Hello
Hope this newsletter finds you well. Just in case you were interested, my root canal surgery was a success, and though my bank account is rather depleted, my mouth is a happier place now. Let’s hope that this is the last of Robin’s Medical Updates to share with you.
A couple of very successful live shows took place in October. I performed a sold-out event at the wonderful Rymer Auditorium at York University, which is reportedly one of the best listening spaces for sound in the UK. My improvised show of electronics was received extremely well, and I have some great ambisonic recordings of the night too which could be interesting for a future release.
From Harry Smith to EarSpace
Then I premiered my new audio-visual work, Harry Smith at 100, in Potenza Italy for the MA/IN Festival. Again, in a grand theatre I shared this new celebratory work which is filled with a kinetic energy. There will be a big London show of this in 2024, and I’m hoping to encourage other promoters and producers to support the work elsewhere, so if you are interested in having this show visit your city, then let me know.
My second episode of EarSpace was broadcast on Slack City Radio in October. This two-hour episode featured music from Mika Vainio, 23 Skidoo, Ana Quiroga, Natalie Beridze, Negativland, Marcus Fischer, Atul Desai, Nurse with Wound, Mica Levi, Oval, David August, Dasha Rush, Stephen Vitiello and many more.
I introduce and speak about all the music too, offering up context and stories. I’ve received some great feedback about the show so far, so listen back to the latest episode and episode one here, and make your own mind up, and hopefully discover lots of new music too.
If Books Could Talk
Lincoln Cathedral Library is home to many well-known manuscripts and books but there are many other treasures whose stories have not been told. There are books waiting to be researched, their secrets longing to be plundered.
So, it was with great pleasure that I presented If Books Could Talk, a new work in Lincoln recently, in collaboration with medieval literary and manuscript expert, Dr. Hollie Morgan. We made a live performance which was recorded and can now be enjoyed for free over at Bandcamp.
This interdisciplinary performance lecture explores some of the books housed in the Cathedral Library, imagining the soundscapes contained between the covers and the stories they could tell, if we were only to listen. As always, I ensure that all such publicly commissioned works remain free to everyone to experience wherever they are in the world!
American Minimalism
Regular subscribers might remember my performance in Prague earlier this year, with the freshly named Klang Systematiek ensemble. We performed the works of American minimalist composer La Monte Young and the classic In C by Terry Riley. These performances were recorded, and the Riley will be released on CD one day soon.
Meanwhile, there is now a short excerpt from In C, featuring sections 26-42, that offer you an idea of the hyper energy and positive vibe of this show. I believe the full performance of the work will also be made available online one day soon too. I’ll let you know once the CD is available.
My very dark cinematic remix for artist Anna Jordan aka The Allegorist is now out on her new mix album. Buy a copy of this album here and support the work of this independent artist. Pick it up here.
And don’t forget that Tone Science, recorded live at the Capstone Theatre in Liverpool is out now on DiN. It’s a double CD featuring a series of improvised modular music sets from Field Lines Cartographer, Nigel Mullaney, Polypores, Ian Boddy & myself. Pick up a copy here.
The Perfect Gift Card 🙂
If you were on the lookout for a festive greetings card, or a new print for your bedroom wall, then the National Portrait Gallery in London is now offering blank cards and posters of my portrait taken from their collection. The photo itself was taken some years ago outside the Tate and Lyle factory in Woolwich London, a truly epic location for a shoot. Point your browser here to go shopping and make your friends and family happy. Treat yourself!
In-Between at Le Fresnoy France
Panorama 25 continues to run at Le Fresnoy in Tourcoing France where I am showing my audio-visual artwork ‘In-Between,’ which I originally created there in 2011. This year the exhibition is curated by Chris Zircon, Belgian art historian, curator, and museum director. Panorama 25 runs until 7 January 2024, and features some amazing work from many other artists too.
And for all those who have asked me, it seems the date for my new album, ET IL Y AVAIT, with Geins’t Naït and Laurent Petitgand has been put back to December, so apologies for any misleading information regarding that. It’s funny how even the artists themselves are the last to know! More on this when it’s available.
More Music
Out on 10 November is a new album, Further Transitions, from Kenneth James Gibson, featuring a remix I produced that I’m super happy about. It’s an extremely dark and sinister piece of work I must say, alongside some beauties from Meat Beat Manifesto, Awakened Souls, Christopher Willits and possibly the last piece of recording ever from Brian McBride, made shortly before his death this year. Full details here.
In other news, boxes of CDs have arrived for the CD of my new album, out in January 2024, the first release on my brand-new label Alltagsmusik. My lips shall otherwise remain sealed until the January newsletter.
Het Concreet in Tilburg NL
I am off to The Netherlands in November for some adventures. I’m going to be an artist in resident at Het Concreet, a music studio in Tilburg, creating new work there, towards a live performance on Saturday 18 November.
Het Concreet is a Dutch sound collective dedicated to finding new sounds by experimenting with analog electronic devices, magnetic tape and acoustics. Their analogue ambitions are rooted in their studio space, where they seek to find new meanings of sound by working with techniques that have become largely obsolete in today’s world. Their main instrument is magnetic tape, so I will collaborating with my very own analogue gear towards new sounds.
On 18 November there will be a 12-hour special event, Radio Concrète, exploring the history and role of radio in the creative artists, and at the end I will be performing live at 17.00. Doors will open at the end of the day. It’s entirely free, so if you’d like to attend please come along a little earlier to ensure entry as the space is quite intimate. Full details of the day here.
Whilst in The Netherlands, it will also be an opportunity to see the first time ever a show of works from the entire Brueghel family of painters at the Het Noordbrabants Museum. Apparently, there will be 80 paintings and prints on this one space. How exciting!
Be prepared for something very festive for you all in December too. Out on 15 December, A Scanner Christmas will warm your soul and make you smile. More on that next month.
Until then, have a wonderful and safe month ahead in a world that continues to challenge so many.
Best wishes
Professor Scanner
::: listen :::
KAKUHAN: Metal Zone (Nakid)
King Crimson: Larks’ Tongues In Aspic Complete Recording Sessions (DGM)
Annea Lockwood: Glass World (Room40)
Blonde Redhead: Sit Down for Dinner (Section 1)
::: read :::
Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of The Fern Loved Gully (Strange Attractor)
Marc Kristal: Pauline Boty – British Pop Art’s Sole Sister (Frances Lincoln)
Vague Magazine (PPC Press)
Journal for Institute of Pataphysics (Atlas)
::: watch :::
Rotting in the Sun: Sebastián Silva
The Creator: Gareth Edwards
Dumb Memory: Craig Gillespie
The Detectorists: Mackenzie Crook
