Wednesday 16 September 2015, 8pm
Tusk presents a triple-bill of artists sliding between the cracks of classical, ambient, folk, song and more – linked in sheer defiance at catyegorisation as much as the sounds they create. Chicago-based duo, Spires That In The Sunset Rise, have released seven albums since 2001, traversing a whole array of sonic spectrums in the process. Live, they build on the foundations of saxophone, flute and voice to create something enthrallingly more than the sum of its parts. Irish-born London resident Aine O’Dwyer is no stranger to OTO audiences, having performed a number of hypnotic sets here in the past couple of years. Refusing to rest on her laurels after the rapturous reception afforded to last year's reissue of Music For Church Cleaners vol. I and II on MIE, O’Dwyer's sound remains restless. Finally, it's a pleasure to welcome back French duo Natural Snow Buildings, who performed to a mesmerised audience at OTO last year with their densely unfurling pastoral drone.
Since 2001, STITSR has released seven full length albums, Beasts In The Garden (2015), Ancient Patience Wills It Again Part 2 (2012), Ancient Patience Wills It Again (2012), Curse The Traced Bird (2008), This Is Fire (2006), Four Winds The Walker (2004), and their first self-titled (2003). Having once been a collaboration of up to five women all hailing from Decatur, Illinois, the music is now the more intimate expression of long time members Kathleen Baird and Taralie Peterson. The instrumentation remains varied and eclectic, toying with certain traditions but never fully embracing one. STITSR remains a truly unique vision of the personal and mystical and is not for the casual listener. Since its formation, STITSR have shared bills with John Zorn, Espers, The Incredible String Band, Bert Jansch, Lichens, Paul Metzger, Charlambides, Pelt, MV/EE, Faun Fables, Six Organs of Admittance, Larkin Grimm, Arrington Dionyso, Melissa Nadler, Lucky Dragons, Jack Rose, Kawabata Makoto, Daniel Higgs, Nautical Almanac, Samara Lubelski, P.G. Six, Mayor Daley, Old Time Relijun, Josef Van Wissem, and others.
O’Dwyer is a multidisciplinary artist whose work is informed by both the conceptual concerns of sound art and traditional composition techniques, embracing the broader aesthetics of sound and its relationship to environment. She has created works for large-scale and intimate settings that allow for both planned and unplanned compositions to co-exist in live situ. Recent works include 'Poems for Daedalus’ , a series of site-specific performances developed in Athens 2018; the book 'Poems for play', a collection of scores for a Jesuit monastery; 'Accompaniment for Captives’ , a performance for two fishing boats; 'Performance for Live Stream' (Cafe OTO, 2021), an audio-visual work; 'Song of Place' (2022) a street opera staged in Bristol suburbia and ‘Sing in the Dark’ ( 2024 ) a live vocal performance for acousmonium.
https://aineodwyer.bandcamp.com/
Natural Snow Buildings make melodic, orchestrated, droning compositions with layers of guitars, chants, woodwinds, percussive bells, distortion and delay. This French duo are almost mythic in stature, their live shows proving an even more rare jewel than their records, which seem to briefly appear in limited numbers before instantly being devoured.
The Brittany-based duo of Mehdi Ameziane and Solange Gularte began creating music together after meeting at university in the late 90s, armed with little more than cello, guitar and voice. They began issuing tapes and CDRs in miniscule quantities, word slowly spreading through the exclamations of such devoted advocates as Digitalis and Time Lag. Despite their minimal means, Natural Snow Buildings' music is never less than all-consuming, be it in their ethereal and windswept epics or their moments of close-mic'd vocal-and-guitar tenderness.
