Electronic Sound June 2015 (Regular Edition) | Page 18
ALBUM REVIEWS
collective pseudonym Ghost Harmonic,
sees Foxx once again devlving into some
of the themes he explored on ‘Cathedral
Oceans’, albeit from a slightly different
vantage point. His accomplices here
include vintage synth archaeologist
Benge (aka Ben Edwards), who has
worked alongside Foxx on numerous
releases as John Foxx & The Maths,
and Japanese-born British solo violinist
Diana Yukawa. The main difference
between ‘Codex’ and ‘Cathedral Oceans’
is the shift in focus from time-stretched
Gregorian chants to Yukawa’s graceful,
yearning string instrument.
GHOST
HARMONIC
Codex
METAMATIC
John Foxx embarks on a new foray
into the ambient unknown with
Benge and Diana Yukawa
Throughout John Foxx’s distinguished
career, one release stands out as being
utterly peerless. It arrived in 1997 and
was titled ‘Cathedral Oceans’. Foxx
had actually been working on the
album since the early 1980s, yet Virgin
abandoned the project due to their
apparent disinterest in an album of choral
samples and drifting, deeply atmospheric
ambiences.
If any record could redefine an artist, this
was it. Foxx would later revisit the theme
on the slightly less impressive ‘Cathedral
Oceans II’ and ‘III’, but these releases,
along with his excellent ambient double
album project with Harold Budd, were
recorded over a decade ago. Since then,
Foxx has almost returned to source,
piloting the sort of analogue-driven
electronic pop that he’s been best known
for since his populist emergence at the
dawn of the 80s.
Always open to collaboration, however,
the release of ‘Codex’, under the
Having spent the last two years at
Benge’s MemeTune Studios in Shoreditch,
east London, this fascinating combination
of talents has been working towards
Foxx’s monastic explorations of the
1990s, amalgamating Yukawa’s violin
and Benge’s analogue sonics with
Foxx’s deeply textured architectural
mastery. The five lengthy tracks – lasting
anywhere between five and 17 minutes
– provide tidal waves of blissful solitude,
elongating nuanced choral incantations
and smooth, layered synths with gently
undulating violin. The result is serenity to
the max, as surges of sumptuous sound
roll with oceanic tranquility towards the
listener. Once each track embarks on its
ethereal journey, there are only subtle
changes of direction within.
The only exception is ‘Dispersed
Memory’, a disquieting piece magnified
by its raft of cavernous echoes and
field samples. It carries a peculiar calm,
despite its sombre haunt. This somewhat
bleeds into the following ‘When We
Came To This Shore’, the darkness slowly
transforming to light, then fading before
the full bloom of the achingly beautiful
title track brings the album to a close.
Although the evocative peaks of ‘Codex’
never quite reach the heights of John
Foxx’s mid-90s magnum opus, this is as
close as he’s ever come to emulating it.
DANNY TURNER