Category Archives: Switched On

Let’s Dance – Defected presents House Masters: Todd Edwards (Defected)

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Various Artists – Defected presents House Masters: Todd Edwards (Defected)

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The time is ripe for a Todd Edwards retrospective. The much-loved producer, credited as one of the founding fathers of late-90s garage, UK style, has always had a distinctive way of working his beats. With clipped percussion, cleverly-used samples, good humour and a large dose of soul, he has been a go-to man for remix and production for nigh on 30 years. Daft Punk have credited his influence, and worked with him on two albums, while a whole host of chart bothering artists, among them Moloko, Robin S, Wildchild and Wretch 32, have gone his way for a remix.

Recently Defected have taken Edwards under their wing, restoring hundreds of previously unavailable productions to the catalogue, and this double album provides a useful retrospective and a reminder of what might be in store for the collector.

What’s the music like?

Brilliant. You don’t get to be dance music royalty without making good music – and there’s no doubt Edwards makes great music for good times. His fluid grooves are sliced and diced, the clipped percussion sounds putting a skip in each beat.  The approach is largely soulful, and on grooves like God Will Be There and the landmark Edwards production Saved My Life, more than a bit spiritual.

Defected have divided the collection in two, with a set of full length original productions complemented by some excellent examples from the remix collection.  The original productions are equally represented by past and present, with You’re Sorry one of his best recent songs, and the Sinden collaboration Deeper working really well on the vocal front. All I Need is more percussive, while Dancing For Heaven is a buoyant treat and Fly Away is super cool. The Daft Punk association is well represented, with the charmer Face To Face bringing out the best in both sides, and Fragments Of Time, from the Random Access Memories album, a great track for top-down driving.

There is a smoother version of St Germain’s Alabama Blues, with a warm guitar and organ but not quite the heat soaked charm of the earlier version. Indo’s R U Sleeping fares really well, as does Moloko’s Pure Pleasure Seeker – while Zoot Woman’s Taken It All gets a shiny remix.

Does it all work?

Yes. Edwards has an effortlessly cool style and it runs throughout this collection, moving between house and garage with great ease. He always gives the vocal plenty of room, but still packs the production with all kinds of riffs, beats and soundbites, keeping the dancefloor moving at all times.

Is it recommended?

It is – but be warned, listening to this might take you down a Todd Edwards rabbit hole. With so many productions remastered and now available through Defected, it would be churlish to stop here!

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You can buy David Penn’s House Masters compilation from the Defected website here

Switched On: Stone Giants: West Coast Love Stories (Nomark)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Stone Giants is a new alias for Amon Tobin, the prolific Brazilian producer. It represents a new and slightly surprising side to his musical personality, exploring the connection between his own voice and his electronic music.

In his own words, West Coast Love Stories is ‘the weathered account of a fair run with romantic experiences. Things I wouldn’t trade for any number of more sober affairs’.

What’s the music like?

Deeply felt and pleasingly elusive. There are a number of influences at play here, including shoegaze and post rock, together with his own long standing ability to paint a scene with just a few notes.

Tobin’s voice doesn’t tend to go beyond a murmur but he still uses it expressively. With the descriptive Stinson Beach he combines woozy vocals with a slightly wavering pitch on the electronics to good effect, creating an air of mystery. The multilayered vocal and shimmering textures of the title track work really well, while the musical language of Best Be Sure, with dreamy vocals from Figueroa, has a hint of the African desert about its principal riff.

Tobin brings elegance to A Year To The Day, whose riff spins a web of intrigue. The Girl With The Great Ideas (That I Steal) has a similarly enchanting air, with some clever play on perspective and panning.

Does it all work?

Yes – Tobin sets the fuzzy scene early on and it permeates the like a heat haze. The unfocused elements of his work put the album in a dreamlike state, and the lack of bass keeps it floating in mid air. A word, too, for the cover photography by Jr Korpa – as good a match of music and image as you could wish to see.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Stone Giants is another string to Amon Tobin’s already impressive bow, revealing another side of his personality – and the romantic, lovelorn side suits him.

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Switched On: Toby Wiltshire – Shunyata : Emptiness (Cue Dot Records)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The Cue Dot model deserves some examination, for this is no ordinary record label. It is a not-for-profit organisation, run by Paul Scott in Derbyshire, and is fronted by the flagship Cue Dot Series, now up to seven records strong. This is an opportunity for collaboration within electronic music, and the participating artists are given full control over the content and titles. The artwork, however, follows the same distinctive and particularly attractive circle pack design, best explained in the press release as ‘representing the infinite possibilities opened up through an electronic palette’.

The seventh in the series is given to Leeds-based composer Toby Wiltshire, who responds with an album using Buddhist imagery and concepts as its stimulation. Wiltshire’s free-standing style allows for slow, untethered musical movement, adding field recordings, modular synths and software to the equation. It is music for mindfulness, but with a license to develop along the way.

What’s the music like?

