Photos of Listen to This with Viral Radio
Listen to this with Viral Radio at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ
Last night the world renowned Kronos Quartet played the final concert in the Listen to This series at the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ. On the programme was the Dutch premiere of Steve Reich’s WTC 9/11.
In support of this premiere, Viral Radio presented a special programme with two artists whose work has also been inspired by the tragedy of 9/11, Mark Bain and William Basinski, and three who work with the more abstract theme of dread, Roly Porter, C_DR_C and HSIK.
William Basinski The Disintegration Loop 1.1. (photo: Roel van Herpt)
At the beginning of the evening there was a screening of William Basinski's gripping The Disintegration Loop 1.1. This eerily beautiful video by the American avant-garde composer consists of one static shot of lower Manhattan billowing smoke during the last hour of daylight on September 11th, 2001, set to the decaying pastoral tape loop Basinski had recorded in August, 2001.
Mark Bain (photo: Hervé Sika)
American vibrations artist Mark Bain showed his work StartEndTime, which uses seismological data from New York during the September 11 2001 terror attacks to create a 74-minute recording of the ground vibrations of the World Trade Centre’s collapse and contiguous mayhem.
The Kronos Quartet (photo: Menno Dudok van Heel)
The Kronos Quartet played for the first time at the new Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. On the programme were works by composers Bryce Dessner, Nicole Lizée, Ram Narayan, Clint Mansell, Laurie Anderson, Aleksandra Vrebalov, and of course Steve Reich, whose WTC 9/11 was played in the Netherlands for the first time.
The Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (photo: Hervé Sika)
Mark Bain and David Harrington (photo: Shane Burmania)
After the concert, I interviewed Kronos Quartet founder David Harrington and artist Mark Bain on their work in relation to 9/11. Many members of the audience joined in, resulting in a candid conversation between the artists.
Industrial-strength drones, art-techno, noise and moody synth experimentation came in the form of a live performance from Roly Porter, formerly of Vex’d. Operating in a similar sphere to Raime, Ben Frost and Mika Vainio, Porter's haunting performance, oscillating a grey cloud of monochrome electronica, sub-bass frequencies and contemporary classical music, made the building vibrate.
Viral Radio residents C_DR_C and HSIK ended the night with special sets full of scifi dread music inspired by riots, warfare and urban upheavals.
A sincere thank you to the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ for the opportunity to bring together these incredible artists. And a warm kiitos to everyone who came and stayed until the end. I look forward to seeing you all again soon.
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The next Listen to This with Viral Radio will be on 14 December, with a.o. Ben Frost, Seth Josel, Raphael Vanoli and resident DJs Juha, C_DR_C and HSIK.
