in brief
30.08.2022

Kirkerave med lammeskyer 

Aarhus Festuge: »Rum der forkynder« – SKY H1 & Mika Oki
© Martin Dam Kristensen
© Martin Dam Kristensen

Under den korsfæstede Jesus stod SKY H1 og Mika Oki ved deres mixerpulte indhyllet i en to-tre meter høj cirkel af semitransparent hvidt stof. Elektroniske orgeldroner strømmede ud i rummet, blandede sig med lyden fra en røgmaskine. Over os bredte sig blåt lys. 

Industrielle trommer og breaks blandede sig med det flydende soundscape tilsat fuglefløjt og melodisk synth indtil tunge basbeats tog over. Kunstnerne lignede pixelerede sort/hvide figurer i det runde tårn over en himmel skabt af lyskegler og røg. Angelisk synthkor afløstes af en basdrone, imens en solopgang brød frem i blå, røde og grønne nuancer.

Blåt lys og røg dannede lammeskyer, Jesus lyste op i glimt, kegler af stroposkoplys kastede sig ud over publikum, og det, som begyndte med orgeldroner og fuglefløjt, udviklede sig til et technorave med hårde og hurtige slag på elektroniske olietønder. 

På tre kvarter havde SKY H1 og Mika Oki opbygget, gennemført og afsluttet et technorave. En imponerende bedrift, der rejser spørgsmålet om, hvorvidt man skal høre hård house i en kirke, hvor flere kan være med, imens de kunstneriske og æstetiske aspekter af genren fremhæves og bevæger musikken fra lyssky undergrund til kunst i de hellige haller. Principielt: Ja. I praksis skabte de hvidkalkede vægge og hvælvinger en hård refleksion af lyd og lys, og det var usikkert, om kunstnerne havde taget højde for, at de ikke længere optrådte i en mørk natklub. 

Et komprimeret kunstværk, der dog ikke kan konkurrere med sine rødder i deres naturlige habitat, hvor tid, bevægelse og rum er vigtige faktorer for den fulde oplevelse.   

I anledning af Music City Aarhus 2022 sætter Seismograf fokus på musik, lydkunst og komponister i Aarhus. 

© Alicja Rzepa/Sacrum Profanum
»Music helps me feel, process and regulate my emotions, giving them an outlet when I need release and bringing me calm when I need balance – it’s sort of my outsourced nervous system.«
 
Krzysztof Pietraszewski is a music journalist, editor and curator based in Kraków, Poland. Since 2016, he has served as artistic director of Sacrum Profanum, a festival dedicated to new and experimental music. He hosts Muzykoteka and the RKK Live concert rebroadcast series on Radio Kraków Kultura. He also develops listening sessions with discussions, inviting audiences to discover unfamiliar music, exchange impressions and experience listening as a shared activity. His work includes executive-producing recordings for the Sacrum Profanum Archives series. Originally from Silesia, he has made Kraków his home, sharing music through concerts, radio broadcasts, writing and, more recently, experimental DJ sets.
 
 
 
© PR

»For me, music is at its best when it appeals to both the head and the heart. I love music that plays with language and understands how words create images, while also possessing its own unique sonic quality and mood. It’s an added bonus if the music energizes me during a run, makes me dance in the kitchen, or makes me laugh. Or cry. Music can be like a chocolate-coated marshmallow treat with a surprise inside.« 

Lone Hørslev is an author of poetry, novels, and song lyrics, as well as the TV series Den gode stemning. Together with Mads Mouritz, she forms one half of the Mouritz/Hørslev Project, and she recently wrote lyrics for the musical theatre production STOLT in collaboration with Katrine Muff. The songs can be found on the album Jeg ønsker mig.

© Sam Aebi
»I think music is just the way I perceive and process the world.«
 
Raphael Loher is a pianist and composer based in Lucerne, Switzerland who combines elements of experimental electronic music, ambient, and minimalist composition. His distinct, crystalline work explores playful reduction and rhythmic abstraction, aiming to create singular resonances and aesthetic connections. His meditative style of piano playing allows shimmering rhizomatic structures to emerge, giving rise to tense narrative arcs. Loher expands his sound spectrum by preparing the piano, using effect pedals, and working with a tape recorder.
 
Loher’s new album Figuren (Präsens Editionen) is an album shaped by intuition, experimentation, and a deliberate distance from his primary instrument — the piano. Reworking intimate concert recordings made during a residency, Loher deconstructed selected melodies, tones, and resonances into new forms, transforming them further through tape manipulation. 
© PR

»For us, music is... magic? Aside from the fact that we are huge fans of silence, the closing line of one of our upcoming singles perfectly captures our relationship with music: 

'Music feels like magic to me / A superior art form in a marketplace / Trying to find an empty space'. 

That is what it can feel like as a songwriter and performing musician. We try to hold onto an almost childlike infatuation with music, yet the art form we work in – alternative-leaning pop-rock – was created and has evolved 'in a marketplace' driven by powerful economic forces. As a romantic, that can sometimes be a bit disheartening...«

Late Runner consists of Asger Tarpgaard and Tanja Forsberg Simonsen, both formerly of the bands Superheroes and Private.

© PR
© PR

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.