Category: Alex Menzies

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So Below is a live performance piece for a chapel or resonant space, with the option of using various instruments. It was first performed in 2019 at the Glasgow University Chapel, supported by Cryptic, and with Maarten Vos on cello.

The setup is for an array of speakers around the space, with the sound moving through the room. It is performed in the dark, or as near-dark as can be achieved, and the focus is on the sound rather than the performance. This recording has been adapted to stereo.

It will be available only on Bandcamp.

Cello: Maarten Vos

Equipment: Cello, Voice, Monochord, Symbolic Sound Kyma, Looper

Software: Ableton Live, Madrona Labs Kaivo, Madrona Labs Aalto

Thanks to PRS Foundation for funding

and Cryptic for the support.

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This is the second volume of work created from the research into music and sound’s role in healthcare that I conducted as part of an NHS Music Fellowship in 2018.

Again, the focus is largely on ambient and beat-less music, that helps induce a state of calm or reflection. One of the few universally measurable effects of music in a healthcare context is the reduction of the stress response, so important in improving the body’s ability to heal itself. Many other facets of music obviously affect people in widely different ways, and what one person may find cathartic, another may find deeply depressing.

There are some commonalities amongst traditional cultures however, with certain scales associated with feelings of calm and passivity, and I have used some of these here.

The album will be on Bandcamp only for the first few months to raise money for NHS charities. Once it goes to streaming it essentially makes no money, but that’s another conversation. For today (1st May) it is also worth much more as Bandcamp are waiving their fees, so I’d encourage anyone who was interested to buy it today especially.

And finally, you can hear it here:

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I am lucky enough to be performing two different shows in Mexico over the next fortnight, as part of the 15th Visiones Sonoras Festival in Morelia, and by extension in Mexico City.

The first show will be a live version of music released as part of my Other World Music (OWM) series, and be part of the festival’s inaugural concert in Morelia.

The second show will be a version of ‘So Below’, performed in Mexico City’s beautiful Ex Teresa chapel, now an arts venue. It will be performed alongside some of Scottish Composer Matthew Grouse’s latest work.

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Nice review of the ‘So Below’ live show, from earlier this year.

https://www.list.co.uk/article/107783-so-below-alex-smoke-and-maarten-vos/

There will be news on further performances shortly, and am working towards a London show in the not-too-distant (but probably more distant than I think) future.

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Other World Music Vol.I has been nominated for the EVM Award for Electroacoustic/sound art work as part of the Scottish Awards For New Music.

Awards are always a strange proposition as they suggest competition, which is a mindset far removed from the thinking that went into the work. But recognition of one’s music is always welcome, especially if the work is of a personal nature, and it helps draw attention to many artists who otherwise might remain unknown to the larger public.

In this instance my category also features Louise Harris and Pippa Murphy.

Niteworks, whose album I helped produce, are also up for an award in The Good Spirits Co award for innovation in New Traditional Music.

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You may have seen this on my Twitter or Facebook but it also belongs here, being as it is a further step towards making music for contexts outside of the norm.

Cryptic are an arts organisation who specialise in audio-visual installation and performance, and they’ve taken me on as one of their associate artists, which means they’ll be supporting me in my artistic endeavours and helping me with one-off performances and touring installations.

We have worked together before, on 2015’s ‘Etanan‘ with Florence To , and last year’s ‘Portal‘ with Robbie Thomson. There are now further projects in the pipeline, the first of which will be announced very shortly.

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The first official result of my last year’s music fellowship with the NHS, exploring the links between health and sound.

Of the many fascinating avenues that I explored, this album encapsulates ideas from just a few of them, and is particularly focussed on the use of music as a way of reducing stress.

I will be writing up a more complete overview of my year’s research at some point, and there will be a further album later in the year exploring other ideas from it.

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The second volume of my Other World Music series, under my own name, has been released.

Again, it draws its influences from various musical traditions and forms and incorporates some of the research of my NHS music fellowship this year.

 

I am just pressing up tapes and releasing them myself although they will also be in shops such as Boomkat sometime around the middle of December.

It is limited to a run of 111.

You can buy it from my website here:

https://www.alexmenzies.net/product/other-world-music-vol-ii-cassette

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For the last few years I have been working increasingly away from the dancefloor under my own name, and soaking up more varied influences. Other World Music will be a series of albums reflecting my explorations in these new fields, part electronic, part acoustic, and exploring facets of sound and music such as psycho-acoustics, modal forms and various other approaches to modern composition.

Other World Music Vol.1 is the first release on my new label of the same name, and represents a bit of a crossing point in some ways, as is nearly always the way when setting a new course.

The release is digital and cassette, and can be bought from my Bandcamp, although the digital release on its own can be bought from all the usual places. The cassette comes with a free download version and is housed in a nice handmade lino-print sleeve with a tracklist card. If you would like it signed, just ask at checkout on Bandcamp. It is limited at 100 copies.