Category Archives: Switched On

Switched On – Faithless – Champion Sound (ADA)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The longevity of UK dance artists from the 1990s is truly impressive – with some, like Faithless, evolving through forced circumstances. When they lost the charismatic frontman Maxi Jazz in 2022 to a long-term illness, bandmates Rollo and Sister Bliss harnessed the spirit of collaboration, bringing in extra voices while acknowledging their band could never be the same again. And yet there is still room for ambition. Champion Sound is the biggest Faithless album to date, a ‘double double’ epic that takes its listener on a voyage. It is cleverly divided into four, essentially a group of mini albums that can be experienced as separate entities or as part of the bigger whole.

What’s the music like?

Consistently good. Champion Sound shows that the versatility Faithless showed in first two albums Reverence and Sunday 8pm was not misplaced – and they build on it impressively here.

We visit the club – of course – but in two very different ways. The second segment, Phone Number, tells through vocalists Nathan Ball and Amelia Fox the story of a couple who meet on the dancefloor but then can’t work out if their attraction is genuine or was situation-bound. Their songs are vulnerable and at times hit an emotional high.

Book Of Hours follows this, a broad instrumental section of reflective landscapes. Conceived as a tribute to DJ Shadow’s Entroducing album, it builds slowly but surely, opening out with strings and intricate breaks before an affirmative choral section, surely destined for Ibiza’s Café Del Mar.

From here the natural goal is within sight, and Champion Sound itself ends on a high with four no-nonsense anthems, making great use of guests L.S.K. (on the title track), Suli Breaks and Bebe Rexha (on the excellent anthem Find A Way) and finally Anthony Szmierek’s closing thoughts on Yes I Want It Too. Setting all this up is the first section, Peace And Noise, where Suli Breaks is the ideal match for the beats. “Let’s find love between the beats”, he suggests, “before we search for it between the sheets. Can we put the world on pause, while we take the night off and rejoice?” Prior to this we hear some of the last words recorded by Maxi Jazz, his brooding presence eliciting both a smile and a tear.

Does it all work?

Pretty much. It is hugely ambitious, and time constraints will mean Champion Sound can’t be experienced in its entirety – which is where the decision to divide it into four mini-albums of differing moods pays dividends.

Is it recommended?

It is – a really impressive achievement by Faithless, an album of highs and lows that shows Rollo and Sister Bliss still have the fire for their art. It rewards both dancing and thinking in equal measure.

Listen / Buy

You can explore purchase options for Champion Sound on the Beatport site

Published post no.2,657 – Sunday 14 September 2025

Switched On – Various Artists – Silberland Vol.3: The Ambient Side Of Kosmische Musik 1972-1986 (Bureau B)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The Silberland series from Hamburg label Bureau B has looked at Kosmische Musik and The Driving Side Of Kosmische Musik in previous volumes, covering electronic music from 1974 to 1984. This third instalment casts the net a little wider, unearthing pioneers of ambient music from as far back as 1972.

There are some familiar names among the tracklisting – Brian Eno, Moebius, Roedelius, Faust, Conrad Schnitzler to pick just a few – but Bureau B have cast the net wider still, in their words “coasting far beyond the familiar rhythmic terrain to explore crystal caverns and emerald pastures, immersing listeners in the ambient side of this alternative Allemagne. Building on the tape loops, tone poems, and minimalist compositions of the 60’s avant-garde, these musicians utilised the sweeping scope of the synthesiser to create expansive meditations on outer-planetary escapism, human connection, and the natural world. This compilation offers a survey of this singular era, blending pioneering voices with lesser-known artists for an immersive sonic experience.”

What’s the music like?

Ambient, of course – but full of bubbling creativity too, and intelligently structured. There is a lot to learn here for the intrepid musical explorer, while the big names are a reliable draw for those approaching cold.

Many of these pieces balance a broad ambient canvas with foreground activity, to really good effect – and with the indication that more classical composers such as Steve Reich or Philip Glass were providing subtle inspiration in the background. Roedelius, an original, balances a serene upper line above lightly pulsing activity in Veilchenwurzeln. Hope Is The Answer gurgles approvingly under the watchful eye of Rolf Trostel, as does Conrad Schnitzler‘s Electric Garden, while Serge Blenner‘s Phrase IV explores a kind of cosmic minimalism.

What also impresses greatly here is the sonic range of the label’s choices, with the soft-grained, guitar-led Tedan a rather beautiful addition from Lapre. The wispy trails of Riechmann‘s Abendlicht paint an evocative pictures, reassuring in their consonant harmonies – as is the regular pulse of Per Aspera Ad Astra, a reassuring beacon in the hands of Adelbert Von Deyen. Moebius and Plank explore slow, dubby terrain through Nordöstliches Gefühl, in contrast to the restful Southland from Rüdiger Lorenz.

Does it all work?

It does – with repeat plays rewarded handsomely, the detail just above the broad ambience of a lot of these tracks revealing more with every turn.

Is it recommended?

Wholeheartedly – an essential purchase for anyone interested in electronic music from the 1970s and 1980s. Silberland vol.3 is a highly enjoyable and occasionally quirky on a genre that has grown to become one of the most active and creative areas in music today.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,642 – Saturday 30 August 2025

Switched On – Dot Allison Subconsciousology (Lomond Campbell remixes) (Sonic Cathedral)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

When Consciousology was released in 2023, Arcana noted its “dreamy textures and contours providing enchantment and, ultimately, escapism“. We also complemented Dot Allison’s vocals harking “back to some of the memorable folk-inflected voices of the  1960s and 1970s”.

