Tag Archives: reviews

Switched On – Vigilant – Threads of Memories (Glacial Movements)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Described as balancing ‘raw sonic exploration with a strong sense of atmosphere’, Dmitry Polivenko delivers his first solo work as Vigilant for Glacial Movements.

Taking up the story, he describes the album as “an exploration of memory, nostalgia, and the passage of time. It reflects a feeling that returns to me every year—a yearning for a fleeting moment of happiness preserved deep within my childhood. Winter, with its silence and wonder, remains one of my earliest memories: sitting wrapped in a blanket on a sled, carried through snow-covered streets by my father. Today, I walk those same streets alone, guided by fragments of the past. Time can feel like a storm that clouds our vision and pulls us away from ourselves. Yet beneath the weight of accumulated experiences, expectations, and endless information, there remains a quiet certainty: beyond the noise, beyond the dreams and fears, lies the possibility of rediscovering who we truly are. This album is a journey through that landscape of remembrance and self-discovery.”

What’s the music like?

As evocative as the cover art. This music is deep as the ocean but weather-beaten too, its elemental power immediately obvious as the slowly shifting harmonies evolve with the slow tread of a ship or an iceberg.

Winter has his house is as cold as you would expect, though some of the more consonant harmonies raise the temperature a little. By contrast Lullaby is not so restful, with a searching treble line.

There is an icy, industrial air to the likes of Cold silent love but a contrasting charm to the quieter Crystals, which operates above a soft, sonorous drone amid footsteps in the snow. Here Polivenko appears to be channelling childhood memories of being pulled through icy streets on a sled by his father.

Into the black light is shifty and twisted, a fever dream in the snow, resolved by the bright consonance of Somewhere, whose sweeping beauty looks skyward.

Does it all work?

It does, and with its quieter central core the album is ideally structured.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Vigilant writes powerfully from the heart, and the remembered threads of the title combine here to make a substantial and lasting piece of work.

For fans of…Loscil, Tim Hecker, Schneider TM, O Yuki Conjugate

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Published post no.3,060 – Tuesday 27 October 2026

On Record – Vanishing Twin: Archives (Fire Records)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Archives may sound like a B-sides compendium, or a host of rediscovered demos, but it is a wholly new album from intriguing trio Vanishing Twin.

The title reflects the trio’s creative process, where, as singer and founder member Cathy Lucas says, they have a process of “gathering material together, riffing with it, turning it around on itself, trying to put the pieces together and create a story with it”.

The trio have a fluid approach that allows them to exchange ideas through a virtual studio, play each other’s instruments and adopt an improvisatory air on occasion. This keeps a light-hearted air to their music and keeps creativity to the forefront.

What’s the music like?

As original as the creative process suggests it should be. At the root of Vanishing Twin’s music is a beat-based style of music that has close musical alignment with Broadcast and Stereolab, but never sounds like pastiche.

Instead, the trio create compositions with a dark and eerie edge, their music akin to catching sight of an unexpected reflection in the mirror, seeing a sudden shadow out of the corner of your eye or, more playfully, seeing a bat or a bird flit quickly across your vision.

Their combination of funk and wariness is unexpectedly strong, with a cool vocal on Familiar Fruit taken out of its comfort zone by creepy scrapes on the bass. Hazama has an eerie vocal, the end of So Calm even more so in multitude, while the scrunched up, glitchy rhythms of Bring Me The Axe are like a dub ritual in preparation. The title track wavers, the shrill electronics circling ominously.

Does it all work?

Yes – at times Vanishing Twin have a creative tension at play, with something ominous in the air. Creepy, colourful and original.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Archives is a compelling listen, with three imaginative minds making music that both warms and chills the cockles, often simultaneously.

For fans of…Broadcast, Stereolab, Jane Weaver, Dry Cleaning, Peaking Lights

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Published post no.3,058 – Sunday 25 October 2026

Switched On – Tangent: Disclosure (n5MD)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Dutch duo Tangent – Ralph van Reijendam and Robbert Kok – return with their seventh album.

Their distinctive sound has been honed through what their press release describes as “built from dense electronic textures, ghostly synths, intricate rhythms, and a persistent sense of movement between the organic and the synthetic.

Disclosure is their return from a three-year absence, and looks to bring a modular and analogue dimension to their atmospherics.

What’s the music like?

