Category Archives: Switched On

Switched On – Marconi Union: Multiforms: Ambient Transmissions Vol. 3 (Just Music)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Marconi Union add another notch to their Multiforms: Ambient Transmissions series with a third volume, accompanied by a full-length A/V visualiser.

It is now 23 years since the Manchester group gave notice of their talents in ambient music with Under Wires and Searchlights. Yet it is 14 years since the second in their Ambient Transmissions series, Weightless – itself a year after Beautifully Falling Apart. In the words of the press release, “There are no standout tracks by design; instead, the album invites full immersion, encouraging the listener to drift through shifting atmospheres, serene soundscapes and quietly evolving emotional states. It is both expansive and intimate, designed for deep listening.”

What’s the music like?

Very easy on the ear. Marconi Union’s music takes its own sweet time to volve, shifting gradually but steadily into live. With warm ambience, Multiform I sets the scene, before Multiform II gets real depth with a sonorous bass note. The progression is smooth, through to Multiform V which provides the sonic equivalent of warm water lapping at the shore of a sandy beach, with nobody in sight. As idyllic as it sounds. The final movement of the suite, Multiform VI, returns to earth with soft piano chords.

The visualiser, which you can watch below, provides the ultimate calming experience.

Does it all work?

Yes, with plenty to spare – and with minimum effort on the part of the listener!

Is it recommended?

It is indeed – Marconi Union devotees will not be hesitating, and neither should the rest of us! Providing the opportunity to pause for thought, Multiform is the ideal comedown from busy times.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,938 – Sunday 5 July 2026

New music – Midori Hirano: The Juniper Tree (Viernulvier Records / Thrill Jockey)

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by Ben Hogwood, using the press release

Kyoto-born, Berlin-based composer and producer Midori Hirano announces The Juniper Tree, her new album recasting the score for the debut film by Nietzchka Keene, out October 2 via Viernulvier Records and Thrill Jockey. Originally commissioned by Kunstencentrum Viernulvier for its acclaimed Videodroom series, in which contemporary experimentalists reimagine the musical accompaniment of classic arthouse cinema, the score now receives its first standalone release.

A feminist retelling of the Brothers Grimm story and Björk’s first on-screen role, The Juniper Tree premiered to critical acclaim at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival. Shot in haunting black-and-white on location in Iceland, it follows two sisters who flee after their mother is executed for witchcraft, standing as a powerful allegory of misogyny and its consequences. “The film shows many raw aspects of human nature, such as madness, silence, loss, love, seduction, friendship, deception, self-preservation and innocence, but they are all expressed in a fantastically fragile way. The exciting challenge for me is to incorporate that fragility in the music while keeping its strength,” shares Hirano.

Coinciding with the announcement, Hirano shares two tracks: Take Me With You and Spell On You, which reveal two respective sides of the score—piano and synthesizer compositions, both imbued with the same sense of restraint as the film. On the former, Hirano explains: “This is a piece played in the scene where Margit (a medieval witch played by Björk) is searching for her mother on the shore. A simple ambient synth tone repeats at regular intervals, slowly changing in timbre, reflecting Margit’s quiet calls for her mother.” On Spell On You she adds: “A simple piano piece, evoking a sense of both eeriness and sacredness. This appears multiple times throughout the film whenever Margit’s sister Katla casts a spell.”

While composing the music for The Juniper Tree, Hirano drew on her own memories of touring Iceland, which included a stop at a waterfall featured in the film and rendered in sound on “Mother’s Path.” Folktales, like the origins of The Juniper Tree, are often attempts to contend with humans’ place in the natural world, and both the film and Hirano’s soundtrack draw their sense of breathless wonder in part from the sensation of being engulfed by one’s environment. Hirano captures the relationship between the transcendental awe that is felt as supernatural and the private feelings of being immersed in that experience, creating a musical dialogue between the self and what lies beyond.

In the final sentences of her liner notes, Anna Bogutskaya says, “what we call Margit’s witchcraft is maybe just her willingness to listen.” Just as Keene seems to break down barriers between binary poles, Hirano uses both electronic and acoustic means to communicate the film’s emotive cues. Through sound, we understand what lies beyond sight, beyond convention, and with this new soundtrack we hear the story anew.

Listen to “Take Me With You” and “Spell On You” above and stay tuned for more from Midori Hirano ahead of the full release of The Juniper Tree on 2 October via Viernulvier and Thrill Jockey.

Published post no.2,935 – Thursday 2 July 2026

New music – Tycho feat. Sea Lemon: Anotherwave (Ninja Tune / Mom + Pop)

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by Ben Hogwood, using the Ninja Tune press release. Picture (c) Scott Hansen

2x GRAMMY® Award–nominated electronic icon Tycho has joined forces with acclaimed dreampop artist Sea Lemon for the oceanic new single, Anotherwave available today via Mom + Pop in the U.S. and Ninja Tune for the rest of the world.

As you will hear, it is another hot weather beauty from an ever-reliable source:

“I was driving late one night on a road trip through the California Central Valley when I first heard Sea Lemon’s music,” says Tycho’s Scott Hansen. “Eraser came on and immediately clicked; I think I listened to Close Up about four times in a row. I started imagining Natalie’s vocals on this new song I had been working on; the lush textures felt like a perfect match for the sound. So at the next stop, I reached out and sent some demos. I was really happy when she picked the particular song I had in mind; that’s usually a good sign. We started bouncing ideas back and forth, and pretty soon thereafter, Natalie tracked the vocals at her place. The track was originally a sparse, synth-driven piece, but once I got the vocals in place, I realized something was missing from the overall composition. So Zac came over and tracked some guitars, and it all came into focus quickly. This was one of those songs where I never really had to fight anything; it all just flowed, and those are the most fulfilling projects to work on. It was really an honor to work with such a talented artist as Natalie, and I’m very proud of what we created together.”

