Category Archives: Switched On

Switched On – Deutsche Elektronische Musik 4 (Soul Jazz Records)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Deutsche Elektronische Musik has proved to be an enterprising series from Soul Jazz Records, with its packaging proving to be every bit as colourful and quirky as the music it presents. While the mention of Krautrock will make readers think of bands such as Can, Neu! and Popol Vuh, the crate diggers at Soul Jazz present some of the lesser names alongside these luminaries.

It proved an effective formula on the first three volumes, each offering a double album’s-worth of treats, and the fourth looks set to offer similar rewards.

What’s the music like?

A great deal of fun. One of the great things about this set of tracks is the feeling that the rules have been pushed to one side. Anything goes, and as a result the variety of grooves, colours, riffs and moods range far and wide.

To offer a few highlights, Agitation Free offer a lovely bit of pastoral cheerfulness with Laila, Pt. II, a mood which could also be levelled at Between’s Triumphzug Kaiser Maximilian I. Can’s I’m So Green is typically excellent, with a shuffling groove, while Michael Rother’s Flammende Herzen expands really nicely from a dreamy interlude to a more driven groove.

My Strand-Eyed Girl from Virus is very Doorsy, with that late 1960s psychedelia feel, and E.Mak impress with their more modern sounding Tanz In Den Himmel, and its hazy block chords. On the stranger side of the fence sit the German psychedelic band Kalacakra, with a long, drone-led ritual of goblin like voices. Meanwhile Roedelius offers a nice, woozy instrumental in the beatless Halmharfe – the lack of beats immediately compensated by Dzyan’s descriptive drum workout Dragonsong.

Finally Günter Schickert applies a really excellent beat and guitar panning for Suleika, a track which has already found favour with the likes of Richard Fearless, then Witthüser & Westrupp apply some dreamy meandering for Schöpfung (1. Mose 1), before it grows into a more athletic wig-out.

Does it all work?

Not all of it will be according to taste, but that is part of the appeal with this series – Soul Jazz include so many different free standing styles that it would be almost impossible to like them all. This instalment is noticeably more relaxed in its grooves than the last, but the musical positivity is still ever-present.

Is it recommended?

Wholeheartedly. If like me you already owned the first three volumes of this excellent series, there is no need to hesitate about the possibility of adding a fourth. It is another history lesson cum late night party soundtrack.

Stream

Buy

You can hear clips from the compilation and purchase from the Soul Jazz shop, Sounds Of The Universe

Switched On – Various Artists: Pop Ambient 2021 (Kompakt)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Pop Ambient has always been one of Kompakt’s flagship projects, but in 2021 it is surely needed more than ever. With no reason to change the winning formula of seasoned regulars and bright new things, the series – in Kompakt’s words – becomes ‘a sprightly young adult waltzing out of its teenage joys and tears’.

What’s the music like?

It is no understatement to say this really is balm to soothe the soul. From the moment new Kompakt signings Blank Gloss begin the music takes its listener to a special and very relaxed place, the Sacramento group letting their guitar run free through On A Vessel.

Then Yui Onodera pans out with Chromo 5, with similarly warm textures that seem to hang on a gentle breeze. Reich & Würden‘s Lens proves to be rather special, with a slightly mournful trumpet lead that hints of a detective or intelligence series theme. Joachim Spieth & Pepo Galán‘s Libration proves to be one of those wonderfully immersive ambient tracks, holding still on one pitch but moving subtly above it. Max Würden‘s Center does the same, with a simple but probing piano line, while Neozaïre‘s Vor Den Toren Europas resembles the sound of an orchestra playing slowly outdoors.

Neozaïre is one of three new Kompakt artists on this release, along with Blank Gloss and Seventh World, whose Light The Waves Before Dawn is a beautifully stretched mood piece suggestive of the lazily moving waters themselves.

Does it all work?

Effortlessly so. The great thing about Pop Ambient is that it works so well but never rests on its laurels, giving new pointers in ambient music with each installment.

Is it recommended?

You know the answer. As a standpoint in the ambient music calendar, Pop Ambient is eagerly awaited and delivers with as little effort as possible. As, indeed, ambient music should.

Stream

Buy

Switched On – Domenique Dumont: People On Sunday (The Leaf Label)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

People On Sunday is the soundtrack to the 1930 film of the same name (also known as Menschen am Sonntag, Les Hommes le Dimanche and People On Sunday). Dominique Dumont was commissioned to write the score for the Les Arcs film festival in 2019, where it was given a live performance. The film follows a group of characters going about their business in Weimar-era Berlin over one weekend, showing normal life in Germany before dictatorship

He took a great deal from the experience, documenting on his Bandcamp page how the film itself ‘strengthened my belief that the time we currently live in, although far from perfect, might be the best time to be alive’. That was before the Coronavirus pandemic, obviously, but a certain truth still rings true in his observation that, ‘we are living in a utopia compared to what came before and, perhaps, what is to come’.

What’s the music like?

