Hello
I’ve just returned from Lisbon, Portugal; an absolutely beautiful city I’ve visited several times over the years. I was there to perform at Village Underground for the Liquid Sky Open Air all day (and night) event. You might have seen the headlines about the weather conditions in the EU, but it reached 39 degrees at one point in the day, which is 102 Fahrenheit and frighteningly hot!
The venue, a series of cargo containers and buses, was set on the edge of the city, next to the (noisy) industrial docks, right beside a super busy highway (constant traffic), and beneath a direct flight path (countless departures and arrivals), and with a house party taking place next door (boom cha, boom cha), so the challenges were all in place!
Somehow, despite all this, I turned out a fine live set, alongside some other wonderful live sets, including the debut performance of modular synthesist Andrea Cichecki. Unfortunately, the planned live collaboration with the legendary Air Liquide couldn’t take place as their equipment literally caught on fire in the soundcheck which meant no sound. Next time then…
With a late flight home, I also had an opportunity to explore the local architecture, street art and the outstanding Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, which had exhibitions on by Paula Rego, Adriana Varejão and many more! And the air-conditioning was certainly welcome!
Risky Business in London
Earlier in the month I performed in rather cooler weather, at this intimate little London event, Risky Business. Indeed, the torrential rain was so extreme it was like stepping directly into a shower! Taking place at The Old Church Stoke Newington, I was invited to perform alongside a series of artists, using special live performance software Unrealtime, a new software for digital music improvisation.
It’s been some years since I’ve used a laptop for a live show, so it that in itself was interesting. The software allowed me to sample live and immediately build up pieces of music from the source material, as well as introduce other sounds on my computer into the mix and process them, all completely live.
I began the performance with a prompt, asking what was the least favourite song of audience members. My fine supporter Lee McFadden, sitting at the front, called out an Olivia Newton-John song, so I played it back on my iPhone and recorded it in the microphone of the laptop.
What you heard began with a warped and processed version of this song which rapidly falls away into this glacial immersive listening piece. I’m super happy with it and now all Scanner Fans can have a copy by signing up to my monthly Bandcamp club where you can pick up all manner of exclusive music.
As I’ve repeatedly said before, most folks spend more on coffee in a day than the cost of supporting me, for just £5.00 a month with many hours of rare and unreleased music, exclusively available only here. Join in the conversation here.
Through Global Frequency, with Michel Banabila
Having worked with celebrated Dutch composer Michel Banabila over the years, it was an honour to offer my voice to his new album. And I mean, quite literally my voice. His new album His new release ‘Through Global Frequency’’ is a poem largely composed from the titles of some of his recordings made over the years.
In addition to acoustic instrumentation, Michel uses samples, electronics, synths, found objects and field recordings. We’ve worked together several times on some very unique and special pieces, including my only ‘song’ based release The Spaces You Hold (2020), the EP Between Your Eyes and Mine (2013) and Ears Tell Us Where We Are in Space (2010).
I read the poem to an accompaniment of exploratory ever building electronics towards an intense climax. The release includes a short video featuring drone music and the text itself. Also included is a PDF with embedded audio links. You can find it here.
Playtime with Mroztronium Grackler + Wingie2
In between deadlines I had a tiny moment of playtime available, so recorded this new idea. Using two wonderfully inspiring and strangely named instruments I created a sketch which may well develop into something else in the future.
I combined the Mroztronium Grackler, which is a standalone chaotic voltage-controlled instrument, which can produce sounds that resemble everything from birdsong to peanuts caught in your throat, with the Meng Qi Wingie2, which is a stereo resonator and ‘excites’ the sound from the Grackler. I told you they were odd names.
Special Fennesz/Scanner Print
For those of you who were able to attend the very special show with my old friend Christian Fennesz in April in London this year, there was an opportunity to pick up this beautiful print celebrating the event, Now the artist Raimund Wong has made an additional edition of just 100 copies of this 2-colour Risograph print.
It’s medium blue and warm red on Munken Pure 240gsm stock, all hand-numbered. And finally, you can remove your Kylie Minogue poster and replace it with something a little more adult in nature. Buy a copy here.
