird, which explored meaningful places for the duo of Andrew Phillips and Marcus O’Dair, invited listeners to submit thoughts on their own significant places in the form of voicemail messages.

Phillips’ brief was initially to select one of these messages and turn it in to a fully-fledged composition, but it soon became apparent that the abundance and quality of material was way more than one recordings’ worth. The project sat on the back burner for a while but is fully realised as an extended EP. In the end six messages were chosen, with a web of music spun around each, painting pictures of locations from Brighton up to the Outer Hebrides.

What’s the music like?

Captivating – as are the descriptive messages themselves. Each of the six portraits is like an individual postcard, carefully stitched together, and the meaningful aspects of each location are clear in the emotion of the subjects. The places themselves are hugely varied – from Inchkeith Island, on the edge of Skye with a near-constant wind – to The Garden, a more private and domestic utterance.

The music in the latter is utterly charming, telling a story well before we hear the voicemail message, the song of a blackbird accompanied by the plaintive open strings of a violin, Inchkeith Island is on a larger scale, the water around ever-present, while Human Estuary uses a lovely chamber music group with violin, clarinet and double bass. The Pull is punctuated by an enchanted figure on the piano, its sound cushioned and mottled. Witley Common is similarly mysterious, while The Garden tells a vivid story even before the message, the open strings of a violin used as a countermelody to a blackbird breaking into song. Seacliff makes good use of a Kathleen Ferrier sample, as Phillips says, ‘singing like a mermaid in the distance’.

Does it all work?

Yes. The Overwinter album earlier this year was a timely reminder of Phillips and O’Dair’s ability to make music that transports their listener to another place, but with the voicemail messages setting the tone here, the accompanying pictures are ever more vivid. The only regret is that some of the compositions are not longer – Seacliff and The Pull especially have enough material to blossom into recordings double the length that they occupy.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Grasscut devotees will not need to hesitate as this mini-album continues their development as composers of meaningful music of time and place. Newcomers would also be advised to start here – but to carry on with the other albums, as this is a band hitting the sweet spot with an unerring accuracy.

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