Category Archives: Switched On

Let’s Dance – Jamie xx: In Waves (Young)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

It’s nine years since Jamie xx last made an album. That record, In Colour, was a celebration of London in all its forms. This time around, he’s gone for a night out – and In Waves is the result, a concept piece to track his every move and emotion, naturally with the help of a few vocal collaborators.

What’s the music like?

In a word, thrilling. We begin with a blast from the past, a distant recollection of the late 1990s UK garage explosion – Double 99’s RIP Groove taking us straight back to south London. From there we are wrenched into the present day, with the multiple highs of Treat Each Other Right, and the dancefloor beckons.

Jamie xx then hits the floor running, and the central two highlights are the Honey Dijon collaboration Baddy On The Floor, a spring-loaded anthem with a touch of Armand van Helden about it, and the superb Life, currently soundtracking the goals on Match of the Day 2 in the UK, gets to work, its wobbly riff and vocals from Robyn hitting every conceivable spot.

Elswhere there are wins aplenty – from Waited All Night, with Romy and Oliver Sim, to Nobody and Dafodil, a multi-vocal extravaganza that doesn’t fully make sense but which travels through some fascinating sonorities on its way. All You Children, with The Avalanches, is excellent, while the closing Falling Together – while a bit cheesy – proves the ideal sunrise moment.

Does it all work?

It does – a brilliantly thought out album from beginning to end, loaded with musical fireworks.

Is it recommended?

Most definitely. When Jamie xx wants to dance, he has all the tools of the trade you could possibly wish for!

For fans of… Basement Jaxx, Disclosure, Armand van Helden, Groove Armada

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Published post no.2,317 – Monday 30 September 2024

Switched On – Various Artists: Total Kompakt 24 (Kompakt)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Kompakt’s annual compilations are a very reassuring presence in the world of electronic music, and this one is no different, as Michael Meyer assembles a typically inventive and varied set of tracks.

What’s the music like?

With the quality threshold high, Kompakt always find something to tickle the fancy of any electronic fan. The familiar names from the label are here again and deliver the goods – headed by Meyer’s own excellent Urian.

Tee Mango’s So In Love is an English signing, delicate minimal beats orbiting a warm-hearted song. Jürgen Paape introduces a lightness of touch and humour to Chee-Caruso that works really well, while on a slightly tougher course Rex The Dog contributes a distinctive hook to his nocturnal Laika.

Sascha Funke is pretty delicate, with some interesting offbeat play on The Heck, but Jörg Burger’s Legacy of Ashes is a bit too monotoned to hit the spot. By contrast Wassermann’s Die Goldene Zeit is a warm wash of colour over a serrated bass.

Does it all work?

It does, pretty much – reliably good music from a reliable source. Digital customers get the bonus of another seven tracks, which include Deer Jade’s easygoing, piano-led winner Jukurpa and the strident The Shell, a collaboration between Gui Boratto and Darren Emerson. Meanwhile electro-goodness is found from Raxon’s Your Fault.

Is it recommended?

It is, enthusiastically. Keeping up with Kompakt’s output is strongly advised, and as this compilation shows they are still on very good form!

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Published post no.2,314 – Friday 27 September 2024

Switched On – Floating Points – Cascade (Ninja Tune)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This is the fifth Floating Points album, and the first since Sam Shepherd’s alias teamed up with Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra for the memorable Promises, one of the very best albums released around lockdown.

That period provided the indirect inspiration for Cascade, for Shepherd had grown frustrated at the lack of opportunities to promote his preceding solo album, Crush, to heaving dancefloors where its potential clearly lay. Seizing the opportunity to write for the club crowds, he delivered an album of speed and complexity.

What’s the music like?

There is some dazzling music on Cascade. A lot happens in the hour in which it unfolds, and while some of the tracks are quite complicated in their arrangements, Shepherd’s trump card lies in his ability to make intricate music that rewards close inspection while making some eminently danceable grooves.

That applies very much to Birth4000, which traverses a number of styles while ensuring there are plenty of hooks for the listener to latch on to. Afflecks Place – named after the Manchester market – bubbles up from the ground, in the power of an elemental force, while Key103 has primal urges taking us right into the middle of the dancefloor.

