Category Archives: Switched On

Switched On – Tycho – Infinite Health (Ninja Tune)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

San Franciscan producer Scott Hansen returns to his Tycho alias for a first long player since 2020’s Simulcast.

The aim this time around was, in his words, “about creating a space for healing and reflection, a mantra for spiritual, emotional, and physical healing. At the end of the day, all we really have is our health – both physical and mental – and we wish infinite health to our family and friends. So in those ways, infinite health is a salutation and an imperative.”

The synths and samplers still form the basis for the Tycho sound, but Hansen has looked to use acoustic topping in creating an individual sound, helped by regular collaborators Zac Brown (guitar), Rory O’Connor (drums) and producer Chris Taylor.

What’s the music like?

Tycho have always made beautiful sounds that somehow capture the wide expanse and warmth of their Californian home – and Infinite Health is no different.

This is an upbeat album, full of energizing, positive grooves and laden with hooks. Hansen’s breezy textures, helped by Grizzly Bear’s Taylor, are a treat, especially on their own favourite, the single Phantom:

The punchy groove they achieve here is used to good effect elsewhere, with breaks successfully employed alongside springy, four to the floor rhythm tracks. Restraint is a dreamy reverie, as is the lovely Green, dressed with earthy drums, while Devices and DX Odyssey are more of the electro-disco school.

For this author the best track is Totem, a really catchy acoustic-led number that is fertile in its invention and packs a good groove.

Does it all work?

It does, comfortably – with Infinite Health having all the positive energy and breezy textures of previous releases, while facing firmly forward in its musical outlook.

Is it recommended?

It is – Tycho bring a burst of late summer sunshine to the party, dressed in production you want to dive into. First class chillout music.

For fans of… Ulrich Schnauss, Explosions In The Sky, Rival Consoles, Minotaur Shock

Listen & Buy

Published post no.2,293 – Friday 6 September 2024

Let’s Dance – Junior Sanchez: Songprints, Vol. 1 (D4 D4NCE)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Junior Sanchez is something of an unsung star in the world of house music, making quality productions since the 1990s and collaborating with the likes of Daft Punk, DJ Sneak and Roger Sanchez – to name just a few.

Collaboration is the name of the game this time around, too, with a host of vocalists lending their pipes to a set of songs the New Jersey DJ began during lockdown. The project has executive production from Dallas Austin, marshalling the eight guest singers into a set of productions compressed into radio edits and aimed squarely at the dancefloor.

What’s the music like?

Sanchez has struck gold here, his craft evident in all nine of the grooves on show – and with a series of superb, floor filling beats.

The album sets out its stall with So Hype, its deeper beats topped by excellent vocals from Mýa, and sets the listener down in a heap some 40 minutes later having danced and sung themselves to a standstill. This is thanks to songs like Higher, where Dawn Richard gets higher than anyone else to deliver a brilliant and catchy song.

Drip is enjoyably saucy, with lots going on in the company of Johnny Apollo and Cookiee Kawaii, while I Need More – with the brilliant Darlene McCoy – is a bouncy number. Sanchez uses solid four to the floor beats throughout, each lifted by fluid bass lines and quality house music production.

Does it all work?

It does. The quality level barely lets up, partly because of Sanchez’s skilful use of guests – and each voice brings a fresh perspective to his music.

Is it recommended?

Enthusiastically. Sanchez deserves a great deal of kudos for this album, which reinforces his credentials as one of the leading lights in house music. Great songs, brilliantly executed.

For fans of… Luke Solomon, Purple Disco Machine, Tensnake, The Juan Maclean

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Published post no.2,287 – Saturday 31 August 2024

Switched On – Ark Zead – Niptaktuk (Glacial Movements)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Ark Zead is an artist shrouded in mystery. Nothing is known about the composer – other than Glacial Movements head Alessandro Tedeschi taking delivery of ‘seven ethereal soundclouds that drastically lowered the temperature by several degrees’.

From Ark Zead themselves: “I am a gong and Tibetan singing bowls player, interested in vibes in a very usual way. But I felt inspired when I faced the very hostile cold in Canada. I looked for stories about exploring these lands and the people who live there. I then modified my vibe sounds with computers and synthesizers to describe the state of isolationism you have to reach to enjoy the beauty of the true North.”

What’s the music like?

In a word, chilly! The right conditions are needed to experience the best of Ark Zead – an environment where you can hear as much of the audio spectrum as possible, taking advantage of some of the low bass drones that characterise this music, and also the subtlety of movement that takes place. The press release says as much: It is highly recommended to listen to Niptaktuk at night, in a quiet environment.

The music is incredibly cold to the touch – the icy wind that blows through Unnuaq chills the bone, and shows this music as equal parts ambient and unnerving. At times there is consonant harmony, but elsewhere there is slight but lasting discord that creates a heavy atmosphere, laden with dread.

