Central And Remote: Katie Kim
“You really don’t know if it’s day or night when you’re in there and that was more than perfect for me. Every now and then, you’ll hear the trains approaching and rolling above your head and it’s one of the most beautiful sounds.”
—Katie Kim
Words: Mark Carry, Photographs: Terry Magson
One of Ireland’s finest and most intriguing songwriters, Dublin-based and Waterford-born Katie Kim has two albums to date, beginning with the 2008 debut solo album “Twelve” and 2012’s seminal masterwork, the double album “Cover&Flood”. Also available is “The Feast”, a collection of ten previously unreleased remixes of songs from “Cover&Flood” while the “VALUTS” series compiles various unreleased songs. The highly anticipated third studio album ‘Salt’ will be released on the 14th October 2016 (500-limited heavy weight vinyl can be pre-ordered here). “Salt” was recorded in a self-built recording and artist space in Dublin called Guerrilla Studios which has become an integral part of the Independent Irish music scene. Since Cover and Flood Katie has toured the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium playing mostly sold out venues.
Katie Kim has supported the likes of Low and Slint to date and her influences stem from the realms of experimental, folk, post-rock, shoegaze, ambient and outsider folk. Kim’s distinctive sound is characterized by her fragile vocals, breath-taking lyricism and a constant striving for both purity and simplicity in her truly unique and utterly beguiling recorded output (akin to Grouper’s Liz Harris or early period Cat Power) casting a deeply profound spell on the listener in turn.
Delving into Katie Sullivan’s cherished songbook, the listener is catapulted deep inside a realm of raw emotion and blissful transcendence. The home recordings captured on debut full-length ‘Twelve’ shared the glittering spark of Cat Power’s deeply-affecting songbook (particularly ‘Moon Pix’ or ‘You Are Free’) where a lo-fi warmth and wonderful minimalism floats beneath the Irish songstress’s deeply-affecting voice. ‘Oak Tree’, the album’s towering penultimate track is a sparse folk blues ballad that could just as easily be one of Chan Marshall’s eerie folk tales.
The sonic envelope is pushed much further on the 2012 follow-up ‘Cover&Flood’, revealing soaring soundscapes and immaculate instrumentation. The introspective, slow-burning songs (twenty tracks across this defining double-record) and utterly hypnotic quality almost immediately felt like songs you’ve known all your life. The timeless nature of ‘Cover&Flood’ is exactly the reason why the soon-to-be-released follow-up ‘Salt’ comes with such feverish excitement and genuine anticipation. It is clear from the album teaser, ‘Salt’ sees the revered musician explore deeper into the ethereal dimension, for which she has long ago established.
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‘SALT’ will be released on 14th October 2016 (500-limited heavy weight vinyl) can be pre-ordered HERE.
https://www.facebook.com/DANCEKATIEKIMDANCE/
https://katiekim.bandcamp.com/
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Interview with Katie Kim.
Huge anticipation surrounds your forthcoming full-length release of ‘Salt’, which reflects again just how special and wholly unique your sacred songbook is to so many people. I would love for you to discuss the making of the new record? In terms of the recording and sonic terrain explored on ‘Salt’, the songs go deeper and further than ever before and creates a most captivating experience in turn. Please shed some light on your priorities/objectives you had in mind for the new record? I can also imagine the simple factor of time (being on your side) – and allowing the songs to slowly evolve and blossom – also helped shape these new songs into glittering life?
Katie Kim: Before this year I was always writing or playing. At home mostly and then bringing new half formed songs to live shows and playing them for a while before I got bored and moved on to the next one. So I nearly always have all these little “things” hanging around sometimes getting played, sometimes not, sometimes I record them at home, sometimes not. So the ones that stayed with me, I made part of SALT. Sonically it was a partnership with John Murphy. He brought it to quite a dark place. I mean we had to trim a lot off the endings of many songs where he went deeper and deeper into great big guttural soundscapes because we wouldn’t be able to fit them on the vinyl otherwise. So we had to meet a happy medium. Regarding time though, it was never an issue. Well I suppose actually it is, because I can’t spend too much time on anything or it loses life. It degrades for me.
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The recording space is vital to the (resultant) sound of an album. On previous releases such as the seminal ‘Cover&Flood’, I fell in love with that DIY aesthetic/home recording warmth that permeates throughout those sparse recordings. ‘Salt’ sees you recording in a self-built recording and artist space in Dublin. What were your first impressions of the space itself and what do you feel led you to choose Guerilla Studios as the recording space for the latest album? I would love to gain an insight into the studio itself and what were the equipment and actual set-up utilized for sculpting these new tracks?
KK: Well we all (meaning John, myself, Ian Chestnut and Elly from Percolator) were looking for a rehearsal space /potential recording studio for John, in Dublin and a project didn’t scare us. In fact, it was preferable. So a big one fell through and we came across the three arches on the North Strand road. Under a railway track. It was an old garage. Patrick Kelleher’s rehearsal space was next door. It was reasonable, so we took it and started the work. I can’t claim much of the hard graft mind! But I painted and cleaned and scrubbed to help until it was what it is presently.
So we had a place to play, John had a place to record, so organically SALT had to be created there. I’ve never felt so comfortable recording than I did there. John has a mix of beautiful vintage tape machines and a big old wooden analogue mixing desk along with some digital equipment, but the main feeling is one of quietude. You really don’t know if it’s day or night when you’re in there and that was more than perfect for me. Every now and then, you’ll hear the trains approaching and rolling above your head and it’s one of the most beautiful sounds.
