Friday 25 November 2016, 8pm
Martin Brandlmayr / drums, electronics, editing and arrangements
John Norman / bass
Martin Siewert / guitar, lapsteel, electronics
Radian return to OTO following the release of new album, On Dark Silent Off, on Thrill Jockey. Martin Brandlmayr, John Norman and Martin Siewert combine the traditional instrumentation of rock music with extremely minimalist, abstract structures. A short noise appears in the open space, rhythmic fragments are articulated with care, elements of noise are layered on top of each other to suddenly form a complex of individual beauty. Radian’s aesthetics are a subtle disruption of continuities.
“Radian is a machine, their music the sum of body hydraulics and fuzzy logic.” – Will Montgomery, The Wire
Vienna is the home of Radian, Martin Brandlmayr (drums, electronics), John Norman(bass), and Martin Siewert (guitars, electronics), who have been influenced by and shaped the city’s vivid scene of electronica in the early 2000s. Vienna is currently a wide open creative home to many new music composers and innovators. Today, the members of Radian are pillars of that community.
The title of the album, On Dark Silent Off, is a nod to Ad Reinhardt, whose art and theory has been influential on the trio.
The juxtaposition of extremes (on/off) is present in Radian’s work: the contrast between light and darkness; and in musical terms, sound and silence and brightness/darkness of timbre.
Radian creates a field of tension between extreme dynamics, freely improvised parts and meticulous construction, an inherent contrast between soft sounds and sharp edits. Radian’s recording/creative process takes a central role in shaping the pieces. It is a two-fold process of creating material through improvisation, sound experiments and processing on the one hand, and a routine of carefully selecting and editing this material on the other. It is often the case that mere snippets are used out of hours of sound material. The contrast between the magic of the moment, spontaneous live performance and its subsequent careful construction shape the quality of the pieces.
Olimpia Splendid plays hypnotic and out-of tune electric guitar music. The trio was founded in the summer of 2010 in Helsinki. Noisy and playful songs with haunted vocals and drum machine loops are composed and performed by Heta Bilaletdin, Jonna Karanka and Katri Sipiläinen. They have also played in Toblerones, Melmac, Bir iki, Hertta Lussu Ässä, Hockey Night, MYTTYS and Kuupuu. Fonal Records released their 7” ep in 2013 which was followed by a full-length debut in July 2015.
“Uptempo rattle of no-note guitar licks and no-brain bass riffs that kicks and jerks like a barracuda on a bait line. Most enticing of all is the feeling these riffs could endlessly spiral on and fill many hours of barbed and beautiful releases yet to come.” – The WIRE
“This wonderful Finnish trio sound like Royal Trux, The Dead C and the troublemaking witches from Macbeth, stirring their pot with grease and glitter. Their first album is full of dirty, sexy psych rock topped with high pitched, breathy female vocals and whispery growls. (...) Party music for the tipping point before things get messy.” – The WIRE
