26.10.2015

Nordisk Råds Musikpris uddeles på 50. år

I morgen i Reykjavik uddeles Nordisk Råds Musikpris, der samtidig kan holde 50 års jubilæum. Prisen uddeles sammen med Nordisk Råds priser i børne- og ungdomslitteratur, litteratur, musik, film, samt natur og miljø i Kulturhuset Harpa i Reykjavik.

Prisen blev uddelt første gang i 1965, i første omgang kun hvert tredje og siden hvert andet år. Siden 1990 er prisen, der desuden kommer med en check på 350.000 kr., blevet uddelt årligt. Hvert andet år gives prisen til et værk af en nulevende komponist, og hvert andet år går prisen til en solist eller et ensemble. Tidligere er prisen gået til danskere som Per Nørgård, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Palle Mikkelborg, og sidste år var det komponisten Simon Steen-Andersen, der løb med prisen for værket ”Black Box Music”.

Blandt de nominerede i år finder man den norske mezzosopran Tora Augestad, det islandske kammerorkester Kammersveit Reykjavíkur, den svenske bassist og cellist Svante Henryson, den finske akkordeonist Kimmo Pohjonen og den færøske doom metal-gruppe Hamferð.

Blandt de to danske nomineringer finder man - som det også var tilfældet i 1997 - den klassiske blokfløjtespiller Michala Petri. Læs mere om Petris vej mod Nordisk Råds Musikpris i Sune Anderbergs dugfriske anmeldelse af hendes seneste to udgivelser.

Den anden danske nominering er faldet på den elektroniske musiker HVAD. Bag navnet gemmer sig 31-årige Hari Shankar Kishore, der gennem det seneste tiår har tittet frem fra den københavnske undergrund under forskellige aliasser som DJ HVAD eller Kid Kishore eller som en del af samarbejderne Faderhuset eller Albertslund Terrorkorps, der i en slags hyldest til Rotterdam Terror Corps har indoptaget den hollandske 90’er-gabber-techno i sin lyd side om side med indiske bhangra beats, rituelle tempelklokker, alverdens glitch-lyde og hyppige vokalsamples af ord som ”perker” og ”hvad?”.

Kishore er heller ikke bleg for at køre den danske kulturarv gennem sin situationistiske dekonstruktionsmaskine af nydanskerslang og ”perker tech”, som det er blevet døbt. Hans tidlige dj-sæt indeholdt ofte brudstykker af John Mogensens ”Danmarks jord for de danske” (oprindeligt en EF-kritisk sang) og Kim Larsen, der pludselig med mussestemme sang "de kylede gas mellem hinduerne" indover helt knækkede beats og guitarfigurer fra ”Midt om natten”.

I 2007 lånte han navnet Trentemøller fra den på det tidspunkt måske mest efterspurgte danske dj, Anders Trentemøller, og fik via det sociale medie MySpace tilbudt dj-jobs i både Berlin og Rungsted, hvor man altså troede, man havde booket hitliste-housemusik.

Til daglig holder Kishore til på Kommunal Dubplate Service på Nørrebro i København, hvorfra han driver pladeselskabet Syg Nok Records og med kommunal støtte servicerer lokalbefolkningen med muligheden for at få produceret vinylplader på studiets nærmest antikke pladeskærer. Indtil videre har maskinen spyttet plader ud med Kishores egne projekter samt andre musikalske hackere som Teppop, Goodiepal eller Nørrebro-rapperen Kidd.

Og snart vil det altså vise sig, om Kishore også er vinder af Nordisk Råds Musikpris på 50-årsdagen. Den uddeles i morgen i Kulturhuset Harpa i Reykjavik. Læs mere om de nominerede og om prisen på dens officielle hjemmeside.

in briefrelease

09.12

Minimalism for Patient Ears

Lukas Lauermann: »Varve«

col legno, 24.10

Marta Bo

Varve – from the Danish varv – refers to the annual layers of sediment, a quiet geological archive of time’s passage. Lukas Lauermann’s album carries this meaning into its very sonic core. Here, organ and vocal samples taken from worn cassette tapes meet an inquisitive, almost ascetic cello that moves like fine strokes across a flickering, dust-filled soundscape.