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The single ‘Foreign Fleas’ – released last year – gave a lovely taster in many ways of the new sonic explorations you’ve been gravitating towards. For example, the masterful production and beautifully sculpted layers of drone-infused sound conjures up the sound of Portishead or Grouper’s Liz Harris. Can you talk me through the production stage itself and indeed the collaborative process between you and John Murphy. I can imagine it must be very rewarding to witness how the bare bones of a song is transformed as a result of the subsequent happenings undertaken by the various music-making stages?
KK: It was very relaxed. John is part of my band, so I never felt like I couldn’t say anything if I was uncomfortable with the way things were progressing. I’m the first to admit I can be extremely particular. I know this has sometimes been problematic in the past when working with people in other areas but with John, we really understand each other, so it was fun and I learned from him and for him he was interested in the vocal production element so we bounced well off each other. It was a really fluid organic process.
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I fondly recall your live show in Cobh at the Sirius Arts Centre last year. The hypnotic effect created by your looped harmonies unleashes an ocean of raw emotion, which belongs in its own realm of utter transcendence. This magic and sheer beauty is etched across the canvas of ‘Salt’, where an intimacy is forever captured. Can you talk me through the layering process and particularly for your voice? I also love the minimal nature of the music formed but just how much is obtained from a minimal framework. I imagine there are some challenges posed by adding layers and knowing when you have enough, so to speak?
KK: The looping began because I felt quite bare when I initially started playing live. When I recorded I would go down wormholes for hours adding layers upon layers of vocals and I missed that when I played in public. So I bought the pedal and it became an extension of the live show which I really had fun with. It’s the looping that people would really grab onto at shows and still do, but I’d hate for it to become a gimmick. So I’m trying not to rely too much on it these days, getting ready for the upcoming shows. It’s a little trickier now that I play quite a bit more piano, but I still like to use it for sonic reasons here and there. Knowing when enough is enough is purely due to technical reasons. After a certain point the sound starts to distort and although I don’t mind that, it doesn’t translate well in venues. Otherwise I could lose the run of myself. It would probably be horribly self-indulgent!
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Collaboration is an important part to your music, Katie. I would love to gain an insight into the collaboration between you and Crash Ensemble for instance, who will be arranging your new songs for a special show? The new perspectives a collaborative partner must bring to your own music must always feel quite revelatory and as a listener, gives new insight into a musician’s music. I also love the many other collaborations you have been part of, not least the beautiful ‘Some Blue Morning’ – and subsequent European tour – by Adrian Crowley.
KK: I’m so excited for The Crash show. Sean Clancy is spearheading the arranging and he’s an absolute master. It’s good to collaborate when it’s right. Sometimes it doesn’t always fit. Even though all the numbers look right on paper, the solution isn’t always the right one. It’s happened a few time in the past, so it’s great when something works. Like Some Blue Morning. I think that’s such a beautiful album. When Adrian sent the songs over for me to hear and play around with, I didn’t have to spend any time sitting with them. I felt like I’d known them already, for a long time.
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What were your earliest musical memories, Katie? I wonder how soon did you realize the importance music would have in your life? I love how each record of yours represents a special document – and distinct moment in time -yet each one very much belongs to one distinct realm of endless possibilities. Who were the musical voices that guided you on your own musical path?
KK: It’s been fairly well documented by me that The Carpenters, Mariah Carey and Queen were my childhood! But kneaded into all that I remember my sisters having the “Twin Peaks” soundtrack and Julee Cruise’s voice was the most mysteriously beautiful thing I had ever heard up to that point. Most young girls sing with the hairbrush in the mirror and I was no different, but I remember buying a little notebook when I was very young. Maybe 8 or 9 to write songs in. I had no instrument at that time but I would just make up melodies to go along with them, so that may indicate a deeper interest in songwriting.
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Lastly, I’d love to know what records, films, books that have made a big impact on you, Katie?
KK: So many. The most formative time for me was around 14. I got my first guitar, me and my friends started smoking and drinking and discovering people like Harmony Korine and Larry Clarke. “Kids” was a mind blower when I first watched it. We were all deathly silent watching that movie together in my first boyfriends house. Watching that for the first time as a teenager in Waterford was eye opening. I loved documentaries. I watched Instrument repeatedly. There’s a beautiful Low documentary that follows them around on tour [“Low In Europe”, Plexifilm, 2004] that I had but was taken at a party and I could never find it again. Don’t Look Back and The Year That Punk Broke, Jean Michel Basquiat The Radiant Child. I wore tapes and CD’s out. Cocteau Twins Treasure, Radiohead’s Amnesiac, Elliott Smith Either Or, Low I could live In Hope, Cat Power – Everything. Stina Nordenstam – Everything. Sibylle Baier Colour Green, Beck One Foot In The Grave, Sonic Youth Evol, John Jacob Niles, John Lennon, Sebadoh, and I can’t forget Nine Inch Nails Downward Spiral. I listened to that record for 5 straight years.
Books – The Ass Saw the Angel by Nick Cave (this was a big one for me and inspired more than one track on Cover & Flood) In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan, Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, and more recently The First Bad Man by Miranda July is weirdly wonderful.
