Category Archives: Switched On

Switched On – Steffi x Virginia: Work A Change (Ostgut Ton)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Steffi & Virginia have been regular collaborators ever since 2011, when their vocal track Yours surfaced on the Ostgut Ton label. I use the term ‘Vocal track’ rather than ‘song’ advisedly, because the two DJs and vocalists find that their vocal work complements the instrumental craft, the two elements becoming inseparable.

Eight years on and their musical chemistry remains, sparking eight track EP Work A Change.

What’s the music like?

Every bit as vital as the pair’s first work. Steffi x Virginia, as the name implies, are an incredibly cohesive unit, finishing each other’s musical sentences on tracks that exist somewhere between techno, electro and pop. They manage to satisfy the elements of each style while being difficult to pin down to a single genre.

Beats bubble below the surface while cool keyboards float above on Be True To Me, which kicks in with a catchy chorus, while the two standouts Help Me Understand and Work The Change have a great sense of urgency. Both exist in instrumental form to show just how good they are.

Sight From Above, meanwhile, has a closer harmony which leads to a warmer sound, while Until You’re Begging has a conversational style over a busy beat. Only Internal Bleeding doesn’t quite hit the spot, though the harmonies are as effective as ever.

Does it all work?

Yes, because the blend of processed electronica with a freedom of spirit is irresistible. Work A Change, Help Me Understand and Be True To Me are big hitters that repay many repetitions (from experience!)

Is it recommended?

Without hesitation. These two spark off each other to brilliant effect, and the natural creation of this album has led to some brilliant vocal and instrumental sparring. It brings forward high quality music with energy and positivity.

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Switched On – Kompakt: Total 19

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Cologne label Kompakt is one of the cornerstones of electronic music and techno. Around this time every year they dip in to the catalogue for a Total collection of exclusives, an annual occurrence for nearly two decades now – and as important as it ever has been for main man Michael Mayer, who oversees this selection.

He goes for a mixture of old and new, established and just setting out – all offering a rich variety of nearly three hours’ music. The aim, as Mayer says, it to ‘reinforce the bond between artists and listeners. They’re like your favourite restaurant round the corner’.

What’s the music like?

Mayer serves up plenty on the Kompakt menu. The first act of the double concentrates on the label’s staple acts, the likes of Jürgen Paape, Jörg Burger and Voigt & Voigt, the brothers delivering reliably strong techno.

Perhaps the two best tracks of the first part are Tom Demac’s Serenade, a really broad and lovely piece of piano-led, richly textured electronica – and the Albert Luxus track In Den Arm Bitte!, remixed with warm colours by Julian Stetter. DJ Balduin’s expansive E.W.B.A. is a fine piece of work, broken beats and big textures. Rex The Dog’s Vortex makes a strong impression too, as does Jonathan Kaspar’s fluid effort Renard.

Arguably it is the second part of newer material that makes the stronger impression, though it does get a bit more samey with its monotone minimal tracks towards the end. Fahrland makes an especially good contribution with Yesterday, darkly dramatic and with elements of Chicago house from Mz Sunday Luv, while the growling lower end bass of Extrawelt’s Pink Panzer gets the complement of some extra acidic tweaking up top. Patrice Baumel gives attitude with Grace, ANNA lets loose at the sharp end of techno with Remembrance, while Raxon proves a driving force with Dark Light.

Does it all work?

In the majority, yes. From the warmth and vulnerability of Weval’s opening track Are You Even Real to the final flourish of Gui Boratto’s 618, via the Kölsch mixing desk, this is a set of tracks that Mayer has clearly spent some time over. The high level watermark remains.

Is it recommended?

Yes – Kompakt are still on their game on this release, and the appearance of Total in the calendar is a reassuring reminder that their high quality thresholds are unlikely to dip any time soon.

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Switched On – Carter Tutti Void: Triumvirate (Conspiracy International)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This is the third and sadly final volume in which the trio of Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti and Nik Colk Void join forces – Carter and Tutti being half of Throbbing Gristle, and Void from Factory Floor. The interchangeable trio can operate as solo artists in their own right, but when they unite improvisation is the watchword of the day.

There is a distinct lack of ceremony to their work together, the six tracks on this collaboration referred to as simply T 3.1 and so on. They are not quite presented in order, suggesting the improvisation runs to the album sequence as well as the music itself.

What’s the music like?

Dark and propulsive, like a lumbering machine. With rolling bass and low slung rhythms T 3.2 comes in like the machine cranking into life, sporting a mid-tempo and slightly dubby profile that sounds superbly moody. It sets a guide for the rest of the album, which proceeds with similarly dark colours but is a compelling listen.

T 3.5 is the sort of track that would benefit from visuals, like the soundtrack to a game or movie yet to be written. Again there is a dark presence in the music, but the effects, disembodied voice of Cosey and fulsome beats combine to make an incredibly descriptive piece of work.

