Drexciya: Legendary Neptune's Lair Reissued
A legendary and long sold-out classic of Detroit techno and electronica is now being made available again by German label Tresor. Drexciya's „Neptune's Lair“, originally published in 1999, is generally considered a milestone for its futuristic sounddesign, intelligent, emotionally charged arrangements and complex concept. A double 12'' Vinyl double album, it worked on and with various levels of consciousness and merged several adjacent genres into a demanding work of art. The way it looks, the Vinyl edition is only available at a few select places (Boomkat for example), but at least audiences can again treat themselves to record CD or in a low-priced download version directly from Tresor. „Neptune's Lair“ is generally considered the most influential and „important“ album of Drexciya, the duo project of producers James Marcel Stinson and Dopplereffekt, which came to a tragic end when Stinson died of heartfailure in 2002.
Nikolaus Harnoncourt: Celebrates the Seasons
Considered one of the most influential conductors of our time, Nikolaus Harnoncourt is set to return with a new recording of Joseph Haydn’s “The Seasons”. To be released on German label Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Harnoncourt’s version of the piece is to be seen as a tribute to a work which has often stood in the shadow of its bigger sister “The Creation”. In fact, “The Seasons” was an immediate response to “The Creation”, whose enormous success inspired Haydn to continue writing in the same vein to meet public demand. Haydn also commissioned the libretto to both compositions from Gottfried van Swieten, an Austrian noble, whose influence furthermore extended to other famous artists of his time, including Mozart. According to the press release, the two works are to be regarded “a complementary pair” in the version of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, “each, strictly speaking, a secular work, but in extolling the wonders of nature, each expressing reverence for the Creator.” Only available in November of 2008, the CD will see Harnoncourt team up with Concentus Musicus Wien in a live recording from Styriarte Festival in Graz.
The Helm: Doodle-ee Dee with Doodles and Sounds
Art space “The Helm” will host its first sound-related exhibition from April 17th-May 8th. Centering on the works of five international artists, the oddly (but appropriately) titled “Doodle-ee Dee” will “explore different relationships that exist between audio and visual stimuli”. Focal point of “Doodle-ee Dee” is Seattle-based Garek J. Druss’ sculpture and massive composition “Sound System”. For his latest piece, Druss has transferred idiosyncratic techniques and methods from his visual working process to the realms of sound and created a three hour long track. The acoustic material and the sculpture are closely connected, as the music is played through a set of self-built amplifiers (see picture). French guests Amelie Clavier and Gaelle Maas, meanwhile, have allowed their drawings (or, as The Helm put it, “doodles” – hence, probably, the exhibition’s title) to be influenced by the vitality of pop music.
Australian Chamber Orchestra: Embark on European Tour, Start Blogging
The Australian Chamber Orchestra are about to embark on a European tour. The internationally respected ensemble under the direction of charismatic Richard Tognetti will play a total of ten concerts, starting in Austria on 14th April and finishing in Luxembourg’s Grand Auditorium on the 27th. One of the interesting aspects of their tour is the constantly changing repertoire on each night: While Händel’s “Concerto Grosso Op.6, No.10”, Haydn’s “Symphony No.64 Tempora Mutantur”, Bach’s “Cantata No.82 'Ich habe genug'” as well as Roger Smalley’s “Strung Out” – a piece of living Australian composition, evolving from a single held not, and originally in a version for 13 strings – will be performed on several occasions, they will constantly be shuffled and juxtaposed with other pieces. On top of that, the Australian Chamber Orchestra have invited a string of constantly changing guests soloists to join their performances: In Regensburg, Dresden and Luxembourg, Cellist Sol Gabetta will join in, while Tenor Mark Padmore will feature in the London event. The undoubted highlight, however, will be the collaboration of the Australian Chamber Orchestra will legendary violinist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Ivry Gitlis in Gitlis’ current hometown Paris.
Mike Svoboda: Phonometrie links Satie to Cage
Trombonist and Composer Mike Svoboda is presenting his personal vision on the work of Erik Satie with the release of his new album “Phonometrie”. The record offers both Svoboda arrangements of Satie-pieces, as well as Svoboda-originals written especially for inclusion in the context of a Satie-project. Eschewing the over-played “hits”, “Phonometrie” was inspired by a remarkable quote from the French enfant terrible: “Everyone will tell you I am not a musician. That is correct. From the beginning of my career I immediately considered myself a phonometrographer. My works are pure phonometry." Mike Svoboda has taken on the challenge of making this claim transparent and to uncover parallels with the work of John Cage and the Dadaist movement. In line with what Satie would probably have enjoyed himself, his own pieces have not been written in a spirit of pleasing, but are providing for necessary contrasts. “Phonometrie” is out now on Wergo.
