Category Archives: Switched On

Switched On: Xingu Hill: Grigri Pavilion (Subexotic Records)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Xingu Hill is a pseudonym from the extremely prolific John Sellekaers, the Canadian-born musician and producer who lives in Brussels.

With Grigri Pavilion his aim was to ‘build a dreamscape, albeit a slightly uncomfortable one’. He recorded the album during the heat-soaked French summer of 2022, before a detailed rework and completion in his Brussels studio.

What’s the music like?

There is indeed an undercurrent of unease to the music here, in spite of its overall ambience. This is in part a reflection on the feverish climate in which it was recorded, with an edgy feel to a number of the mid or lower-range riffs Sellekaers uses. Indeed, when the music is stripped back to its drum track and the motif sits lower in the pitch range, there is the sense of danger around the corner.

Tracks like Eye Contact are a little easier, where the sustained harmonies bring extra depth to the music. Conjectures does the same, but its riff is an insistent, dominating one. While some of Sellekaer’s music brings solace, the likes of Nightcraft explore the shadows, finding industrial processes left on or slightly malfunctioning.

The rhythm tracks hold the key to Girgri Pavilion. Byways & Tunnels is particularly good, channelling mid-90s exploration and a little Cabaret Voltaire through dubby confines. Electrographic Dreams has a similar, low-slung profile but more kinetic energy.

Does it all work?

It does, and is held together well to make a cohesive half-hour suite of electronic portraits and vistas.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Like all Sellekaers’ work, there is plenty of interest here – and his various pseudonyms show an ability to move between a number of different electronic music styles with instinctive ease.

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Switched On: Ellie Wilson: Memory Islands (Bigo & Twigetti)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The striking artwork on Ellie Wilson‘s new album is a key for what lies within. Memory Islands explores the power or spirit of remembrance, drawing on a number of first hand sources for inspiration.

The most pronounced of these is a recording of Wilson’s grandfather reminiscing about his experiences and lost years as a Navy seaman in World War II (By the Time I Got Back Pt 1). Other pieces explore the behaviour of the brain when waking from a coma (Delta), or the disappearance of words from our language, as noted by Robert Macfarlane (Unnamed Unseen). Looking forward – in a sense – is Will I Dream, inspired by the film The Year We Make Contact – specifically the moment the onboard computer HAL 900 confronts his digital ‘mortality’– all memories erased.

What’s the music like?

Extremely evocative. Wilson’s twin disciplines are the violin and electronics, the ideal blend of past, present and future to support the album’s themes – and both are used in support of memories lost and regained.

The open strings of the violin on Unnamed Unseen inevitably hark back to time spent learning the instrument but also express a powerful simplicity, her experience in folk music yielding strong communication from the off. The use of rapid pizzicato is especially effective when describing Delta‘s emergence from a coma, its pitter-patter countered by rustic double stopping.

The electronic Mindpop harnesses its power through a rolling drum track, while Will I Dream? has intriguing effects that play with aural perspective.

As you might expect, the tones of Wilson’s grandfather on By the Time I Got Back Pt 1 are particularly moving, complemented by urgent phrases from the violin. The second part spins a web of ideas against a tick-tock rhythm, an open-ended conclusion to the album.

Does it all work?

It does. The album is effectively a seven-part suite of studies on memory, and its half hour fairly flies by, leaving you wanting more.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. If you enjoy music where folk and electronic intersect, then this is definitely for you – and more besides, since Memory Islands tells a series of vivid tales. Given its value for money through Bandcamp, there really is no excuse!

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New music – Hatis Noit: Thor (Matthew Herbert Rework) (Erased Tapes)

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How reassuring to know that the art of the remix is still in good hands!

Matthew Herbert has been a practiced exponent of the form for at least 25 years now, but this remake of Hatis Noit’s Thor shows that he continues to find new and imaginative ways of presenting other people’s music. The process had an effect on both artists. “When I first listened to the sonic world of Matthew’s Thor rework”, says Hatis, “I felt so nostalgic that I cried. The song evokes in me an interactive energy exchange between forest spirits and people singing and dancing around a fire. It is an even more colourful and playful representation of the landscape that I wanted to portray.”

Herbert, meanwhile, talked about his approach to the task in hand. “I liked the devotional aspect of the original so recorded a few round glass and steel bowls to create a kind of found-gamelan set of sounds. I wanted it to feel like you walked out of a festival and stumbled across some voices and people in the woodland nearby, like an auditory hallucination where more modern techniques merged with ancient-sounding voices.”

Have a listen below and see what you think:

Switched On: Captain Mustache: The Super Album (Kompakt)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

We last encountered Captain Mustache two years ago, as part of the excellent Quattro Artists collection released by Bedrock. His contribution was Indigo Memories, where the intersection between techno and electro functioned particularly well.

Now we find him returning to the Kompakt label with an imagined an imagined ‘whole day for party people’, with a raft of guests in tow.

What’s the music like?

The captain delivers a captivating blend of darkness and light in the course of the day. The darker stuff is the four to the floor electro and techno workouts, some really well produced numbers that hit the floor without any nonsense. These include the instrumental cuts Laser Me, Clair-Obscur and Galaxian Symbiosis, the last two of which would be more than half Detroit-based if you cut them open. Acapulco Citron has a chunky bass profile, as does Pulsions Organiques, which pans out a bit to softer electro up top.

Then we have the more humourous tracks such as the vocal playful Gimme Your Mustache or Shifting Basslines, where Chicks on Speed work particularly well. The Arnaud Rebotini collaboration I Love Watching U is excellent, too.

Does it all work?

It does – the album has a really satisfying ebb and flow.

Is it recommended?

Indeed it is, another fine opus from the man with immaculate facial hair.

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New music – Say She She: Silver (Karma Chief)

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Here is some wonderful weekend music from Brooklyn trio Say She She, with their second album Silver.

Having made a strong impact at Glastonbury with their live set, which included one of the singles of the year in C’est Si Bon, they have given us a long player guaranteed to brighten up any day. A homage to the disco music of the late 1970s, it is more than mere pastiche – a brilliant collection of original compositions, packed with good feelings and funky basslines.

Listen below for some wonderful summery sounds!