Pragtfuld Pimpon

Szymon Pimpon: »Pozdrawiam«

Allerede intronummeret »i’ve made it to another station« slår fast, at den polsk-danske trommeslager og komponist Szymon Pimpons kassette-udgivelse agter at udsætte lytteren for et væld af forskelligartede indtryk. Således indledes der med flere lag af field recordings, der hurtigt tilsluttes af blød synth og ekstremt autotunet vokal. En stemningsfuld og interesseskabende introduktion.

Mindre mærkelig – men ikke desto mindre interessant – er nummeret »lalala«, der får mig til at nikke hovedet begejstret med på det fremadkørende motorikbeat og de farverige 80’er-synthmelodier. Eller »wsh«, der med dikotomien mellem de vemodige synthakkorder og den travle, multiinstrumentale perkussion, skaber en underligt fortravlet stemning. Skaberglæden emmer af disse numre, og den smitter. Anderledes forholder det sig med andre af albummets skæringer, som for eksempel »megaJoy~«, »maF8« og »balans«, der bare ikke vækker samme entusiasme. Som om Pimpon holder lidt igen med netop den fandenivoldske kreativitet, som jeg ellers lovpriste et nummer tidligere.

Pozdrawiam slutter, som det startede – mærkeligt på den gode måde. Med det fantastiske afslutningsnummer (en ofte undervurderet disciplin) rest, der med en messende autotune beretter om den hvile, vi har fortjent, men ikke får. En passende åben afslutning på en udgivelse, der netop brillerer med sin åbenhed, og kun mister sin glans i de øjeblikke, hvor denne åbenhed føles stækket.

news

04.10

Björk takes over Polish marketplace today for secret festival finale

It was officially confirmed only recently that Icelandic avant-garde star Björk is visiting Bielsko-Biała today. After keeping it under wraps until the last moment, the organizers of the Wędrujący Festiwal (Wandering Festival) have revealed that Björk is the artist closing out the festival's grand finale.

playlist

03.10

My name is Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek – would you like to see my playlist?

»Recently, I discovered that when a couple of thousand people clap their thick gloves in minus 30 degrees, it sounds like the softest techno – a freezing space where the cold air turns into a wave of warmth, and we, in a moment of collective devotion, become one with the rhythm, one with the invisible bond that connects us in the warmth of silence. Music is not just sounds, but a vain attempt to capture the infinite, which has always been and always will be.«

Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek has been the editor-in-chief of Seismograf since 2021. He is also a music critic and cultural journalist at Kristeligt Dagblad and Århus Stiftstidende/Avisen Danmark and has over the years written to publications such as Kunsten.nu, Glissando (Poland), Neural (Italy), Raw Vision (UK), Nutida Musik (Sweden), Kunstkritikk (DK/Sweden), Iscene.dk, B.T., and Jazz Special. He is the author (together with Lars Muhl) of the book HVA' SAA! En guidet rutsjebanetur gennem Aarhus – før, nu og i fremtiden (2024) and has also contributed to the anthology on music criticism Man skal høre meget (ed. Thomas Michelsen and Claus Røllum-Larsen, 2024). He is a founder and partner in the Polish-Danish cultural organization Kultur(a), and wherever there is a piano, he will be there, eager to coax a melody from it.

playlist

02.10

My name is Aria Leth Schütze – would you like to see my playlist?

»For me, music is an opportunity for transformation.«

Aria Leth Schütze is based in Copenhagen and is the creative force behind the music projects Alto Aria and Samler På Dig. They are a co-founder of the record label Rhizome and a co-editor of the music magazine Passive/Aggressive. Their practice brings together electronic and acoustic music in an exploration of transformation.

playlist

02.10

My name is Mikkel Krause Frantzen – would you like to see my playlist?

»For me, music is the art form that – if measured in hours and minutes – occupies by far the greatest part of my life. I cannot sing, nor can I play an instrument, but I can listen – as a happy amateur – while cycling, on the dance floor, and, above all, at the office. I almost always work – that is, write – to music.«

Mikkel Krause Frantzen (b. 1983) is an associate professor at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, a literary critic for Politiken, and the author of several books in English and Danish, such as En fremtid uden Fremtid (2018), Klodens Fald (2021), and Slutspil (2024).

playlist

28.09

Mit navn er David Dyrholm – vil du se min playliste?

»Music is what gets my gears turning. It sets both my body and mind in motion – and on a good day, even gets them up to speed. My listening habits are entirely shaped by my mood... and by the musical tastes of my two children, which shift every eight minutes... so the home stereo gets exposed to a bit of everything. In a way, that’s exactly how it should be. Room for everything and everyone.«

David Dyrholm (b. 1990) is a food and music critic for Politiken, focusing on jazz – ranging from the traditional to the modern—and avant-garde music. Alongside this, he has worked for the Modern Jazz Days festival, served on the jury for the DMA Jazz awards, and previously released a number of records with the hip-hop collective DoktorDoktor.