in briefrelease

Squarepusher in a Straitjacket Among Strings

Squarepusher: »Kammerkonzert«

With Kammerkonzert, British electronic composer Tom Jenkinson, better known as Squarepusher, places himself within the braindance tradition of the 1990s and 2000s, when electronic artists flirted with classical music – from Aphex Twin’s collaborations with Philip Glass to Venetian Snares’ Rossz Csillag Alatt Született, where baroque patterns were folded into mechanical rhythms and the melancholy of strings torn apart by breakbeats.

Squarepusher is no stranger to the acoustic: his hyperactive bass guitar – often sounding as if in flight from its own virtuosity – has been central to his music since Music Is Rotted One Note (1998). Here, too, it takes a leading role. On »K2 Central«, a looped, faintly anxious bass figure drives the music forward while strings swell in and shift its harmonic function. The effect is not without merit, but the execution is strikingly conventional. The MIDI-generated strings move in neat chord blocks with an almost overly reverent sense of decorum. The classical tradition is not challenged but merely cited, and the arrangements are so polished that the orchestra’s presence feels barely justified.

The compositions also hover awkwardly between the slick functionality of elevator jazz and something exaggerated, almost circus-like, as if unable to decide whether they want to be serious or ironic – and end up being neither. »K4 Fairlands« stands out by pairing string quartet with the busy breakbeats that are Squarepusher’s trademark. Here, a friction emerges between the rigid and the fluid that briefly opens the album up, suggesting how two otherwise incompatible systems might coexist.

Overall, Kammerkonzert comes across as artistically cautious, marked by a peculiar restraint. What remains is the sense of something only half realised. One wishes Squarepusher had either ventured further into the orchestral realm or trusted more in what he actually excels at, giving the electronics freer rein. Preferably both.

playlist

27.02

My name is Hannah Schneider – would you like to see my playlist?

»Music for me is a way to stay curious. It can feel completely overwhelming to hear some music you don't know, or revisit something you haven't heard in a long time. Music makes my heart race, it makes me cry, laugh, and gesticulate wildly. It's a way to understand myself at different times in my life, and a way to create bonds with others around me.«

Hannah Schneider creates cinematic alternative pop with electronic soundscapes and strong melodies. She has released several critically acclaimed albums, toured Europe and the US, and has established herself as one of the country's most original voices. Her music has been used in film, television, and on major Scandinavian theater stages, and in recent years she has also composed commissioned works for leading museums and cultural institutions.

On her new album In This Room (February 27, 2026), she chooses – in an era marked by artificial intelligence – to insist on presence, intuition, and craftsmanship as driving forces. The album was written and recorded during a two-month residency at Thorvaldsens Museum.

playlist

25.02

My name is Louise Beck – would you like to see my playlist?

»I listen to music at all hours of the day when I’m at home – surrounded by family – or when I’m working and travelling. My playlist changes every day. It reflects my state of mind here and now, and the ideas, memories, joys and sorrows that currently occupy me. The last piece, Salve Regina, was only added late this evening, after I experienced Poulenc’s magnificent opera Dialogues des Carmélites at the Royal Danish Opera.«

Louise Beck is a scenographer, stage director and artistic director of OPE-N – and from the 2027 season, artistic director of Copenhagen Opera Festival. For nearly three decades, she has developed opera as a living and contemporary art form at the intersection of the established opera field and the independent music-theatre scene. She has created a number of critically acclaimed and award-nominated works, including Den Sidste Olie and LOL – Laughing Out Lonely, and, together with Niels Rønsholdt, stands behind the opera trilogy Den Stærkes Ret – Den Svages Pligt, whose second part will be presented at the University Library of Copenhagen during the 2026 festival.

playlist

24.02

My name is Nilza Costa – would you like to see my playlist?

»Music is my daily nourishment, helping me become a better person. It's a formula of emotions, full of energy, that gives me the courage to always have hope.«

Nilza Costa is a Brazilian singer and songwriter from Salvador de Bahia and now living in Ferrara, Italy, whose heart beats with the ancestral rhythms of Africa, rhythms she channels through her voice into a singular and deeply original artistic language. Her new album Cantigas – released in February 2026 on Brutture Moderne Records – is inspired by and dedicated to the Cantigas, or Orin, the sacred songs passed down through African languages, in this album Yoruba, Kimbundu and also Brazilian Portuguese. Nilza Costa’s voice has long given life to the revolution of a people who, through music and spirituality, have reclaimed their path toward emancipation. Her songs tell the stories of men and women torn from their homeland — narratives filled with both melancholy and hope.

Throughout her career, Nilza has collaborated with renowned artists such as Roy Paci, Etnia Supersantos, and Senegalese musician Elhadj Demba S. Gueye. With her current band, she has performed on numerous international stages (Austria, Germany, Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Belgium, Slovenia, and more) and has appeared at major festivals across Italy.

news

24.02

From Ice Opera to International Leadership

Louise Beck

When Louise Beck presented her first opera at Copenhagen Opera Festival in 2022, the audience was asked to bring ski wear and thermal suits. Den Sidste Olie (The Last Oil), about the colonisation of Greenland and the exploitation of nature, unfolded on the ice at Østerbro Skøjtehal. It marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration on newly written works that expand the frames and spaces of opera. Now that collaboration enters a new phase: from 1 September, Louise Beck will become the festival’s new artistic director.

playlist

22.02

Mit navn er Iris Gold – vil du se min playliste?

»Music for me is peace.«

Iris Gold is a Danish singer. She was born in London but raised in Christiania. She made her recording debut in 2015 with the single »Goldmine« and has since released a number of singles. Her debut album Planet Cool was released in 2019. She has just released the album Sugar on My Lips.