EarSpace on the Airwaves
And yes, as ever, a new episode of EarSpace hit the airwaves in June. Episode 24 of EarSpace, the radio show that brings you electronic music from the past, present and future, brings two years of music exploration to your ears.
And, as always, I was there to hold your hand and talk you through the music, which this time featured some wonderfully inspiring gems from the likes of Romance and Abul Mogard, minimalist pulses from Repetition Repetition and Suicide, and intensely dark music from Ash Fure.
There’s also a tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto, post rock from To Rococo Rot and The Notwist, as well as music from Clark, Mark Ernestus, Lorn, Jim Wallis, Cortex of Light and much more. Tune in here please.
Two Hours of Conversation and Music
I was delighted to be a guest on the radio show Synkult on Freeform Portland recently. You can now listen back to the entire show here, which features not only an extended interview but two hours of my music, from the earliest days to right up to date.
In the interview I speak about my earliest musical memory of Sparky’s Magic Piano, being mistaken for the artist Burial, CB Radio, 52 Spaces, the Scanner War Room, Scannerfunk and my connections to the dynamic academic Cybernetic Culture Research Unit (CCRU)at Warwick University in the UK in the early 1990s, amongst many other things.
Working with Bryan Ferry
Story time now, so sit yourself comfortably and read on.
Back in the late 90s I was working in rehearsals with a dance company on Commercial Road in Whitechapel, when I received a text message on my pager. Yes, this WAS the 1990s, remember!
It requested that I call Bryan Ferry at this particular number. So, thinking that it was probably a friend playing a prank on me, I went out the local phone box, called the number back and asked for ‘Bryan.’ To my utter surprise this very recognisable voice answered and yes, it was indeed Bryan Ferry. He was working on a new record and was in need of sonic inspiration and would I be interested in coming in to the studio with him to explore some ideas.
How did you get my details I asked? Well, it turned out a friend of mine used to share a flat with him when they were students and had passed it along. What a small world. So, a few days later there I was in the studio adding strange radio noises and interferences to these tracks, alongside Bryan and Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics. It took some time for these tracks to appear on this album, as he shelved it for an album and tour of cover versions, but I’m pleased it finally saw the light of day.
Unfortunately, in the midst of it all, Bryan mis-credited me as Radar, and not Scanner, and to this day, despite the record label and others assuring me it would be corrected, the latest reissue sadly continues to misrepresent me. Perhaps one day. More stories to share about my fun times with Bryan one day soon.
It was only some time later that I realised that I had somehow taken on the role of Brian Eno for the recordings, working with Mr Ferry on electronics. And most ironically Brian appears on this very album too, alongside Nile Rodgers, Dave Gilmour, Phil Manzanera, Jonny Greenwood, Flea and others.
What a funny old life it can be at times. The album has just been reissued if you fancy picking up a copy. And truth be told, it’s not every day that I appear on an album with Kate Moss on the cover!
The year ahead is certainly mapping out in a busy way. I’m performing and giving a workshop in Helsinki in August, then there will be two events in Turin Italy in September and October, then Berlin, Milan and Thailand. More on these as soon as I have full ticket details.
So, until next month, thanks for reading and your continued support.
Warmest wishes
Professor Scanner
::: listen :::
Bernard Parmegiani: Lac Noir (Sub Rosa)
Brian Eno/Beatie Wolfe: Luminal (Decca)
The Fall: Middle Class Revolt (Cherry Red)
Gesaffelstein: Aleph (Viny Factory)
::: read :::
Gregor Hildebrandt: A Blink of an Eye (Kunsthalle Praha)
Stanley Kubrick: The Shining (Taschen)
Jess Ball: Samedi The Deafness (Vintage)
Tod Lippy: Modern Artifacts (Esopus)
::: watch :::
The Ballad of Wallis Island: James Griffiths
Mountainhead: Jesse Armstrong
Allen Sunshine: Harley Chamandy
Happiness: Todd Solondz
