Gå, trip, trav
Det er et ydmygt emne, Simon Steen-Andersen har valgt til sin performance Walk the Walk: emnet er at gå. Følgerigtigt går de fire performere fra schweiziske Ensemble This Ensemble That rundt på scenen både i almindelige og lysende sko, på stedet, på løbebånd, og bare helt normalt. Walk the Walk er en tour de force gennem forskellige vinkler på emnet, og forskellige vinkler at lave teater på. Performerne er del af en nøje timet score, hvor hvert et skridt og til tider enhver stavelse skal leveres pointeret for at gå op i en højere enhed med scenografi, lydplayback og de øvrige medspillere. Instrumenter spiller de ikke på, de spiller på og med rekvisitterne; sko eller mikrofoner for eksempel. Kun helt til sidst får perkussionist Brian Archinal lov til at røre drumsettet, indtil også det bliver taget fra ham når det bliver hevet op i luften. Trommerne spiller videre, dog, ved hjælp af en slags trommeslagsmaskine. Scenografien tager over.
Tysk teater ser ud til at have inspireret komponisten, der arbejder med kneb som meta-samtaler om værket i værket (som den tyske instruktør René Pollesch), musikalsk nonsense (i stil med noget Christoph Marthaler kunne have fundet på), eller en scenografi der bliver til et selvspillende instrument (som Heiner Goebbels tidligere har gjort). Bedst fungerer værket, når sammenhængen mellem emnet og det sceniske og musikalske bliver tydligt, som når performerne går i takt med et lydsample, der bliver kortere og kortere, og det udsnit af scenen, vi som publikum ser, bliver mindre og mindre. Mindre godt fungerer det, hvor musikerne agerer som skuespillere, eller skal lipsynche til lydklip, hvilket de desværre gør rigtig meget.
Walk the Walk er en multimediel undersøgelse af et tilsyneladende banalt tema. Men præcis hvorfor vi skal se et stykke om at gå bliver ikke helt klart. Snarere virker emnet som en undskyldning for de forskellige permuteringer af mediale konstellationer, komponisten vil lege med. Live-tale, optaget tale, samples, scenografi, rekvisitter, lys – alt dette er instrumenterne, Steen-Andersen bygger sin komposition af. Imponerende er det, og han finder på originale kombinationer. Æstetisk efterlader det et blandet indtryk. Et eller andet sted mellem sofistikeret koncept, en hjemmelavet virkende scenografi, drenget humor og lecture performance. Steen-Andersen spiller højt risiko når han vælger selv at stå for alt fra musik til scenografi, lys og instruktion. I nogle få øjeblikke bliver publikum belønnet med noget enestående. Men hvorfor ikke have tillid til et dygtigt hold skuespillere, en scenograf, lysdesigner, dramaturg eller en instruktør? Den præcision, værket forlanger, bliver ikke helt forløst.
»Music to me is movement, trance, transformation. The rest I won't tell you.«
Marcela Lucatelli is a vocalist and composer. Born in Brazil and based in Denmark, she has gained international recognition for her boundary-pushing performances — sensuous, politically charged, and uncompromisingly original. Described by The Wire as a composer of »scores for the limits of bodies and voice,« Lucatelli challenges conventions with her fearless vocal experimentation and bold compositions. Her works have been performed by Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Vocal Ensemble, and Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart. She has appeared at major festivals and venues, including Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, DR Koncerthuset, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Darmstadt Ferienkurse, IRCAM, Copenhagen Opera Festival, Ultima Festival, Borealis Festival, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Jazzfestival Saalfelden, Cafe Oto, A L’ARME!, DMA Jazz – Danish Music Awards, WOMEX, and many more. Lucatelli's work has earned her several prestigious awards, including the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Talent Prize (2019), Pelle Prize (2021), and the Danish Music Awards' 2023 Vocal Jazz Release of the Year, which shows that vocal jazz has many faces – and does not necessarily belong only to the soft end of the spectrum.
»What is music to me? Here’s a quote from Nietzsche: ‘The people dancing all seemed crazy to the people who couldn’t hear the music.’«
Salim Washington is a saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, academic, and activist from Detroit who has been highly active on the American jazz scene since the 1970s, and also in South Africa, where he became a central figure. The spirit of John Coltrane hovers over his music, which carries both spiritual and social dimensions.
»Music for us is the perfect language that we love to speak. A language where it is the individual's feelings and imagination that determine what is right and wrong. Everyone can speak the language. You don't have to be able to write or understand, but just listen. Some music requires that you listen carefully and maybe hear it several times. A bit like when you talk to someone from Norway or Sweden, you also have to listen a little extra.«
DØGNKIOSK is a Danish punk rock band with roots in Silkeborg. The band consists of bassist and singer Anders Ejner, who has been active on the Danish underground scene for several decades. Musically, DØGNKIOSK moves in a field between classic Danish punk and alternative rock. In the spring of 2026, the band will release their second album, Tæt på kanten.
It is difficult to comprehend that Andreas Engström is no longer with us. Just a couple of months ago, he wrote – as he had done so many times before – with an ambitious proposal: he wanted to review a box set of twenty releases by Dror Feiler. In the same message, he mentioned plans to come to Aarhus for the recently concluded Spor Festival.
The Escape From a Hotel That May Not Exist
Ladies and gentlemen, we’re deep underground – indeed, all the way to France. This EP is the latest conceptual release from French electronic producer Romain Martin, who works under the name RÖM in the borderland between ambient and techno. Whispering Dub unfolds across five tracks, drawing heavily on dub while telling a story about an escape from a fictional hotel. Escomel’s background in African percussion studies and his fondness for analog gear surface in the mysterious sonic textures and the stark contrast between arranged percussion and dubbed-out echoes, underscoring the concept’s tension between mysticism and reality.
»Oilbird« opens in dystopian ambient before sliding into the rhythmic »Eastern Temple«, which constantly shifts between filtered synths, frantic percussion, and sudden breakbeats. Things cohere more fully on the title track, which blends minimal techno into the mix and stands out by maintaining a steady pulse, while echo-laden drums cast an unsettling atmosphere within the dance framework. On the closing »Hotel Amnesia«, the narrator awakens again in a collage of the record’s electronic tendencies, questioning their own existence in the album’s only use of vocals.
Whispering Dub isn’t wildly groundbreaking or bizarre enough to push the senses into extreme reactions. But as a well-produced and effective piece of electronic music, it invites the listener into a compelling game of whispers.
English translation: Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek