in brief
13.12.2021

Blødende positioner

Josefine Opsahl: »I Walk I Bleed«
© Martin Høyer
© Martin Høyer

»Tag et stykke kridt. I er alle i dialog med hinanden!« blev det annonceret i køen til en af Sort/Hvids musikdramatiske satsninger, I Walk I Bleed af Josefine Opsahl. Med kridtet fik vi stukket et publikumspartitur i hånden med tydelige instruktioner: »Gå ind i rummet … Skriv disse ytringer ned … Lad cellisterne afsløre ytringernes musik … Lyt sammen«. I den sorte teaterboks blev vi mødt af en mystisk kapellignende atmosfære, hvor ti hvidklædte cellister tårnede sig op langs væggen som skinnende marmorskulpturer eller en form for elitær broderorden. 

En bred sort tavle midt i rummet fyldtes langsomt op med de oplistede ord som »Walk«, »Run«, »Feed« og »Breathe«, før vi skulle sætte os ned for at blive omringet af celloernes stimulerende lyd. Det var overvældende at blive mødt af de ti vibrerende instrumenter. Først stod den på en kort improvisation med skiftende solistiske indslag over de nedskrevne ord, som cellisterne umuligt kunne læse fra så stor afstand, men det var dramatisk at følge deres blikke og individualitet. Størstedelen af værket var dog gennemkomponeret, og alle celloens muligheder kom i spil fra koreograferede percussive tik og hvallydende glissandi til tunge buestrøg og et genkendeligt tema, der blev udviklet fra sats til sats. 

»Ordene er dine, gulvet er dit«, stod der skrevet i vores lille partitur. Men var det sandheden? Ordene var jo ikke vores, vi kom aldrig i dialog, og interaktionen føltes så stramt iscenesat, at publikum forblev i den traditionel passivt modtagende rolle, som værket egentlig forsøgte at udfordre. Det føltes som et tabt potentiale i en ellers visuelt og musikalsk stærk performance.

© Ana Alexandrino

»Music to me is movement, trance, transformation. The rest I won't tell you.«

Marcela Lucatelli is a vocalist and composer. Born in Brazil and based in Denmark, she has gained international recognition for her boundary-pushing performances — sensuous, politically charged, and uncompromisingly original. Described by The Wire as a composer of »scores for the limits of bodies and voice,« Lucatelli challenges conventions with her fearless vocal experimentation and bold compositions. Her works have been performed by Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Vocal Ensemble, and Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart. She has appeared at major festivals and venues, including Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, DR Koncerthuset, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Darmstadt Ferienkurse, IRCAM, Copenhagen Opera Festival, Ultima Festival, Borealis Festival, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Jazzfestival Saalfelden, Cafe Oto, A L’ARME!, DMA Jazz – Danish Music Awards, WOMEX, and many more. Lucatelli's work has earned her several prestigious awards, including the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Talent Prize (2019), Pelle Prize (2021), and the Danish Music Awards' 2023 Vocal Jazz Release of the Year, which shows that vocal jazz has many faces – and does not necessarily belong only to the soft end of the spectrum.

© PR

»What is music to me? Here’s a quote from Nietzsche: ‘The people dancing all seemed crazy to the people who couldn’t hear the music.’«

Salim Washington is a saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, academic, and activist from Detroit who has been highly active on the American jazz scene since the 1970s, and also in South Africa, where he became a central figure. The spirit of John Coltrane hovers over his music, which carries both spiritual and social dimensions.

© Aske Jørgensen

»Music for us is the perfect language that we love to speak. A language where it is the individual's feelings and imagination that determine what is right and wrong. Everyone can speak the language. You don't have to be able to write or understand, but just listen. Some music requires that you listen carefully and maybe hear it several times. A bit like when you talk to someone from Norway or Sweden, you also have to listen a little extra.«

DØGNKIOSK is a Danish punk rock band with roots in Silkeborg. The band consists of bassist and singer Anders Ejner, who has been active on the Danish underground scene for several decades. Musically, DØGNKIOSK moves in a field between classic Danish punk and alternative rock. In the spring of 2026, the band will release their second album, Tæt på kanten.

© Bastian Zimmermann
© Bastian Zimmermann

It is difficult to comprehend that Andreas Engström is no longer with us. Just a couple of months ago, he wrote – as he had done so many times before – with an ambitious proposal: he wanted to review a box set of twenty releases by Dror Feiler. In the same message, he mentioned plans to come to Aarhus for the recently concluded Spor Festival.

in briefrelease
04.05

The Escape From a Hotel That May Not Exist

RÖM: »Whispering Dub«

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re deep underground – indeed, all the way to France. This EP is the latest conceptual release from French electronic producer Romain Martin, who works under the name RÖM in the borderland between ambient and techno. Whispering Dub unfolds across five tracks, drawing heavily on dub while telling a story about an escape from a fictional hotel. Escomel’s background in African percussion studies and his fondness for analog gear surface in the mysterious sonic textures and the stark contrast between arranged percussion and dubbed-out echoes, underscoring the concept’s tension between mysticism and reality.

»Oilbird« opens in dystopian ambient before sliding into the rhythmic »Eastern Temple«, which constantly shifts between filtered synths, frantic percussion, and sudden breakbeats. Things cohere more fully on the title track, which blends minimal techno into the mix and stands out by maintaining a steady pulse, while echo-laden drums cast an unsettling atmosphere within the dance framework. On the closing »Hotel Amnesia«, the narrator awakens again in a collage of the record’s electronic tendencies, questioning their own existence in the album’s only use of vocals.

Whispering Dub isn’t wildly groundbreaking or bizarre enough to push the senses into extreme reactions. But as a well-produced and effective piece of electronic music, it invites the listener into a compelling game of whispers.

English translation: Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek