Category Archives: Switched On

Switched On – Emika: Klavirni Temna (Emika Records)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Emika made her first volume of piano recordings available five years ago. The approach was straightforward, the aim of Klavirni to record instinctive and intimate thoughts on the piano and release them to a music-buying public, who greatly appreciated the headspace they provided. From the first collection, Dilo 7 remains Emika’s biggest track on Spotify, with more than 15 million streams.

Since then she has written a first symphony (Melanfonie) and added to a  flourishing output of electronic music. Yet the piano remains her most private form of expression, and five years on, she revisits it on record.

On Klavirni Temna we find an artist whose life has changed a great deal, with motherhood and relocation to a self-sustaining studio outside of Berlin just two of the biggest life changes. However she continues to find solace and inspiration from solo sessions at the keyboard.

What’s the music like?

Klavirni was released before peaceful piano playlists became a thing. With its sequel, the danger was that Emika would be making music that might be seen as derivative.

She cleverly sidesteps that possibility by delivering deeply felt thoughts on the piano that go through electronic studio trickery before reaching the listener, the purity of the sound effectively destroyed by extraneous glitches and pitch wobbles. In spite of this treatment they still reach the parts other solo piano records don’t, calming the mind with their direct musical language.

Once again Emika’s medium of communication is ‘Dilo’, the Czech word for ‘moment’, giving her the freedom to emulate fellow compatriots Dvořák, Janáček and Suk in writing sketches and character pieces for the piano.

There are passing similarities in figuration between Emika’s work and the shorter pieces of Erik Satie, the Preludes of Chopin, or the Metamorphosis works of Philip Glass, but ultimately her personality shines through. Most of the pieces are around three minutes, each acting as a concentrated musical postcard.

Dilo 21 begins at an easy walking pace but is deeply expressive, thanks in part to a vibrato applied to the piano sound. Its block chords have a gorgeous mottled sound, as though we were listening to someone playing the piano in the room next door.

This is a level of intimacy maintained throughout Klavirni Temna, where private thoughts are communicated directly to the listener. Dilo 22 flickers in the half-light like a resilient candle, finding greater brightness by shifting effortlessly into the major key halfway through. Dilo 23 is more propulsive, showing energy can still be found in this stripped back form of music.

On occasion the aural perspective shifts. Dilo 29 is airborne, with a touchingly sad melody of childlike simplicity. Dilo 26 shares that feeling of suspension in the sky, its higher arpeggios complementing an arching melody from the piano’s left hand. Most striking of all is Dilo 31, where the bottom literally falls out of the piano. As the piece progresses the pitch steadily drops, like a wind-up toy running out of power, until it sinks to the ground, helpless.

As the collection progresses the studio involvement intensifies. Penultimate piece Dilo 33 feels more physical but muffled too, the wall between listener and performer thicker than previously – a feeling reinforced by the flickering figures of Dilo 34, beautiful but otherworldly. These figures are eaten up, the destruction wrought by the studio now complete, leaving behind only static noise.

Does it all work?

Yes. It is a lot harder than you might think to write simple structures for piano that also carry emotional meaning, but Emika achieves that feat throughout Klavirni Temna. The electronic manipulations are both clever and sensitive, refracting the sound through improbable prisms but never distorting them to the point where it becomes illegible.
It helps to hear the physical process of playing the piano, too, the human elements brought to the fore.

Is it recommended?

Wholeheartedly. If you’re in need of time for contemplation, away from the relentless demands of technology, put this on. It really does calm and isolate the mind.

Stream

Buy

Switched On – Three Rivers Project: Confluence (Lewis Recordings)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Three Rivers Project is an intriguing collaboration between DJ Yoda and his regular production partner Mark Ross, who records with Roland Faber as Go Atoms. They are named as guests on five of the tracks on debut album Confluence, which as Yoda admits is unlike anything he has worked on before.

The trio describe Confluence as a ‘soundtrack to an imaginary movie, combining the best elements of made-for-VHS electronica, 80s synth/cold wave, against the clock electro house, and the influence of John Carpenter, Jean Michel Jarre and DJ Hell.’ The introductory paragraph on Bandcamp goes on to speak of the album as ‘a classic in future/retro sounds and the accessibility of strange new worlds’. All of which points very heavily indeed towards the influence of cult 1980s throwback hit Stranger Things, the Netflix series notable for its brilliant analogue soundtrack and attention to recent historical detail of electronic music.