The larger structures work really well, the album only nine tracks but featuring a couple of bigger constructions such as Ocotillo and Vocoder that develop instinctively and dramatically.

Does it all work?

It does. On occasion Shepherd’s music almost has too much going on, but he seems to pull it back it just the right moment, and adding the closing track Ablaze as a comedown works a treat.

Is it recommended?

Yes, enthusiastically. A dizzying high that delivers on several levels.

For fans of… Squarepusher, Throwing Snow, Mount Kimbie, Jamie xx

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Published post no.2,302 – Monday 16 September 2024

Let’s Dance – Simon Field: Panda (Basement Records)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Panda is the new album from Oslo’s Simon Field, whose nine tracks look towards classic Chicago house for their inspiration while keeping a close eye on the underground scene in the Norwegian capital.

Deep, tech vocal house is the name of the game for Field, who has a number of key releases in his locker for labels such as Armada, Universal Music, Sony Music Ultra, Perfect Havoc and his own Basement Records, which he established to focus on underground house music with no need for commercial gain. Basement Sessions is a club series in Oslo, celebrating the underground sound.

Guests include Delphi Drive and Blichfedlt.

What’s the music like?

Simon Field has a persuasive way of blending deeper textures and bass with upfront four to the floor beats, making some very danceable grooves in the process. A little goes a long way in his music, supported by fulsome kick drums and subtly funky bass loops, as in One More Time (For The Panda).

The album takes off with PanAm, its raucous spoken word intro complemented with a cool riff, while by contrast F With The Energy is deep and dark, laced with sharp edges. Here With Me taps into those same qualities, with a cool vocal, as does the warm weather winner Not Even A DJ. Meanwhile Gone Gone Gone gets more upfront movement from its excellent riff.

The guests work well, Blichfeldlt panning across the stereo picture during Michael Caine, and Just Martina capitalising on Field’s rolling beats.

Does it all work?

Pretty much – Field’s dancefloor methods are effective throughout.

Is it recommended?

Yes – no padding here! Simon Field’s album is ripe for the deeper house music dancefloor.

For fans of… Luke Solomon, Heller & Farley, Camelphat, Mark Knight

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For more information on the album and to explore purchase options, visit Simon Field’s website

Published post no.2,299 – Thursday 12 September 2024

Switched On – Jon Hopkins – RITUAL (Domino)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

RITUAL, the latest from the ever-ambitious Jon Hopkins, is described as ‘a 41-minute electronic symphony built from cavernous subs, hypnotic drumming and transcendent melodic interplay’.

The project was conceived in 2022, when Hopkins received a commission for London’s Dreamachine experience. He wrote a shorter piece that became the cell from which RITUAL grew, with the help of collaborators Vylana, 7RAYS, Ishq, Clark, Emma Smith, Daisy Vatalaro and Cherif Hashizume.

What’s the music like?

RITUAL is a compelling piece of work – and a mindful treat. Best experienced in a single sitting, it grows from a small cell, a single pitch of ‘G’ – and a very similar opening to that of friend Brian Eno’s Reflection album.

Soon the differences become more pronounced, and Hopkins gathers the forces at his disposal – wordless voices, sonorous bass, slow moving drones at both ends of the audible scale, and rising energy levels, such as on the palace / illusion section, where a steady throb emanates from the bass drum.

The music expands still further, reaching its ultimate apex on solar goddess return, where the bass is joined by a bold treble and a rush of white noise, like walking outside and standing under a starry sky. Soon the bottom drops out of the sound, the listener left suspended through dissolution, before nothing is lost offers consolation through its piano loop.

Does it all work?

It does – thanks to a firm grip on the structure, Hopkins allowing the music to move at a natural pace.

Is it recommended?

It is. Jon Hopkins is becoming a very impressive long form composer, his credentials surely leading him towards a full-blown orchestral piece before long, bigger even than the music heard in his BBC Proms concert in 2023. RITUAL works both as a serious piece of keenly structured music, and as a musical mind cleanser. A very fine piece of work.

For fans of… Ólafur Arnalds, Jóhann Jóhannsson, A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Max Richter

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Published post no.2,295 – Sunday 8 September 2024