Dark and cinematic – but much more than mere mood music. The fluid, instinctive way in which the tracks are worked out show two musicians at ease with their musical instruments, but also in their way of structuring tracks that works really well.

Glitchy rhythms pile up in impressive percussive displays, but never at the expense of the melodies and harmonies around them. The music is moody and rather magnificent, the full drum sections and brooding keyboards working extremely well together.

To illustrate, Unfounded Existence has glitchy drums that ricochet around the stereo picture. Denial carries some impressive weight, with rolling beats and expressive soundscapes, while Vector Of Acceleration simmers nicely, too.

The spacey time out of Sonoluminescence works a treat, led by dreamy piano and swirling, misty white noise, before the fulsome drums return.

Does it all work?

Yes – and keeps on giving with repeated listening.

Is it recommended?

Yes – atmospheric music, and meaningful with it. An excellent album, and a brooding soundtrack to fill your stereo field.

For fans of…Trentemøller, Jon Hopkins, Daniel Avery, A Winged Victory For The Sullen

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Published post no.3,055 – Thursday 22 October 2026

Switched On – Digitonal: The Night Album (Just Music)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

A great deal of thought has gone into Andrew Dobson‘s return to the long playing format under the Digitonal alias, after an absence of six years. The Night Album, released close to midsummer’s day in the UK, takes the small hours as its inspiration.

Dobson decided this would be his first fully solo album, and in addition – conscious of the lurking presence of AI – decided he would play all the instruments himself. As he said, “The electronics became a provocation for me to respond to and the production process a way of pushing my own limits and shaping something intentional.”

Having moved from London to Suffolk, Dobson experiences a slower pace of life – and reflects that in the album, designed as a nine-part suite journeying through the night time.

What’s the music like?

There has always been a poise to Dobson’s best work, and here it runs right through the music of The Night Album. To that we can add a deeper emotion, for there are some exquisite moments here that reward attentive listening in particular.

The clarinet has always been involved in Digitonal’s best moments and so it proves again here, with the beautifully weighted For The Birds. The riff is a subtly nagging one, mellow and thoughtful, while the cool accompanying keyboard sets just the right, peaceful mood. Similar qualities are at work in The Night Sparrow, though here the textures twinkle in the higher register. Evening Song takes the weight off its feet with a deceptively easy keyboard, mulling over its possibilities, while the closing Moon Sequence is a dappled beauty, resting easily if thoughtfully.

Does it all work?

It does, and works in all areas where noise-free listening can be secured. While very pleasant in the background, foreground listening is the way to go.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Digitonal maintains his high quality musical output but this is a notable step forward, allowing people to find peace in the small hours when they have The Night Album for accompaniment. From experience, it’s just as good in the middle of the day!

For fans of…Bonobo, Quantic, Zero 7, Bibio

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Published post no.3,049 – Friday 16 October 2026

Switched On – bvdub – Morning Glories (Quiet Details)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The Quiet Details series welcomes back Brock Van Wey for a second contribution under his highly productive bvdub moniker, the series having swelled from four to 54 in that time.

Van Wey is known within electronic music for his versatility, and over the 75 minutes of this album he lays open the boundaries to include techno and a wide range of influences that suggest influences from across the globe.

What’s the music like?

Once again, bvdub harnesses a special blend of ambient immersion and invention.

The Rain Knows is a very powerful plain on which to set the album, a musical surge growing from small beginnings to a wave of seismic power. The original riff is retained, surrounded by white noise and vocals but still punching out its melody through the middle. It is however a mere prelude for the epic Skies of Seven, a vast panorama where immersive ambience is achieved over an irregular glitchy beat.

The album hovers in this state for much of its duration, with meditative vocals – some of them chopped up or overlayered – resting on a bed of thick textures, semi-riffs and beats that drift in and out of focus and clarity. When everything clicks the music moves forward at walking pace – as with surefooted beats of Time in Space and Three Nights Ago – but elsewhere it takes time to marvel at the scenery encountered along the way. Almost Home Now is one such moment, its music swirling up into the sky.

The big, panoramic settings suit headphone listening, the music an ideal accompaniment to the great outdoors.

Does it all work?

It does – with the usual fluency you would come to expect of a bvdub opus, executed on a grand scale.

Is it recommended?

Yes, to fans of the artist and the quiet details series alike. This is music to take the weight off your cares, but the detail within each layer ensures foreground listening is rewarded, too.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.3,041 – Thursday 8 October 2026