07.05.2010

Så begynder SPOR 2010

For sjette gang lægger Århus by til lyd- og tonekunstfestivalen SPOR. Årets festival har temaet Exploded Music og er kurateret af den britiske komponist Joanna Bailie – læs interview

Programmet indholder så forskellige ting som et klaver der holder en tale af Fidel Castro, Periskoper, en frankenstein-violin og uropførelsen af en Bent Sørensen strygetrio.

Med Castro tilbage til revolutionen
Den østrigske kunstner og komponist Peter Ablinger er et af årets hovednavne. Ablinger er kendt for at omsætte alverdens former for lyde og støj til musik. På SPOR festival kaster han sig ud i at omsætte en af den cubanske revolutionsleder og præsident Fidel Castros klassiske taler til tonekunst. Rent teknisk foregår det på den måde, at talens ord via en midi-maskine omsættes til impulser, der driver nogle stempler og aktiverer klaverets tangenter. Det publikum hører er en underlig og tankevækkende blanding af toner og genkendelige ord fra Castros mund.

Periskoper foran Musikhuset
Et andet af årets mere spektakulære indslag står den svenske lydkunstner Åsa Stjerna for. Hun har opstillet en række periskoper på pladsen foran Århus Musikhus og her kan forbipasserende lytte til lydene fra Århus’ vandmiljø – åen, byens søer og Kattegat.

Uropførelser – fra Venedig til Headphone festival
Fredag aften byder på en uropførelse af den danske komponist Bent Sørensens nyeste sats fra strygetrioen ’Gondoli’, opført af Trio Aristos. Lørdag eftermiddag er der spot på unge danske elektronisk komponister, når Rådhusparken omdannes til festival for hovedtelefoner – med live koncerter og nye værker af bl.a. Morten Riis, Jonas Olesen, Karsten Pflum og Rune Søchting.

Lørdag aften byder bl.a. på tre uropførelser af unge kunstnere og komponister: Kaj Aune’s ’Paganini non Ripete' er inspireret af den mystisk-dæmoniske legende Paganini og bliver opført paen hjemmelavet, nærmest Frankenstein-agtig violin som Aune selv spiller på.

playlist

11.09.2023

My name is John Grant – would you like to see my playlist?

»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.

playlist

13.06.2023

My name is Allan Gravgaard Madsen – would you like to see my playlist?

»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.

in briefrelease

23.01.2022

Finnish Space Travel

Tomutonttu: »Hoshi«

Vauva, 02.12

Kristoffer Møllegaard

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.