Station to Station with the Section

Updates on a rather unusual String Quartet

Even though it's not totally unlikely that you haven't yet heard of the Section String Quartet, they are without doubt a force of renewal and fresh energy to the Classical scene. In the past, they have contributed to a bunch of Modern rock's greatest records (A Perfect Circle's "Thirteenth Step"), to the score of one of this year's most disturbing movies ("Saw"), produced a series of String Quartet tributs to popular contemporary bands (Björk, Nine Inch Nails, Tool, The Cure) and appeared on the "Tonight Show". Now, they have just returned from touring the States with Sam Phillips, treating audiences to their version of Radiohead's "OK Computer", arguably one of the best rock albums of the 90s and one the most influential ones to boot. The first time they presented their version to a public in a club, they were overwhelmed by the positive response, with some fans even asking for them to play it all over again. Even though the String Quartet has always been a playground for innovation and a meeting point for modern and ancient times, the radicality of their approach is unparalleled. We listened to some of the versions of Rock tracks the Section Quartet has arranged and must say that some of them are better than others, but that it is becoming apparent that the difference in their approach compared to e.g. the Kronos Quartet is the closeness to the original composition. The Section Quartet stays true to the band versions and doesn't stray too much from the initial idea - a sort of "authentic practice" if you like. Which makes sense, as current musical tastes in the ensemble are very much contemporary. In their blog, the Quartet promises a "busy summer of gigs", but will concentrate on "some cool private gigs and sessions" for the time being.

Homepage: The Section Quartet