SUBSTRATA: LONDON - RAFAEL ANTON IRISARRI + MOON ATE THE DARK + IÑIGO UGARTEBURU

Event information

An evening presenting styles of significant variance, enough to defy simple classification, nonetheless all overlapping in regards to being explorers of the vague, crepuscular, immersive, deeply sonorous lower frequency and minor key tonalities of the mysterious and the subaqueous, of the diminishing twilight, the fog-filled night. These different takes on the potency of minimalism, varying between weighty combinations of tonalities used to sculpt out atmospheric ambiance, or powerful dynamic structures made up of the subtlest filigree of sonic building materials. By creating compositional spaces dealing with a sense of mass, along with openness of structure, the perspective of scale and the listener’s place in relation is shifted to allow for greater a sense of place beyond the environ of the performance in the interplay of the moment and physics of the larger world.

RAFAEL ANTON IRISARRI

Rafael Anton Irisarri is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, curator, producer and interdisciplinary artist. Critically acclaimed for his contributions to the post-minimalist, modern classical, drone and ambient music scenes, Irisarri strive towards a sound that exists in “an undifferentiated welter of classical, electronica, pop & techno.” (Pitchfork Media, USA)

His gaussian textural approach is one of deep pulsing basses and floating tones, all which can be emotive and epic to the point of been symphonic. His use of ostinato phrases taps into minimalist ideals, whilst his use of reverb captures a cinematic vision. His recorded works are widely published in over a dozen labels around the globe, including Ghostly International, Miasmah, Room40, and Touch. > Irisarri’s live performances are centered around bowed electric guitar, amps, synths, effect pedals and laptop electronics – he travels frequently from his home in Seattle to perform worldwide. Highlights include concerts at Barcelona’s Sónar, Montreal’s MUTEK, and Krakow’s Unsound, and multidisciplinary arts events like Milan’s prestigious MITO SettembreMusica and Jerusalem’s Israel Festival.

MOON ATE THE DARK

Moon Ate The Dark is the shadowy moniker of Welsh pianist Anna Rose Carter and Canadian producer Christopher Bailey. Between them, the two London-based transplants make a soundtrack to longing, memory and displacement and inject fresh life into the solo piano subgenre. Anna Rose Carter's prowess has been witnessed before on a slew of releases over the last few years, but her delicate touch gets dragged into deeper, darker crevices thanks to Christopher Bailey's reverberating treatments and smart microphone tricks. With a subtle sense of pacing and space, Bailey and Carter create music which echoes through the last thirty years of experimental piano music without necessarily sounding exactly like any of it. This should be something we can all cherish.

IÑIGO UGARTEBURU

Iñigo Ugarteburu is a Basque composer and artist. He uses a broad palette of guitar, horns and woodwind, ukulele, harmonium, euphonium and strings to craft filigree instrumentals of often heartbreaking and deeply memorable quality. He's performed at festivals such as Sónar, Ertz and Re-Mapa de Arteleku with cult avant folk groups Carcáscara and Café Teatro. Though living in London now, he retains close ties with his homeland, where he’s a member of the Basque music collective Arto Artian. He's latest release, For The Unknown, is out now on Foehn Records (ES).