Tag Archives: Kranky

Switched On – Loscil: Lake Fire (Kranky)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Loscil’s music has always spoken vividly of its surroundings, bringing the wide-open panoramas of Vancouver and British Columbia to vivid life on even the smallest sound system. Here, Scott Morgan’s alias brings sonic despatches from the front line with a striking account and observation of the recent wildfires in the region.

What’s the music like?

As dark and thick as the clouds of smoke that were hanging over British Columbia when this album was made. Ash Clouds is the most explicit expression of the darkness that developed, with a deep chord that barely moves, hanging over the ground.

That isn’t to say that Lake Fire is depressing, mind, as there are shards of bright colour that draw the attention in spite of the thick, uneasy ambience behind. This is evident in the closing of Spark, where dark chords, low in the spectrum, are at odds with brighter chimes at the top, suggesting light peeking through the clouds.

There are some incredibly deep textures on Arrhythmia. Bell Flame flickers, with sonorities similar to a pipe organ in the treble but again with thick, almost oppressive drones beneath. Candling has an improvisatory feel, melodies rising out of the mists like peaks of a flame before subsiding again. Most moving of all is the closing title track, barely audible at first as it steals in on a breath of wind but soon growing in power, the dense cloud sweeping all before it – before retreating and fizzling out as soon as it began.

Does it all work?

It does – and in the process offers an affecting counterpart to the clarity of albums like Sea Island.

Is it recommended?

It is. If you take in the album with its accompanying images and video content, Lake Fire is an intensely moving experience, a tale of man-made and enabled destruction that is truly heart-rending. And yet within the depths of this music there is still some elemental hope, and that shines through in Loscil’s remarkable music.

For fans of… Tim Hecker, Stars of the Lid, Machinefabriek, Fennesz

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,540 – Wednesday 21 May 2025

Switched On – Tim Hecker: Shards (Kranky)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This is effectively a collection of big and small screen offcuts, written over the last half decade. They have been selected and sequenced by Tim Hecker into a short LP.

The compositions were originally written for scoring projects including Infinity Pool, The North Water, Luzifer, and La Tour.

What’s the music like?

This is an intriguing collection from Hecker, whose work is never less than descriptive. In his company we move easily between electronic and acoustic music, the running order set by the mood.

The slow-moving Heaven Will Come is cold and eerie, oddly majestic but fragile at the same time as it slowly takes shape, its slowly descending motif compromised by glitches at the bass end. Monotone 3 is distinctly unnerving, with quarter tones that spread unease.

Morning is more restful, led by an easy piano figure, while Icesynth is also more consonant in its language. Sars Requiem feels transported in from a much earlier period in musical history.

Joyride Alternate is the most immediate track, warm and consoling as its keyboards inhale and exhale, a natural complement to the following Sunset Key Melt and its airy panorama of the end of the day.

Does it all work?

While understandably fragmented, Shards is a successful grouping of disparate pieces.

Is it recommended?

While not necessarily the right starting place for a full appreciation of Tim Hecker’s craft, this is certainly recommended for those familiar with his work. The vivid evocations of place create lasting and memorable pictures in the mind’s eye.

For fans of… Lawrence English, Stars Of The Lid, Fennesz, William Basinski

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,457 – Wednesday 26 February 2025

Switched On – Earthen Sea: Recollection (Kranky)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Earthen Sea is the pseudonym under which Jacob Long operates – and Recollection is his fourth album for the Kranky label.

It began life as a piano trio, inspired by a year-long immersion in the music of ECM – but soon Long’s writing became more individual and complex. The resultant blend of live band and downtempo loops has been given a natural clothing that suggests it was made much more instinctively. As the press release suggests, the music can be heard ‘shuffling and rippling like uncertain memories at strange hours’.

What’s the music like?

Immediately restful. Recollection unfolds at a slow tempo, dreamy and fuzzy as it runs over melodic snippets and beats that are incredibly easy on the ear.

Long has a spacious audio palette, the reminiscences spread over a wide angle lens to give space around the listener. On occasion there are melodic thoughts in intimate close-up, but generally the music moves across the sky with an ambient yet steady tread.

Highlights include Sunlit Leaving, a warm-hearted reverie loosely led by the piano, with a drum rhythm dragging its heels lazily in the sand behind. A Single Pub is enjoyably woozy, its piano loop ambling through the space left for it by the beats and atmospherics.

The sleepy, distracted mood continues throughout in a most appealing way, the musical equivalent of an early afternoon reverie in the hot sun – and all the more appealing for it. This is typified by the closing White Sky, thick in ambience and with dappled light emanating from a keyboard line.

Does it all work?

It does. Long’s instrumental shading is rather beautiful, casting shadows on the melodic material but always with a brighter backdrop.

Is it recommended?

Yes. This is music that will help the listener attain a better state of mindfulness, a relaxing album that lowers the blood pressure and eases the brain. We could certainly do with more of that right now!

For fans of… Blockhead, RJD2, Skalpel, Cinematic Orchestra

Listen & Buy

Published post no.2,390 – Wednesday 11 December 2024

Switched On – Adam Wiltzie: Eleven Fugues For Sodium Pentothal (Kranky)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This is an eagerly awaited solo album from Adam Wiltzie, once part of acclaimed duo Stars Of The Lid with the much-missed Brian McBride.

For this album, he looks to anaesthetic drugs for inspiration, recreating in a musical sense the feeling of induced sleep, where cares are parked and the brain is slowed.

Aiding him with production is Loop‘s Robert Hampson.

What’s the music like?

Some ambient music immediately makes you go “Aaah…”…and that is definitely the case with Adam Wiltzie, who sets out on a serene journey with these pieces.

They may not be fugues in the musical sense, but there is a sense of precision, a stately profile where each note carries equal importance.

The evocatively titled Buried At Westwood Memorial Park, In An Unmarked Grave, To The Left Of Walter Matthau, runs in two slow parts, its supporting ambience soft in focus but not in content.

Robert Hampson’s production supports Stock Horror, where a sonorous drone underpins an elegant chord progression. Dim Hopes adds bell-like chimes up top, while the drone takes on a new dimension in the deep, rumbling bass of Mexican Helium. A similar power can be felt in the broad scope of As Above Perhaps So Below.

Does it all work?

It does, especially if the album is experienced as a single musical canvas.

Is it recommended?

Without hesitation. It is reassuring indeed to have this release from Wiltzie, whose poise and stature in modern ambient music will only be enhanced by this special album.

Listen & Buy

Published post no.2,162 – Sunday 27 April 2024

In appreciation – Brian McBride

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by Ben Hogwood. Photo by Steve Molter

Yesterday we learned of the sad and unexpected passing of Brian McBride, one half of the influential ambient duo Stars of the Lid.

Together with band mate Adam Wiltzie, McBride made subtly mesmerising music that left a lasting impression on its listeners. Influenced by but not restricted to modern classical music, the pair set about creating a unique sound, predominantly drone-based but carefully and beautifully constructed. Much of their best work was realised on the Kranky label, who revealed the news of McBride’s unexpectedly early passing.

This tribute on Pitchfork tells a fuller story, but in order to fully appreciate McBride’s genius, here are two listening links – one to the landmark Stars of the Lid album and their Refinement of the Decline, and one to McBride’s solo album When The Detail Lost Its Freedom