What’s the music like?

If you know Yoda as the source of some original, witty and tuneful hip hop, the sound of Confluence will come as a surprise – in a good way.

There is no doubt that the music for Stranger Things has played a big part in the formation of the album, but thankfully Confluence is more than a derivative imitation. The three protagonists are too inventive for that.

As a result we get a richly descriptive album that flows well and is very descriptive, with several tracks of standout musical beauty. Dawn Eclipse provides a wide open sonic panorama from the start, beautifully expansive and more than a bit mysterious. The broad canvas segues into next number Confluence A – Water Leaves, where big reverberant drums cut to a watery backdrop.

The Stranger Things parallels become more apparent as the album progresses. Osmosis could be an offcut from Jean Michel Jarre’s Oxygène, while Dark Neon – which also features Go Atoms – has all the hallmarks of an extraterrestrial 1980s soundtrack, with burbling analogue synths and the weird contours of a main theme. So too does Colony, which pumps more energy into its beats, and Conurbation, a faster and nicely aligned imitation of early techno.

Wolfram accentuates the oddness, the sound of a moaning creature blended into some of Yoda’s typical scratching sounds, while Out Of The Blue is a pure drone.

These different elements provide the essential light and shade of Confluence, which ends with a cavernous beat applied to the resolution of Confluence C – Waters Reach.

Does it all work?

Yes, largely. The concept behind Three Waters Project may be almost wholly based on music from the recent past, but it is well executed and structured. With Yoda already a man of many styles, it follows that with Go Atoms he should be able to blend types of writing which are new to them – and sure enough they do so skillfully.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Confluence sounds great on headphones, and is ironically at its most effective when the drones come out and the atmospheric tracks are in play. Yet even the moments where pastiche is most obvious are full of good, strange, instrumental things.

Stream

Buy

Switched On – Air Texture VII compiled by Rrose & Silent Servant (Air Texture)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The innovative Air Texture compilation series reaches the magnificent seven, staying true to its principles. The idea is that two producers with a connection hook up for a double compilation, whose only proviso is that the music should not be ‘straight ahead club music’. Early volumes in the series tended to be much more ambient, with some completely devoid of beats, but as the canon has developed so has the open and inclusive approach.

This is one of the more upfront releases so far, from Californian Seth Horvitz – now using his Rrose alias – and Silent Servant, aka Los Angeles resident Juan Mendez.

What’s the music like?

The great thing about each Air Texture release is the opportunity for musical discovery, and this is no exception. Both contributors have clearly given the collection a lot of thought, and the range of musical styles here extends from thick muffled ambience from the likes of Octo Octa, where time stands virtually still, to the other end of the scale and the relentless bass drum of JS Aurelius.

Along the way we hear fascinating ideas. The first set of twelve tracks includes probing sounds from Anthony Child and nice, spectral effects from Laurel Halo, whose Dies Ist Ein sounds great on headphones. Ron Morelli’s Psychic Harms of Economic Deprivation has dense and foreboding ambience, while AGF’s HUM-iLiTY displaces reality with eerie vocal effects,

The second set has the wonderfully cinematic Luke Slater track When It Twists, yet another example of his techno mastery, but backs this up with Mara’s Rebellion, a fascinating track which moves from sumptuous widescreen sounds to distorted, extraterrestrial fragments. Silent Servant’s own New World has a propulsive drum track but broad ambience behind, while the ever-reliable Phase Fatale offers the excellent Nightmare in LA, a bubbling and moody synth cauldron. Finally Zahlensender (ssb), from Function, takes us to the other end of the aural spectrum with glittering treble sounds.

Does it all work?

Yes. Some of the more confrontational sounds here mean the compilation is not one of outright ambience, as previous volumes have been, but at this point it is worth remembering the Air Texture philosophy of challenging as well as soothing. In that respect the pairing of Rrose and Silent Servant works a treat, fulfilling the brief while introducing new names as the best compilers should.

Many of the tracks here led to further exploration, but they hang together really well as a pair of sets.

Is it recommended?

Yes, without reservation. This may be the seventh release in the series but it is another feature in the cap of Air Texture’s bow, a compilation series where it really pays to immerse yourself in each instalment. For a listener to be challenged and soothed in equal measure is just how a series like this should be.

