Hello
2022 is drawing to a close and I hope it’s been a positive year for you too. For many of us, it’s been a return to some sense of ‘normality,’ after the pandemic shifted the shape of our lives so radically over the last couple of years.
In general, I don’t spend too much time reflecting back, as I’m so focused on moving forwards, but creatively this has been a very encouraging year. In terms of releases alone, it’s been quite extraordinary. Let me just politely remind you.
The year began with a double LP release on A Strangely Isolated Place in the USA, with Struktura Revisted, which featured beautifully poignant recordings by celebrated Polish composer Olga Wojciechowska and my live reworkings of this, which turned into a deeply textured melodic series of soundscapes. I even got to perform a live interpretation of these in Poland later in the year.
April came along with La Fenêtre Magique on the Scottish label Werra Foxma. This was originally recorded as a live session for Steven Anderson’s last ever weekly ‘Magic Window’ radio show in August of 2021, but proved to be so popular that a vinyl release was put together.
It offers some idea of how my live sets develop, journeying through a myriad of styles, bending and warping sonic palette at surprising points. The original white vinyl pressing sold out quickly, so a repress followed in vampire blood red. Remarkably, you can still pick this up on vinyl for just £11.99 which is a genuine bargain for a limited edition.
In June I released The Homeland of Electricity on UK label DiN, which was indebted to the work of the Ukranian film maker Laris Shepitko, featuring music that explored a genuine sense of optimism in our troubled times.
My good friend, artist Ursula Berlot, created this very special video to accompany the album, with visuals to accompany the swirling, hypnotic harmonies of Accentria.
August brought along The Listening Forest, the soundtrack to a mesmerising light, sound, projection, and interactive show currently lighting up the woods in Northwest Arkansas at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, USA.
It’s a collaboration with artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, an award-winning artist from Mexico City, who has produced shows all around the world and the world. It opened on 31 August and runs until 01 January 2023. I’m super proud of this week and it can purchased directly from my Bandcamp shop.
Then, in September, I released another 2LP set, Loess, on Moving Furniture Records from The Netherlands, in collaboration with Dutch artist Modelbau. Interestingly, this album is almost a return to my roots, as we created the music with us both using only our Fostex 280 four-track tape machines. We recorded directly onto tape and then posted each other cassettes to create the work.
The results are a series of warm soundscapes, hypnotic and rather poetic. It’s definitely music to dream or create to.
Meanwhile, I made it safely back from Braga, Portugal last month for the Semibreve Festival. My review of this will appear in the January edition of The Wire magazine. Any readers of last month’s newsletter will recall my story of the hackers breaking into my bank accounts. Well, for all those interested, it took 65+ phone calls and finally a letter to the CEO of HSBC to resolve this frustrating matter.
Even more absurd, is that just two hours after finally gaining full access to my bank accounts, the very same fraudsters telephoned me trying to get back in. Astonishing really and naturally makes you a little suspicious!
Back in December 2021 I was honoured to present new work at gnration in Braga, Portugal, in collaboration with two amazing women artists – Joana Patrão & Adriana Romero.
We created a performance that focused on ideas around climate change, and used recordings of melting ice, as well as a large piece of ice slowly melting in the room itself, which was amplified, and mixed in with the audio.
Patrão and Romero projected images relating to the theme that they had created. We hope that we can share this somewhere else in the world one day too, as the pandemic rather got in the way!
My Jayemme EP is out now on streaming services and Bandcamp, and features 3 cover versions of songs by Gilbert O’Sullivan, Rod Stewart and Leo Sayer.
When my mother died in 2013, I always wanted to record a tribute to her. Like many people, I find such memories buried within music. How the briefest glimpse of a song on the radio can bring back the memory of sitting on a coach with my grandparents, driving through the countryside.
My mother loved music. In fact, she once told that she had dreamt of attending the Royal College of Music in London, but instead got married and had a family. It was never spoken with a sense of regret, but I always felt that beneath the surface her encouragement to follow my own path was born from this experience. She simply wanted me to be happy, no matter what I did. And I have been. (Thank you mum).
Her listening choices were radically different from mine, but I learned so much from her of course. Even when she retired very late in life, she would switch the radio on, or play CDs at home to listen to.
And it’s in that spirit I recorded these songs for her. It had been on my To Do list for years but the pandemic both gave me time to think and to record. There were so many songs I could have chosen but these were always ones my mum loved – Gilbert O’Sullivan, Rod Stewart and Leo Sayer. So, enjoy these playful cover versions of the songs and remember to keep the good memories of your family uppermost in your mind.
And as to the name Jayemme? My mum was called Janet Muriel, and despised her middle name. I always remember her saying her initials to people as ‘J.M’ – hence ‘Jayemme.’
Followers of my Instagram and Twitter accounts will be aware of my continued enthusiasm and support for other creatives, both past and present. Indeed, my Instagram account focuses especially on celebrating books, art, music releases, films and more to share with others.
I recently wrote about Russian composer Arseny Avraamov (1884-1944) and his controversial Symphony of Sirens, which celebrated the sound of a city alive with industry and activity.
Avraamov was an avant-garde Russian composer, theorist, inventor, a modernist, a futurist, a revolutionary, a composer and an eccentric character. Symphony of Sirens remains a truly revolutionary work, featuring cannons, locomotives, artillery regiments, hydroplanes, factory sirens, bells, foghorns, brass bands and a huge choir. It was the sound of a city alive with industry.
I was approached by Igloo magazine online to write an extended feature on this work in particular, so you can read all about this here now.
And finally, after almost a decade and endless requests, there is complete footage of the full performance of Live Transmission, where the songs of Joy Division were reworked by Heritage Orchestra and myself in a tour that traversed the UK, as well as the Sydney Opera House and elsewhere.
It was a truly emotive and remarkable experience and one that I sincerely hope can be repeated one day, since interest in this show remains so high to this day!
Once again, thanks for your support over the last 12 months and it’s been a pleasure to be still out there, sharing ideas with you.
I wish a safe entry into 2023!
Best wishes
Professor Scanner
::: listen :::
AR & Machines: The Art of German Psychedelic (BMG)
COH meets Abul Mogard: OH meets Abul Mogard (Houndstooth)
Ben Frost: Broken Spectre (Vinyl Factory)
Roland Kayn: Infra (Reiger Records Reeks)
::: read :::
The Shining: A Visual and Cultural Haunting (Rough Trade)
Julia Voss: Hilma af Klint – A Biography (University of Chicago Press)
Evelyn Waugh: Brideshead Revisited (SSA)
Het Apollohuis 1990-1995 (HA)
::: watch :::
Riders of Justice: Anders Thomas Jensen
Zimna wojna: Pawel Pawlikowski
Stowaway: Joe Penna
Tout le monde aime Jeanne: Céline Devaux
