review01.10

Everything Makes Noise. Then Comes Silence

The Oslo-based contemporary music festival Ultima taught me that in a world where everything makes noise, silence can be the most radical expression of all. Perhaps we should send Ed Sheeran to Norway for a study trip?

By Louise Steiwer

review30.09

Into the Unknown

In Žibuoklė Martinaitytė’s first opera, the Arctic becomes a landscape for music that moves slowly but contains immense power.

By Andrew Mellor

• comment22.09

  What Is Ambient When Everyone Is Making It?

  
  Three days at a conference on ambient music prompted me to reconsider the genre’s old heroes, its relationship with AI, and its strange journey from niche to ubiquitous background music.

  By Kristoffer Møllegaard
• review20.09

  Samsø Finds a New Sound

  
  On Samsø, Salad Days makes room for sound art, improvisation, noise and experimental music. The festival’s small scale creates a particular openness – but also leaves the project vulnerable, as it depends on the efforts of a few people.

  By Ania Mauruschat
• review15.09

  Langgaard Lets His Hair Down

  
  The Rued Langgaard Festival opened up the composer’s universe to Sweden, visual art and new interpretations of his music. The strongest moments came when Langgaard escaped the familiar confines. The next step must be to bring him further out into Ribe.

  By Catja C. Gaebel

• interview03.09

  Live From the Universe

  
  Cosmic radiation passes through our bodies without us ever noticing. In a new exhibition, Christian Skjødt Hasselstrøm attempts to make this invisible stream tangible through sound, light and space.

  By Louise Steiwer
• review31.08

  When Opera Leaves the House

  
  Copenhagen Opera Festival has broadened the reach of opera while making it more experimental under Amy Lane. But when bold projects fail to find their form, the courage to experiment can tip into gimmickry.

  By Andrew Mellor
• review26.08

  The Art of Letting Go

  
  On three new albums by Sofie Birch, Tyondai Braxton, and Gustaf Dicksson & co., electronics come alive, melodies are allowed to lose their way, and experimental music discovers a rare lightness.

  By Nikola Nedeljkovic Gøttsche

essay18.08

The British School of Emotionalism and Metamodernism

From irony to sincerity – and back again. On a new metamodern sensibility in British contemporary music.

By Marat Ingeldeev

review13.07

Five Things I Learned About Love in Bergen

The Bergen International Festival promised »endless love«. I listened closely – and found it everywhere from medieval madrigals to pop ballads spanning the centuries.

By Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek