Hello
It’s that time of the year in the UK when the heating needs be switched on unfortunately, and the days grow shorter and darker. All the more reason to wake up early to begin the day for me!
You may well have read about the extreme weather conditions in Europe recently, and here in the UK we’ve been suffering from the most damaging floods. Indeed, I was driving home from the cinema recently, only to discover that in a matter of a few hours most of the main roads locally had disappeared beneath rain water.
The significance of this and the impact we as humans have on our own planet is essential to reassess. I’m fortunate to have friends and creative colleagues who are creating works that reflect upon this and encourage conversations towards a better future for us all.
Nine Earths with D-Fuse is one of these. It’s an immersive artwork that explores the relationship between ordinary lives and humanity’s excessive demand for the Earth’s resources. In doing so it invites the viewer to reflect on our impact on the planet, and how this connects us all.
If you were curious about the title, Nine Earths, well every year human demand for natural resources — our ecological footprint — exceeds what our planet can regenerate in that time. We are going beyond what scientists call our planetary boundaries, and in doing so putting all our futures at risk. Scarily, if we all consumed as much as Americans, for example, we would need the equivalent of five Earths’ worth of the planet’s resources. The Nine Earths of the title is inspired by the ecological footprint of the highest consuming nation of all — Qatar.
Nine Earths takes its audience on an audiovisual journey, blending words, film, photography, sound and data graphics to explore human consumption and its impact on our world. I created an expansive score and sound design for the work, and we’ve even adapted the project into a live performance, which we are hoping to present in the near future too.
The immersive installation of the work is currently on display at the Gwangju Biennale in Korea, alongside works from Haroon Mirza and Shezad Dawood. The exhibition runs until 1 December 2024.
And continuing this darker introductory tone, whilst writing this newsletter, it was sad to learn of the death of Achim Szepanski (1957-2024), a member of the influential German experimental P16.D4 in 1982, but perhaps best known for founding the legendary German techno label Force Inc. Music Works, with the sub labels Mille Plateaux and Ritornell.
The influence of these labels cannot be underestimated. Mille Plateaux played a key role exploring and promoting the glitchy electronic music of the 1990s, introducing such artists as Oval, Alec Empire, Microstoria, Christian Vogel, Pluramon, Air Liquide, Gas, Terre Thaemlitz and so many others.
Equally, Ritornell released music from may of my peers and friends, including Akira Rabelais, Kim Cascone, Taylor Deupree, Dean Roberts, Asmus Tietchens, Stephan Mathieu.
Achim was very supportive for my own career, especially early on, and I remember him telling me about how the French philosopher Deleuze was so enthusiastic about my body of work too, which was incredibly flattering to learn. My work appeared on several volumes of Modulation & Transformation, as well as the seminal release In Memoriam Gilles Deleuze (1996). I encourage you to explore the enormous body of work out on these different labels to remember this inspiring man.
I am super excited to announce the UK premiere of this very special collaboration with the Harry Smith Archives in the USA, at the Attenborough Centre in Brighton UK.
Harry Smith (1923–1991) was a great American eccentric, experimental filmmaker, musicologist, graphic designer, bohemian and anthropologist. He was also a collector of found objects and sounds, including the world’s largest known private paper aeroplane collection. The Anthology of American Folk Music is perhaps his most famous contribution.
I will be performing live a live soundtrack to Smith’s Early Abstractions (1946–57) and Untitled Seminole Patchwork (1965–66) films. I’m hoping that other enlightened promoters might be interested in booking the show in the future too, so then you might have the chance to experience this show locally then. Book your ticket here. Here’s an excerpt from the performance to give you an idea of what to expect.
In a way, I almost have a UK tour coming up, with four live concerts in the space of a short time. This is the closest I’ve come to the idea of making a tour in over twenty years! This month it will begin in Bristol on 24 October in a very ominous sounding event.
Entitled ‘Adrian Utley’s Drones for the Dark Months,’ it will be an evening of unhurried sonic splendour, with Adrian curating a brilliantly intriguing exploration of drone music. He is, of course, best known for his work with the band Portishead, but over the years has worked with Marilyn Manson, Marianne Faithful, Beck, Goldfrapp and Tom Jones amongst many others.
Drones can be found in many kinds of music across the world – bagpipe traditions, indigenous didgeridoo, classical Hindustani to name a few – and contemporary drone music traverses a host of genres including ambient, folk, electronic and contemporary classical.
