Category Archives: Switched On

Switched On – Laurence Pike: Prophecy (The Leaf Label)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Laurence Pike is on the crest of a creative wave. After an impressive output as drummer with PVT, he has joined forces with Luke Abbott and Jack Wyllie of Portico Quartet as Szun Waves, releasing their self-titled debut in 2016. Since then he has reeled off three albums as a solo artist, and Prophecy, his latest, shows his love for instinctive working continues.

The record is his response to the deepening global climate emergency but in particular hones in on the destructive wildfires wreaking havoc across Australia. The cover art, Goldens by Australian artist Gemma Smith, reflects his concerns in a striking image.

What’s the music like?

Instinctive. Pike works a very effective blend of pre-prepared material and improvisation, striking a balance between the two that feels just right.

He has close attention to detail with the brushstrokes of his percussive work matching up to broader musical sequences. Death Of Science bubbles with tension, creating quite a foreboding atmosphere. Ember is evocative, with a slightly distorted vocal and a distant but reassuring piano. The title track has a nice ambient backdrop while percussion clicks and whirs around.

New Normal is eerie both musically and in the fact its title was coined before the Covid pandemic, and it features clicks and brushes with a soft but insistent harpsichord motif.
Nocturnal noises continue into Born Under Saturn but with a softly voiced backdrop, before the musical camera pans out further on Rapture, the higher pitches suggesting we have taken to the air.

Pike’s use of percussion is never less than interesting but frequently sets vivid nocturnal pictures. Arguably the best is saved for last, with Echoes Of Earth underpinned by a steady but very sonorous chime, creating a rather beautiful epilogue.

Does it all work?

Yes. Pike’s uses the army of percussion at his disposal with a painter’s touch, and his brush strokes are commendably subtle at times. The way he combines the percussion instruments with subtle melodic loops or atmospheres is very effective, and the album works well both on headphones and surround sound.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. Laurence Pike’s work goes from strength to strength, and this particular episode is both effective and deeply felt.

Stream

Buy

Switched On – Rival Consoles: Articulation (Erased Tapes)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Articulation is the fifth album for Erased Tapes from Rival Consoles, the name under which Ryan Lee West releases much of his music. The inspiration for this album is György Ligeti, not in an explicitly musical sense but in the art of making music from a graphic score. The idea behind this was to get away from the computer and start with patterns, shapes or structures drawn by hand. This would generate musical solutions. Two of the initial scores sketched out by West are shown below:


Articulation


Sudden Awareness of Now

What’s the music like?

Articulation has less obviously musical content than its predecessor Persona. There are admirable and often striking sounds and textures achieved through this music, which often creates powerful pictures and atmospherics. Yet while the chord progressions are strong there is not so much of a melodic strength in depth.

Opening track Vibrations On A String is a study in tonal colour, moving between distortion and a more consonant sound until a forthright beat kicks in. There is a tension between the energy of the beats and the slow four-note progression of the string itself.

Forwardism and Articulation follow similar paths, with relatively minimal means. The former strips back to beats and jagged atmospherics, while the latter takes a more active broken beat and spins threads around it. Melodica is much warmer, the beats retreating and the music panning out a little, the approach allowing for more improvisation, while Still Here resembles an extended peal of mid-range electronic bells, delivered without beats.

Most impressive and enduring is the final Sudden Awareness of Now. With a dazzling array of textures applied to its central riff it crackles with energy, sending out trance-like pulses but surrounded by a warm haze of sound.

Does it all work?

Yes, in terms of conforming to West’s blueprint, but the shift away from computer towards drawings has not necessarily given the music more emotion. If anything, it sounds more processed, a collection of sounds rather than melodies. It is very effective for mood-setting and creating colours but does not always leave a lasting impression.

Is it recommended?

Articulation is an easy recommendation for Rival Consoles devotees, but it does not yet come across as his strongest album. Time will tell if it has the same staying power as other Erased Tapes releases, but for now Articulation is easier to admire than an album with which to form a strong emotional bond.

Stream

Buy

Switched On – Bing & Ruth: Species (4AD)

Posted on by
2

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Species is the fourth album from Bing & Ruth, the New York-based project where the ever-present is David Moore. Previous album No Home Of The Mind was largely powered by flowing piano textures, but this time around the outlook is very different. As the cover art implies, the album was made in a hotter, drier climate, and this is reflected in the instrumentation. Moore wrote the music on a Farfisa organ, hooking up with friends playing clarinet (Jeremy Viner) and acoustic bass (Jeff Ratner).

What’s the music like?

This incarnation of Bing & Ruth feels more static than the previous model in terms of its harmonic and melodic movement. Yet it is every bit as compelling, and tracking the development of each track is a little like listening to the earlier Philip Glass of the Dance Pieces.

The colours are immediately appealing as Body in a Room and Badwater Psalm reveal. Time seems suspended in space as compact figures and loops oscillate on the Farfisa, spreading out over long, held pedal notes that support the framework. Moore sets out this deceptively simple material in a way that works really well, bringing out different and intriguing phasing effects from the mellow tones of the organ that prove very pleasing to the ear.

I Had No Dream emits a brighter light as Moore moves to the instrument’s upper register, but in response the short Blood Harmony gives out mellow, sonorous strokes. This prepares the listener for two tracks comprising half the album’s length. Live Forever develops a warm, reassuring loop of consonant harmony, blissfully layered and with beautiful mottled textures. The Pressure of this Water leads straight on with greater movement, its figures dancing in the mind’s eye.

Finally Nearer holds still, its relative lack of moment revealing a heart of greater substance, Moore’s simple bow strokes soft but emotionally penetrating.

Does it all work?

