Category Archives: Switched On

Switched On – Lawrence English: Even The Horizon Knows Its Bounds (Room 40)

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by Ben Hogwood Picture of the Naala Badu building (c) Iwan Baan

What’s the story?

Even The Horizon Knows Its Bounds has its roots in an invitation by Jonathan Wilson, curator of the Art Gallery of NSW. He commissioned Lawrence English to create a sound environment reflecting on the Naala Badu building.

English responded with what is described as ‘an atmospheric tint to visitors walking through the building throughout the year following its opening.

For his source material, English drew on artists ‘who have also operated in the orbit of the Art Gallery of NSW. These include Amby Downs, Chris Abrahams, Chuck Johnson, Claire Rousay, Dean Hurley, Jim O’Rourke, JW Paton, Madeleine Cocolas, Norman Westberg, Stephen Vitiello and Vanessa Tomlinson.

English invited the musicians to contribute to two long-form pieces, bringing them together in a continuous whole, which retains an improvisatory spirit. He then added the following note to the album:

“Place is an evolving, subjective experience of space. Spaces hold the opportunity for place, which we create moment to moment, shaped by our ways of sense-making. 
 
Whilst the architectural and material features of space might remain somewhat constant, the people, objects, atmospheres, and encounters that fill them are forever collapsing into memory.”

What’s the music like?

Sometimes installation pieces only work in the environment for which they were designed, but that is not the case here – this music works far beyond the confines of the Naala Badu building (above).

With his associates, Lawrence English has fashioned a rather beautiful stretch of music that works beautifully as a piece of immersive ambience. It is best enjoyed in one stretch, although the album is helpfully split into sections when downloaded.

Initially a sonorous, mid-range piano spins slow but thoughtful lines over held drones that shift very slowly, surrounded by thick ambience. Yet by section V, the music has blossomed in colour, to this listener a rich, dark blue. The mood shifts during VI, a woolly backdrop supporting a fresher, cooler piano line, but then VII shifts to a lighter outlook before becoming more discordant. Ultimately a peaceful conclusion is found in VIII, the final section.

Does it all work?

It does – though if listening on headphones, be sure you have little noise around you, for sometimes the mid-range frequencies can be compromised.

Is it recommended?

It is – Even The Horizon Knows Its Bounds is an instinctive but immersive piece, greater than the sum of its parts. It is music that refuses to rush, taking its own sweet time – a valuable commodity in today’s hectic world.

For fans of… Loscil, Tim Hecker, Fennesz, Stars Of The Lid

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Published post no.2,446 – Saturday 15 February 2025

Switched On – Sunroof: Electronic Music Improvisations Vol. 3 (The Parallel Series / Mute)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones’ Sunroof project is proving to be both productive and enriching. This third volume was released late in 2024, a collection of nine tracks is recorded using the duo’s Eurorack modular systems, building on the self-imposed restrictions they had imposed in 2021.

The pair delve into their electronic archives for material, using a TEAC four track machine picked up by Miller in the late 1970s, used for The Normal’s Warm Leatherette and here powering the track Splendid.

What’s the music like?

Consistently inventive and intriguing. Splendid is the first track on the album, and it crackles into life before the pair apply a booming bass sound. The music is simultaneously graceful, with some elegant outlines, and edgy in mood, a trait running through the album.

Brotherly flickers, the music behaving as though heard in a flash of memory, a half-heard dance repeated in another room. Ensnare has a kind of rolling percussion, liked processed steelpans, exhibiting a strong rhythmic thread that runs through the album. Stratus teems with activity, like an insect colony, then Freezer starts like a Philip Glass organ piece, given rolling bass as accompaniment. Earthen has friendly chatter like a 1980s game, while by contrast Link goes low in range, like a big cricket. Meanwhile Conspiracies carries a latent threat, evoking memories of Cabaret Voltaire.

Does it all work?

It does. The freeform approach that Miller and Jones take is consistently engaging and engrossing, and the musical ideas are teeming with life.

Is it recommended?

Very much so…with evidence on this third instalment that Sunroof are only just getting into their stride. More instalments of this series would be welcome, for the musical chemistry between the pair is evident.

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Published post no.2,440 – Sunday 9 February 2025

Arcana @ 10… Musical moments: Loscil

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As part of Arcana’s 10th birthday celebrations, we invited our readers to contribute with some of their ‘watershed’ musical moments from the last 10 years.

Editor Ben Hogwood, after much consideration, has chosen a piece of immersive ambience from the Pacific coast.

“Getting to know new music is one of life’s joys – but it does bring with it a danger that the listener does not return to their successes as often as they might or should do. When I was thinking through my musical highlights from the last 10 years it was difficult to bring one specific artist or event to mind. There have been several from my work elsewhere, writing for musicOMH – discovering Bruce Hornsby’s new direction, or following the music of Erland Cooper and its Orcadian connections. Western classical music has provided some memorable moments too, few more so than Sir Simon Rattle conducting Mahler at the BBC Proms.

