Wednesday 2 December 2015, 8pm
Charlemagne Palestine is one of music's true iconoclasts - famed for his epic, extended duration works for organ, the distinctive piano playing of his 'strumming music' and his ritualistic 'stuffed animals and cognac' performance style. For this show, Charlemagne will be renewing his collaboration with Grumbling Fur – the duo of Alexander Tucker and Daniel O'Sullivan, with whom he performed at OTO as part of a jaw-dropping residency in 2013.
A pioneer of minimalist music and avant-garde performance, Charlemagne Palestine has spent decades crafting immersive soundscapes that defy convention. Known for his deeply ritualistic approach to composition, Palestine’s works often utilize drones, overtones, and layered harmonic textures to create transcendent listening experiences. His influence spans across multiple disciplines, cementing his place as one of the most significant figures in experimental music.
Daniel O'Sullivan and Alexander Tucker are long time friends and collaborators. Both artists are veterans of the UK experimental underground: O’Sullivan as a member of Guapo, Ulver, and Aethenor (with Stephen O’Malley), and Tucker with imbogodom and as an eclectic (read: Yeti) solo artist. On their newest album as Grumbling Fur, Glynnaestra, they have crafted an avant-pop album assembled as one would a collage. This structural foundation is built up via an eclectic array of instruments, both acoustic and modified, to pulsating electronic sounds. Add to this mix the pair’s entirely modern shamanistic meta-narratives, and the result is a contemporary psychedelic pop delight. Grumbling Fur’s world is an innovative one, where every sound contains its own unique story, and is driven by the overarching melody and harmony. O’Sullivan and Tucker write pop songs for the sophisticated palate.