Movies have probably inspired me musically more than anything else. I loved and still do love a well compiled soundtrack, whether it be an original score or otherwise. Big ones for me would be Gummo, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Kids, The Doom Generation, The Tree of Life soundtrack is heart-breaking.
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‘SALT’ will be released on 14th October 2016 (500-limited heavy weight vinyl) can be pre-ordered HERE.
https://www.facebook.com/DANCEKATIEKIMDANCE/
https://katiekim.bandcamp.com/
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Katie Kim performs with Crash Ensemble at the Engage Arts Festival, Bandon, Cork on Friday 30th September at The Court House, Bandon (TIX & INFO HERE).
Fractured Air & Plugd Records present XYLOURIS WHITE (Greece’s George Xylouris plus Dirty Three’s Jim White) with very special guest KATIE KIM at the TDC, Triskel Arts Centre, Cork on Friday 28 October (TIX & INFO HERE).
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Chosen One: Jherek Bischoff
Interview with Jherek Bischoff.
“When I was inside of making this music, I was just living it and when I stepped back and listened, I realized quickly why this record made so much sense for me to create.”
—Jherek Bischoff
Words: Mark Carry
The modern-classical opus ‘Cistern’ is the latest masterpiece from gifted Los Angeles-based composer Jherek Bischoff, which was released earlier this year on the ever-dependable Leaf Label imprint. The suite of nine stunningly beautiful modern orchestral recordings awaken a myriad of feelings: euphoria, joy and hope are inter-woven with moments of fear, anguish and despair as a voyage of epic proportions gradually unfolds with each momentous note and the intense reverb contained therein.
The album-title reflects the origins of Bischoff’s joyous string-laden voyage. An empty two-million-gallon underground water tank was the space in which ‘Cistern’ was conceived that led the prodigiously talented multi-instrumentalist to improvise music inside this vast space and (as described by Bischoff) “fascinating days of music-making” would soon ensue. Distance and time are integral components to the immersive sound world of ‘Cistern’ where the space between the notes become just as important as the notes themselves. In many ways, I feel a striking parallel exists between the slowed-down strings of these exceptional compositions – for example, the heart-wrenching closing lament ‘The Sea’s Son’ or eternal rejoice of ‘Attuna’ – and the pioneering ambient works of revered duo Stars of the Lid (particularly the more orchestral-based works of the band’s last two records). Bischoff’s ability to stretch out space is one of the great hallmarks of ‘Cistern’, a timeless quality that indeed prevails throughout the record’s sprawling canvas.
The effect of the cistern as a recording space was in fact two-fold for the LA-based composer, which saw Bischoff drawing on his childhood growing up on a sailing boat: “The experience of being in that space brought back so many memories of my time spent traveling by sailboat on the open ocean. Compared to city life, the pace of moving on the ocean and the speed at which you travel is slow”. ‘Cistern’ immerses the listener deep into an ocean of enchanting sounds that invites inner-reflection of the rarest kind. The intricate arrangements and rich sonic palette – supplied by renowned New York-based Contemporaneous Ensemble and Bischoff’s (multiple) instrumentation of contrabass, flute, electric bass, ukulele, casio and bells – creates an utterly timeless tour-de-force that navigates the depths of the human heart.
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‘Cistern’ is out now on The Leaf Label.
http://www.jherekbischoff.com/
http://www.theleaflabel.com/
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Interview with Jherek Bischoff.
Congratulations Jherek on the stunningly beautiful and epic tour de force, ‘Cistern’. First of all, please take me back to the inception of this enchanting record and the special journey it took you on? Discuss the sound world and acoustics captured within the cistern itself and the emotional trigger in which brought your musical ideas to glittering life?
Jherek Bischoff: Thank you so much for the kind words! The journey began when I was awarded a residency by Centrum/Artist Trust in Seattle. The residency was to take place in Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend Washington. The plan was to finish mixing my last record Composed, but for years I had been told about the Cistern that was there. Many of my friends had made music down there and many people have made great music in there so I wanted to hear it for myself. To get into the cistern, a park ranger takes you up the hill to a giant stone. The stone is lifted to reveal a manhole cover, the only entrance to the cistern. I brought my recording gear and set up for 3 days, planning on just messing around and experimenting. However, upon playing the first few notes down there, I realized immediately that this sound would be my new record – in fact, the first thing I improvised in the cistern was the title track from the record! The cistern itself has a 45-second reverb decay, and you could hear distance and time if that makes sense. It was unlike anything I had experienced before. Emotionally speaking, it was interesting because it is such a dark space, literally and tonally, and in the first day, I tried to fight it by experimenting with beats and trying different things but it quickly distilled into soft, deliberate and beautiful music.
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The record as a whole feels akin to an epic voyage across deep blue seas amidst vast seas of engulfing moods, colours, textures. One of the hallmarks of ‘Cistern’ is the immaculate detail and rich tapestry of instrumentation that is so masterfully realized (and subsequently arranged). Can you recount for me your memories of making music inside the cistern? In terms of improvisation, please shed some light on any structural framework or ‘gateways’ you search for when it comes to composing music through the art of improvisation?
JB: I would say that maybe 5 of the tunes began in the cistern as seeds during improvisations. The rest was inspired by how it felt to play music in the cistern. Having that intense reverb was like having a collaborator, and slowing everything down that much in order for things to resonate gave me such a deeper appreciation for the space between notes. Slowing things down like that gives you time to think about the next step or even the next 3 steps. Arranging is maybe my favourite part of a musical process for that very reason. I get the chance to think about every single note that will be played. I get to sit there and ponder for a while if a note should even be there. So, arranging music that was so based on ideas that are already slowed down and in general kind of simple was wonderful because it was like a double dose of getting to think about every single note and also magnifying it. Sometimes looping something a dozen times and then just changing the note in one instrument and enjoying how much that changed the feeling made for the most successful musical moments on the record. It was a wonderful process.
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What are your earliest memories of traveling by sailboat, Jherek? It’s fascinating how serendipitous Cistern’s story proved where an empty two-million-gallon underground tank led you to re-awaken ceaseless memories of your childhood at sea. What aspects of the sea – and particularly the axis of space and time – have made an impact on you?
JB: Well, I was sailing since the year I was born and my earliest memories of sailing were probably in San Francisco on my parents’ first boat. I loved the moment when the sails filled and you could feel the wind pull you along; you could turn the motor off and you would hear just the water against the hull. I travelled many great distances on the boat including crossing the Pacific. I learned to appreciate the things that I had at hand. People used to ask me if it was boring to travel around so slowly and it absolutely was not. The colour of the ocean in the middle of the Pacific is the most incredible blue and you can see the rays of the sun shoot down toward what seems like infinity. I could and did just stare at that for hours on end and it never got old. So yes, the cistern and sailing were very similar in a lot of ways that only became apparent to me later upon listening to the music as an outsider. When I was inside of making this music, I was just living it and when I stepped back and listened, I realized quickly why this record made so much sense for me to create.
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‘Headless’ is one of the record’s defining moments: a golden dawn fills the vast skies above and seas below. The mesmerising guitar-based melody is particularly poignant, as is the delicate piano notes and gradual pulses of soul-stirring strings. Please talk me through the construction of this piece of music and indeed the moment in the journey ‘Headless’ signifies for you?
JB: This tune I added at the last moment. Another song that I had recorded with Contemporaneous I decided to not use and it left me short a song. I had just written this tune and was headed up to Seattle to do some other work and very quickly pulled together a recording session with some friends. I had to piece this one together more like my typical process. I recorded the strings and then put my bass melody on there and then I ended up playing the rest of the instruments myself just because of lack of time and budget. I did my best to mix it to feel like it was in the same space as the rest of the record and I think it does pretty well. With pretty much all of the tunes on Cistern the biggest challenge was trying to decide how many times I could loop something before it would lose its focus too much. I wanted the listener to be able enjoy it as ambient music and be able to get lost in it, but I also wanted it to be something that an active listener could enjoy. I kept shortening and lengthening this one over and over until the end to get it right. As far as what the tune means for me emotionally, I can only really say that it was music that I made to satisfy something deep within myself.
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Looking back on the making of ‘Cistern’, were there certain moments or parts in the process that proved pivotal in achieving the record’s desired sound and feel? For instance, collaborating closely with the wonderful ensemble Contemporaneous and recording in Hudson’s Future-Past Studio must have many of these sonic creations afoot to new pathways or directions as a result?
JB: As I was working on writing the pieces to go on Cistern, I was playing a lot of shows in New York and started working with Contemporaneous pretty regularly. We were playing some of these tunes and I was refining them as we went along. It was apparent to me right away that they were the perfect ensemble to play this music. They are the right size, have more than enough skill and have so much great energy. We could all be very serious and get deep into the work, but we could also have a laugh and shake it off. We were working on this recording for three days and getting very, very specific to get the most out of every note. We were developing and honing in on specific vibrato for instance that created a feeling of the sea, and if everyone was not totally focused, we would lose the feeling. That kind of focus causes a lot of tension in your mind and body, so being able to have a good laugh is critical!
I wanted to record outside of the city so we could remain more focused. We decided to go upstate and Future-Past was recommended by a few very smart musical minds in the area. We were all able to stay out at Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman’s place in Woodstock. It was so wonderful to be able to work all day together and then party together in the evenings.
In mixing, it took a long time for me to find the right combination of reverbs to feel like the cistern. It was at times a combination of 4 or 5 reverbs to create the desired effect.
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I must ask you about the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, which took place very recently. This must have been a very special moment for you and also I must congratulate you on the gorgeous and deeply heartfelt ‘Strung Out In Heaven: A Bowie String Quartet Tribute’ EP. Can you describe the importance of David Bowie’s music in your life and indeed this beautiful chapter that saw you work closely with Amanda Palmer, among other wonderful voices?
JB: Oh man, Proms was THE BEST! It was such an honour to be part of that. It was certainly one of the highlights of my musical life so far!
Making the Bowie EP was wild. We did it so quickly! I had a day to arrange each tune, including “Blackstar”, which is basically three songs in itself.
I was actually not much of a Bowie fan growing up for whatever reason. I certainly had tunes that I liked a lot and appreciated him as an artist, but in the last few years my enjoyment of his work has grown so much. About 6 months before his passing, I did an arrangement of “Life On Mars” for tuba octet! His passing was so intense for me and everyone around me. Like I said, I didn’t grow up with him, but losing him was such a huge blow. I felt losing him so much heavier than I think I had ever felt losing someone I didn’t actually know personally. This is one reason why I felt that working on the EP was okay to do. I felt that I was in mourning and I should deal with it anyway I could.
