Switched On: Cool Maritime – Big Earth Energy (Western Vinyl)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Cool Maritime is a pseudonym for Santa Cruz musician Sean Hellfritsch. With a childhood spent outdoors in Californian orchards and canyons, he has perhaps not surprisingly fostered a deep concern for natural and environmental issues. His music is an extension of that, and Big Earth Energy builds on the success of last album Sharing Waves, released on LA’s Leaving Records. The name Cool Maritime reflects the bond he has felt with the northern coastal climates.

Hellfritsch had a concept for this album, looking back to 1995 and his first encounter with the game MYST. This time the player takes on the mantle of a prehistoric tree frog, changing ‘ages’ with each new level of the game and in the process finding out the massive changes the earth has gone through in that time.

What’s the music like?

Big Earth Energy takes its lead from 1980s Japanese ambient music, with a language that often ‘feels’ Eastern but never explicitly names a time or a place. Hellfritsch likes to keep things moving, but at the same time there is a good deal of ambience to enjoy when the listener pans out to listen on widescreen or headphones.

The richly coloured title track settles and builds its material from small building blocks, gently swaying as though in a breeze. Soft Fascinations has rippling textures that generate positive, restorative energy from which bigger chords can dominate. Amphibia is also deeply shaded, wide open in texture and melodic possibility.

Very soon the ear falls under the spell of the music, and its easy, slightly chunky 1980s sound profile sits very nicely in the context of its material. Avian Glide has a similar effect, with soft marimba lines complementing analogue synth washes. There is plenty of melodic interest, and a discernible pulse, but little outright percussion is used.

Hellfritsch has an appealing style, generating movement through positive melodies and consonant harmonies, with light textures that can sometimes mask the number of countermelodies and crossrhythms in play. Secret of the Megafauna is good example here, a dense forest of musical happenings with ‘plants’ that cross paths, interweave and break apart again. It leads into the sharper lines of closing track Apex, the highest plateau now reached.

Does it all work?

Yes. There is a cleansing quality to Big Earth Energy, the sort of album you would put on when looking to take the weight from your shoulders or feet – along the lines of a producer such as Matthewdavid (owner of Hellfritsch’s previous label) or current label mate Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. The feel of the music could be described as New Age, with washes of primary musical colours and ambience, but that shouldn’t mask its emotive content or depth.

Is it recommended?

It is – Big Earth Energy is a wholly positive piece of work in the face of environmental adversity.

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In Appreciation – Alan White & Andy Fletcher

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by Ben Hogwood

Yesterday was a sad day for fans of pop music, with Alan White and Andy Fletcher, two members of Britain’s biggest and finest rock bands, sadly leaving these shores.

Alan White, drummer with Yes from 1972, died on 26 May at the age of 72. White was very different from Bill Bruford, who many fans would name in their fantasy Yes line-up, but he had an incredibly strong rock aesthetic in contrast to Bruford’s jazzier leanings. Both more then proved their worth as indispensable members of the group, with the often unsung White providing drums for landmark albums Going For The One, Fragile and Tales From Topographic Oceans. White also enjoyed session work with John Lennon and George Harrison in their solo careers.

A personal memory from seeing Yes live in Hammersmith in 1998 is that White was the lynchpin, forming an incredibly solid and dynamic rhythm section with Chris Squire, also sadly departed. The pair providing some unexpected funk to much-loved tracks like I’ve Seen All Good People. Here is the studio version:

The band’s new material in that decade was also notable for bringing out White’s rock attributes, as the opening track The Calling, from 1994’s Talk, illustrates:

The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus), from the Fragile album, shows White’s ability to underpin a track with the most unwavering pulse, no matter how tricky its rhythmic profile:

Meanwhile here is a track from 1974’s Relayer, a chance to appreciate White’s virtuosity and musicality:

Also announced yesterday was the sad death at 60 of ‘Fletch’, a founding member of Depeche Mode. The Essex group have been going for a remarkable 42 years, with Andy Fletcher an ever-present on keyboards. In a moving social media post yesterday, the band paid tribute to a much-loved friend:

Here are two stand-out performances from Depeche Mode’s early years, beginning with their first appearance on Top of the Pops in 1981 with New Life, from outstanding debut album Speak and Spell. This first incarnation of the band presented a new sound with synthesizers that was only just breaking into the mainstream, and the fresh faced pioneers were clearly enjoying their art:

By the time Just Can’t Get Enough came around, the band were regulars in the charts with a succession of brilliant pop songs. This one in particular has lasted the distance, introduced by a jabbing riff from the keyboard section that is a proper mind-worm! In both visuals ‘Fletch’ can be seen getting the most out of the music:

Finally a lesser-known example from the Mode’s singles back catalogue, the exquisitely shaded Everything Counts, seen here from the legendary Pasadena Rose Bowl concert in 1988, part of the 101 tour. Here, keyboards and an electronically treated oboe create some unusual and unexpectedly graceful treble lines:

On Record – Flock: Flock (Strut Records)

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flock

written by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The music for Flock was recorded all on one day, 27 August 2020, at The Fish Factory in London. It was the culmination of a project overseen by multi-instrumentalist Bex Burch, band leader of Vula Viel. She assembled a group of five musicians to respond to texts she had written as scores, as a basis for improvisation – or ‘murmuration’, as she described.

