Worm Records has released three limited-edition, twelve-inch vinyl albums of their Soundpiece Project. In 2011 Lukas Simonis, music curator of the Dutch alternative art space Worm invited three composers—Rutger Zuyderveld, a.k.a. Machinefabriek, Dyane Donck, and Pierre Bastien—to create pieces for a system of thirty-two underground loudspeakers around the Rotterdam theatre square. Electronic musician Machinefabriek madeContinue reading “Pierre Bastien. Entomology, Dyane Donck–Daisy Bell, Proverbs of Hell. Machinefabriek, 15/15.”
Genre Archives
Resonate
At first glance, Resonate appears to be a static, glowing, string structure in a dark, drone-filled room. But enter the space and pluck any of the glowing strings and dynamic pools of light suddenly appear, as sound objects form a rhythmic and spatial counterpart to the drones. The interactive light and sound installation was designedContinue reading “Resonate”
Akio Suzuki
This article was originally published in Spring 2013. The applause following the introduction of Akio Suzuki at his first Toronto performance since 1984 quickly died down to reveal an echo emerging from the concert-hall seats. It was a consistent pattering—not a true echo but a sonic answer to the applause. The source of the soundContinue reading “Akio Suzuki”
Erdem Helvacioglu
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY When you’re caught up in the thick of it, all those cute, clichéd little epithets about turning life’s lemons into lemonade, spinning grave fuck-ups into rapturous inspiration, and the like, hardly seem to hold any wisdom whatsoever. Things suddenly went awry for Turkish composer and performer Erdem Helvacioglu whileContinue reading “Erdem Helvacioglu”
Scenocosme’s Kymapetra
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY The title Kymapetra is a combination of two ancient Greek words, kyma meaning a wave or vibration, and petra, which means stone. Every stone is forged by time—broken, polished, composite, or fossilized—and each has a natural history and vibration. In the interactive installation Kymapetra, five stones surround a bowlContinue reading “Scenocosme’s Kymapetra”
Jeff Morton
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY I imagine that what I hear echoing off the walls of the white-cube gallery is the proceedings of a robot congress, a cacophonous, fevered debate on robot rights—and not a single little robot agrees with any other. I detect strains of barely recognizable melodies, guitar riffs, the squeals ofContinue reading “Jeff Morton”
Rose Bolton
Rose Bolton speaks clearly about what she wants. “I think clever would be the word that I would not want to hear people use when speaking about my music—regardless of whether it actually is or not. Ultimately, it’s not music about music; there has to be a bigger purpose.” Bolton didn’t always think this way.Continue reading “Rose Bolton”
Sarah Peeble`s Audio Bee Booth
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY Pollination Wunder Station is a wunderkammer—cabinet of curiosities—full of fascinating living things. The piece is part habitat interpretation, part bio art, part sound installation, and part sculpture. It is one in a series of audio bee booths that are amplified habitat installations for solitary nesting bees and wasps. TheseContinue reading “Sarah Peeble`s Audio Bee Booth”
Rachael Wadham: Installing A Quiet Sound-World
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY The work of Vancouver-based sound artist, improviser, and composer Rachael Wadham often hinges upon a certain pack-rat sensibility, with sounds scavenged from mundane, remote, or even derelict sources, squirrelled away with humble meticulousness. Even her improvisational playing on a falling-apart zither evinces this sense of coarse rigour, as sheContinue reading “Rachael Wadham: Installing A Quiet Sound-World”
STEIM
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY Maybe someone would have been able to guess what I was getting myself into when I left for STEIM in The Netherlands. After all, there was a pretty clear sign. All passengers had boarded the plane, and we all were eager to get to our destinations or makeContinue reading “STEIM”