Hello
Happy to be here and very much alive, especially after an utterly terrifying incident in Amsterdam in late September, when I was almost thrown out of a moving bus when they accidentally opened the doors when turning a sharp corner!
And take a deep breath now, this is another busy month ahead.
52 Spaces at Macro Museum in Rome
My sound installation of 52 Spaces has just opened at Macro – Museum of Contemporary Art Rome and will run until 8 November 2026. It’s an adaptation of my project from 2002
The work is based on L’eclisse, a 1962 romantic drama film co-written and directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, and it’s the very atmosphere of L’eclisse that sets the tone for the work as a whole. The final chapter in what is known as Antonioni’s trilogy of incommunicability, the film explores the fragility of human relationships and emotional alienation in Italy during the economic boom.
It ends with a celebrated sequence in which the camera returns to the places where the two protagonists met, now deserted. Streets, construction sites, intersections, and anonymous modernist architecture unfold in the absence of human figures, while time seems to stand still: the city becomes a portrait of an empty, disquieting inner landscape.
On Wednesday 7 October, I will be performing live in the museum in a performance of 52 Spaces with an accompany film edit, and entrance is free, no tickets necessary, so hope that some of you can come along on the night and say hello!
Scanner Library with Soniccouture
I’ve been busy over the last two years developing a new musical instrument, working with the British company Soniccouture, to share the perfect tool to utilise my huge personal tape archive, documenting my entire sonic life and career.
Stripped back to the basics, Scanner: Library is a bold experiment in the power of layering sound. With such a diverse and characterful archive to draw upon, it was imperative that the interface would tread lightly.
Despite a deliberately reductive design the set up offers over 85 million possible combinations of sounds gathered over a 40-year career. This should be released in the next week, so stay tuned. I will also be releasing an accompanying EP to show what it’s capable of.
Juxtapositions with Ian Boddy
My new album with Ian Boddy, ‘Juxtapositions’ has been receiving some lovely reviews:
A collaboration between Ian & Scanner was always going to be good, but this really hits the spot and should be embraced by fans of both
Moonbuilding
Juxtapositions is an album about the productive possibilities of difference. Ian Boddy and Robin Rimbaud do not erase the distance between their individual sound worlds. They explore it. Within that space between their approaches, they have created something rich, patient, mysterious, and quietly compelling
Igloo Mag
Juxtapositions finds a perfect balance between their approaches, rather like sands shifting through cycling patterns and nebulous soundscapes
Electronic Sound
Pick up the CD or digital release here and immerse yourself in this fresh little sonic dream.
Mischievous Misappropriators in Kent
I previously wrote excitedly about the reunion of my band Githead to perform at the Shadowlands festival in 2027. Well, now there’s a fresh announcement, as I’ll also be performing with Carl Stone and Vicki Bennett/People Like Us in our extremely playful guise as Mischievous Misappropriators at Shadowlands.
This little super group was first brought together for ‘Carl Stone at 70’ at London’s Café Oto in 2023. Mischievous Misappropriators is less a conventional collaboration than a meeting of ears, instincts and obsessions. Here’s a video of us together back in 2023
By the way, 2/3 of the tickets have already been sold for the festival so if you were thinking of coming along, most certainly don’t delay in picking up a ticket. The list of artists performing is quite something too!
Open your head to EarSpace Ep.40
EarSpace Ep 40 hit the airwaves of Slack City Radio, and as ever you can listen back on totallyradio.
This time we are time-travelling through the electronic music sphere, from the ghostly ambience of Adam Wiltzie and Autechre, to modular synth workouts from Tyondai Braxton and Jad Atoui and introspective music from Kalani, Na’ama Zisser and Lynn Wright.
In between there’s music from Atom Heart, Lusine, Terry Riley, Organum, Bass Clef, Felix Kubin & Asmus Tietchens and much more, ably hosted by yours truly. I hope you will enjoy it!
Future tour dates in Europe and UK
Live shows are lining up for the year to come. After Rome this month, I’ll be back in Italy, to perform in Pordenone on 24 October. For this show I’ll be playing a live soundtrack to the films of Harry Smith, so a very special night indeed.
In November I’ll be over in Stockholm for the first time in many years to perform with the Klangsystematiek ensemble at Fylkingen, followed by a special solo show in Liverpool at the lovely Capstone Theatre.
A new headline show for Kentronica has been announced for 2027 too, with an entire day of electronic music, where I’ll be playing a new live set in the evening. Supporting artists include Laurie Black, Sophie Sirota, and Shape Navigator all enhanced by live visuals from diz_qo. Pick up your tickets here.
Nurse with Wound Flaneur Electronique
And for everyone who has enquired, copies of the Nurse with Wound/Scanner art edition 12” vinyl will go on sale on Saturday October 3rd at 12 noon. NWW/Scanner – Flâneur Electronique will be made available in a very limited one-off lathe cut edition. Each has an accompanying original 12” painting. They are absolutely stunning, and I’ll only have 7 copies for sale, but the NWW Shop and Dirter Promotions will have their allocations for shipping too.
Ten complimentary friends editions have also be numbered and were made available to contributors.
The music on these lathe cuts is exclusive to these and will not be made available anywhere else, either digital or physical.
UPDATE – this sold out in about 5 mins! The standard edition will follow of the LP in late November, but with identical music to the Contrary Motion CD.
As always, thanks for your support
Warmest wishes
Professor Scanner
LISTEN
The Hafler Trio: If Take, Then Take: Tricks, Half-Tricks & Real Phenomena (Ballast)
Jimi Hendrix: Bold as Love (Sony)
Joy Division: Eternal (Warner Music
Threshold Houseboys Choir: Form Grows Rampant (Musique Pour La Danse Holland)
READ
Edward Burra (Tate)
David Szalay: Flesh
Stefan Goldman: Presets-Digital Shortcuts to Sound (Tapeworm)
Simon Strong: Even the Old Dude is Cool
WATCH
Colony: Yeon Sang-ho
The Non-Actor: Elizabeth Barry Callahan
Bad Apples: Jonathan Etzler
The Dog Stars: Ridley Scott
