There's music with dueling sources of inspiration between nature and technology by American composer Elori Saxl, Norwegian doom jazz trio Splashgirl with sound artist/singer Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, and Japanese composer and marimba player Masayoshi Fujita.
From New York-based American experimental electronic composer Elori Saxl, hear music inspired by her experience of living on a small island in Lake Superior and written for the Guggenheim Museum. In the work, “Surfaces”, Saxl processes acoustic instruments: baritone saxophone and glass marimba - through various forms of digital manipulation that cause distortion and deterioration. The liner notes describe how the work touches on several intertwined themes of “how technology has come to define our daily life: the blurring of physical and digital worlds, the compression and datafication of human experience, and the paradox of everyday stasis and constant change”, (Dave Sutton, liner notes from Bandcamp).
Then from the recent collaborative album, More Human, between the Norwegian doom jazz trio Splashgirl and American musician, composer and sound artist Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, listen to heavy selections exploring “the role of humanity in a society increasingly reliant on technology, where artists face direct competition from artificial intelligence”, (Bandcamp).
There’s also new music by Japanese composer and percussionist Masayoshi Fujita (Jr.), inspired by migratory birds, as he imagines them hearing the music from the land underneath, and how their point of view of the world from above blurs the boundaries of music and land, from his 2024 release Migratory. Listen to this blend of vibraphone, marimba, synths, gagaku woodwind instrument the sho, and special guest saxophonist who happens to be Masayoshi Fujita Senior.
Plus, hear selections from Landfall, a work by New York-based Laurie Anderson in collaboration with Kronos Quartet initially reflecting on the destruction wrought by Superstorm Sandy, and zooming out as Anderson considers the struggles between climate and technology – specifically, extinct species of animals. Also, listen to a collaboration between Italian experimentalists Passepartout Duo and Japanese ambient pioneers Inoyama Land combining environmental music and electronic landscape as play. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4908, Music About Nature & Technology (First aired 7/25/2024)
ARTIST: Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet
WORK: All the Extinct Animals [1:31]
RECORDING: Landfall
SOURCE: Nonesuch 564104
INFO: nonesuch.com
ARTIST: Splashgirl & Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
WORK: Taphead [5:08]
RECORDING: More Human
SOURCE: HUBRO Music
INFO: https://splashgirlhubro.bandcamp.com/album/more-human
ARTIST: Elori Saxl
WORK: Surfaces [5:47]
RECORDING: Drifts and Surfaces
SOURCE: Western Vinyl
INFO: https://elorisaxl.bandcamp.com/album/drifts-and-surfaces
ARTIST: Splashgirl & Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
WORK: Taphead [5:08]
RECORDING: More Human
SOURCE: HUBRO Music
INFO: https://splashgirlhubro.bandcamp.com/album/more-human
ARTIST: Passepartout Duo and Inoyama Land
WORK: Abstract Pets [3:33]
RECORDING: Radio Yugawara
SOURCE: Tonal Union
INFO: https://passepartoutduo.bandcamp.com/album/radio-yugawara
ARTIST: Splashgirl & Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
WORK: More Human [5:37]
RECORDING: More Human
SOURCE: HUBRO Music
INFO: https://splashgirlhubro.bandcamp.com/album/more-human
ARTIST: Masayoshi Fujita
WORK: In a Sunny Meadow [4:12]
RECORDING: Migratory
SOURCE: Erased Tapes
INFO: https://masayoshifujita.bandcamp.com/album/migratory
ARTIST: Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet
WORK: Nothing Left but Their Names [9:38]
RECORDING: Landfall
SOURCE: Nonesuch 564104
INFO: nonesuch.com
ARTIST: Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet
WORK: All the Extinct Animals [2:50]
RECORDING: Landfall
SOURCE: Nonesuch 564104
INFO: nonesuch.com
ARTIST: PJ Harvey
WORK: On Battleship Hill [1:00]
RECORDING: Let England Shake: 12 Short Films by Seamus Murphy
SOURCE: Island Records 2753189
INFO: https://PJHarvey.lnk.to/OfficialStoreID
ARTIST: Deru
WORK: The Way Through The Forest [5:19]
RECORDING: We Will Live On
SOURCE: Friends of Friends
INFO: https://fofmusic.lnk.to/WeWillLiveOn