Electronic beatsmith Lomond Campbell, however, has seen the potential to make this album “deeper, darker and dancier”, departing from the pastoral outdoors to take the music underground to a club. The pair were introduced by Hannah Peel, after which Campbell remixed Ghost Orchid, from her previous album Heart-Shaped Scars. So impressed was Allison that she asked him to remix the whole of Consciousology.

What’s the music like?

Campbell is notable for his consistently inventive approach to beat making and colour shading, and that is certainly the case here.

He has a refreshing originality that complements Allison’s thoughts and lyrics, too. Double Rainbow shifts restlessly, with added colour from arpeggiated synths. Allison’s haunting voice suits Campbell’s inventive beatmaking on Bleached By The Sun, which harks memories of Kavinsky’s Night Call – in a good way. Meanwhile Mother Tree breaks out into a psychedelic, dubby groove Andrew Weatherall would be proud of.

Weeping Roses is the real eyeopener, as it unexpectedly opens up into a big room floor filler, with what Allison notes is the “light and dark clash of worlds and sounds that Lomond has created from the roots and stems of the original.”

Comparisons are inevitably drawn with Allison’s work as part of One Dove, and in a good way – for electronic music feels not only like Dot Allison’s home turf, but an essential part of her musical make-up that drives a great deal of creativity.

Does it all work?

Yes – and it there is something refreshingly rugged about the end result, putting Dot Allison’s voice through a very different emotional wringer.

Is it recommended?

It is – but should be heard right next to the original, to appreciate Lomond Campbell’s creativity and Dot Allison’s emotional connections. Both forces are extremely well matched here.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,639 – Wednesday 26 August 2025

Switched On – Alison Goldfrapp – Flux (A. G. Records)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

As Goldfrapp continue their hiatus as a band, singer Alison Goldfrapp adds a second notch to the belt on her solo career.

Most of Flux was made in Sweden, working with producer and songwriter Stefan Storm, with the renowned Richard X also appearing in a collaborative guise.

What’s the music like?

For Alison Goldfrapp, this is a relatively safe move, but it certainly plays to the strengths of her vocals. The songs are well-written, with some telling explicit stories. By a quirk of fate Sound & Light was written earlier on the same day that Goldfrapp saw the Northern Lights for the first time, and it captures the rarefied atmosphere of their appearance.

The vocals are ice-cold, the productions clean and relatively clinical, and many of the songs become earworms after a few listens. Hey Hi Hello is an excellent opener, while the sultry Reverberotic works up a sweat at a slower beat. Find Xanadu brings the best out of Richard X, with a fine vocal to boot, while some much-needed heat is added by Ordinary Day, a quality pop-house cut spending time by the pool.

Does it all work?

It does, though there is a wish that Goldfrapp would let herself go emotionally a bit more. These are excellent club cuts, but most are on safe ground where feelings are concerned.

Is it recommended?

It is, thanks to some classy work in league with Stefan Storm and Richard X. Alison Goldfrapp remains one of the most recognisable voices in pop music currently, and she certainly knows her way around a dancefloor. Add a bit more explicit feeling and her music would be irresistible.

Listen / Buy

You can explore purchase options for Flux on the Piccadilly Records website

Published post no.2,638 – Tuesday 26 August 2025

Switched On – Molly Joyce: State Change (130701)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

State Change is a suite of ‘seven electro-acoustic tone poems’, from a deeply personal source. When aged seven, Molly Joyce was involved in a car accident that resulted in a permanent injury to her left hand, which was nearly amputated. A great deal of surgery was carried out to restore the hand to something approaching working order, though even now it is still impaired.

State Change is a musical representation of the medical procedures and records behind the slow route to recovery. Joyce was keen, however, for the album not to be a ‘pity party’, but to turn her experience into music.

What’s the music like?

Direct and unflinching, the album unfolds with seven tracks whose titles reflect key dates in the injury and recovery process. August 6, 1999 – the day of the accident – opens with a single, unblinking sine wave, that proves a little uncomfortable in the wrong environment, but opens out to be quite a sonorous drone accompaniment to a melody of long phrases, its roots in chant. The words are matter of fact but describe the situation with unflinching accuracy – ‘Skin is…minimal…flap is…needed.

August 9 1999 is painful, recovery far from the mind as Joyce deploys her ‘chest voice’, shrouded in distortion. The next week, just after a solar eclipse, August 13 + 16 1999 are more fragile but also submissive, the procedure of back to back surgeries showing the shoots of recovery. Distortion and drones are the constant accompaniment, at times intensely threatening – the surgery especially – and culminating in a scream generated by experimental artist Fire-Toolz.

At other times the drones provide comfort, especially when surgery is done. November 24, 1999 moves slowly, Joyce’s vocal an out of body experience, before April 19, 2000 and October 26, 2001 find calmer waters, the latter a release through the removal of pins from her hand. July 27, 2007 is made with the left hand itself using a music glove, and produces music of rare tenderness and vulnerability, the scar size reduced.

Does it all work?

This is vividly descriptive music, and its intensity certainly won’t suit all occasions. Yet State Change is fiercely personal, and has at its core a lasting resolve that makes a strong impact on the listener.

Is it recommended?

It is. A deeply courageous album, a story of overcoming adversity. State Change may be slow moving and is occasionally painful to take in, but it is ultimately a life-affirming album, a release from captivity.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,624 – Tuesday 12 August 2025