Switched On: Still Corners – The Last Exit (Wrecking Light)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The press release for The Last Exit is particularly promising if you long to escape from the confines of isolation. Described as ‘a sweeping album about the open road’, and a record that ‘evokes the vast space of the desert and rolling unconcerned skies’, it is the fifth long player from Still Corners, the London-based project of Tessa Murray and Greg Hughes.

What’s the music like?

Still Corners have always painted vivid pictures with their music, and The Last Exit is no different – though regular listeners will note the appearance of more dust on the road this time round. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly how that happens, but the instrumentation is definitely a factor, as are the husky tones of Murray.

Her voice immediately inhabits the story, taking the listener to those distant plans in the ghost stories White Sands and It’s Voodoo, where spirits roam the dunes and highways. This has a strong evocative of the dry heat underfoot and shimmering shapes on the horizon, with extra description and shade provided by Hughes’s guitar and the woolly atmospherics.  The same combination provides equally powerful images on Static and Till We Meet Again, which – like Crying – enhances its Wild West themes with distant whistling.

These three songs were written as a direct response to the Coronavirus pandemic, and they act as a manifestation of the great outdoors in whatever confined space you are listening in. Indeed, the band could almost be performing in a Nevada ghost town.

Does it all work?

Mostly. On occasion The Last Exit could do with some more directly melodic material, but it makes up for this through powerful evocations of time and place.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Devotees who have tracked the band for four albums will recognise their calling cards but also their progression to a deeper, more expansive sound, in spite of their numbers remaining at two.

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Switched On: Blanck Mass – In Ferneaux (Sacred Bones)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

There are just two tracks on In Ferneaux, the new release from Benjamin Power – the man behind Blanck Mass. They are long-form pieces of roughly equal length, drawing on Power’s substantial archive of field recordings from the last decade of travelling. It is in effect his way of continuing to travel in spite of lockdown conditions, with compositions brought about by extended time at home.

What’s the music like?

The output of Blanck Mass has never been short of substance or emotion, and Power confronts his feelings with typically direct musical honesty. In Ferneaux gives the impression of being a piece of work a long time in the making, needing extended time at home to realise its ambition.

The two tracks last just over 40 minutes and work in a single sequence on headphones or with surround sound. Their emotional impact and musical identity are strong, right from the start of Phase I, with its shimmering electronics. It is a powerful depiction (for me at any rate) of the bright, sunny days we experienced at the start of lockdown in the UK this time last year, and the burst of positive energy unleashes a flurry of rhythms. As these depart stage left the scene darkens, and an ominous drone takes over. From this a new regenerative process begins, and the musical camera pans out with big chord shifts – which in turn fade.

Power’s talent for moving between scenes comes from his experience with soundtrack work. Phase II, however, is an immediate jolt to the senses, beginning with a wall of uncompromising, metallic noise. This single blast introduces the most human of the field recordings so far, a personal conversation, on which Power reflects with slowly moving, cool sounds. The metallic blast returns, but just when it all feels too much consolation arrives in the form of big, woolly chords that the listener can dive into.

This is a prelude to the most confrontational music so far, a set of pounding rhythms and primal white noise, a party in a dungeon. Again the response is huge chords but the closing is pure and moving, a piano solo that loops round majestically. Ultimately the music fades away on the wind

Does it all work?

Yes – this is a compelling pair of sonic journeys, a travelogue of Power’s last decade on the road. The only regret is not knowing where some of the scenes were captured – but in turn that fuels the imagination when listening.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. In Ferneaux is a strong indication that Blanck Mass can work with bigger structures, reinforcing Power’s capabilities as a soundtrack composer but also emphasising the potential he has to go on to score longer, more classically-based works. His development promises to be fascinating.

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Switched On – Two Synths, A Guitar (And) A Drum Machine (Soul Jazz Records)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Soul Jazz describe their new compilation as ‘a new collection of current D-I-Y post-punk bands shaped by the mutant sounds of no wave, punk funk and New York Noise bands from the late 70s and early 80s that collided with the world of underground dance music found at the Paradise Garage, Mudd Club in New York City’.

This also incorporates influences from the UK – Manchester and Sheffield along with a bit of London – and makes for an open musical policy leading to a wide range of beats and rhythms.

What’s the music like?

Invigorating. The collection has such a wide range but is impeccably laid out, so that a noise-heavy track like Toresch’s Tocar can be followed by the cool keyboards of Becker & Mukai’s La Rivière des Perles.

Soul Jazz have cast the net far and wide to come up with a selection of 15 tracks from around the globe, so while New York and the UK hold the key for source material, the ear can track just how far those influences have travelled.

