Archipelago 2017
Concert series
the LIEM, Laboratorio de Informática and Electrónica Musical of CTE, Centro de Tecnología del Espectáculo del INAEM
Archipelago is a new series of concerts that views listening at once as a form of knowledge and aesthetic enjoyment. It invites the audience to “listen” to sound compositions and experimentations without applying any historical or geographical order, letting airtight compartments expand, allowing connections between heterogenous languages and contexts to flourish.
In this, the first edition, Archipelago is enveloped in drone and minimalist music, exploring its influences and unexpected offshoots. The programme welcomes veterans of composition, ranging from French composer Éliane Radigue or the New York-based Japanese sound artist Yoshi Wada — both linked to minimalism and Fluxus, respectively — to artists from younger generations who, despite sharing ties to Eastern music, take highly diverse approaches.
The majority of pieces performed are unreleased and have been put together especially for this series.
Sponsor:
Programa
Sabatini Building, Garden
7-8 pm
Severine Beata and Javi Álvarez
Severine Beata is the name chosen by Marta Peláez for a new sound project. Her approach to the synthesiser shares formal similarities with some of the pioneers of minimalism and music with repetitive structures, whilst also differing from the Indian roots of European and American minimalism, with her work rooted in old Western music. Javi Álvarez (Fluzo, Dúo Cobra, Néboa, Dj de la muerte, La Follable, etc.), producer of the record presented on this occasion, performs some of these new tracks alongside Severine.
8-9 pm
iNSANLAR
iNSANLAR (literally meaning “humanity” in Turkish but with more profound and esoteric connotations) formed in 2010 — with Baris K and Cem Yıldız at the helm — as a jam band for the Anatolian Revival Project held in Instanbul’s Minimüzikhol, the network’s local club. The band members have worked with eminent artists, including the Turkish hip-hop superstar, Kabus Kerim, dancer Bahar de Baba Zula and percussionist Sinan Tansal, among others. The album Kime Ne, released in 2015 by London label Honest Jon’s, gained international admiration, catching the ear of the listener with its idiosyncratic blend of traditional Anatolian-Mesopotamian instrumentation, electronic music and spiritual and philosophical lyrics.
Sabatini Building, Garden
7–8:30pm
Yoshi and Tashi Wada
The Japanese musician and artist Yoshi Wada, based in San Francisco, joined Fluxus in 1968 after meeting George Maciunas. Subsequently, he studied music composition with La Monte Young, the Indian vocalist Pandit Pran Nath and the Scottish bagpipe players James McIntosh and Nancy Crutcher. His work, normally made with long horns connected to air compressors, bagpipes and other electronic mediums, is built from the use of loud drone sounds. Yoshi Wada’s son Tashi Wada, who grew up in New York and lives in Los Angeles, works with experimental music, art and interdisciplinary performance, his compositions using seemingly simple structures and tuning systems calibrated to generate perceptively rich and unpredictable effects.
In this instance, they will perform a specific piece with the collaboration of percussionist Ingar Zach and the Banda de Gaitas Lume de Biqueira.
8:30–10pm
Damián Schwartz
The Madrid producer, DJ and artist trained in jazz, studying bass composition, a focus which held sway in the work he subsequently produced. His early career was strongly influenced by ‘90s techno, a sound that grew and evolved into rhythms more akin to house music. Schwartz has played in clubs such as the Panorama Bar, Berghain, Robert Johnson, Fabric and Output, his records praised by critics and artists alike.
In this session, Schwartz will explore the edgier side of dance music, relating figures such as Jamal Moss and his more experimental strands to composers such as Terry Riley and Robert Ashley.
Sabatini Building, Gallery 102
6-9pm
Éliane Radigue, Trilogy on Death, performed by Emmanuel Holterbach
Since the beginning of the 1970s, the electronic music of the French composer Éliane Radigue, born in 1932, has been created exclusively with one synthesiser: the ARP 2500 modular system. In 1970 at the University of New York Radigue founded a studio, which she shared with Laurie Spiegel. After a period of exploration, she converted to Tibetan Buddhism and spent three years with the guru Rinpoche Pao, before realigning her musical compositions.
Emmanuel Holterbach will perform the full version of Trilogy on Death inside a domed gallery set up for this immersive experience — the audience can listen to the pieces lying down and can relax in the brief intervals.
Sabatini Building, Garden
9-11pm
Agnès Pe
Agnès Pe, born in Lleida in 1985, works with sound that transcends the limits of any genre, and is characterised by a fun and overwhelming attitude, spanning the parameters of lo-fi and seeking new ways of relating to the elements she recomposes. A self-taught and multidisciplinary musicologist and researcher, her interests lie in the uncommon, where labels are by the by. This constant musical exploration has led her to perform numerous sets in cities such as Valencia, Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Mexico City. She currently runs the radiophonic space "Mitt Paté" on Radio_On_Berlin.
Agnès Pe will perform her own interpretation of the concept of Archipelago, approaching a musical theme via different styles and places and through her influences and interests.
