Category Archives: Switched On

New music – Various Artists: Electro Throwdown (Soul Jazz Records)

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published by Ben Hogwood, text taken from the Soul Jazz website

Soul Jazz Records’ new collection, Electro Throwdown – Sci-Fi Inter-Planetary Electro Attack on Planet Earth 1982-89, is described as “a journey into the outer reaches of electro, a galactic roller-coaster ride of turbo-charged sci-fi grooveology.”

The album is comprised of mainly private-press and independent label electro jams of the highest calibre (with some as rare as space ships landing on Mars) all created in the 1980s, at a time when a vocoder, a Roland TR-808 drum machine and a groove was all that was needed to get the party started.

With a few notable exceptions (Michael Jonzun’s Jonzun Crew and The Packman) the album features mainly under-the-radar killer tracks from a host of one-off artists and back-room electronic pioneers – including Pretty Tony, Planet Detroit (James McCauley, aka Maggotron) and Rich Cason – who together helped shape the sound of electro across the USA from Miami to New York, Los Angeles and beyond during the 1980s.

This album is released on super-loud double vinyl, packaged in gatefold sleeve complete with full sleeve notes (from Derek Walmsley of The Wire), plus download code and digital. For more information visit the Sounds of the Universe website

Published post no.2,323 – 6 October 2024

Switched On – Kaito: Collection (InFiné)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Kaito is the name of the project under which Hiroshi Watanabe works, the Japanese electronic musician having joined InFiné after a twenty year stint that began at the Kompakt label.

Kaito is a name of significance for Watanabe – it is the name of his son born in the year 2001, when he started with Kompakt. It means ‘universe’ and ‘secret’ in Japanese, and as the press release says, “these references hint at a spirituality visible in his photographic work and contribute to the elements that make Japanese artists masters of the ambient genre”.

Collection is made up of nine tracks composed during the pandemic.

What’s the music like?

Incredibly soothing and yet subtly energising, too. In some of these tracks Kaito transcends time and space, allowing the music to simply float.

The slow pace of A Call From The Ground is a case in point, where a lovely slow arc of synths works its way over the backing, A piano drifts weightlessly over Summer Mood, while A Life That Can Only Be Dream Now is a lovely sketch expanding like a slowly evolving cloud – complemented by Nexus 2.

Does it all work?

It does – a musical time out of the best variety. Instinctive ambient music is difficult to come by, but this definitely does the job..

Is it recommended?

Very much. The Kaito project is music that is incredibly easy to listen to – and especially at times of stress, where it can just wash over the consciousness.

Listen & Buy

Published post no.2,318 – Tuesday 1 October 2024

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

Listen & Buy

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!

Listen & Buy

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

Listen & Buy

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