It’s great to see an appearance for Zongamin, whose elastic Underwater Paramid is a more recent track from the long running band. It comes after one of the best vocals on the collection, the distinctive call to arms from LA band Automatic giving Too Much Money pride of place at the front of the compilation. Not all the vocals are as endearing as theirs – Ixna’s Somebody Said will be too shrill for some tastes!

Elsewhere Gramme hit the centre of the dancefloor with a great bass line on Discolovers – excellent vocal too – while New Fries’ Lily and Charles Manier’s Sift Through Art Collecting People are propulsive propulsive groovers. Meanwhile Niagara explore dubbier territory with Ida, as does Black Deer’s Baseball Shorts, taking in even wider perspectives. Wino D expands the mind still further with the final Untitled, drifting away in a spacey cloud of atmospherics at the end.

Does it all work?

It does. Soul Jazz know more than most record labels how to make a good compilation, and the abundance of notes that goes with the music is the icing on the cake. For that reason – not to mention the eyecatching artwork – a physical purchase is the way to go.

Is it recommended?

Yes, enthusiastically. If your shelves already groan under the weight of Soul Jazz releases then you are advised to add a few hundred grams more to the mix. An excellent set of tunes that will introduce you to some new names.

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You can hear clips from the compilation and purchase from the Soul Jazz shop, Sounds Of The Universe

Switched On: Jimmy Edgar – Cheetah Bend (Innovative Leisure)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Jimmy Edgar has been far from idle in his music making over the last decade, but this is his first completed album in nine years. Cheetah Bend is a mixture of solo cuts and collaborations, with vocalists Danny Brown, Rochelle Jordan, B La B and Hudson Mohawke adding their vocal talents to Edgar’s electronic workings.

What’s the music like?

Those electronic workings are fascinating, building on Edgar’s work with a hybrid of styles. Techno is prominent in his thoughts, but so is hip hop and big room R&B. The latter skill is used to great effect on Metal and Turn, where corrugated warehouse beats provide the ideal offshoot to the excellent vocals.

In addition to those mentioned above, Millie Go Lightly coos on Be With You, while Danny Brown’s contribution on Get Up gees the listener up for the album, aping James Brown’s Get Up Offa That Thing with the lyric ‘you gotta do better’. It’s a really good interpretation of a song that hits the sweet spot between tribute and remix. The bigger beats of Cheetah work well with Semma’s vocal, as does Ready2Die, fronted by Messer, which becomes something of a torch song. The single Bent, released last year, hits the treble hard too:

Happily Edgar goes for a P-funk excursion on Zigzag, the best instrumental cut on the album, while the glitchy Curves signs off with typically liquid grooves.

Does it all work?

Yes. Edgar evokes a dark club where sweat runs down the walls because everyone’s dancing, and his clever way with beats keeps things interesting and extremely varied. The influences of Prince, Funkadelic, Timbaland and Detroit techno are just some elements at play in music that sounds like it could be a derivative mish mash of styles, but actually turns out to be far more original and interesting.

Is it recommended?

It certainly is. Jimmy Edgar is always on the prowl – and as the title suggests, Cheetah Bend is a sleek beast looking for a kill. It succeeds effortlessly here.

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Playlist – Clare Hammond

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It is with great pleasure that we welcome pianist Clare Hammond to the Arcana playlist section.

Clare has just released a new solo album, Variations. It is a typically thoughtful and inventive program of works from the 20th and 21st-centuries, ranging from  Adams to Birtwistle, Copland to Gubaidulina.

We invited Clare to complement her new album with a selection of her own favourite sets of variations, and she has obliged with some new discoveries. We begin with one of the greatest of all, the towering Passacaglia for organ by Bach, via Leopold Stokowski‘s colourful orchestration. Then we downsize for Louise Farrenc‘s Variations concertantes sur mélodie suisse, for violin and piano, before we hear from George Walker, the first African American to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, and only recently getting more exposure as a composer. Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz, with her Theme with Variations, offers a strong contrast to the Farrenc, again for violin and piano.

A Decca recording from 1993 follows, an early bit of recognition for the craft of Coleridge-Taylor and his substantial Variations on an African Air for orchestra. We go to piano for Lili Boulanger‘s typically concise and expressive contribution, before the wonderfully humourous, wacky and brilliant Variations on America by Charles Ives, in the orchestration by William Schuman.

Make sure you have a listen to this as well as Clare’s album, to be reviewed on Arcana soon. Our grateful thanks to her for an invigorating hour of music:

You can read more about Clare Hammond’s Variations album on the BIS website, and to hear clips and purchase from Presto Classical, click here