T 3.3 is slightly more acidic and industrial, powered again by an insistent rhythm, the machine now in fine form – and it continues to work well in T 3.1 through a chugging beat that sounds a little like mid-period Orb. The foreground features all kinds of metallic flashes and flickers, as though the trio are welding their music live, and the longer the track goes the more mischievous the interventions become.

Finally T 3.6, monotone like many of the others, plays effective games with its sonic perspective and builds rich layers of sounds that are slate-like in colour.

Does it all work?

Yes, Triumvirate offers an incredibly solid counterpoint to the first two releases, and goes about its business in a refreshingly direct way. There is something thrilling about the music’s construction, its industrial sounds that love to reference the thrill of early dub-infused house as their metallic profiles take shape. It would doubtless be brilliant live.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Heavy and brooding it may be, but the construction of Triumvirate is fascinating to take in, glinting in the darkness and working its magic to great effect on headphones.

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Switched On – Joe Armon Jones: Turn To Clear View (Brownswood)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Joe Armon Jones is a man with a vivid imagination and a thirst for collaboration, so it is hardly surprising that he fits into the world of jazz with such refreshing ease. Yet that is not the only world with which he rubs shoulders, as his second album for Brownswood deftly shows. With guests including Georgia Anne Muldrow and fellow Ezra Collective members Oscar Jerome, Moses Boyd and Nubya Garcia, Turn To Clear View promises musical exploration, a feeling furthered by its P-funk style album cover.

What’s the music like?

Turn To Clear View builds on the promise of instinctive music that Jones’ first album for Brownswood, Starting Today, showed. The fact he has followed up that album in less than a year and a half, with other projects on the go, shows the rich vein of creativity he is currently mining.

Crucially, Turn To Clear View is accessible from almost every entry point. If you come to this from the P-Funk of Funkadelic or more outright jazz leanings, or even slower disco and hip hop, there will be something for you here.

Perhaps the most obvious and appealing groove is Icy Roads, a nice syncopated number that works up a light-headed euphoria. Asheber’s vocal on Try Walk With Me is part of a warm welcome to the album, with the telling lyrics ‘time to let go’, while the Muldrow-fronted Yellow Dandelion is a treat, full of colour and expression and with a great keyboard solo from Jones himself.

Gnawa Sweet shows off a lovely, burnished trumpet sound from the Ezra Collective’s Dylan Jones, while (To) Know Where You’re Coming From has a nice breezy ensemble melody with trumpet and sax. Jehst’s vocal on The Leo & Aquarius dovetails beautifully with another sensitive contribution from Jones, before an energetic rap towards the end, while Nubya Garcia delivers a passionate saxophone solo on You Didn’t Care.

Finally on Self:Love the entreaty to ‘be yourself’ from Obongjayar is perfectly timed, effectively bringing the mood of the album full circle.

Does it all work?

It does. Turn To Clear View is a well-crafted yet instinctive piece of work, musically fluid and enjoying the rich colours and individual styles of those involved. Jones is very sensitive to the guests on the album, but is clearly a force to be reckoned with when he comes to the fore.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. Joe Armon Jones has a stellar career ahead of him on this evidence, and the speed of thought he currently has with his musical projects is enviable. It won’t be long until his next move, for sure!

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Let’s Dance – Mike Dunn: My House From All Angles (Classic)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Mike Dunn is a highly respected name in house music. The Chicago figurehead is already responsible for original house classics God Made Me Phunky, Face The Nation and Let It Be House, but as his many and varied pseudonyms indicate he is capable of an extremely versatile approach to house music.

The title of his first album since 1990 recognises that, the fourteen tracks including solo instrumentals and a few guest slots. My House From All Angles has been out since the summer, but Arcana wanted to recognise its existence and worth!

What’s the music like?

If someone asks you to play them some classic house music, Mike Dunn will never let you down. Because of the rich heritage he has in Chicago, he is capable of making music that recognises how house music sounded at the beginning, but brings it up to date in execution and variety.

He also has at his disposal another weapon – his voice. You don’t forget the Dunn tones in a hurry, his smoother than silk lower range used to cheeky effect on tracks like Phreaky MF or on the top notch track Move It Or Work It.

Classic house is not the only order of the day either. Modulation gets closer to techno, a brilliant instrumental whose closest cousin could be Kerri Chandler’s Bar A Thym. On the other side, The Wake Up Call, featuring Deejay Alicia, is darkly lit – as is You R, an acid tinged celebration.

Does it all work?

Yes. Dunn’s experience works so well here – he knows how to make a great house track but also the elements that keep it sounding fresh. That means that nothing is over-produced, nothing is too calculated – and that leaves room for a bit of instinct and a chance to tap into the party vibe, which after all is where house music works at its very best.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Mike Dunn is still full of ideas, and each of these tracks brims with creativity and a wish to have a good time. My House From All Angles is a show home definitely worth buying.

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