Category Archives: Switched On

On Record – Ben Marc: Who Cares Wins (Innovative Leisure)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This is the second album from Ben Marc, the pseudonym for Neil Charles – who uses it to bring together two split musical personalities. ‘Ben’ covers his jazz side, playing bass, guitar and keys as a member of the groups Tomorrow’s Warriors and Zed-U, with Shabaka Hutchings and Tom Skinner, as well as touring experience with Mulatu Astatke. ‘Marc’ brings in the hip-hop, reggae and soul from Birmingham, where he grew up, and covers the appropriations of J Dilla that worked so well in debut album Glass Effect.

Who Cares Wins is a play on the British SAS motto, and captures Marc’s musical personality, featuring carefully thought-out instrumentation and subtle humour. It is perhaps telling that one of his key influences in writing the album was Peter Falk’s detective Columbo.

What’s the music like?

Consistently engaging. This is music for the brain and the feet, with spoken word that is both thoughtfully compiled and instinctive. At times there is a classical purity to Marc’s scoring, which we hear in the extended string quartet episodes of the title track, or even the long-breathed guitar line on Love.

The musical language is fresh and interesting, a cosmopolitan approach that isn’t afraid to mix it up between West Coast warmth, a bit of East Coast grit and English humour. At times the music is reminiscent of Arrested Development, which is fitting as Back Again, the album’s choice track, features them alongside Speech.

Confucius MC is a telling presence on Days & Nights, which closes out the album, but by the time we get there Ben Marc has given us plenty of music and words for thought.

Does it all work?

It does, thanks to an ideal ebb and flow between each track that benefits the greater good. Profound insights and humourous asides sit comfortably hand in hand.

Is it recommended?

Enthusiastically. Who Cares Wins might have been lost in the release schedule, dropping as it did at the start of December, but it is a fine album that deserves to grace many a player.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,771 – Sunday 18 January 2026

Switched On – Mary Lattimore & Julianna Barwick: Tragic Magic (InFiné)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This is the first chance for Mary Lattimore and Julianna Barwick to realise their ‘musical telepathy’ in recorded form. The two artists, who have been friends for years, use their own instruments of voice and harp, but augment them with contributions from the instrument collection of the Musée de la Musique in the Philharmonie de Paris.

Tragic Magic was recorded in the space of nine days in 2025, just after the two friends had arrived in Paris from Los Angeles and is in part a response to the wildfires in California that they witnessed first-hand.

Instrumentally, Lattimore uses harps that trace the instrument’s evolution from 1728 to 1873, while Barwick, along with her vocal contributions, used analogue synthesizers including the Roland JUPITER and Sequential Circuits PROPHET-5. There is a striking cover in the form of Rachel’s Song, from Vangelis’s soundtrack to Blade Runner, while Roger Eno contributed Temple Of The Winds specially for the album.

What’s the music like?

Magical. It is clear there were some very special musical happenings in these sessions, with an unusual synergy between the two forces that reflects both their long-standing friendship and their pained response to the natural disasters occurring on America’s West Coast.

And yet much of the music here has a restrained beauty that is immensely soothing. This comes in part from the freeform improvisation, but also from the sheer space producer Trevor Spencer helps to secure. Barwick’s vocals move in perspective from foreground to a spacious backdrop, while Lattimore’s gently oscillating harp lines are often supported by drone-like bass movements, as in The Four Sleeping Princesses.

Haze With No Haze is richly expressive, Barwick’s harmonies like snowflakes falling slowly towards the ground, while Eno’s striking Temple Of the Winds looks east in its musical focus. Stardust has a thrilling rush of synthesizer colour at its outset, panning far and wide, its massive sound enveloping the ears, while Lattimore’s intricately plucked harp line makes Melted Moon a special epilogue.

Does it all work?

It does. Voice and harp have always made for a winsome musical combination, but the addition of electronics gives Tragic Magic a rare, ethereal quality.

Is it recommended?

Wholeheartedly. Already Tragic Magic can be declared one of the albums of the year, a document of often stunning beauty where the musical chemistry between Mary Lattimore and Julianna Barwick is laid bare.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,769 – Friday 16 January 2026

New music – Daphni: Good Night Baby / Talk To Me (Jiaolong)

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by Ben Hogwood, with quotes taken from the press release

Daphni recently announced his first album since 2022’s Cherry, which Arcana reviewed here. The Dan Snaith pseudonym – which he somehow operates alongside Caribou – will release Butterfly on 6 February via Jiaolong. To give fans a couple more tasters ahead of the album, having already shared Waiting So Long (feat. Caribou) and Lucky, today he releases two new tracks, Good Night Baby and Talk To Me.

Good Night Baby has enjoyably skittish beats and a warm, playful side. Snaith says it is “a good illustration of how far a finished track can end up from its origin / of how rudderless I am when making music most of the time. This one started out more like the mostly drums only track that you hear towards the end… but somewhere along the way turned into a big mushy loved up track with all the feels.”

Talk To Me is very different, with a slightly sinister vocal that speaks of AI gone wrong. Snaith calls it “the polar opposite of Good Night Baby. It’s rare that I manage to keep my tracks as sparse and spare as this one—just wubs, drums, voices and occasionally a little synth melody. I didn’t think that this was done until I played it out but on a big soundsystem it struck me that this was all it needed.” Minimal is the word here, though there is still plenty going on with the beats and lightly ethereal backdrop.

Adding to the single releases, Snaith has prepared a BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix under his Daphni pseudonym, premiering on 17 January. It will feature music from Miles Davis, Liquid Liquid, Floorplan, Underworld through to MPH, Flava D, Champion, Mala and unreleased music by Daphni himself.

Daphni will also be hosting three radio shows on NTS leading up to the release:
21 January, 1-2pm GMT
28 January, 1-2pm GMT
6 February, 4-5pm GMT

Listen / Buy

You can listen to all the available audio from the Butterfly album below:

Published post no.2,765 – Monday 12 January 2026

Switched On – Craven Faults: Yard Loup (The Leaf Label)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

As the new Craven Faults album Sidings nears release, The Leaf Label have teased another of its eight tracks. Yard Loup is much shorter than the previous single Far Closes, but gives an indication of the sonic world in which the producer is operating.

What’s the music like?

Picturesque – in that it paints many images in the mind’s eye. Craven Faults has a way of working that combines long drone phrases and quicker, less defined movements, in this case a gently shimmering treble. In this case the image conjured up is a wintry, watery scene.

Does it all work…and is it recommended?

It does, though I suspect it will work a lot better in the context of the album. It certainly whets the appetite.

Listen & Buy

You can listen to the two tracks from Sidings below:

Published post no.2,760 – Wednesday 7 January 2026

Switched On – Nathan Fake: Slow Yamaha (InFiné)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This is the second single from Nathan Fake‘s forthcoming album Evaporator, due for release on 20 February on InFiné. Although called Slow Yamaha, it features a musical depiction of evaporation at the end.

What’s the music like?

Hypnotic, and ultimately compelling. The start is deceptive, with a minimal approach but gradually the track develops and the horizons start to shimmer, with lovely warm synthesizers starting to dominate.

Big blocks of sound surround the listener, so that when the music disappears in a puff of air at the end the effect is similar to the sensation of taking off.

Does it all work…and is it recommended?

Yes indeed – a promising omen for the album, too!

Listen & Buy

Published post no.2,759 – Tuesday 6 January 2026