Col Legno Festival: New Music Academy
Austrian Label Col Lengo is taking the leap from releasing records to curating concerts by organising their first festival. Idylically situated in the region of Toscany, Italy, the event will take place at the Accademia di Montegral from 29th May until 1st of June. For Col Legno, the choice of the Accademia was obvious, its community of unadjusted singers, instrumentalists, conductors and directors providing for the ideal backdrop for a label whose splits between the worlds of classical and contemporary music have always made it a leftfield competitor. The basic idea of the Col Legno Festival is to offer visitors a lively look into their catalogue of recordings – including stage stints by Pianist Jasminka Stancul (who just recorded a new Beethoven disc for Col Legno), Davide Cabassi (a finalist at the famous Cliburn Competition in 2005), Finish string quartet Meta24 and many others – as well as providing for a stimulating mix between exciting renditions of well-known classics and world premiere perfomances by works some of today’s leading composers.
Anthony Braxton: Ghost Trance Music explained
Anthony Braxton is doing his fans a great favour by not only releasing an album yet again dedicated to the style (or more precisely, performance and composing method) he pioneered – Ghost Trance Music – but to also provide some extremely helpful insights into the exact meaning of the term. "Quartet (GTM) 2006" comes as a four-CD ten-panel digipack and includes an extensive, twelve-page essay by Anthony Braxton himself on the whys whats and whatevers of Ghost Trance Music. The album features Carl Testa on bass, Aaron Siegal on percussion and Max Heath on piano next to Anthony Braxton’s reeds. Together, the Quartet ripps and feels their way through four CD-long pieces of highly diverse moods. "Quartet (GTM) 2006" will be Braxton’s first album for Important Records – an outfit usually occupied with more sound art -oriented music and therefore a logical fit for a man who does consider himself a Jazz musician.
Frivolous: Finds his Island of Sanctity
After a deep personal experience, Daniel Gardner (aka Frivolous) has finally ended a lengthy stint of absence from producing. With the release of the “Island Of Sanctity EP”, Frivolous returns with his another slice of his in-between-genres style of Jazz, House, Minimal and Electronica. “Island Of Sanctity” may actually take this combination one step further, as the music was built on the basis of an acoustic popsong, (featured on the EP in a special edit. Most noticeably, however, Gardner has gone through a period of transition, which he has emerged from stronger and more vital then ever before: “Finding my place in the hard, overbearing reality of Berlin's fashionable techno world after coming from the gentle disconnected reality of Canada's humble scene”, Daniel tries to describe the influences which led up to “Island of Sanctity”, “This year i was curious, got to close to the edge of the pool (or was it an ocean?) and with the sound of a 'SPLASH' i was gone, into the darkness. The current swept me away, and eventhough i didn't like it, i had no choice but to succumb.” Eventually, however, things took a turn for the better: “Until suddenly! I woke up! Somehow deposited on a cool white-sandy beach; all the innocence I'd lost and all the experiences I'd had somehow reformed as a foundation to support the perspective that i had before, had all along! It is a beautiful day, and this is my Island of New Sanctity."
The Black Dog: Tune into Radio Scarecrow
UK electronica act The Black Dog have officially released their new album „Radio Scarecrow”. Already hotly debated in raving reviews in some of the predominant print publications and on the web, the album is the result of two years of laborious tweaking and fine-tuning in the studio. Partly, this delay can be attributed by the fact that The Black Dog have spent the last 24 months touring incessantly next to founding their own little label DS 93 – specialising in highly limited, beautiful slabs of luxurious 174 grams Vinyl. The most important reason why “Radio Scarecrow” has taken so long to be finished, though, consisted in the frequential extremitiies of production: “The beats are faster and the bass is much heavier”, The Black Dog explained, “so much so that it was making us ill working with the low frequencies for hours on end, we could only do 3 hours at a time on some parts". Released on Soma Records, “Radio Scarecrow” is already receiving play by acts like Laurent Garnier and Josh Wink.
Moritzburg Festival 2008: Reaches out to the young
Even though it is still months away, preparations for the Moritzburg Festival near Dresden are already well under way. Artists have been meeting to rehearse together and begin the process of bonding, which festival director Jan Vogler has described as exciting and painful at the same time. Confirmed for this year’s edition of the festival are Violinists Lidia Baich, Ilya Gringolts as well as Jan’s brother Kai Vogler, Cellist Christian Poltera, trumpet virtuoso Alison Balsom and of course Jan Vogler himself – among many others. The organisors of the Moritzburg Festival have shot an informative and personal trailer to the event, in which Jan Vogler stresses the intimacy of chamber music and the inspirational power of the many different concert venues: Moritzburg castle, a powerful place which had never been used in a musical context prior to the festival. The Frauenkirche, which holds the character of a meeting place. And finally, the transparent manufacture of Volkswagen in Dresden, a collossal palace of glass capable of hosting large-scale performances. The Moritzburg Festival will take place between 9th and 24th of August.
