Good lord it's been hot recently. Unless you happy to live in Alaska or the inside of an air conditioning unit, you'll have been trying to avoid losing most of your body weight in sweat as you succumb, in the UK at least, to record-high temperatures.
It's unlikely you'll have been able to summon the energy to do anything close to 'active', so maybe it's better to just listen to your body: scurry away into your cool, dark testing room, fire up your hi-fi system and keep yourself cool within an oasis of sonic tranquillity.
Your listening room does have air con, right?
Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home) by Super Furry Animals
From Super Furry Animals’ third album, Guerilla, released in 1999, Wherever I Lay My Phone (That’s My Home) finds the band at the height of their hyperactive, psychedelic eccentricity. Beginning with the sound of a fog horn, the track opens into sprawling synthesised textures and modulating vocoded vocals – a real test for tweeters.
Alternating between timely admonitions of widespread tech-addiction and Gruff Rhys’s brash, football-chanting of “S.F.A okay”, the song’s lyrical contents are as juxtaposed as its sonic landscapes. Dynamic leaps towards the middle-eight provide a nice test for any sound system, with the verses’ four-to-the-floor crash beat fizzing out against warbling subs.
But there’s nothing capricious about Wherever I Lay My Phone (That’s My Home). The raucous energy, which establishes itself early on, persists through the pulsating brood of the middle-eight. Super Furry Animals opened with this when I saw them on a recent tour, and it's not hard to understand why they chose a track of such contagious mania.
Words by Ioan Hazell
Bubbles by Yosi Horikawa
If you want to test your system’s sense of precision and spaciousness, then Yosi Horikawa is your man. The Japanese musician is best known for his pieces that take inspiration from the sounds of nature, and Bubbles is the track that I turn to more and more when testing the latest kit.
It starts with the sound of balls bouncing, with each one landing in a slightly different place, which challenges your system’s ability to place it around the soundfield. Their light and bouncy sound makes them instantly recognisable as ping pong balls, and creates the illusion of bubbles popping all around you.
Then a flurry of balls are thrown into the mix, paired with samples of rain droplets and other naturalistic sounds, to open up the sound and create a three-dimensional listening experience.
With the right equipment, it’s an excellent way to show off your system’s capabilities. I recently heard the piece on the premium all-in-one system, the Focal Mu-so Hekla, and the immersive yet exact delivery was simply jaw-dropping.
Words by Robyn Quick
Inferno by Boards of Canada
Electronic music’s most elusive duo return with their first album in 13 years, only to find that their mysterious soundscapes have gone mainstream. Boards of Canada’s trademark sound, at once ominous and uplifting, nostalgic and cutting-edge, is the perfect soundtrack for this anxious age of seemingly never-ending bad news – and Inferno has had the online hype cycle to prove it.
The future isn’t what it used to be, and the Scottish duo sound, at times, as gloomy and threatening as we’ve heard them. Prophecy At 1420 MHz has heavy drums, imposing chords and jittery effects, topped with distorted guest vocals from “God” himself. Father And Son continues the eerie atmosphere with chopped voices that at first seem a little on-the-nose but soon become impossibly catchy.
The album’s length and breadth allow tracks such as Deep Time and standout You Retreat In Time And Space to give long-term fans a familiar embrace, while there’s also time for more polished, maximalist production values – Arena Americanada is ideal for turning up loud and stretching your system.
If there was any doubt, this is an album that demands you sit back, relax and let it play in full.
Words by Joe Cox
Never Forget You by Noisettes
If you were a sentient human during the late 2000s, you might remember The Noisette’s headline hit Don’t Upset The Rhythm pumping out of your television as the musical accompaniment to a shiny new Mazda (it was new at the time) tootling around a sort of flashy urban disco maze.