Dumont’s music has the construction of a spider’s web, in that it has a fragile and graceful exterior but is held together with very solid musical elements. It also conforms to his optimistic outlook, with airy textures and delicate tones.

The twinkling lights of Arrival set the scene beautifully, using a minimal loop but expanding into droplets of melody up above. Where this track is cool, Water Theme (Le Château de Corail) has warmth through what sounds like steel pans.

Elsewhere the mood is blissful but closer inspection reveals the detail Dumont applies to every aspect of his work. The small but intricate melodic cells have consonant harmonies but feel as though they are providing light in relative darkness, finding calm and order away from hustle and bustle.

Rituals is especially good at this, panning out to find meditative calm, while We Almost Got Lost settles quickly into a trance, underwritten by a soft, bossa nova rhythm. Falling Asleep Under Pine Trees flickers with enchanting but restful activity, while Merry-Go-Round is charming and could easily run for double its duration on the brightly lit and closely woven parts Dumont brings forward. Watching Boats Pass By is as relaxing as the title suggests it should be,

Does it all work?

Yes. The music can easily be enjoyed as an album, independent of the moving images or even with other, more natural backdrops. Listening in a quiet space or on headphones brings out all of the individual elements employed, but these can also be listened to as a whole, setting the right, contemplative mood.

Is it recommended?

Yes. People On Sunday is a rather beautiful piece of work, shimmering in the half light and casting a spell on its listeners.

Stream

Buy

Switched On – Ralph Kinsella: Lessening (8D Industries)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

If you are a home producer you will immediately relate to the thoughts behind Ralph Kinsella’s debut album Lessening. Kinsella refers to ‘the poetics of the bedroom’, capturing the intimacy of our most private room for listening to and creating music.

The confined space is the stimulus for the ten tracks of Lessening, all recorded through lockdown in Kinsella’s Dumfries and Galloway. He talks of ‘the boondocks, interspersed with fragments of debris and flickering housing scheme street lights.’

What’s the music like?

Lessening is a set of ten tableaus with varying degrees of ambience and animation. Kinsella’s guitar is the main instrument, but he uses it sensitively among more ambient effects that often give a much bigger sound picture.

The subtly varied guitar sounds provide close up attention to detail or far off wisps of colour, and when the two elements come together, as they do in The Angel Of Raasay, the listener has the feeling of becoming airborne, especially with the ambient surrounds on headphones. That feeling is heightened on In The In-Between Light, where the music soars overhead on a bank of slowly changing effects, panning out to even wider vistas.

On the darker side the slow moving Suffuse has a similarly wide picture to go with its brooding harmonic backdrop, while the expansive Lung Noise, the album’s emotional centre, is similarly introspective but has a lovely mixture of cloudy keyboards to complement the bowed instrument in the foreground.

The layers of white noise laced around T(h)reads work as a comforting blanket, an explicit suggestion of shoegaze acts such as Slowdive, while Born On The Cusp works well with widescreen reverberation. Conversely the studied ambience of Gallows Hill has beautiful details for the ear to focus in on, with intricately picked guitar and woozy atmospherics working together.

Does it all work?

It does, because the structure of Lessening is ideal, giving the music a natural ebb and flow. Kinsella creates a winning mixture of blurred forms and much more studied portraits, portraying both the intimacy of the bedroom where the music will have been made but also the Dumfries and Galloway vistas outside.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. Any lovers of 1990s shoegaze will find much to dive into here, but so will those admiring more recent, post-classical efforts from the likes of Nils Frahm or A Winged Victory For The Sullen. It will be interesting to see what Kinsella turns his guitar to next, for his form of localized ambience creates memorable images of both time and place.

Stream

Buy

Switched On – Twinkle3: Minor Planets (Marionette)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Minor Planets completes a trilogy spanning 15 years from Twinkle 3. The trio – Richard Scott, David Ross and Clive Bell – have a very open musical approach, which on this album allows influences from diverse sources such as Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and Stockhausen to be taken in, via some sounds of the Far East evoked by Bell’s shakuhachi. The press release for Minor Planets tells a vivid story, promising ‘aleatoric analogue sequencing, chamber-like acoustic improvisation and dub treatments’…which ‘become distilled into a district and emotive narrative that takes us on an exilharating hyperspace cruise to the outer reaches.’

What’s the music like?

Fluid, instinctive and never less than intriguing. Minor Planets captures the sense of emptiness outer space portrays, but also the elements of strangeness, discovery and wonder. From the strange ticking and slightly acidic electronics of Opik 2099 to the mysterious Ziziyu 26946, the textures constantly evolve and the dubby beats provide both comfort and on occasion edginess. The shanachi sounds rather wonderful when used on Soma 2815 and on Kallope 22, taking the listener far away.

Does it all work?

Yes, it does, though headphones are recommended to get the best sonic perspective. Minor Planets does indeed take the listener far from home on its nine very different excursions.

Is it recommended?

Definitely. Those with a mind for ambient music should seek this out, especially if they like a bit of exploration and experimentation at the same time.

Stream & Buy