Category Archives: Switched On

Switched On – Walt McClements: On A Painted Ocean (Western Vinyl)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Walt McClements began work for On A Painted Ocean in a Pasadena church in 2022. There he was given unexpected access to the building’s organ, recordings that he revisited at a later date while on tour as part of the group behind Weyes Blood.

With months on the tour bus, and restricted access to musical instruments, McClements began to add his own processed accordion sound from a synthesizer, forming the basis of the album. Unsure how to move forward, he explored collaborative options on a visit to former home New Orleans, and the album took shape with saxophonist Aurora Nealand and with studio help from Rachika Nayar.

McClements describes the album as, “A credit to strong relationships and mutual support…adapting to the tides and remembering your community can help when you feel stuck at sea.”

What’s the music like?

Often close to weightless. The woozy combination of pipe organ and accordion make appealing sonorities to form the basis of McClements’ music, whose wide open textures are surely as a result of all that time spent on the road. The music has an appealing freedom but also melancholic tones that speak of homesickness and confinement.

A Painted Ship has a touching intimacy in its thoughts, but reveals a surprising depth to the fulsome chords as the music gradually swells. The title track pares back to accordion alone, a thoughtful elegy. Washed Up has a lovely backdrop that you can dive in to, with shimmering textures that reflect the blue and white cover.

Elsewhere peace is found in the midst of a struggle. Cloud Prints is initially more elusive, before the saxophone of Aurora Nealand soars above the musical landscape like a soaring eagle – and Nealand appears too on the longer form Parade, whose stately chord sequence from the organ is adorned with glitter but also scarred – and effectively rescued by an instructive field recording. The coda, Clattering, drifts in and out of focus.

Does it all work?

It does. McClements is right – his music is a source of comfort, but also of beauty in spite of the scars.

Is it recommended?

It is. Walt McClements has created something original and rather special here, one that speaks of how it was composed – but also offers a unique form of comfort, converting damage and strife into ambience and light.

For fans of… Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Tim Hecker, Peter Broderick, Efterklang

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Published post no.2,511 – Tuesday 22 April 2025

Switched On – Future Loop Foundation: The Planet Dog Years (Cherry Red Records)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Renowned producer Mark Barrott used the alias Future Loop Foundation in the mid-1990s, and under it he made two albums of ambient drum and bass, along with a number of EPs. Here they have been assembled with a clutch of stand-alone tracks and remixes, previously unreleased demos and a live track.

The two albums in question are Time And Bass, from 1996, and Conditions For Living, released two years later – made at a time when the reach of drum and bass was extending well beyond the club and into the home.

What’s the music like?

There are plenty of highs in Barrott’s music as Future Loop Foundation, right from the heady Discovery, with which Time And Bass begins. The clipped rhythm and spacey backdrop are perfect chill out material but there is a mass of positive energy here, enforced by the swirly textures of Kinetic Pioneers. The piano-led Journey’s End is a treat, but what stands out about the first album is Barrott’s consistency, setting a warm summery mood but utilising rhythms with a huge amount of movement and drive.

The beats get stronger and heavier on Conditions For Living, and the mood gets darker as the title track asks, “what kind of world are we living in?” Sadly it’s as relevant now as it was then. Barrott takes more risks here, to good effect on the woozy, mysterious Omerta, which blossoms into a bassy track with piano floating above. There is some inventive, long form drum and bass here, and the quickfire beats of Moog Road are a particular thrill. Karma packs a punch, suggesting a lesson learned.

The set of singles and bonus tracks is the ideal complement. Sonic Drift blends piano, warm chords and the syncopated rhythms that Barrott made a signature of his style, while the Lo-Fi Dub of Discovery shows how versatile the music could be when reworked. Darwin Sound skates along energetically, while an energetic live version of Shake The Ghost wraps things up.

Does it all work?

It does. Some of the tracks are lengthy – a habit of the time in the mid-1990s – but in this case that gives the listener a good deal of time to get fully immersed in the music. Barrott’s productions are excellent.

Is it recommended?

Absolutely. The music is very much of its time…but happily 1990s drum ‘n’ bass has aged extremely well, and the Future Loop Foundation with it. Great stuff that is well worth revisiting.

For fans of… Alex Reece, LTJ Bukem, Adam F., 4hero

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For streaming and purchase details, visit the Cherry Red Records website

Published post no.2,506 – Thursday 17 April 2025

On Record – John Foxx: Wherever You Are (Metamatic)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

“Around dawn is the best time to play piano,” says John Foxx. “Self-critical mechanisms mostly dormant, so I’m free to invent and enjoy for a while. The piano faces a window overlooking a valley surrounded by hills, where the sun comes up. There’s often an early mist in the valley – and quite often, it rains. Some notes and sounds resonate with remembered experiences and you get glimpses of times and people. It’s valuable. Quiet. Free association, myriad moments orbiting – and off you go.”

This set of eleven solo piano recordings was made in the wake of Foxx’s successful appearance at Kings Place in October 2023, where he took part in a ‘Night Tracks’ evening for BBC Radio 3. The title is mindful of friends, the music written in gratitude to them.

“So – simply, thanks.”, writes Foxx. “Wherever you are.”

What’s the music like?

Deeply personal, and extremely relaxing. There is no mistaking the intimacy of this music, that these are the thoughts of one person, but with each recording you feel as though Foxx is training his focus on a different friendship.