Auburn Lull: In the Driving Seat for 'Begin Civil Twilight'
Dreampop Quartet Auburn Lull are set to release the follow-up to the acclaimed “Cast from the Platform”. “Begin Civil Twilight” will be published on the band’s long-time label-partner Darla and consists of twelve songs and instrumentals, sometimes representing short airy sketches or stretching to almost ten minutes. “Begin Civil Twilight” puts the band around guitarist/vocalist Sean Heenan, guitarist Jason Kolb, guitarist Eli Wekenman, and drummer Jason Wiesinger firmly in the driving seat: For the first time, Auburn Lull have produced every single track on their own, merely inviting over their colleague Ulrich Schnauss to mix one of their pieces (“Coasts”) and add some of his effects on others. On majestically slow-moving compositions such as “Arc of an Outsider”, Auburn Lull take their concept of heavily reverbed songs culled from a peaceful yet mysterious world to new extremes. In a recent interview for Somewhere Cold Magazine, Jason Kolb explained the method of creating their unique sound thus: “We have some secret weaponry! I'm not so sure if the make of processor or pedals matters as much as how you set them up. We primarily use plate reverbs with very very slight modulation as the last thing in our effect chains. Each person has his own settings and own pedals that go before the reverb, but the main goal is mostly about getting rid of "attack" and also being able to quickly shift tonality from soft and muted to very bright and back again.”
Robert Hood: Fabric Fever on a personal tribute
Influential techno act Robert Hood has released his personal tribute to the Factory in London on the club’s very own record label. “Fabric 39” can both be regarded as a moody DJ set and a history behind one of the slightly lesser known pioneers of the genre. On a full 32 tracks, Hood ploughs through pieces by some of his early artistic friends, such as Jeff Mills, as well as his own compositions, with their distinctive blend of controlled minimalism. “A set from fabric is the only way I want to go”, Robert Hood claimed, “This mix has to be about the club. I'd like it to be dancefloor orientated and to take the listener on a trip. Any project I do, I like to read like a book. I like it to tell a story, you know? Not to just be random songs or tracks. It has to have continuity to take you on a ride. It should have a concept and be able to translate and read as such.” As to the concept behind “Fabric 39”, the original DJ mix has been enhanced by a string rhythm patterns, which were added in real time and will be exclusive to the CD.
Nadja: Desire in Uneasiness on Crucial Blast
Amidst a concerted effort of re-releasing their entire backcatalogue, Canadian Doomsters Nadja are preparing for an album of all new material. “Desire In Uneasiness”, a collection of five stretched-out instrumental works, is now slated for 8th April on Crucial Blast Records. The artwork to “Desire in Uneasiness” was commissioned by Nadja’s guitarist Aidan Baker from his personal friend The Reverend Altor. “Aitor's bright, bold lines and textured magic marker artwork gives the gatefold jacket we've presented this disc in the look of a twisted children's book on acid”, Crucial Blast stated in their announcement of the disc, “with weird images of chickens, trees growing through chairs, and more. The package is a sturdy 4-panel gatefold jacket printed by Stoughton, and it looks killer.” For anyone willing to order the album solely on the strength of previous Nadja output and before 3rd April, Crucial Blast has prepared a little treat. The special limited “Desire In Uneasiness Preorder Package” will contain a 1" pin and a limited-run Nadja t-shirt design created specifically for this preorder. It will not be reprinted again once all preorders are received.
Miss Kittin: Opens her BatBox
French DJane and electronica artist Miss Kittin finally unleashes her latest full-length after a two-month delay. “BatBox” had initially been slated for publication in February, but had been postponed after Miss Kittin had to cancel the release party for health reasons. It has now been moved back to April 23rd and to the Watergate Club in Berlin, where festivities will begin at midnight. Miss Kittin has worked on “BatBox” almost incessantly for the past two years, collaborating and writing with a slew of internationally renowned producers and musicians. The album therefore not only reflects her hectic life on the road, with tours and event participations all over the globe, but also her maturation as an artists a full four years after she gave her solo debut with the succesful “I com”. “’BatBox’ was something of a liberation to me”, Miss Kittin said about the record, “I basically dispelled the bats in my hat, said goodbye to old ghosts and allowed light back in.”
Lufthansa Festival for Baroque Music: Gives Peace a Chance
This year's edition of the Lufthansa Festival for Baroque Music will be based around a theme which seems refreshingly different not only from those of other comparable events but also from the turbulences in the world around us: The Triumph of Peace. On seven consecutive days from 15th May - 21st May, London will be transformed into a giant concert hall with some of the finest classical artists and ensembles presenting a program whose titles („Knock'd on the Head“, „A la Battaglia!“) are as colourful as its locations are diverse (from Manoukian Music Centre to the grand finale at Westminster Abbey). On the occasion of the Lufthansa Festival for Baroque Music, artists like local soprano Carolyn Sampson (her most recent record „Victorious Love“ was our album of the month in October of 2007) as well as the renowned Collegium Vocale Ghent under Philippe Herreweghe will exemplify the motive of peace in the works of Handel (arias from his oratorio L’Allegro, il penseroso ed il moderato and from his “semi-opera”, Alceste are on Sampson's agenda) as well as Bach, including the Easter and Ascension oratorios and the Cantata 173, Erhötes Fleisch und Blu’ (by Herreweghe and company). „This year’s Lufthansa Festival for Baroque Music celebrates those precious moments in history when peace has prevailed“, director Lindsay Kemp said, „when kings and commoners have put aside arms for music and dancing, and when composers have found themselves turning their talents to joyful operas, carefree cantatas and euphoric Te Deums.“
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