The gong and singing bowls are used to great effect on Sikinik, while by contrast Båken Nunatak is laden with thick ambience. A vast wind is summoned on the title track. Ultimately this is music of greatly immersive ambience, a chance for the listener to put all else aside and lose themselves in the slow but inexorable progressions crafted by the composer.

Does it all work?

It does – especially if you are familiar with the Glacial Movements output, as that will help prepare you for the intensity of ambience that Ark Zead achieves.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Ark Zead is able to describe the weather in musical terms, with sounds so cold you can barely feel your fingers. A truly immersive experience, and one that is both cleansing and disarming in equal measure. Just like the cold.

For fans of… Loscil, Machinefabriek, Tim Hecker, Stars of the Lid

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Published post no.2,278 – Thursday 22 August 2024

Switched On – Wil Bolton – 23 (Courier Sound)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Wil Bolton’s interpretation of Courier Sound’s ’23 musical ideas in 23 minutes’ takes its inspiration from a series of walks he made during the year 2023 in East London.

Bolton takes up the story in the press release for the album. “For these walks, I would follow the London Overground railway arches around Leyton, Walthamstow and Forest Gate, fascinated by the mixture and contrast of old and new businesses located beneath the train lines, from mechanics and scrap merchants to micro breweries and artisanal bakeries.

During these walks I also took a set of 23 photographs of these arches and made occasional field recordings on my iPhone. Back in my studio, I combined these lo-fi field recordings of forklift trucks, drilling, welding, pigeons, freight trains, traffic, muffled conversation and birdsong with modular synthesizer sequences and drones, looped Mellotron melodies and effects pedals.”

What’s the music like?

A thoroughly enjoyable listen. Bolton’s musical postcards are varied, colourful and very descriptive of the area in which he walks, and on headphones the listener can get a real sense of perspective – not just from the music but from a few ‘scene setters’ – the opening Freight, the sound of a reversing vehicle on Hazards, the outdoors of the city brought to life.

Elsewhere Bolton uses melodic nuggets or brightly voiced chords to portray his subjects, sometimes in dreamy interludes (Arches) or in fuzzy profiles (Bakers Arms, or the gorgeously voiced Overgrown) These are countered by cautionary asides, or busy electronic activity (Padlocks). There are brief interludes (Hazards, Unauthorised) or slightly extended thoughts such as Boarded Up, where distinctive mottos are introduced.

Does it all work?

It does. The only regret is that some of these pictures and moods are not extended further, as Bolton has a most appealing style, easy on the ear and always creating.

Is it recommended?

Yes. 23 is a colourful, meaningful portrait of an urban borough, but with the relief of natural beauty – all accurately painted in sound.

For fans of… Bibio, Boards of Canada, Future Sound of London, Biosphere

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Published post no.2,273 – Saturday 17 August 2024

Switched On – Omar Ahmad: Inheritance Remixed (AKP Recordings)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The ‘sonic invention’ and ‘cosmopolitan outlook’ we identified in a review of Omar Ahmad’s Inheritance album get a second look, courtesy of an imaginative remix project where the whole LP is made over by guest artists.

Ahmad is a Palestinian-American artist, a multi-instrumentalist who has proved a perfect fit for the musically open approach of the Californian label AKP Recordings. The original album saw him take on all instruments, from field recordings to cello, synthesizer, voice and percussion – plenty for the assembled artists to build on.

The tracks of the original are presented in the same order.

What’s the music like?

AKP have cast the net far and wide, meaning the remixed Inheritance veers between widescreen ambience and active beat work-outs. Most of these are extremely effective, too, presenting a tableau that stays faithful to Ahmad’s colourful intentions but uses them as the stimulus for vibrant new creations.

These range from the spacey A Little Time For Me, given a strident hip hop beat by Sam O.B., or Lapses, led by some excellent broken beats with rich colouring from Otodojo. The heat soaked Sham Oasis and roomy Descended from a Wanaque Tree (Borrowed Memory) work really well, remixed by Kirin McElwain and Ki Oni respectively – while Solpara goes the other way, applying a wide-screen view of the clattering beats on Losing A Friend.

More mysteriously, Black Gesso is pulled this way and that by ACE, with mysterious sounds from the depths.

Does it all work?

Pretty much. Sometimes the clatter becomes a bit much on the faster tracks but that’s all a matter of preference – the feeling being that Ahmad’s music is most expressive at a slower tempo.

Is it recommended?

It is – a great complement to the original album, and a lesson in how best to approach a remix album.

For fans of… Thievery Corporation, Aim, RJD2, Blockhead

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Published post no.2,269 – Tuesday 13 August 2024