Category Archives: Switched On

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!

New music – The Orb & David Gilmour: Metallic Spheres in Colour

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Described as a ‘remixed collaborative album’, this is an update for the 2010 release made by The Orb and David Gilmour, Metallic Spheres.

You may remember that the original has just two tracks, which sit either side of the vinyl release. Producer Youth recently revealed that “The idea for Metallic Spheres In Colour was that Alex Paterson could have done more on the first version, and he didn’t really have the opportunity because we had a philosophy of making the music like the Blade Runner soundtrack meets Wish You Were Here. So, I asked him why don’t we remix it and make it like an Orb classic? And in doing that, it’s almost like a completely different album.”

Have a listen to an excerpt below and see what you think:

Switched On: Panda Bear & Sonic Boom – Reset in Dub (Domino)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Panda Bear & Sonic Boom revisit their 2022 album Reset in the company of dub royalty, producer Adrian Sherwood. Sherwood took the album through his On-U Sound studios in the company of musicians Doug Wimbisch and Skip McDonald.

Panda Bear (aka Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox) and Sonic Boom (Peter Kember) wrote the original downtempo album with strong Caribbean influences, and Kember spoke of how Jamaican rocksteady played a big part in his thinking for the original Reset album. When the opportunity for a dub album arose he immediately thought of Sherwood.

The artistic respect is mutual, as Sherwood himself is a fan of Animal Collective. He describes how they wanted to keep “all the elements of trippy fun, but with added menace, groove and an ultra-active mix for the ‘heads’.

What’s the music like?

Rather special – and in some cases it transports the listener overseas almost immediately. That much is clear from the lead single Edge Of The Edge, where the sighing motif sounds like the tide lapping gently at the shore. Elsewhere Sherwood gives us a mind-expanding treat, whether attending to the saxophone sound on Gettin’ To The Point Dub or overseeing a healthy dose of funk to the mix for Everyday Dub. There is a lovely breezy disposition to this music, especially in the likes of In My Body Dub and the dreamy piano of Go On Dub, where the wide open textures complement Panda Bear’s rounded tones.

Danger Dub is especially good, firing up a quicker tempo, while Whirlpool Dub is full of cleverly worked sonic displacements. Livin’ In The After Dub has a folksy melody with a harmonica which gets the Sherwood reverb treatment, the drums setting us in a woozy fireside spot. Perhaps the best is saved for last, Everything’s Been Leading To This Dub an epic production, booming low vocals twinned with glittering guitar and bright brass.

Does it all work?

It does – effortlessly so. This is music that creates its own hot weather, and the stripped back approach works a treat. So too does Sherwood’s instinct on when to throw the perspectives wide open or bring them up close, using Lennox’s voice to its full potential.

Is it recommended?

Enthusiastically – but only on the assumption that you’ve already purchased the original album!

Listen

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