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What are your earliest musical memories? I wonder how did your musical upbringing develop and with whom do you feel you have learned a lot from when it comes to making music and forming your own unique musical path?
JB: My dad is a musician as are/were his friends. When my folks would invite friends over, the night would usually end with them all on the couch, a little whiskey in hand and eyes closed, just sitting there listening to music together. I remember distinctly Kate Bush being played a lot. I used to think it was really strange and now I do the same! Still with Kate Bush!
As far as musical upbringing, my great friend Sam Mickens from our band The Dead Science would certainly be that dude. We had that band for about a decade and see eye to eye on almost every single piece of music. It’s crazy. We always pushed each other too. If we didn’t see eye to eye, eventually we would. I remember him playing me OK Computer and thinking it wasn’t for me…even Bowie, too! He was always pushing me and I like to think I did the same for him.
Lastly, what artists, musicians, records or live shows do you feel made a profound impact on you?
JB: Live that I have seen: Jimmy Scott, Tom Waits, James Brown, Prince, Boredoms, Deerhoof.
Records:
Arvo Part – Tabula Rasa (particularly Gil Shaham playing Fratres)
Tom Waits – Bone Machine (for the sounds)
Busta Rhymes – E.L.E
John Jacob Niles – Tradition Years: I Wonder As I Wander
Ornette Coleman – The Shape of Jazz to Come
Prince – Purple Rain
Kate Bush – Hounds of Love
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‘Cistern’ is out now on The Leaf Label.
http://www.jherekbischoff.com/
http://www.theleaflabel.com/
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Whatever You Love You Are: Nadia Sirota
In celebration of the prestigious Icelandic label Bedroom Community’s tenth anniversary year, we are delighted to present the second in a series of features where the artists share their musical influences, memories and most cherished recordings. Following on from label co-founder Valgeir Sigurðsson, it’s New York’s renowned violist and composer, Nadia Sirota.
Words: Nadia Sirota
Bedroom Community is an Icelandic record label/collective formed in 2006 by Valgeir Sigurðsson, with Nico Muhly and Ben Frost, later adding Sam Amidon, Daníel Bjarnason, Puzzle Muteson, Paul Corley, Nadia Sirota and James McVinnie to the intimate roster. 2015 saw two new additions to the family being: Emily Hall & Jodie Landau and wild Up.
Like-minded, yet diverse individuals from different corners of the globe all creatively orbit around an inconspicuous building and its inhabitants on the outskirts of Reykjavík Iceland – Greenhouse Studios – where the music is mostly created.
In celebration of the influential record label’s 10th Anniversary in 2016, members of the collective come together in a series of live performances known as the Whale Watching Tour. The inspirational tour is an unusual and ambitious premise. The artists, who are friends and colleagues, present what is more like a musical conversation with aspects of a show-and-tell than a formal concert.
Nadia Sirota, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Nico Muhly, Sam Amidon, Daníel Bjarnason & Jodie Landau are going for several dates on both side of the Atlantic to keep going this Whale Watching Tour 2016, celebrating the tenth anniversary of Bedroom Community. They will also deliver during Iceland Airwaves a very special performance together with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra in Harpa, Reykjavik.
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The first piece of classical music you fell in love with?
When I was very little I was OBSESSED with the Overture from Bernstein’s Candide. Obsessed.
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A recording whose arrangements floored you?
David Bowie ‘Blackstar’ sounds so bonkers-good.
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A masterful composition which made a huge impact on you?
Olivier Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time
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An unforgettable live performance you have been part of?
My very first BedCom performance at Airwaves, of KIT, in 2006. It was also the first time I’d played a long-ass viola piece for a bunch of drunk and sweaty festival-goers and and I became addicted to it.
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A defining record that led you onto your own musical path?
Kim Kashkashian’s Brahms Viola Sonatas
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Nadia will perform along with Nico Muhly on the album launch concert on September 27th, and during Bedroom Community’s Whale Watching Tour.
WHALE WATCHING TOUR
27.09.2016 New-York, Subculture**
01.10.16 Krakow, Sacrum Profanum **
03.10.16 Copenhagen, Bremen Teater *
04.10.16 Leipzig, UT Connewitz*
05.10.16 Amsterdam, Paradiso*
06.10.16 Bristol, Colston Hall*
07.10.16 London, Barbican **
03.11.16 Reykjavík, Iceland Airwaves **
Nadia Sirota*
Nico Muhly & Nadia Sirota**
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Over the past decade, Sirota has been involved with unique interpretations of new scores and for commissioning and premiering works by some of the most talented composers. The New York Times has heralded Sirota as “a bold new-wave music interpreter and the violist of choice among downtown ensembles these days.” Sirota has been an integral part to luminaries of both the modern-classical scene (Stars Of The Lid, Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson) and indie giants such as Arcade Fire, The National and Grizzly Bear, to name but a few. Similar to her close friend and colleague, Nico Muhly, Sirota graduated from the Juilliard School where she created the Juilliard Plays Juilliard programme for student composers and performers. Furthermore, Sirota is also a founding member of ACME (the American Contemporary Music Ensemble).
