Category Archives: Switched On

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

Listen / Buy

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.

Listen / Buy

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

Listen / Buy

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

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

Switched On – Erland Cooper: Asleep On The Wing EP (Mercury KX)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Erland Cooper always has his eye on future projects…so it is no surprise to see him following up his Orcadian odyssey Carve The Runes… with a new ambient EP. Composed as a sister piece to Do Birds Dream?, it renews his close link to bird life – and the weightless release of flight.

The piece is divided into five sections, and there is a shorter edit, but Asleep On The Wing works best as a one-off experience.

What’s the music like?

Immensely restful. What is noticeable is how at ease Erland Cooper is with longer form compositions – and as a result Asleep On The Wing evolves at a natural pace.

With comforting surrounds of ambience, the music grows around a central, sonorous drones, with piano flicks and harp-like sonorities drifting in and out of consciousness, musical images that gain focus for a while before becoming blurred again.

Around the seven minute-mark in the full version the ambient fuzz descends, as though in a deeper sleep, but still there is a depiction of a longer, restful time on the wing – like the murmuration depicted in the sleep visualiser on YouTube but similarly evoking a big bird of prey, a condor in the Andes for instance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLkNWWVXJLY As ever, Cooper’s orchestration is thoughtfully crafted, for while Freya Goldmark is credited as a featured artist her violin is rarely in the foreground – yet there are signs of colouring before the bird calls at the end, which suggest a gradual awakening. Meanwhile human voices occasionally appear in the distance.

Does it all work?

It does indeed…and makes for a very calming 22 minutes.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Once again Erland Cooper has made a lovely score that rewards close inspection while forming a blissful backdrop.

For fans of… Tim Hecker, Biosphere, Stars of the Lid, A Winged Victory for the Sullen

Listen / Buy

For streaming and purchase details, visit the Mercury KX website

Published post no.2,479 – Thursday 20 March 2025

Let’s Dance – Fred Everything: Love, Care, Kindness & Dubs (Lazy Days Recordings)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Fred Everything returns to last year’s Love, Care, Kindness & Hope, presenting a set of alternative versions, instrumentals, dubs, reprises and a couple of unreleased tracks, Broken Flute Thing and A Long Time Coming.

He does so mostly under his own steam, or with a couple of carefully chosen remixers – blending what is to all intents and purposes a new, stripped back album.

What’s the music like?

This isn’t your average remix cash-in – quite the opposite, as Fred Everything has curated a classy and well thought out collection that moves really nicely between house, dub, breezy beatless instrumentals and a few tougher house moments.

On the clubbier side sits the excellent Atjazz Galaxy Aart remix of Asolee, and Evening Ghost (Live at Mutek), which has a sharp edge. Moonrise (Dub) has a hint of the ‘80s club in its reworking.

These are complemented with some really lovely hot weather moments. The Lazy Dub version of Breathe hits the sweet spot straight away, with some beautiful string arrangements, while the sultry Alternate Version of Never, with typically winsome vocals from Robert Owens, benefits from Finn Peters’ saxophone artistry. A Long Dub Coming is a beauty, the pick of the two versions of the track here – Sapele’s vocals complemented by rich instrumentation. Meanwhile Soul Love proves a hot and humid beauty in beatless instrumental form, while Broken Flute Thing works a treat with a nagging piano motif.

Does it all work?

It does – and as such proves an ideal complement to the original album.

Is it recommended?

It certainly is. Quality house music on the deeper side for the summer, which you’re encouraged to acquire without delay…along with the original album if you don’t have it already!

For fans of… Miguel Migs, Osunlade, Atjazz, Andy Caldwell

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,474 – Saturday 15 March 2025