So, I’m preparing a new work especially for this night, alongside performances from the Spiralis Aurea Trio led by Stefano Pilia with Alessandra Novaga and Adrian Utley himself, and Bristol’s own JOW, featuring Pete Judge and James Gow. It looks set to be a special night of a minimalist soundscapes and sustained evolution of sounds. Adrian and I will be playing together for my set too, so it’s going to be a blast! I hope to see some of you there! Book your tickets here.
Sometimes I work on projects that disappear into the ether, so I’m very happy that this album is now back in circulation. Memnon is an experimental music duo of kantele player Eva Alkula and sound designer Ville Hyvönen.
Back in 2007, 17 years ago (!!), I remixed the music for this ensemble and can still listen back with pleasure to it, unlike some other works I made at the time. Memnon examines interfaces and collisions between traditional instrument and modern design, classical training and modern electronics, academic and experimental music, compositions and sound design.
It’s an utterly beautiful record that also features two additional remixes from Finnish artist Vladislav Delay. Pick it up here.
I recently came across an archive of writings of mine in a folder, from the 1980s. It contained all manner of texts, from unpublished reviews of concerts to extended tales of events in my life at the time. One especially entertaining story focused on an interview I had at the Some Bizzare record label offices in London. I was more recently interviewed about this for a book on the label by Wesley Doyle, ‘Conform to Deform: The Weird and Wonderful World of Some Bizzare,’ However, having read the book, I was rather disappointed to find that my words couldn’t be found anywhere in there.
I later discovered that Stevo, director of the label, had the removal of this, without explanation. So, before the lawyers take over, have a read of my briefer than brief ‘interview’ in the 1980s. Read it in full here.
EarSpace Episode 14 is out now, and this month I bring you new music from Felicia Atkinson, Miki Yui, Bass Communication and Ezekiel Honig, taking you from Hong Kong to Japan, Germany to the Catskill Mountains.
There’s VR music from Brian Gibson, algorithmic beats from William Fields, industrial beats from Demdike Stare, and an intense rhythmic workout with Floating Points and Plastikman. Plus music from David Borden, Koichi Shimizu, Joachim Spieth, Emily A Sprague, and much more!
Listen to the latest episode and all the past episodes at the link below that will magically take you to a fresh sonic world. Tune in here.
Last month I enthused about sharing one of my On 45 mixes on YouTube, featuring UK group LFO, to accompany the previous ones I’d made focusing exclusively on the music of one artist. Unfortunately, copyright laws from extremely frustrating algorithms forced this to be blocked, so it’s now being kindly hosted by Juno in the UK on their Soundcloud account. Here’s hope it lasts more than just a few weeks this time.
If you want to listen to the previous mixes, you can enjoy extended recordings of the work of Alva Noto, Martin Gore of Depeche Mode, Mika Vainio and SOPHIE. You can listen to the LFO in full here, at least for the moment!
There are just a few last remaining copies over at Bandcamp of the double Mayol CD, which features a collaboration with French band HifiKlub in a 44 minute work, using field recordings at France’s Toulon stadium, mixed with warped, droning guitars and electronics. And a second CD my special sound collages and montages featuring spoken word pieces by French writers, rugby players and architects amongst others. Pick it up here.
The next Bandcamp Friday on 4 October will feature yet more exclusive works, unavailable anywhere else too, so stay tuned for that. And I hate to sound like a scratched recorded, but signing up to the Fan Club gives you ever new release, and now over FIFTY exclusive releases, literally days work of music unavailable anywhere else. And for just £5.00 a month. Join up here
There are several new releases scheduled in before Christmas too, on vinyl and CD, so prepare yourselves for a sonic festive blast soon! For everyone that has asked I have no updates regarding the date for the release of this special edition vinyl with designer Ben Kelly, but believe me, as soon as I learn more, I’ll be certain to let you know too.
As ever, thanks for your support.
Warmest wishes
Professor Scanner
::: listen :::
Seefeel: Everything Squared (Warp)
Stephen Vitiello: Two Broods (Room40)
Celer: Selected Self Releases 2006-2007 (Two Acorns)
Severed Heads: Earbitten (Dark Entries)
::: read :::
David Copperfield/ George Schwartz: Conjuring the Spirit World (Rizzoli)
Ellef Prestsaeter: These Are Situationist Times! (Torpedo Press)
Chris Marker: De Depays (Film Desk Books)
Chris Burden (Gagosian)
::: watch :::
The Substance: Coralie Fargeat
Celle que vous croyez: Safy Nebbou
Lee: Ellen Kuras
Journey to the Far Side of the Sun: Robert Parrish