‘Keep In Touch’ is the new album from Nico Muhly & Nadia Sirota and features The Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Alarm Will Sound. ‘Keep In Touch’, especially in its original version, was premised on the fear of never quite managing to make that connection. Its two soloists—violist Nadia Sirota and vocalist Anohni, of Antony and the Johnsons—were recorded separately, so that Anohni was virtually present, her part constructed from pass after pass of vocal improvisations, while Nadia’s was added later, all in one long, live take.
Every dimension of the piece accentuates what Muhly calls the “in-betweenness” of these two strange voices: Antony’s singing and the equally sweet falsetto of the viola. The solo part, with its bow-scrapes and awkward passagework, affectionately emphasises the instrument’s flaws, its unevenness’s of tone, and its idiosyncratic character as the neglected middle child of the fiddle family. (Even the percussion on the electronic track is constructed from the little noises a violist usually makes only by accident.) And Antony’s voice, so stately on his own records, is here reduced to abrupt, extemporaneous gestures” mirroring, not alleviating, the viola’s isolation.
– Program Notes, Daniel Johnson (2007)
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‘Keep In Touch’ is released via Bedroom Community on 30th September.
https://bedroomcommunity.bandcamp.com/album/keep-in-touch
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http://www.bedroomcommunity.net/
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ANNOUNCEMENT: Xylouris White (AUS/GRE, Bella Union) plus special guest Katie Kim (IRE) / TDC, Triskel Arts Centre, Cork / Fri. 28 Oct. 2016
Fractured Air & Plugd Records present
XYLOURIS WHITE plus special guest KATIE KIM
TDC, Triskel Arts Centre, Cork
Friday 28 October 2016
Tickets: €15 (ORDER ONLINE HERE)
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Xylouris White (Jim White with George Xylouris)
Xylouris White is the inspired collaboration between Greek lute player George Xylouris and the Australian, Brooklyn-based drummer Jim White. Both composers are legends in their own right, the former through his Cretan lute-led sounds of the Xylouris Ensemble, the latter through his membership of mythical Australian trio Dirty Three and myriad collaborations over the years (Nina Nastasia, Cat Power, Bill Callahan, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, to name a few). Both have harnessed truly unique and unparalleled playing styles and levels of musicianship in their respective instruments where inspiration seems in endless supply at all times. Xylouris White create the kind of celestial, contemporary and powerful music which blurs all boundaries and constantly defies all categorization (and logic) in the process.
When Xylouris White recorded their second album ‘Black Peak’ – released via Bella Union on 7th October 2016 – this most intuitive and inquisitive of duos did what comes naturally to them: expanded their horizons. For the legendary duo, one aim was to extend a core metaphor of their ruggedly visionary debut album, 2014’s ‘Goats’. “Like goats walking in the mountain” is Xylouris’s poetic analogy for their approach: “They may not know the place, but they can walk easily and take risks and feel comfortable. Really, the goats inspired us.”
That exploratory pitch is matched by the majestic Black Peak, named after a mountain top in Crete and, says Xylouris, “recorded everywhere”. A peak in both artists’ careers, the album testifies to their determination to stretch the scope of their instruments and forge something vigorously questing from more traditional roots. Where ‘Goats’ was mostly instrumental, Black Peak gives Xylouris’s full-force baritone a lead role. And where Goats was often frisky, its tumultuous, tender and terrifically expressive follow-up drives harder and dives deeper.
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https://www.facebook.com/XylourisWhiteBand/
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Katie Kim
One of Ireland’s finest and most intriguing songwriters, Dublin-based and Waterford-born Katie Kim has two albums to date, beginning with the 2008 debut solo album “Twelve” and 2012’s seminal masterwork, the double album “Cover&Flood”. Also available is “The Feast”, a collection of ten previously unreleased remixes of songs from “Cover&Flood” while the “VALUTS” series compiles various unreleased songs. The highly anticipated third studio album ‘Salt’ will be released on the 14th October 2016 (500-limited heavy weight vinyl can be pre-ordered here). “Salt” was recorded in a self-built recording and artist space in Dublin called Guerrilla Studios which has become an integral part of the Independent Irish music scene. Since Cover and Flood Katie has toured the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium playing mostly sold out venues.
Katie Kim has supported the likes of Low and Slint to date and her influences stem from the realms of experimental, folk, post-rock, shoegaze, ambient and outsider folk. Kim’s distinctive sound is characterized by her fragile vocals, breath-taking lyricism and a constant striving for both purity and simplicity in her truly unique and utterly beguiling recorded output (akin to Grouper’s Liz Harris or early period Cat Power) casting a deeply profound spell on the listener in turn.
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https://www.facebook.com/DANCEKATIEKIMDANCE/
https://katiekim.bandcamp.com/
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Fractured Air & Plugd Records present
XYLOURIS WHITE plus special guest KATIE KIM
TDC, Triskel Arts Centre, Cork
Friday 28 October 2016
Tickets: €15 (ORDER ONLINE HERE)
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Track Premiere: We Like We ‘Someone told me I was Paradise for you’
We are delighted to premiere the new single ‘Someone told me I was Paradise for you’ from the gifted Copenhagen-based quartet We Like We. The gorgeous new sonic creation is the first material since the band’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘A New Age of Sensibility’ (released in late 2014). The highly anticipated single is released tomorrow, 1st September 2016.
