Hello
What an intense month this has been and I’m delighted to report that I made it through. And I don’t mean that lightheartedly, as I had a severe reaction to multivitamins that caused my body to respond in an absolutely intimidating way. High levels of B6 and Chromium led to severe cramps and muscle pain and after two nights of not being able to sleep from the constant pain, I was considering going to hospital and cancelling all my work.
Thankfully stopping the vitamins was the best advice and drinking so much water so that I could flush it through my system was the cure, though I did consider moving into the loo itself, as I was in there so very frequently!
From Bari with Love
With some trepidation, I set off the next day to Bari in Italy to present my work at Spazio Murat, for the Sussurra Luce conference. I was surprised to find my fine friends from Githead, Colin Newman (of Wire) and Malka Spigel (of Minimal Compact), were also in town to play a live show under their Immersion guise. Even more bizarre was that the sound man for my show was the brother of the sound man for their show!
We were shown around the old part of the city in the afternoon and finished up eating ice-cream together in the city centre, then went our separate ways to play our respective shows. I was so happy with how my show turned out, with several people commenting how the music had brought tears to their eyes.
The Making of “Forces, Reactions, Deflections”
Thanks to everyone for your extraordinary support for my new album, out on Quiet Details, entitled “Forces, Reactions, Deflections.”
There’s a quite phenomenal review over at Moonbuilding which is blushingly positive. I’ll quote one excerpt which made me smile:
“All hail Robin basically. Without him I suspect various routes to discovery for many of us would have taken a lot longer. I hesitate to call him our generation’s Eno, it’ll go straight to his head, but he kind of is. I wasn’t fussed about Eno back then. I got it, ‘Music For Airports’ and all that, but my mission was hoovering up the new, Robin and the like were the new, what’s more they pointed people like me in the direction of the new too. They made Eno look like an old hippy. Which of course he was.
Scanner has been at the electronic coalface for four decades and shows little sign of slowing down. On the strength of this, he certainly isn’t getting any less inventive. Or any less vital.”
I mean, that’s ridiculous, eh? Last remaining copies of the deluxe CD edition are available at the Quiet Details website. Digital is also available. Read the full, detailed interview at Moonbuilding here.
I also wrote an expansive piece about the making of the album and the process behind it, which you can read in full here.
“Songlines” New LP
And remember to make space on your shelf for “Songlines,” which is out on 17 November. It’s an LP (and digital) out on Moving Furniture Records from Amsterdam and features a collaboration between two bass clarinet players, Gareth Davis and Monika Bugajny, and myself on electronics. There will also be a Listening Party at Bandcamp with Gareth and myself on 17 November 2025 at 20.00 GMT.
A few weeks ago I made an exceptionally deep and thoughtful interview over at Reddit, responding to questions about the ethics of listening, an acoustic utopia, silence and censorship and so much more. It’s unusual too, in that it’s focusing exclusively on ideas, not promoting any product or shows, so it’s a very different read indeed. Read it in full here.
Celebrating Nick Drake
I’ve long been an admirer of the work of British folk singer songwriter Nick Drake (1948-1974). I’ve also always had a soft spot for a felt piano, so used this amazing new Deep Felt Piano from Soniccouture, which is highly expressive and emotive in character. Whilst recording this, I thought it would be interesting to also add their Polarity Tension to the mix too, playing a few reasonably discreet notes. It’s very autumnal in spirit here, and hope you might enjoy it.
And I’ll be back in Italy this week, in Turin. In fact, at the very time I’m sending out this newsletter, I will actually be on stage at OGR, launching their new exhibition, “Electric Dreams – Art and Technology Before the Internet.” So, a full report on this on my imminent return!
Elegy for Neal Cassady
Next week, on Saturday 8 November, I’m in Berlin premiering a new work based on the work of celebrated American poet Allen Ginsberg, which I’ve just finished composing. It expands upon the piece, “Elegy for Neal Cassady,” which I made some years ago, and was released on the compilation “Allen Ginsberg’s The Fall of America: A 50th Anniversary Musical Tribute.” It’s now a 30+ minute work in collaboration with photographer and filmmaker Antonio Pagano.
The event takes place at Galerie Z22 and remarkably tickets are completely free, but you need to reserve them as space is very limited indeed.
EarSpace Episode 28
EarSpace Ep.28 on Slack City Radio hit the airwaves again recently. For this episode I introduced autumnal music in a vast mix bag of electronic music from the past, present and future. There’s new music from Murcof, FSOL, Orca Silent, SDEM, Steve Roden, and exploratory sounds from Jana Irmert and 7038634357.
You can also immerse yourself in incense to hear Terry Riley, Mike Ratledge and The Irresistible Force, and put your finest dancing shoes on for Kraftwerk and Logos. And, as ever, there’s a little bit of chat in between. Tune in here.
Playing Live with Cabaret Voltaire
A few more live shows have been announced which I’m thrilled about. On Saturday 21st February, I’ll be supporting the legendary British group Cabaret Voltaire in their farewell tour, at Norwich Arts Centre. It’s part of the Synth East weekend of modular synthesis adventures, film screenings, talks and so much more, which in itself which will be such fun! Book your tickets here.
A London Performance in March 2026
Then on 20 March 2026, I’ll be headlining a show at Rich Mix in East London. Performing alongside me will be Joseph Branciforte and Jozef Dumoulin, with the European premiere of their collaborative performance.
Joseph is a Grammy-winning producer, and “mastermind behind the scenes” (Pitchfork), and known for his collaborations with Taylor Deupree, Theo Bleckmann, and Ryuichi Sakamoto, whilst Jozef is a Belgian keyboardist and composer, widely recognised for pioneering the Fender Rhodes as a 21st-century instrument, and equally active in jazz, contemporary, and electronic music. Tickets can be bought here.
Time Slice Explorations
And whilst we are talking about synthesisers and technology, there’s a little treat for those buying TIME SLICE from RYK Modular Synths, their Quad-channel Looper and Sampling Laboratory. I created about 30 exclusive loops and sounds for users to explore and experiment with, included with the machine. I’m excited to hear what sonic creations might emerge from these sounds. It’s always a pleasure to support small, independent companies like this. Find out more here.
For those who have enquired, we are currently waiting for the test pressing of the Nurse with Wound collaboration on vinyl. The CD of Contrary Motion came out a few months ago, and the vinyl will feature a very unique etching. Just you wait until you see it!
I’m off to see Cabaret Voltaire at the ICA this month and then Tortoise the next day, so perhaps I’ll see some of you there. Until next time, thanks for your support!
Warmest wishes
Professor Scanner
::: listen :::
Susumu Yokota: Skintone Edition Vol.1 (Lo Recordings)
Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan: Public Works and Utilities (Castles in Space)
Jana Irmert: Portals (Portraits GRM)
Roméo Poirier: Off The Record (Faitiche)
::: read :::
Walter Murch: Suddenly Something Clicked (Faber & Faber)
Muriel Spark: The Driver’s Seat (Penguin)
Ursula Block: Broken Music Vol. 2 (Koenig)
Tenzing Scott Brown: Under the Junction (Penkiln)
::: watch :::
Daniel Robbins: Bad Shabbos
He Was a Quiet Man: Frank Cappello
A Good Person: Zach Braff
The Woman in Cabin 10: Simon Stone