The cello is restrained but never passive. It slips in and out of the cassette’s white noise, of fragmented voices and the organ’s gentle currents of air, until all elements ultimately merge into a single, organic texture. Lauermann himself describes the music as a depiction of irregularities, and it is precisely in these small shifts that Varve finds its quiet strength. The album’s idea of sonic sedimentation becomes an image of our longing to reconnect with nature’s tempo. The compositional motifs seem repetitive, yet they never repeat themselves entirely; they build layer upon layer, like organic growth. As a listener, one becomes witness to microscopic changes slowly unfolding – a process that can bring about an almost meditative state.

Varve is an album for those who prefer listening experiences at an unhurried pace; for those who find Hans Zimmer too grandiose and would rather follow the patient growth of grass than an orchestra’s emotional climaxes.

playlist

05.12

My name is Gintė Preisaitė – would you like to see my playlist?

Gintė Preisaitė

»Music for me is the purest transformation of any energy hiding inside. Through the sound it can become anything we need. It is a form of a bond and connection, it's subtle and it is direct at the same time. For me it was always the biggest exploration machine I could learn about myself, people and environments.«

Gintė Preisaitė is a Lithuanian artist based in Copenhagen who works across piano, electronics, composition and improvisation. Classically trained, she has moved steadily toward electronics, noise, free improvisation and jazz, performing in numerous constellations in recent years.

Working with prepared acoustic instruments, electronics and tape, she bridges her classical background with contemporary sonic experimentation. Through shifting timbres, textures, collaged melodies and percussive figures, she seeks to push acoustic and electronic sound into a space that feels both personal and deeply connected.

Last year she released the EP Spring Mass under the name Baraboro, followed this September by Kaiko, her trio release with Amalie Dahl and Jan Philipp Treen. She is currently developing a new project under her own name for release next year. Gintė performs widely as both a solo artist and a member of various ensembles in Copenhagen and abroad.

in brieflive

05.12

Anna von Hausswolff: The Path to the Organ’s Modern Resurrection

Klara Lewis, Anna von Hausswolff

Vega, 04.12

Martin Funder

The organ, one of Christianity’s most powerful liturgical markers, runs like a red thread through Swedish artist Anna von Hausswolff’s work. But on her latest album Iconoclasts, the long, piercing drones are toned down in favour of a sharper, driving energy. It was an energy that came through strongly at Hausswolff’s concert in Vega last night, where she was, as usual, joined by a large band. The evening opened with Swedish noise musician Klara Lewis, whose mumbling cassette-loop textures set a brutally atmospheric tone from the start.

Hausswolff’s band was this time expanded with saxophone and percussion, both central on Iconoclasts and both contributing to the slight eurodance tinge that colours several tracks. Unfortunately, the saxophone was at times swallowed by the dense soundscape. Fortunately, Hausswolff’s radiant voice cut through clearly. So did the small organetto – a kind of bellows-driven organ with long pipes. It stood like a totem at the centre of the stage and was almost embraced by Hausswolff whenever she played it. A piece like »The Whole Woman« (a waltzing duet with Iggy Pop on the album) became, in concert, a touching love ode, carried by the organ’s gentle breath as its pulse.

In recent years, a number of musicians have used the organ’s distinctive resonances to wrest it free from the weight of Christian liturgy, giving the instrument an almost iconoclastic status. Despite a slightly muddy sound mix, Hausswolff’s concert was a clear example of this contrast – still deeply rooted in ecclesiastical connotations, yet now an accomplice in large-scale modern productions and a central instrument on major stages.

English translation: Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek

playlist

04.12

My name is Jørgen Teller – would you like to see my playlist?

»Music, to me, is … the silence that gropes – like yourself – across a black canvas.
In moments, a hissing emerges.
Nuts are cracked.«

Jørgen Teller has a long career as an electric guitarist, vocalist, electronic musician, and performer. He has released records solo as Static Teller and with Jørgen Teller & The Empty Stairs, Kaptajn Ørentvist … He frequently collaborates with local and international musicians.

playlist

25.11

My name is Kristoffer Raasted – would you like to see my playlist?

»For me, music is a non-figurative process that cannot be definitively categorised.«

Kristoffer Raasted graduated as a visual artist from the Media School at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2018 and is currently completing a PhD in practice-based and artistic research. Raasted has been an artist in residence at the Danish Institute in Rome and a visiting researcher at UdK Sound Studies in Berlin as part of his PhD.