Her partners in the project were Sarathy Korwar (drums and tabla), Dan ‘Danalogue’ Leavers (fender rhodes, roland juno-60, upright piano and roland SH-09 bass synth) Al MacSween (prepared piano, piano, Moog sub37) and Tamar Osborn (bass clarinet, flute, soprano saxophone and EHX deluxe memory boy). Burch assigned herself a wide variety of instruments, credited for contributions on gyil, vibraphone, bass drum, shakers, bells, gong, snake drum and electronics.

What’s the music like?

Instinctive, to put it mildly – but fascinating, atmospheric and intense. The key here is that the improvisations are focused, especially the 13 minutes and 35 seconds of It’s Complicated, and even the slightly longer, hypnotic How many are one? The musical chemistry between the players is striking, and it says a lot that with a track such as Prepare to let go, led by Korwar on foreground percussion, there is still plenty of room for each line to make itself heard. This one in particular is led equally by him on tabla and percussion but also by the insistent, jagged groove at the lower end of proceedings, with some intriguing electronics going on up top. My resonance is another track where the ensemble gel seamlessly, the melodies colourfully distributed and developed.

The keyboards are economically used, and the dynamics are carefully managed, and the percussion detailed but providing much of the backbone. Tracks like Bold dream become rituals, with energetic and almost trancey figures in the half light. There is humour in this track, too, the performers laughing at the way it peters out – nicely caught in the recording.

The icing on the cake, however, are Tamar Osborn’s contributions on woodwind. The combination of bass clarinet and keyboards is wonderfully spooky as Sounds welcome takes shape, the atmospherics like a leftfield detective series. Gradually the track blossoms into a richer, mellow mid-range, where the mournful tones of the saxophone are complemented with percussion and keys.

The bass clarinet begins It’s complicated with an Eastern flavoured soliloquy, a fascinating solo that gradually climbs in pitch and volume as the other instruments join, rising to a tumult of percussion and a rush of noise. The storm quickly abates, the intensity sinking back to a held drone and more clarinet ruminations, before a minimal exchange of ideas takes hold.

Some of the timbres the group secure are fascinating. What purpose has a mellow flute and sedentary piano complementing each other, set against more spatial electronics,

Does it all work?

Yes. The results are electric at times as the players bounce off each other, and it is fascinating listening to a one-off experience, where things go in unexpected directions at times but where the changing colours and moods are compelling.

Is it recommended?

Enthusiastically. This is an improvised gathering of white hot intensity, and the results are consistently compelling. Even if such projects prove daunting to you musically, you are encouraged to listen to Flock, for they make extremely rewarding music.

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Switched On – Szun Waves to release new album Earth Patterns

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by Ben Hogwood

Today brings another very welcome musical return, with Szun Waves announcing a new album, Earth Patterns, due on The Leaf Label on August 19. The band – producer Luke Abbott, saxophonist Jack Wyllie and drummer Laurence Pike – have today released a taster of what we can expect, and it is mightily impressive.

Both the title and language of New Universe suggest a return to basics, and the music – rooted in the key of C as much ‘universe’-themed music seems to be – has stark, creation-like beginnings. As it evolves the music grows in strength, reaching a full blooded apex before subsiding a little, its growth made all the more powerful when experienced with Dom Harwood’s video, with its Martian parallels.

Watch and enjoy – on this evidence the new album, with additional production from James Holden and David Pye, promises to be something special:

You can find out about the album here:

Switched On – Gold Panda – I’ve Felt Better (Than I Do Now)

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by Ben Hogwood. Picture of Gold Panda by Laura Lewis

Here is some news to cheer up a Tuesday – the very welcome return of Gold Panda.

Its title is deceptive, and makes perfect sense when you get a sense of what the producer, aka Derwin Schlecker, has been through. “I made this when my daughter was two years old and I felt knackered and I’d turned 41”, he says. “The samples just came together and sounded like “I’ve felt better…” and at the same time I was looking at my anti-depressants feeling tired and just thought ‘ha, that’s right!’”

Describing the track, Derwin says, “I mess with chopping up samples until I get an interesting loop so I never set out to write a track; I’m led by the samples and then go from there. Funnily enough, my life now is actually way better than it was 10 years ago and I’m a bit healthier and I probably actually do feel better in general (apart from when I had that brain haemorrhage last year).”

With everything now in perspective, it proves easy to appreciate the summer haziness and hypnotic grooves applied to the track – which you can enjoy right here!


The Unfolding is out now on City Slang, and comes highly recommended! You can listen and purchase on the Bandcamp link below: