Category Archives: Switched On

Switched On – Yak 40: Travelogue (Self-Released)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

As the name implies, Travelogue is a cosmopolitan album from the studio of Egor Antoshchenko, a Russian artist based in Nepal.

While essentially an electronic producer he brings in a wide variety of influences from further afield, inspired by field recordings made in Seoul, Vietnam and Nepal and also from the ambience of Buddhist temples.

What’s the music like?

Very spacious, and great on headphones. Yak 40 uses a successful blend of techno and ambient but adds a more beat-driven approach – before incorporating his surroundings to use Travelogue as a colourful diary, reflecting those journies through the prism of his own style.

Other Shores reflects the beauty of the Koh Chang Island setting where it was written, reflecting the shimmering sea against a spatial backdrop, while Goa was the starting point for the excellent Swirls, with an urgent four to the floor beat. Hummingbirds is suitably colourful and evocative, its broken beat and probing bass sounds giving way to rich colour up above. A similar approach powers the rich tapestry of Mahalaxmi Unltd, while Glassworks shows more of a Detroit influence. Vox En Go is more driven, as opposed to the softly voiced Anatta, a reflective album closer.

Does it all work?

It does, because the music keeps moving, the listener taken on a tour of regions that vary from exotic to more urban.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. This is an album made with love, for the music itself but also for the locations and cultures inspiring it. Because of that, Travelogue is a set of electronic postcards full of colour and personality.

For fans of… System 7, Blu Mar Ten, Ultramarine, Four Tet, Transglobal Underground

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You can listen to Travelogue below:

Published post no.2,364 – Saturday 16 November 2024

Switched On – GLOK / Timothy Clerkin: Alliance (Bytes)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Andy Bell’s GLOK alias has given him a burst of creativity within electronic music – and after his successful Dissident album of 2019 and Pattern Recognition follow up of 2021, he turns to a collaborative approach.

Timothy Clerkin, who runs the Insult To Injury label, met Ride guitarist Bell through the Bytes label, when they suggested Tim be part of the Dissident Remixed album, which was put together in 2019. The two met at the funeral of Andrew Weatherall, and their collaboration was fuelled by Tim finding and playing an old Les Paul guitar. Ideas were traded online between Amsterdam (Tim) and London (Andy), with the instruments equally shared.

What’s the music like?

Empowering. That’s the first feeling that comes through on Empyrean, where subtle adjustments in tuning give the weighty guitar sound an appealing weirdness, and the loping beats add reassuring depth. The same pitch variations work really well on the gritty AmigA, with the bass sound burrowing through the floor, before wordless vocals that instantly transport the listener back to the heady mood of early ‘90s Manchester.

Bell and Clerkin also make groovy music, using slower rhythms that really set themselves firmly on the floor, with rich colours above. Scattered is one of the more obvious pieces of Weatherall homage here – in a good way, while The Witching Hour goes acidic with all sorts of electronic squiggles taking over. Closing out is the brilliant E-Theme, a kind of Hacienda-Detroit meeting place where airy synths complement blissful vocals.

Nothing Ever is the home banker, with vocals from Du Blonde – aka Beth Jeans Houghton, adding a rich tone to the electro-disco footwork underneath.

Does it all work?

It does – and repeat listens reveal several earworms. Once made known, they refuse to leave!

Is it recommended?

It is indeed. This is a fruitful partnership, blessed with freedom and enjoyment – and proves to be a slow burner that increases in temperature with each listen!

For fans of… Death In Vegas, Andrew Weatherall, 808 State, Stereo MCs, Primal Scream

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You can explore buying options on the Bandcamp link below – and also read Arcana’s extensive interview with Andy from 2019, when he was not long starting out under the GLOK alias.

Published post no.2,361 – Wednesday 13 November 2024

Switched On – Mirror System: Route 77 (A-Wave)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Mirror System is the ambient sibling of System 7, the beat-driven electronic music project headed by husband-and-wife team Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy. The duo, who have previous as part of the famed progressive group Gong, have been working together on the project since the early 1990s, and the release of this album fits a pattern of a new Mirror System album every nine years.

As with a number of the duo’s previous albums, Route 77 is inspired by travel – and includes on its journey a couple of intriguing cover versions, Ry Cooder’s Paris, Texas and Manuel Göttsching’s Sunrain.

Don Donovan adds keyboards and effects to Bocca du Lupo, while The Orb’s Alex Paterson adds extra production to Shapes Of Things and Camel Hot. Meanwhile Sonora Desert Edge (The Abyss) includes a poem by Allen Ginsberg.

What’s the music like?

Rich in incident and colourful – but ambient at the same time. Route 77 does indeed fulfil its promise to take the listener on a journey, though while it implies a coastal odyssey in America, there is a strong Eastern flavour to a good deal of the writing here.

Avenue of Lights as good as anything the duo of Hillage and Giraudy have done under this moniker, coming as it does after the intriguing Ry Cooder cover. Often there are heat-soaked promises of far-off lands, such as in Sunrain, which shimmers with a good deal of minimalist chatter. Shapes Of Things gets a great beat up and running, no doubt under the direction of Alex Paterson – but has a frisson of danger about it. These sleights of mood make the album ever more compelling, though still ambient.

