Before the SHAPE platform for innovative music and audiovisual art starts its September-October-November marathon of showcases, August sees the platform calmly preparing for attack with three smaller events in Berlin and Ljubljana – partner festivals CTM and SONICA will present the Icelandic cellist Hildur Gudnadottir and post-techno producer Ketev.
Hildur Gudnadottir
The EU-supported SHAPE platform, which gathers 16 European festivals of adventurous music and art, will start its August by visiting Berlin, where SHAPE artist Hildur Gudnadottir will be opening for the American drone metal group Sunn 0))). The concert is organized by CTM festival, and is taking place at Heimathafen Neukölln on August 8th. Sunn 0))) will be performing this concert in their original duo line-up of Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley.
Next stop for Hildur Gudnadottir is Ljubljana, where the Slovenian festival SONICA will present her solo show as part of their concert series SONICA Classics. SONICA Classics series presents creators working on diverse crossroads between electronic music and contemporary classical music, and open new musical spaces, attract new publics and introduce unexpected sounds to both classical and club venues. This concert on August 29th will see Gudnadottir performing in the atmospheric old town city center, on the Ljubljanica river.
Meanwhile back in Berlin, CTM is presenting a special club night, devoted to the label Where to now?, and the event will see SHAPE artist Ketev performing alongside such acts as Moon Wheel and Jesse Osborne-Lanthier. The event will happen on August 13 at Berghain Kantine. Where To Now? label heads Matt Hendon and James Hines will also be in attendance, digging deep into their record bags to compliment the performances. In the words of CTM, expect an evening where mutated and damaged techno harmoniously slides alongside immersive, intricate soundscape work, and full blown experimentation!
Artist biographies:
KETEV
Ketev is a project by Yair Elazar Glotman, a musician and sound artist focusing on experimental electroacoustic composition, sound installations, and sculptures. A post techno project made by phasing patterns from Reel-to-reel tape loops that are manipulated by 4-track cassette decks, Ketev creates roaring textures above slowly shifting rhythmic mantras. The artist’s self-titled debut release on Opal Tapes in 2014, described as “picking up where the darkest records by Andy Stott and Sam Kerridge left off” (Boomkat), was well-received, and quickly followed-up by a second release, Singular Stare, on the UK label where to now?.
Hildur Guðnadóttir (1982) is an Icelandic cello player, composer and singer who has been manifesting herself at the forefront of experimental pop and contemporary music (e.g. with the band múm). In her solo works she draws out a broad spectrum of sounds from her instrument, ranging from intimate simplicity to huge soundscapes. Gudnadóttir began playing cello as a child, entered the Reykjavík Music Academy and then moved on to musical studies/composition and new media at the Iceland Academy of the Arts and Universitat der Kunste in Berlin. Hildur’s albums are all released on Touch.
About SHAPE:
A new 3-year initiative co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, the SHAPE project reunites 16 European non-profit organisations active within the ICAS – International Cities of Advanced Sound network to create a platform that aims to support, promote, and exchange innovative and aspiring emergent musicians and interdisciplinary artists with an interest in sound.
All 16 organisations collectively choose 48 musicians to participate in a mix of live performances, residencies, workshops and talks across member festivals and special events. A new pool of 48 artists will be selected subsequently for each of years two and three of the SHAPE initiative.
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