Musicians and Machines

I read about a series of collaborative concerts that happened Winter 2003 between the London Sinfonietta, one of the forefront performers of contemporary classical music, and Warp Records, the Sheffield techno label home to Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada and other experimental electronica artists.

I don't know much about classical music but I know this collection of Aphex Twin/Squarepusher arrangements and John Cage/Steve Reich pieces would make Mozart soil his fine silk breeches. This is a far cry from the more conservative, yet brilliant efforts of composers like Mozart, Bethoven etc. Still, it's amazing how Squarepusher et al mix in so well with "avant-garde 20th Century pioneers". (Then again I'm just a dilettant when it comes to classical music)

Admittedly, I'm still getting into it because I'm not familiar with this sort of music but here are some tracks that stuck out to me.

Aphex Twin - Prepared Piano Piece 1
(Aphex alters the sound of the piano by draping chains across the strings)

Aphex Twin - Prepared Piano Piece 2

John Cage - Sonatas 5 & 6 (From Sonatas and Interludes)

(John Cage was the innovator of the Prepared Piano (to your right) and used nails, rubber etc. to modify the sound)

Steve Reich - Violin Phase
(Reich invented the technique of phasing, where a repeated phase is played slightly out of synch with itself, creating complex patterns) I remember this piece from music class in high school.

Why should you go out and buy this exquisite double cd book set? Because life, my dears, is too short not to be avant-garde!

(Order it from Von's or borrow it from me)