Does it all work?

It does. Repeated listening brings more melodic elements to the surface, while the heady atmospherics cast a spell that will be familiar to System 7 fans.

Is it recommended?

Wholeheartedly. Hillage and Giraudy have lost none of their melodic charm in the 30 years they have been making electronic music together, and Route 77 reveals that they have just as much appetite for making new music. It’s as good as anything they’ve done.

For fans of… The Orb, Fluke, Leftfield, Eat Static, The Art of Noise

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Published post no.2,360 – Tuesday 12 November 2024

Switched On – Soela: Dark Portrait (Scissor & Thread)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Russian-born and Berlin-based, DJ and producer Soela (Elina Shorokhova) moves to Scissor & Thread for Dark Portrait, an album that represents her response to the impact of the war in Ukraine.

With previous releases for Kompakt, Dial and Shall Not Fade, Soela is well established as a producer on the darker side of electronica, utilising her background as a classical pianist. Over its nine tracks Dark Portrait brings in an impressive guestlist, a combination of instrumental and vocal.

What’s the music like?

Soela’s tracks are carefully thought out and subtly coloured, but carry profound meaning. The tone is set by Unsuitable, a quiet and thoughtful piece of music with inward looking vocals. Through The Windows is also quiet but Francis Harris and Philipp Priebe bring presence, the subtle night-time rhythms making themselves known. Module One’s guest slot, Drowning, adds atmospheric beats and smudges of sound, while Dark Portrait itself has a semi-trancey approach.

The music hovers between deep house, dub and trip hop – but February Is Not Going To Be Forever, featuring Lawrence, has more explicit movement. The most meaningful track is left until last. The Darkest Hour Before Sunrise goes deep, with an especially evocative portrait of that special time of the day, bringing a balance to the end of the album that offers a peaceful outcome.

Does it all work?

It does – though turning up the volume on headphones will help appreciate the more subtle moments Soela finds on the album.

Is it recommended?

It is. Carefully considered and deep, this is a serious but successful foray into the darker side of electronica.

For fans of… Henrik Schwarz, Efdemin, Dani Siciliano, Matthew Herbert

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Published post no.2,358 – Sunday 10 November 2024

Switched On – Craven Faults: Bounds (The Leaf Label)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The mysterious Craven Faults knows exactly how to tell a story. The accompanying text for the four track album Bounds does just that, describing the third album as “another 37-minute journey through Northern England via a lifetime obsessing at the fringes of popular culture. New details and perspectives. Dusk gathering.

There’s some discussion over where this journey begins. Certainly, less than twenty miles north-west of the city, but possibly much closer. Ironic given we’re searching for a distance marker. A gritstone pillar is the prime candidate – destroyed by lightning almost 200 years ago, and then rebuilt a quarter of a mile away. A curiosity. Many a journey starts here these days, as we take flight and head further north and west. The tarn was drained in 1940 to protect critical infrastructure. We leave the sounds of heavy industry behind us to float weightlessly over the moors.

We pick up pace and hit those levels of repetition engineered to the highest standards in Düsseldorf and Köln, 1971. A gift to the world. At this point the altitude is no longer clear; there’s no sense of scale. We could be a matter of inches from the ground, but the patterns are the same. Eventually we arrive at a hillside with no defined boundaries. The limestone pavement is visible in parts, and snaps us into focus once again.

It’s a little way east for our next stop, very close to where the journey began on Standers. Documents from 1651 suggest an arbitrary drawing of boundaries, the distribution of power and wealth set down in pen and ink and then passed down through generations. We beat a path around the perimeter. The divides still exist although the crab apple tree is long gone. Melodies give way to bent notes and dissonance.

We take a circuitous trip to Hamburg and Rome for filming between February 11 and April 23, 1972. A slower pace. Less structure, but emotive, evolving. The master touch, indeed. One final job before retiring and living off the land for the next 373 years.”

What’s the music like?

Reading the text as an accompaniment to the music is very helpful, for it puts this slow-moving discourse in perspective. Yet in spite of its quite restrained nature, and its restricted tempo, Craven Faults secures music of stature, laden with atmospheric touches.

The four tracks unfold effortlessly, but not without tension, with each prompted by a sonorous, slow-moving bass. Groups Hollows moves at two speeds simultaneously, with the slow tread of the bass against a quicker rhythmic profile, and a twinkling loop adding colour up top.

Meanwhile the crossrhythms of Lampes Mosse create an intriguing picture before the epic, sprawling Waste & Demesne which casts a spell – again slow movement against quicker, before the elegant line at the top is left in isolation.

Does it all work?

It does. Craven Faults’ music has a timeless quality to it, and provided you experience the album with all frequencies available – especially bass! – you’ll get the most immersive experience from Bounds.

Is it recommended?

Yes, enthusiastically. Craven Faults are one of those outfits who have mastered the art of ‘less is more’, and this quartet of captivating tableaus tells as vivid a story as the text accompanying it. Essential listening for those who have already latched on to their talents.

For fans of… Luke Abbott, Boards Of Canada, Mogwai, Aphex Twin

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Published post no.2,356 – Friday 8 November 2024