Naima Karlsson treats us to deep searching improvised recordings on 70s organ and vector synth. Originally recorded in Jan 2020 for an installation by Gery Georgieva at Cubitt Artists in London, Naima later reworked the piece, transmuting the material into '[Vital organs] I. Heart Protector. In it, slow winding motifs and melodic washes find their feet in a melancholic dirge. Lines of sound open up and unfurl, revealing over time a fragile inner structure. Like the work of her grandparents, Naima's music is rooted in the soil of the earth but gradually lifts itself skywards, finding solace in both the physical and digital world.
The track is accompanied by a video collage by Naima: "The video is a collage of still and moving found images that journey through the organ track on an internal and universal scale. Taking influence from the title, protection and the body are prominent themes. The images search for fluid interconnections between micro and macro bodies in the physical, digital and astral realms such as far-off stars, cell phone devices, Dogon astronomy drawings, bodies of water and our central heart space." - Naima Karlsson
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Naima Karlsson - All instrumentation & video collage
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Naima will be donating 50% of her profits from this release to the Movement for Black Lives.
Recorded by Maxwell Sterling
2020
Naima Karlsson (b. 1982) is a multi-disciplinary artist and musician based in London. Her practice interweaves sonic and visual forms led by interests in repetition, improvisation, and the abstract relationships between language, symbol, image, and sound. Naima’s main instrument is the piano, as well as percussion, vibraphone, and organ. Improvisation is at the core of the artist's musical process, combined with minimalist uses of tone, arrangement, and an inherently organic approach to playing. Naima is part of the duo Exotic Sin with Kenichi Iwasa, and she is an archivist and coordinator for the Estate of Moki Cherry and Cherry Archive. She is currently presenting Moki Cherry: Here and Now at ICA London (Wed 31 May – Sun 3 September 2023)
