what we immerse ourselves in

comment18.12.2018

Not so diverse after all

© CC0

The 2018 Nordic Music Days in Helsinki branded itself on a notion of diversity oddly isolated from gender and other social dimensions. It was all about the stylistic width, according to the artistic director. From the point of view of a participating electro-acoustic composer, however, the festival fell short on this ambition, too.

By Tine Surel Lange

interview28.11.2018

Man among the machines

Kaj Duncan David’s music has always been intimately linked with software and machines. His next major work deals with artificial intelligence.

By Andrew Mellor
review20.11.2018

Gold fever and infernal machines

Simon Løffler’s personality shines through while Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard’s conceptual gold piece rings hollow at Gong Tomorrow.

By James Black
reportage16.10.2018

Try competing with history, then

Warsaw Autumn is on its way to becoming a victim of its own success, James Black writes in his essay from the Polish capital.

By James Black

reportage14.09.2018

Maybe we fight, maybe we defend

Alex Mørch: ‘Beta-Hex’. © Tine Surel Lange

The 2018 edition of the annual UNM festival for young composers displayed a somewhat defensive group of artists. Are commercial demands finally beginning to influence contemporary music in the Nordic countries? James Black writes from Bergen, Norway.

essay04.09.2018

Memorials of grief: Music after 9/11

Essay by Tim Rutherford-Johnson on the musical responses to an incomprehensible historical event.

By Tim Rutherford-Johnson
review03.08.2018

»An opera you need to see twice«

A generational cycle of sexual abuse paired with a clear and lucid score. Last year’s operatic talk of the town was back for one day.

By Andrew Mellor
essay11.07.2018

Lullabies and memory loss

Attending a concert – what’s it all about? In this essay Professor Holger Schulze takes us through his listening experience at Klang Festival in Copenhagen.

By Holger Schulze

reportage29.06.2018

Noise in the tropical underground

© Sanne Krogh Groth

Interest in experimental music scenes from a global perspective has grown in recent years as familiar avant-garde art forms are found ensconced in various communities in many parts of the world. Often, the aesthetic expression found in these scenes could be understood as a mixture of a globally recognized phenomena, such as noise art, and distinctive practices drawn from the situated local cultures. In January, Sanne Krogh Groth visited the Indonesian noise and experimental music scene on Central Java in Indonesia.

By Sanne Krogh Groth

reportage09.04.2018

Heterotopias

Maya Shenfeld returns to Israel to investigate the local music scene amid what has been labelled a ‘culture war’.

By Maya Shenfeld
interview07.02.2018

Shouting, naked. James Black, the composer

His debut concert only a few weeks away – both a blessing and a ‘fucking nightmare’ – Copenhagen-based composer James Black talks to Andrew Mellor.

By Andrew Mellor
review31.01.2018

The gradual growth of ice crystals

Thinking big suits Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir. Andrew Mellor on her works at Njord Biennale 2018.

By Andrew Mellor