Stream

Buy

Let’s Dance – House Masters: David Penn (Defected)

Posted on by
Reply

Various Artists – House Masters: David Penn (Defected)

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Spanish DJ David Penn gets this very welcome career retrospective from Defected, a chance for fans to appreciate not just his original, Latin-flavoured house tunes and his teamwork with DJ Chus, but a whole host of remixes. Penn has in the past bravely taken on classics like Pete Heller’s Big Love and Sophie Lloyd’s Calling Out, but as this collection shows he always comes out on top.

What’s the music like?

Excellent, and brimming with good vibes. The original productions include Penn’s uplifting Nobody, which sets the tone from the off, but also What Is House, with Rober Gaez, and Stand Up, a piano-led, gospel-tinged winner with Ramona Renea. The collection has a really good ebb and flow between these productions and Penn’s remixes, so early on we get the rolling beats and bass of Jack Back’s (It Happens) Sometimes and a brilliant take on Candi Staton’s Hallelujah Anyway, smooth as silk in the production but still hitting the essence of the song. Later on the same can be said for Ron Hall & The Muthafunkaz‘ The Way You Love Me, which Penn treats just right, and also Todd Terry’s Babarabatiri, which plays right into his Latino strengths.

Speaking of which, Penn’s El Sur, with Jabato, is a highlight later on – as is Esperenza, the long-established anthem made with regular sparring partner DJ Chus. Both appear later with a remix of Lenny Fontana’s The Way, before teaming up with Concha Buika to bring the house down on Will I (Discover Love).

Does it all work?

Yes. Penn’s remixing style is uncomplicated – which is an underrated quality, because it means the quality of the original still shines through in spite of the new clothing. The Mediterranean warmth is ever-present in his own productions, which flow beautifully and are consistently classy. A good piano riff is rarely far away from a David Penn production!

Is it recommended?

Yes. It’s great to see Penn getting the spotlight in this way, and he deserves his place alongside the hall of fame Defected have built up in their House Masters series. He understands what makes house music work so well in the hotter European climes, and this compilation shows off his output beautifully.

Stream

Buy

You can buy David Penn’s House Masters compilation from the Defected website here

Switched On – Ultramarine: Meditations (Real Soon)

Posted on by
Reply

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Exactly as it appears. Meditations is a companion piece to last year’s long player Signals Into Space, which Arcana particularly enjoyed. Lasting not long over half an hour, it is what Ultramarine main man Paul Hammond describes as ‘two long-form episodic ambient pieces performed with a reduced palette of kalimba, treated guitar, wavetable & analogue synths and hardware effects; recorded in London with Andy Ramsay (of Stereolab).

Meditations includes field recordings made in Brazil, engineered and mastered as part of the main recording process.

What’s the music like?

Very easy on the ear, as you can imagine – and very like the cover in terms of musical colour.

Both Meditations are best experienced on headphones or on a widescreen system in a quiet environment. Speaking from experience, they have only limited success on public transport, as the large amount of background noise means the sounds occasionally drop out of earshot unless turned up loud. Of course this music would never really be intended for such listening.

Instead, find the right environment to tune in and you will be quickly transported into Ultramarine’s world. It is a warm, watery place, out of doors and with soft, consoling noises both close up and far away, depending on where you want to focus your listening.

Meditation I settles on a dreamy sequence of two chords that follow each other without having any obvious rules, before moving to a section where the kalimba can cast its watery magic. Gradually this builds its energy, the sounds rippling outwards very pleasantly over a long pedal note.

Meditation II feels slightly closer to people, with distant snatches of dialogue audible from the field recordings. There are more obviously electronic interpolations here too, with ambient noises and subtle oscillations to guitar and keyboard. Again there are no drum beats, and virtually no bass – and the calm sonic environment casts a lasting spell, ending on a consonant, rippling chord.

Does it all work?

Yes. Ultramarine have plenty of experience in the ambient music area, and are masters at slowing down the mind while still giving it enough beneficial stimulation. You will emerge from an encounter with these two pieces with a calmer outlook for sure.

Is it recommended?

Yes. The listening environment is crucial to the success of any encounter with Meditations, just as it would be for proper meditation – so bear that in mind. As far as cancelling out the fast pace of modern life goes, or enhancing an already relaxing day, you really can’t go wrong with this one.

Stream and Buy