Copenhagen-based quartet We Like We comprise the gifted talents of Katrine Grarup Elbo (violin) Josefine Opsahl (cello) Sara Nigard Rosendal (percussion) and Katinka Fogh Vindelev (voice). All four members are classically trained, but each share a desire for exploring, experimenting and shaping a unique sound of their own, as reflected in their diverse musical influences. The group’s first live performance took place at FROST festival in Copenhagen in February 2013: a unique double-bill concert with Efterklang. We Like We have collaborated with an array of musicians and projects in the past: Efterklang; Julia Holter; Mew; Sofia Gubaidulina; The Danish National Symphony Orchestra, to name but a few. We Like We’s debut album ‘A New Age of Sensibility’ is available now on The Being Music.
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“This single is one of the results of our work over the past six months. We have had a close collaboration with sound engineer Marc Casanovas (NorCat Lyd) with whom we have explored sound, space and different ways of recording”.
—We Like We
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Someone told me I was paradise for you is the endless mantra that is whispered in to your ear during the late hours of a dark blue summer night. It is four individual voices and reflections braided together as a unit in the depths of the collective unconsciousness.
From the opening dream-like pulses of delicate percussion – beginning with two gongs before soft ripples of vibraphone effortlessly melds together – We Like We’s brand new recording invites the listener deep into a labyrinth of fragile beauty and encapsulating dreams. The ambient works of Harold Budd lies somewhere in the ether of these burning flames, wherein a tenderness and stillness of night radiates with each and every meditative heart-beat. Soon, achingly beautiful instrumentation of violin is carefully added, evoking the glimmering rays of hope across cascading skies: dapples of light flicker along the horizon. The modern-classical soundscapes and divine instrumentation conjures up the timeless sound of the prestigious Touch or Type labels with the spirit of Peter Broderick, Sylvain Chauveau and Hildur Guðnadóttir
At the half-way point, the mesmerising voice of Katinka Fogh Vindelev whispers directly to one’s mind’s eye. Like a bird in full-flight, these four combined elements of strings, voice and percussion soars majestically with unlimited possibilities of discovery, exploration and chance. The mantra-like phrases sung by Vindelev transports the listener to the poignant, dream-like fantasies of Kazuo Ishiguro’s master novels or the otherworldly realm crafted by Kafka. This sublime tapestry of gradual blissed-out tones reveals inner-most truths and awakens a myriad of feelings and emotion. The compelling, ambitious and sublime new single is nestled nicely amidst the avant-garde, modern-classical and luminaries such as Scott Walker (‘Tilt’ era) and L.A’s Julia Holter and ‘Parallelograms’-era Linda Perhacs.
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Released on The Being Music 2016, www.thebeingmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/WeLikeWe/
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Fractured Air x Blogothèque – S01E08 | August mix
We’re proud to present an exclusive unreleased track by Christina Vantzou for August’s mixtape.The Kansas City-born and Brussels-based composer has released three solo full-length LP’s to date (‘N°1’, ‘N°2’ and ‘N°3’) via illustrious Chicago-based independent label Kranky.
Vantzou’s formidable body of work also spans the mediums of both visual art and film-making while her own music career began with duo The Dead Texan (alongside Adam Wiltzie) as the hybrid role of keyboardist/animator/video artist. The pair released their debut self-titled album in 2004 via Kranky. Through her preferred composing set-up of laptop, midi keyboard and headphones and an ever-present curiosity and tireless passion for exploring new sonic territories, Vantzou is among the the finest contemporary composers making music in the modern classical realm today.
Also featured on August’s edition are selections from the awe-inspiring Guerssen Records, a record label based in Catalonia, Spain. Set up in 1996, Guerrsen’s ever-expanding catalogue specialises in the reissuing of rare and obscure psychedelic, progressive, folk and garage albums from the 60s to early 80s.
Featured here are tracks from Paul Martin’s mid-sixties timeless opus “It Happened”; We The People’s fascinating compilation “Visions of Time: Complete Recordings” (a 60s teen band from L.A. who also recorded 45s under the American Zoo alias) and Oberon’s “A Midsummer’s Night Dream”, a classic in the British psych-folk genre (it was originally released in 1971 as a private edition of only 99 copies).
August’s mixtape also features new releases from MJ Guider’s stunning debut album “Precious Systems” (Kranky), hype williams’ “10/10” (Bandcamp); the return of legendary duo Xylouris White (Australia’s Jim White and Greece’s George Xylouris) with “Black Peak” (Bella Union) and Peter Broderick’s latest masterful record, “Partners” (Erased Tapes).