Wiltshire achieves a very appealing blend of stillness and activity in his work, which immediately carries the promise of outdoor activity. This in itself is stimulating, given the amount of time we have all spent indoors over the last 15 months, so the running water and soft, sleepy tones of Mist Clearing On The Mountain give the listener a chance to acclimatise to the new surroundings.

Wiltshire works and intertwines the seven recordings with the ease of a man who has been composing for 20 years, and he knows instinctively how to let the music breathe as much as it needs to. There are no explicit melodies but there are thoughts and moods that recur as each track proceeds, each keeping a firm grasp on tonality.

Running water and soft tones are also an appealing feature of Floating Consciousness, aptly named, with harmonics on the stringed instruments that give a glint to the edge of the overall sound. Karuna holds a beautiful poise, shifting slowly in the equivalent of a soft musical breeze, while Glimpse uses higher, quite shrill pitches but counters them with sounds in the middle distance. Orange Light is lovely, painting a series of closely matched, complementary musical colours like a Rothko painting.

One of the most restful scenes is found within Sakura, where bird-like noises call across the rippling texture. We could be in a vast cave, or out on the edge of a swamp in the rain – both examples of the pictures Wiltshire’s music forms in the listener’s mind. The Wave And The Water brings everything to rest at the end, with the gentle undulations implied by the title gradually evening out.

Does it all work?

It does – and if anything could be extended to an even longer piece of work. Yet Wiltshire leaves the listener wanting more, and as his work responds to repeated listening, it is easy to go round again immediately – a good state to be in. Talking of states, you will certainly end this album in a calmer condition then when you began it!

Is it recommended?

Very much so – and if like me you are using this as a point of entry to the Cue Dot series, it works as a starting point from which to enjoy the other six. There is much to admire about this label, and we will explore more in due course, but for now the wide open stage is Toby Wiltshire’s, and his music is very easy to experience and admire.

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Switched On: Aria Rostami & Daniel Blomquist: Time Apart In The West (Intimate Inanimate)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The partnership of Aria Rostami & Daniel Blomquist release their second album in five months, again recording in separate cities due to conditions imposed by the pandemic. Rostami currently resides on the East Coast in Brooklyn while Blomquist has remained in San Francisco, but the two have honed their recording process to an effective method of musical communication across the country.

For Time Apart In The West the compositions were written separately and then the ideas developed, with Blomquist sampling and altering Rostami’s composed and recorded contributions. Like a piece of chain mail, the music was passed back and forth until both were satisfied.

What’s the music like?

The titles are simple and indistinct, divided into 14 Months, but in spite of its minimal construction Time Apart In The West contains music of warmth and meaning. It contrasts nicely with the pair’s previous release Still, on Glacial Movements, which explored how time could change motion in cold weather.

The constructions on that release were much longer, clocking in around the ten minute mark, but some of the tracks here are short, descriptive sketches like Month 1 and Month 13, suggesting slightly more mechanical origins.

They are complemented by much more expansive scenes such as Month 2 or Month 10 which hang on the air beautifully, the latter like a white cloud on a hot summer’s day. This surely has its origins in the Californian heat haze, as Month 5 would seem to have, though the shimmering horizon here has a set of discords ensuring a level of tension remains throughout.

Does it all work?

It does – either on headphones as a calming soundtrack, or on a bigger system as an immersive experience. Both composers have a keen ear for texture, with the extended melodies and chord sequences easy to follow, and the ambient white noise offering extra depth. Often the slow speeds mean the music acts like a weather system, gradually evolving and unfolding.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. Time Apart In The West is the warmth to Still’s cold, and both make excellent companion pieces.

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Switched On: Raxon: Sound Of Mind (Kompakt)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The music of Ahmed Raxon has been a familiar feature on house and techno dancefloors for at least five years now, and he has previous with Kompakt as part of their Speicher series in 2019. The Egyptian DJ, now based in Barcelona, has label-hopped with a number of successful releases, but now turns to the longer playing format with his debut album.

What’s the music like?

Raxon’s versatility makes him the ideal producer for an electronic album. Sound Of Mind has plenty of variety, moving between slow and fast tempos, four to the floor and broken beat, but always with a surety of hand. The range of speeds and beats is impressively mastered, assembled in an order that makes the album more like a DJ set.

Raxon has a healthy penchant for music of the recent past, too, which helps him pull a couple of surprises out of the hat. Almost Human is one of these, a curveball with widescreen riffing and breaks that look more in the direction of Brighton than Barcelona. Flyby is an appealing slower jam with rich keyboards, while the sharp edges of El Multiverse are part of a really strong floor filler. Phantom Report has darkly coloured, solid beats – an examples of Raxon’s techno with depth – while Vice puts its bruising break beat to good use.

Does it all work?

It does. Raxon’s previous endeavours for a wide variety of labels helps enormously, as does his sense of structure – there are no fillers here, and a strong set of grooves in the locker.

Is it recommended?

Yes. An excellent debut long player from a producer whose versatility and confidence stand him good stead, Sound Of Mind is an album that avoids cliche and presents freshly made grooves with some style.

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