It was very much the Millennial version of those insufferable Jet 2 Holiday ads and their torturous Jess Glynne accompaniment. (If I have to hear “darling hold my hand” one more time…)
The Noisettes’ best track was not, however, committed to the airwaves to sell Japanese hatchbacks, at least not as far as I’m aware. Nevertheless, it deserves to be heard by all and sundry. As far as funk indie rock fusion bangers go, Never Forgot You is as tight as a drum, blending upbeat indie and funky instrumentation with an underlying melancholy that really grants the track proper depth.
It’s great for testing, too. The bass plucks at the beginning are a very handy shortcut to see how your system deals with those properly deep registers, while all manner of criteria – rhythms, organisation, instrumental detail – are all challenged by what is a beautifully orchestrated slice of test-room perfection.
Words by Harry McKerrell
by Angine de Poitrine
If you’ve never heard of – or seen – Angine de Poitrine before, please do set aside half an hour to watch the KEXP live session above. The Canadian duo, hailing from Quebec, are anonymous musicians whose costumes involve black and white polka dots and papier-mâché masks that give them an absurd, comedic and otherworldly aura.
Start listening, and you’ll be entranced by the complex, microtonal compositions that run adjacent to math rock and experimental rock, with viciously technical forms. Sarniezz has a whimsical melody with a ferociously agile and tuneful bassline looping underneath the sharper, crisp guitar notes – it’s a sterling test of your system’s rhythmic precision and snappy timing.
The key to making sense of Angine de Poitrine’s tracks is a clear, precise handling of detail to track every note’s progression, while also having the propulsive dynamism and punch to match the duo’s energy.
Both musicians – who perform under the pseudonyms Khn de Poitrine (guitar, bass) and Klek de Poitrine (drums) – are hypnotic to watch. Not only because of the Mighty Boosh-meets-Slipknot get up, but also for the intricate rhythmic patterns, the use of loops and surprisingly melodic tunes from what are two clearly accomplished musicians.
Words by Kashfia Kabir
Wild Horses by The Rolling Stones
Can you believe that we’ve done around 15 of these Now Playing playlists, featuring more than 100 songs overall, and this is the first mention we’ve had of The Rolling Stones? Shocking stuff.
Let’s amend that outrageous oversight right now by urging you all to add Wild Horses to your test room rotation. It might well be there already, but for those not in the know, it’s a track which sees Jagger and Richards taking a break from blues-inspired jams about the groupies they are currently eyeing up to tug heartstrings rather than upset sensibilities.
However you view its deeper meaning – drug addiction, loss of innocence, missing home – it’s hard to deny just how richly affecting Wild Horses is as one of the Stones’ standout ballads. Jagger’s voice is so piercingly sincere, whereas Richards’ guitar is so soulful and rich it’s practically singing the accompaniment. Through a good system, obviously.
The verses should sound gentle and confessional, but once that chorus hits, the music should really break free from the metaphorical stable – just like those titular stallions.
Words by Harry McKerrell
As a collective, our review team listens to a lot of music. Sometimes we rely on old favourites with which we're familiar, but we are always discovering new tracks – be they fresh releases or just songs we haven't encountered before – that give us key insights into new products we are trying out.
We also know that plenty of our readers are on the lookout for new tunes, either to assess the capabilities of a new system or simply to show off the full talents of their established hi-fi set-up.
That's why we have come up with our monthly 'Now Playing' playlist, a rundown of everything we've been listening to and loving recently, whether at home with a set of headphones or at work in our fabulous test rooms.
Each instalment will bring you a handful of tracks chosen by our reviews team, detailing why we love them and what they bring out of certain products. So even if you're not looking for new tunes to play on your system, we hope you find something you'll love no matter how you choose to listen to it.
We're always on the lookout for new music, so drop a comment below to share what you have been listening to!
MORE:
Read last month's edition: check out the 5 blockbuster test tracks we’re using this May
Yes, there is an ultimate prog rock album for testing hi-fi – at least according to What Hi-Fi? readers
When should you stop feeding your hi-fi addiction?
Check out our ultimate test tracks collection