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Fractured Air x Blogothèque – S1E8 | August mix
To Read/listen on La Blogothèque:
http://www.blogotheque.net/2016/08/29/fractured-air-x-blogotheque-s01e08-august-mix/
Tracklisting:
01. Christina Vantzou – “juno loop 200 BC” (Unreleased)
02. Tomorrow The Rain Will Fall Upwards – “…And I Tried” (Blackest Ever Black)
03. Spiritualized – “Let It Flow” (Dedicated)
04. The Velvet Underground & Nico – “Venus In Furs” (Polydor)
05. Dirty Three – “Furnace Skies” (Anchor And Hope / Bella Union)
06. Xylouris White – “Black Peak” (Bella Union)
07. Trader Horne – “Jenny May” (Earth)
08. Dieterich & Barnes – “Parasol Gigante” (LM Duplication)
09. Kamuran Akkor – “Kabahat Seni Sevende” (Pharaway Sounds)
10. Mulatu Astatke – “Nètsanèt (Liberty)” (Buda Musique)
11. The Avalanches – “Because I’m Me” (XL Recordings)
12. Kamasi Washington – “Change Of The Guard” (excerpt) (Brainfeeder)
13. hype williams – “DIVA” (Bandcamp)
14. Jenny Hval – “Female Vampire” (Sacred Bones)
15. MJ Guider – “Triple Black” (Kranky)
16. Julian Winding – “The Demon Dance” (The Neon Demon OST, Milan)
17. Rival Consoles – “Lone” (Erased Tapes)
18. Bibio – “Wren Tails” (Warp)
19. Benoît Pioulard – “Layette” (Kranky)
20. Roj – “Attaining The Third State” (Ghost Box)
21. Oberon – “Nottamun Town” (Guerssen)
22. Georges Delerue – “Au Revoir Mon Amour!” (Cartouche OST, EmArcy)
23. We The People – “Back Street Thoughts” (Guerssen)
24. Robert Wyatt – “At Last I Am Free” (Rough Trade)
25. Jóhann Jóhannsson – “Flight from the City” (Deutsche Grammophon)
26. Peter Broderick – “Up Niek Mountain” (Erased Tapes)
27. Glenn Jones – “Spokane River Falls” (Thrill Jockey)
28. Brigid Mae Power – “Sometimes” (Tompkins Square)
29. Fiona Brice – “Glastonbury” (Bella Union)
30. Paul Martin – “This Is The End” (Guerssen)
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Compiled by Fractured Air, August 2016. The copyright in these recordings is the property of the individual artists and/or record labels. If you like the music, please support the artist by buying their records.
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http://www.blogotheque.net/
https://fracturedair.com/
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Whatever You Love You Are: Valgeir Sigurðsson
In celebration of the prestigious Icelandic label Bedroom Community’s tenth anniversary year, we are delighted to present the first in a series of features where the artists share their musical influences, memories and most cherished recordings. First up is label co-founder Valgeir Sigurðsson.
Words: Valgeir Sigurðsson
Bedroom Community is an Icelandic record label/collective formed in 2006 by Valgeir Sigurðsson, with Nico Muhly and Ben Frost, later adding Sam Amidon, Daníel Bjarnason, Puzzle Muteson, Paul Corley, Nadia Sirota and James McVinnie to the intimate roster. 2015 saw two new additions to the family being: Emily Hall & Jodie Landau and wild Up.
Like-minded, yet diverse individuals from different corners of the globe all creatively orbit around an inconspicuous building and its inhabitants on the outskirts of Reykjavík Iceland – Greenhouse Studios – where the music is mostly created.
In celebration of the influential record label’s 10th Anniversary in 2016, members of the collective come together in a series of live performances known as the Whale Watching Tour. The inspirational tour is an unusual and ambitious premise. The artists, who are friends and colleagues, present what is more like a musical conversation with aspects of a show-and-tell than a formal concert.
“The Whale Watching Tour is an opportunity to manifest what we, as a record label and a collective of disparate musical personalities, do behind the closed doors of the studio. To create something uniquely belonging to the live experience from source material that is very familiar to us. These shows are fuelled by joyful energy and appreciation for each other but also tension, blood and sweat that makes it all the more rewarding at the end of the day.”
– Valgeir Sigurðsson
Valgeir Sigurðsson, Nico Muhly, Nadia Sirota, Sam Amidon, Daníel Bjarnason & Jodie Landau are going for several dates on both side of the Atlantic to keep going this Whale Watching Tour 2016, celebrating the tenth anniversary of Bedroom Community. They will also deliver during Iceland Airwaves a very special performance together with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra in Harpa, Reykjavik.
Running alongside this, though, is a commitment to releasing new music. The label has launched the Hvalreki series, a platform for inquisitive producers to group together and focus on fresh innovation. The title means ‘beach whale’ in Icelandic, and it aims to become a regular showcase for ideas that sit outside the norm. The Hvalreki series launches with material from Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurðsson. ‘Scent Opera‘ owes its origins to a project at the Guggenheim back in 2009, and it’s a lengthy, hypnotic work.
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‘Scent Opera’ by Nico Muhly & Valgeir Sigurðsson is available now:
For full dates of Bedroom Community’s forthcoming Whale Watching European Tour, visit HERE
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First piece of classical music you fell in love with?
Air on G string – Johann Sebastian Bach
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A recording whose arrangements floored you?
Talk Talk Spirit of Eden
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A masterful composition which made a huge impact on you?
Piano & String Quartet – Morton Feldman
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An unforgettable live performance you have been part of?
A disastrous gig in Magdeburg on a joint tour with Ben Frost in the early days.
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A defining record that led you onto your own musical path?
The Clash London Calling
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Composers/records/musical voices you feel you have learned the most from?
Nico Muhly / Selmasongs / Mark Bell
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Most cherished moment(s) from Bedroom Community’s first ten years?
WhaleWatching Tour 2010
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Favourite film score(s)
Bernard Herrmann Vertigo
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One musical philosophy that has always remained true for you?
“It doesn’t matter what you can, only what you do” – Einar Örn Benediktsson 1982
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A piece of music / recording / song that speaks to you like no other
Nick Drake River Man
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‘Scent Opera’ by Nico Muhly & Valgeir Sigurðsson is available now:
For full dates of Bedroom Community’s forthcoming Whale Watching European Tour, visit HERE
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