Undertaking a parallel listening of these two most recent albums of Ian Hawgood’s, Snow Roads and Wolfskin, has been nothing short of a fascinating, entrancing experience.
Hawgood, an Englishman who has been a long-time resident of both Tokyo and London, presents a unique ambient vision. Where others fall into the potholes of over-simplistic motifs, an excessive lack of speed or momentum, or an obsession with a particular area of electronica, Hawgood steers well clear and keeps the avid listener interested and engaged.
These two ‘solo’ albums contribute to Hawgood’s already extensive output, with 31 recordings over the past 10 or so years. His oeuvre is extended further with the release of these albums, and the territory ploughed is one worthy of tilling. Field recordings are overlaid with harmonium, vibraphone, tingsha bells and various conventional instruments. This exotic array of instruments avoids pastiche and instead the compositions embrace a holistic, rounded orchestration that reflects the collaborative playing captured by this music.
On Snow Roads “Southern” and “Specks then Flakes” both recall the varied musics of say Laraanji, Reich, Glass, and Burton/Corea, particularly with the bright, ringing tones that are captured from the harmonium lines. Short tracks mostly comprising found-sound and field recording sources punctuate Snow Roads, with bird calls and twitters, footsteps and water courses evoking a strong sense of the wintry album title. This snippets help keep the focus and momentum of this record and act as a background for the longer tracks.
In contrast to Snow Roads, Wolfskin delves more deeply into abstract ambient yet resolutely melodic composition, with layered effects-laden guitar lines floating amongst synth chords and the crackle and pops of electronic detritus. The title and opening track is particularly deft with the adopted musical elements, and there is an intense focus evident across the record clearly seen in tracks such as “I went to sleep on a headless mattress” and “All these memories are blue type”. Hawgood is not afraid to vary his dynamic levels to a far greater extent than that which often chracterises ambient or even electro-acoustic music, and he is to be commended for this approach. The shifts of not only pitch, tone and timbre but also of dynamic intensity provide a sense of mobility and pace that is refreshing and appropriate.
That Hawgood is capable of releasing an array of quality creative output in such a short timeframe is amazing. The fact that he works as a school teacher and also curates three separate record labels is more than impressive. I look forward to many productive years from him yet…
Melonie Bayl-Smith