”When Scott (Tycho) reached out to me and shared this song, I instantly felt a connection to the underwater-like quality of the sounds and textures,” says Sea Lemon (a.k.a. Seattle, WA-based musician Natalie Lew). “I started writing lyrics about being ‘caught in another wave,’ which turned into sort of the anthemic lyrics that get repeated throughout the song. I’ve been such a fan of Tycho for years, and getting the chance to work with him on a track is a total dream. Scott has an extremely creative, collaborative way of working, which makes coming together on a track like this a huge joy.”

Anotherwave marks the latest in an ongoing series of diverse collaborations for Tycho, including previous alliances with artists spanning ODESZA, Maggie Rogers, Little Dragon, Leon Bridges, Death Cab for Cutie, and more. The track follows the release earlier this year of Forge, a compelling instrumental companion piece to 2025’s Boundary Rider, a collaboration with Interpol’s Paul Banks. 2024 saw Tycho continuing to expand the parameters and possibilities of electronic music with its engrossing sixth album, Infinite Health, co-produced by Hansen with Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor with backing from guitarist Zac Brown and drummer Rory O’Connor.

Published post no.2,934 – Wednesday 1 July 2026

On Record – Laurence Pike – Possible Utopias for Jazz Quintet (Balmat)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

“A thought experiment equipped with drumsticks, circuitry, and the desire to go beyond hardwired limits”. So reads the Bandcamp appraisal of Laurence Pike’s first album for the Balmat label – which doesn’t behave as its title implies.

“My loose concept was: What does music sound like when the expectations of late capitalism are removed from it?”, says Price. “How might a jazz musician from an idealised culture of the future, or even another world, utilise musical language when the conventions of style and marketing are no longer a factor in music making?”

For one thing, Pike is the only consistent presence through the album, the ‘jazz quintet’ being a figment of his vivid imagination. Three occasional guests are credited, however – alto saxophonist Ben Lerner, pianist Novak Manojlovic and Nico Callahan, described as providing ‘additional synthesis’.

The utopias are very real, going beyond jazz in search of ambient, electronica and post-rock.

What’s the music like?

Rewarding. Pike’s varied work as a soloist but also as part of Szun Waves, Pivot aka PVT, Triosk and Liars means he has an acute ear for what works with percussion – and that reaps dividends here.

Pike’s sonic palette is impressively varied. On one hand is Manojlovic’s freely flowing piano on Guardians of Memory, where urgent pulses are detected from hi hats and tapped cymbals. Often his music suggests the weather – an approaching storm, the wind in the trees, a humid day on the edge of a desert. All these things and more could be determined by The Shame of Jazz to Come, with its brooding synth pads and rustling percussion, but elsewhere Pike’s thoughts are more fractured and dislocated.

Saxophonist Lerner”s contributions are telling, while Pike’s ability to evoke nocturnal scenes is maintained in the subtly atmospheric Night Bird and dappled beauty of Possible Utopias itself.

Does it all work?

It does – because Pike’s music has refreshing details of unpredictability, original textures and riffs, and a feeling for the listener that all this is taking place outdoors, under the stars.

Is it recommended?

It is – and proves a fine addition to an already impressive solo body of work.

For fans of… Szun Waves, Luke Abbott, James Holden, Portico Quartet

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Published post no.2,920 – Wednesday 17 June 2026

On Record – Thomas Bangalter: Mirage (Erato)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Mirage is the latest work by Thomas Bangalter, formerly of Daft Punk, to show his credentials for a more through-composed style of composition. Bangalter had an education in classical music, which can be felt through the cleverly constructed songs Daft Punk made, and perhaps most vividly in their score for Tron: Legacy.

More recently we have heard an orchestral album, Mythologies, a sizeable ballet characterising a series of wonderful and awful creatures – following in a line of French composers who have done this with such wonderfully pictorial writing. Mirage, however, is an electronic score, conceived by choreographer Damien Jalet and contemporary artist Kōhei Nawa, with the ballet premiered at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 2025. It continues to tour Europe throughout 2026.

What’s the music like?

Very different to Mythologies, and arguably less colourful – but more compelling.

Mirage is a very slow build, a brave tactic from Bangalter but one well worth sticking with, especially on headphones. Starting with the pulse of a sonorous bass note, like a subterranean signal from another planet, the wave form starts to go wavy, as though the electromagnetic winds were picking up, and that slight shift is critical to the momentum of the ensuring piece. On Part II the drums get bigger and momentum builds through fidgety hi hats, the sense of forward movement increasing like an accelerating train.

Part III cuts to a bass drone before what feels like the mirage itself on Part IV, shapes dancing in the middle ground before an ominous wavering of the drone pulls the rug from under the listener’s feet. Part VI opens out into wide space before mirage images appear again, rich in colour. The tension relaxes audibly into Part VII, dappled figures and light interference suggesting the space beyond. Then, as a conclusion, Part VIII drops again towards inaudible bassy figures, the distant knock confirming the signal is still out there.

Does it all work?

Yes, though is clearly most effective if you experience the whole piece in one sitting, on equipment that can do justice to the range of frequencies employed.

Is it recommended?

It is. Bangalter’s musical trajectory will be very interesting to watch, for here he is aligning himself more with experimental composers such as Xenakis rather than the French ballet masters. The suspicion is that his sweet spot will be somewhere between the two, and will include both electronic and acoustic instruments, and hopefully on the Erato label, whose livery appropriately dresses this release. An auspicious second album, and highly recommended.

For fans of… Daft Punk, A Winged Victory For The Sullen, John Murphy, Vangelis

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You can explore purchase options for Mirage on the Presto Music website

Published post no.2,919 – Tuesday 16 June 2026