Hvad var det for mytiske skabninger, der gemte sig lige under vandspejlet i totalinstallationen Breaking the Surface? Kunstnerkompagniet Between Music havde på Spor Festival omdannet Musikhusets sal til et diset grænseland. Den gådefulde tærskel til det undersøiske. Som besøgende drev vi rundt på overfladen, men mærkede, hvor fascinerende dybt fantasierne om livet under vand rækker.
Der var low arousel – tenderende til det behagesyge – i det lysdæmpede udstillingsrum. Pirrende klange som i værket Sirenes, hvor små vandfaste højttalere hængt op i wire, blev sænket og hævet i glaslanterner med vand. Som en kølhalende parafrase af Janet Cardiffs Forty Part Motet, hørte man sirenernes toner drukne og stemmerne gispe efter ilt. Lydkunstgrebet var næsten for tydeligt: de akusmatiske stemmer i materiel transformation, ringene i vandet fra højttalermembranernes vibrationer, den besøgendes frihed til selv at søge ind i klangen. Men værkets lavmælte poesi var alligevel nok til at vække en interesse for lydens overgange.
Men det var de skabninger, der befolkede installationens loopede videoer, som jeg var mest betaget af. Hvem var den nedsunkne brud i værket The Neck, der spillede på sin klangkvalte violin blandt døde fisk og ålegræs? Havde hun været der hele tiden, dømt til at spille, eller gik noget forud for denne bizarre scene? Det mystiske videoværk inviterede til videredigtning, og en hel sagnverden åbnede sig for mit indre. Fortryllende.
»I like when it's impossible to tell at first if something is black or white, or country or blues, or whatever.«
Bill Frisell’s career as a guitarist and composer has spanned more than 40 years and many celebrated recordings. From Aaron Copeland and Charles Ives to Bob Dylan and Madonna. Born in Baltimore, Bill Frisell played clarinet throughout his childhood in Denver, Colorado. His interest in guitar began with his exposure to pop music on the radio.
»Music has been a healing balm for me.«
John William Grant is an American singer, musician, and songwriter holding both American and Icelandic citizenship. He first came to prominence as a co-founder, lead vocalist, pianist, and primary songwriter of the alternative rock band The Czars. After releasing six albums between 1994 and 2006, the band disbanded, and Grant withdrew from music for four years before embarking on a solo career.
He returned in April 2010 with a critically acclaimed debut album recorded in collaboration with Midlake. Queen of Denmark was named Album of the Year 2010 by Mojo magazine and was also selected as one of the ten best albums of 2010 by The Guardian’s music critics and writers.
»In his music, composer Allan Gravgaard Madsen tries to create a better version of himself.«
Allan Gravgaard Madsen is a Danish composer based in Copenhagen. His most recent works include Träume nicht and Nachtmusik. He tries to create a better version of himself in his music – where his personality tends to be restless, chatty and has an active inner life, his music is controlled, simple and merciless in its expression. He is the recipient of the Carl Nielsen & Anne Marie Carl-Nielsens Hæderspris 2022.
The Finnish multimedia artist Jan Anderzén has, with the album Hoshi, released under the solo moniker Tomutonttu, created a true little star. Not only because »hoshi« literally means »star« in Japanese, but above all due to the music itself. There is something cosmic, yet infinitely minute, about the sonic worlds Anderzén conjures—like a galaxy reflected in a puddle, or a space journey in a rocket carved from a hollow tree trunk. Synths emit busy, warm blips and bloops, while ultra-short vocal and instrumental samples create a recognizable blur. At once artificial and organic – soft, rounded, jagged, crackling.
Anderzén approaches sound with a playfulness I simply adore. His music is strange in an incredibly comforting way. It places me in a kind of colorful, trance-like state, only interrupted when, several times over the course of the album, I find myself smiling in delight at a particularly great sound. The synths on »Katse osuu sähköön!« The choral samples on »Kesä oli äkkiä ohi!« Milo Linnovaara’s flute on »Malta lausua ‘AH’!« And many more. Hoshi is an album packed with microscopic moments that together form a frayed, exploding, radiant, idiosyncratic whole—a stellar moment of just under 38 minutes.