When She Walked In With The Dawn captures the very moment the light begins, Foxx’s piano surrounded by reverberation but revealing its thoughts with a steady gaze. By contrast Evensong is bathed in early evening sunshine, its musical language closer to the Baroque and Pachelbel’s Canon. Meanwhile Someone Indistinct goes higher in pitch, revealing a close association with the music of Erik Satie.

Foxx’s writing often has watery connotations. The water glints in the upper reaches of A Swimmer In A Summer River, while Once I Had A Love is gently reflective. The two Night Vision pieces unfold pleasantly, the latter especially evoking nocturnal memories, while Morning In A Great City, by nature, has a wider perspective. The closing title track has the warmth of appreciation.

Does it all work?

It does. Foxx’s sound world is both a comfort and a source of positive energy, giving relaxation but also helping focus the mind. Listen closely and you get hints of deeper emotion, the personal profiles difficult to ignore.

Is it recommended?

It is. Foxx has of course charmed with ambient albums in the past, and Wherever You Are draws from the best of his solo work and collaborations with Harold Budd and Robin Guthrie. These are deeply personal utterances, deceptively simple but meaningful, and offer a consoling arm around the shoulders of any listener.

For fans of… Erik Satie, Federico Mompou, Anthony Phillips, Steve Hackett

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Published post no.2,504 – Tuesday 15 April 2025

Switched On – Various Artists: Ambientale: compiled by Charles Bals (Bureau B)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Bureau B describe this compilation, put together by Charles Bals, as “a journey into otherworldly sounds from the years 1983 – 2000”, a journey that takes in a wide range of artists and musical styles. From Patrick Ryder’s notes, “Ambientale sees Charles leave the human world behind, exploring all the world’s wilderness on the scale of an IMAX epic. Rainforest, savanna, seascape and sand dune blur into one under digital manipulation, questioning the balance of nature and technology and wondering whether AI might discover the blueprint of all life and all planets. There’s also a little room on the mood board for the striking underwater cinematography and lush soundtrack of Luc Besson’s The Big Blue, a film he first saw in 1987 at an open-air theatre in the same Southern French resort that inspired ‘Club Meduse’.

What’s the music like?

Bals has chosen a wide variety of music in all shapes and sizes, but one thing that runs consistently through this compilation is its ability to paint a picture.

There are some striking sounds and vivid pictures here. Akira Mitake‘s duo, Yasha and Modernism, are memorable, typifying the weird and wonderful feel this compilation gives. Greece Ambientale, by Individual Sensitivity, has a cosmopolitan feel, like some of Jean-Michel Jarre’s far out ventures. Steve Shenan‘s evocative Evening In The Sahara has shady detective score overtones, underlaid by a lovely heat haze. The one that sticks in the memory most, however, is the nocturnal, saxophone-led Velvet Blue Circles, mournful yet uplifting like the soundtrack to a David Lynch film.

Does it all work?

Pretty much. The variety here is considerable – so there is a chance that there will be one or two tracks that don’t immediately appeal. Conversely, there will be new discoveries and sounds to enjoy, which is the joy of encountering a compilation like this.

Is it recommended?

It is – for music that’s easy on the ear but also rather different, Ambientale is a really good eye-opener. It will doubtless introduce you to some new names to chase up.

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For streaming and purchase details, visit the Boomkat website

Published post no.2,493 – Thursday 3 April 2025

Switched On – Daniel Brandt: Without Us (Erased Tapes)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

“If we’re dancing on the brink then we might as well make sure that the music is great.”

So reads the alarming and rather compelling sentence emphasising the point of Daniel Brandt’s Without Us album. Brandt began the record as an impassioned response to what he terms “the helplessness of the individual in the climate crisis and the apparent need to take radical global action to change the trajectory of the current threat of a climate disaster.”

What’s the music like?

Given the theme, it is not a surprise to report that Daniel Brandt’s music on Without Us is far from comfortable. He often veers between extremes, looking for comfort on one side while on the other realising that there is so little time left, it needs to be filled with music of the utmost urgency.

Paradise O.D. recognises this, taking shape quickly with a primal base to its bare rhythm and stripped back texture. Resistance follows the same outline, though under an ominous, synthesized cloud. Lucid does not stay true to its name, forms twisted beyond recognition as though wilting in a hot desert of inflamed temperatures. The fact Brandt wrote a good deal of this album in the Joshua Tree in California only adds to the atmosphere. PNK is a disquieting experience, with a lot of industrial activity taking place at a quick pace but with no apparent end goal other than to make people move quickly:

Yet there are moments of pure beauty to be found, too. Steady is an airy kickback, with some lovely open air textures given a freewheeling beat for company, while Soft Rains offers a comforting heat haze.

Does it all work?

Yes – on a brave and undeniably powerful album, Daniel Brandt hits the spot far more often than not.

Is it recommended?

It is. This is recognisably the work of a player from Brandt Brauer Frick, but Daniel Brandt has turned his beat making to serious means on this powerful piece of work. The importance of the dance is still there, but with the clock ticking there is an almost irresistible urgency to this music.

For fans of… Brandt Brauer Frick, Philip Glass, The Field, Pantha du Prince

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For streaming and purchase details, Erased Tapes have a set of useful links

Published post no.2,487 – Friday 28 March 2025