Yet the one I settled on for Arcana’s 10th anniversary is a thread running through the site’s whole decade, my love of the extraordinary music of Loscil. This is the alias used by Scott Morgan, a Canadian who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia – and whose music is like none other.

Perhaps it’s the fact I have been to Vancouver on several occasions, visiting relatives, that I feel such a strong connection to Loscil’s music. But there is something primal about it that really tugs not just at the heart but at the very fibre of our being, a connection formed between music and the earth. It is the deepest ambience you can imagine in music, an extraordinary achievement when you examine the relatively simple tools used in its construction.

The best example for this is the third section of the Equivalents album from 2019 – a timeless wonder that is deep as the ocean, as wide as the sky. There are clouds on the horizon, and the music paints all these and more in its extraordinary span.

In a memorable interview for Arcana, Scott summed it up. “There is a way of using the creative process and the creation of music to express that which you can’t express in other ways, and that’s what ends up coming out a lot of the time.” Later he noted, “a lot of my work accidentally plays with the spectrum between the natural world and the industrial world…ultimately I think I’m after some sort of balance of what it is to be human, and what it is to be human inside of this natural world we live in.”

I saw Scott perform this music live, at Rich Mix in the heart of Shoreditch – and it was only seconds before we were transported away. In my head I was stood on a beach at the far west of Vancouver Island, experiencing the weather with all its primal force.

You can listen to the album on Tidal below:

Published post no.2,439 – Saturday 8 February 2025

Switched On – Schlammpeitziger: Meine Unterkunft ist die Unvernunft Remixed (Kompakt)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

At the end of last year, Jo ‘Schlammpeitziger’ Zimmermann released new album Meine Unterkunft ist die Unvernunft to mark his 60th birthday. Now Kompakt add a celebration of their own, presenting the album in remix form, with a well chosen group of long-time companions brought together to pay tribute. Schlammpeitziger adds a tribute of his own in the form of a photograph of each on the hand-decorated album cover.

What’s the music like?

Hugely enjoyable. From the opening beats of Ada’s remix of Loch ohne Licht, it’s clear this will be a fun set of remixes, with the chunky beats supporting a fine slab of disco house.

The bass driven Schlammpeitziger goes deeper, branching out musically to good effect in the company of Wolfgang Voigt, while Selten Gesehnes gets a steely edge to its piano from Stefan Mohr. Finally Parzipan, redone by Andreas Dorau and Zwanie Jonson, takes on a generous helping of Joy Division as it heads to the electro disco.

Does it all work?

Yes – none of the remixes outstay their welcome, and there is a really good variety of styles on show.

Is it recommended?

Enthusiastically. If you’re a Kompakt fan, look no further – this sort of package shows how fun a good remix album can be!

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Published post no.2,419 – Wednesday 22 January 2025

Switched On – Lightwave: Cités Analogues (Bureau B)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

In the story of electronic music – and especially that with a more experimental, ambient viewpoint – the name of Lightwave will not be known to many. Christoph Harbonnier and Christian Wittman released their first album, Modular Experiments, in 1987, after which they recorded Cités Analogues in April and May 1988. It was released as a casette.

Their relative neglect is a mystery, but the restoration of this album should ensure their profile is raised. Bureau B have done the duo proud with a reissue on LP, CD and download. Their press release lists an inventory of RSF, ARP, Roland and Oberheim modular systems, mixed on A&H 12/2 and recorded to tape on a Revox B77 tape machine – a complex set-up but one aimed at what they describe as ‘a concept album, comprising of a series of discrete compositions and atmospheres assembled into two continuous tracks. The tracks are split out a little by dividers, with field recordings and tape processing softening the join between sections.

What’s the music like?

This is a fascinating listen, and if you didn’t already know you might suspect that Cités Analogues had been recorded in the last year, such is its reach and originality. Whether they work in long or short form the duo make subtly shifting soundscapes that are unexpectedly intense in their realisation.

On occasion they hit some winsome grooves, as in the slow but elastic Le Purvis. Agora is lost in thought, musing over a slowly shifting bass, while the eerie Polycentre and activity of News are at once complementary. Cités Analogues itself is an effective long form piece, its quarter-hour duration packed full of ideas and fragments that are given an assured and compelling development. As the album evolves Lightwave create soundscapes with industrial roots but with added splashes of instrumental colour. These are especially evident on Ophelia, a dream sequence with feather-light textures, suspended in mid-air.

Does it all work?

It does. Any regular listeners to the output of the Bureau B label will find much in the way of musical nourishment here. The only regret is that it’s taken so long for Lightwave to get the kind of exposure they deserve!

Is it recommended?

Yes – Lightwave are essential listening for any lovers of Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream and the like. Their music is descriptive, engaging and frequently fascinating, their sonic outlines branching out far ahead of their time.

For fans of… Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Jean-Michel Jarre

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