Yes. The longer pieces are the most effective, showing that Moore has really mastered the art of pacing a track that lasts almost a quarter of an hour while keeping it compelling to the listener. It is fascinating tracking the development of the material…but it is equally rewarding to zone out completely and allow the developments to take place in the background and set the mood.

Is it recommended?

Yes. David Moore has opened a fascinating new chapter of Bing & Ruth’s sound by switching to a different keyboard, one that wholly complements the previous piano-based work. Species is both intimate and expansive, so it will prove fascinating to witness it in a live environment – which, COVID-19 permitting, we should be able to do in the UK in December.

Stream

Buy

You can read an interview with David on Arcana in the next few days…and in the meantime enjoy the playlist he put together for us

Various Artists – Ready Or Not: Thom Bell’s Philly Soul Arrangements & Productions 1965-1978 (Ace Records)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Ace Records’ Producer Series is looking to recognise the people behind some of the landmark records in pop music – arguing along the way that music studio personnel are not recognised in the way film directors are. They have a particularly strong point in the case of Thom Bell, whose arrangements have helped enhance a good number of Philadelphia soul hits from the 1960s and 1970s. A lot of them are still household regulars, and this compilation takes the stance of a greatest hits set in its quest to recognise Bell’s genius.

Bell, a classically trained musician, became bored with his initial three-chord efforts at songwriting – and was soon looking to bring more of his musical education into his work, with increasingly adventurous techniques and tricks. He often worked in tandem with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, but has tended to languish in the background when it comes to recognition alongside their contributions. With reference to his musical training, hiss scoring became more imaginative, transforming the songs of some of the biggest names in soul – The Stylistics, The O’Jays, Johnny Mathis and The Delfonics all beneficiaries of his touch.

What’s the music like?

Invigorating and inspiring – and a real pick me up in the current times. The fact that this series of songs is paying tribute to an arranger and orchestrator means the listener is compelled to listen beyond the lyrics – and once you do that a whole host of treasures await. The songs themselves are instantly recognisable in many cases – The O’Jays’ peerless Backstabbers, The Stylistics’ People Make The World Go Round, New York City’s I’m Doin’ Fine Now. But where would The O’Jays’ be without that distinctive rumbling on the piano that starts the track, or New York City without the punchy block brass chords – or The Stylistics without their shimmering strings?

Bell can take credit for all and more besides. Among the many highlights here are the airy orchestration to the winsome Connie Stevens song Tick Tock, the brilliant matching up of violins and bass guitar on Archie Bell & The Drells’ Here I Go Again, and the brassy Delfonics classic Ready Or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love).
Topping even these moments is the atmospheric introduction to Johnny Matthis’ Life Is A Song Worth Singing, which tells a story in itself with a swirling wind and grainy strings, the music up close and vividly personal. Meanwhile the other Delfonics inclusion, You’ve Been Untrue, benefits from Bell’s imaginative use of harpsichord and zither.

Does it all work?

Very much so. The only slight regret here is that The O’Jays’ Love Train – which Bell appears to have had a hand in – is not included. One of the finest soul songs around, it is notable for its brilliant string arrangement. To be honest, though, that is a minor quibble as all of the 23 songs chosen here are examples of how to boost a song with imaginative orchestral writing.

Is it recommended?

Yes, on several levels. Producers like Thom Bell deserve all the recognition they get and more, for what they bring to soul and pop music is so much more than mere window dressing. They are able to elevate a song from merely good to fantastic, providing those extra touches that we latch on to when the songs appear on the radio. Bell does all that and more, an imaginative mind whose rewards are rich and varied, and who enhances all of these songs.

Stream

You can hear all the songs on this compilation in this pre-created Spotify playlist from Timo Kangas:

Buy

You can buy Ready or Not from the Ace Records website

Switched On – Daniel Avery: Love + Light (Phantasy)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

A surprise release from Daniel Avery, Love + Light started out as an EP – but as he worked on it under lockdown it soon became clear the piece of work was flourishing into something much more substantial – which become his third album. It is an ambitious piece of work, with 14 tracks split into two distinct halves.

What’s the music like?

Every bit as mesmerising as Song For Alpha, Avery’s previous album from 2018. It doesn’t matter that he put this one together so quickly, as his mastering of an album structure is on the money, treating it like a DJ set of his own music. He nails the ebb and flow of the work, moving between full bodied dance tracks like Dusting For Smoke and the metallic textures of Dream Distortion, which complement each other, and broad brushes of ambience that we see more of in the second half, where tracks like A Story In E5 have a magical quality.

The first half is into its stride quickly with the two big hitters referred to above, before Avery creates a blissful open air secen on the brief Katana. This acts as a prelude to the bubbling, classic techno of Darlinnn, before Searing Light, Forward Motion provides an absolute blast of sound to end the first half, Avery following up the opening salvo with a heavy breakbeat.

The second half could hardly start in a better vein, with the stunning Infinite Future, which is several tracks in itself, beautifully voiced and structured. Avery explores cathedral-like resonance in the thick textures of After The Fire, before panning even further out for the remote standpoint of Into The Arms Of Stillness. Fuzzwar offers greater intimacy and comfort, as does the warm and hazy Pure Life, before A Story In E5, the jewel in the album’s crown, a majestic piece of ambience. After that, One More Morning offers a postlude with its clock-like chimes and featherweight beat, which hints at Aphex Twin in its textures.

Does it all work?

Yes – and if anything Love + Light improves with repeated hearings. Although the album was put together quickly it has a cool intensity throughout, is carefully structured and brings out several wonderful soundscapes. Avery’s take on techno is wholly individual, spacious and unusually emotive.

Is it recommended?

Without hesitation. One of the best electronic albums you’ll hear this year.

Stream

Buy