jamie xx – and so she thinks https://andsoshethinks.co.uk CREATE:COMMUNICATE:CONNECT Thu, 30 Jul 2015 09:11:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://andsoshethinks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/cropped-FAVICON-90x90-1-32x32.png jamie xx – and so she thinks https://andsoshethinks.co.uk 32 32 Soundscapes at The National Gallery https://andsoshethinks.co.uk/soundscapes-at-the-national-gallery/ https://andsoshethinks.co.uk/soundscapes-at-the-national-gallery/#respond Thu, 30 Jul 2015 09:11:00 +0000 https://andsoshethinks.wordpress.com/?p=4926 When I was a child I used to put on my headphones, press play on my Walkman, and draw the song I was listening to. I have always been fascinated by the blurring of the senses and how clues from each build up our perception of events. The entire world is synesthetic in this sense.
Soundscapes is an incredible exhibition. It is small in sizebut vast in emotion. Six music artists have composed soundtracks to paintings from the The National Gallery, interpreting the image, process and experience in powerful and diverse ways.
Chris Watson is a wildlife sound recordist, and his soundscape in response to Lake Keitele by Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1905) is an atmospheric immersion into the scene. The breeze of the water, the rush of the shores and the quivering trees absorb the listener, and the unstructured approach means that sounds cannot be pre-empted. Just like in the wild, the call of a bird or bark of a dog cannot be scheduled in. The highest praise of all is to say that ‘it’s as if you are there.’
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Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller’s piece Conversation with Antonello, based on Antonello da Messina’s 1475 painting of Saint Jerome in his Study, takes a similar approach in that the sounds are those you may hear if you were to inhabit the painting. What is striking is the lengths they went through and demonstrate to come to this place. Installation artists, they have recreated the architecture and outdoor space in the painting as a large 3D model, and encourage visitors to imagine walking through the painting, the installation, the setting, and the sounds of people working, footsteps running, horses passing, thundery skies and chanting monks evoke a very real setting, animating the image that lies before us. In the introductory video to the exhibition they explain that their approach was one of exploration, seeking to answer the question as to what you would see if you walked through Jerome’s study, through the monastery, and out into the hills. They succeed.
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Nico Muhly’s grand string response to The Wilton Diptych is more classical in approach, elegant and structured. He describes it as a ‘slow look at all four panels’ and there certainly is a graceful deliberateness to the music. Whilst Muhly’s piece is specific, Gabriel Yared’s string and piano response to Paul Cezanne’s Bathers (1900-1906) is more fluid, the looping and shifting music being fluid and changing. Each speaker plinth in the room represents a different instrument – cello, clarinet, piano and vocals – as the viewer moves between them the intensity changes and the experience of the sound alters. There is a link between the figures in the painting, but they are all individuals, and the same can be said of the solo instruments that combined make a liquescent whole.
In Air on a Broken String, Susan Philipsz evokes the straining tension in The Ambassadors, Hans Holbein’s 1533 painting of Henry VIII and the Bishop of Lavour. By removing one string from the violin a sense of subtle discord is created. Standing in front of the painting even the cloth becomes visceral, the globe rich, and the air thick with emotion. The sense of tension is not defined, but is certainly substantial.
Unlike the other pieces in the exhibition which imagine the sound of the events in the painting, Jamie xx has depicted the process. Entering the room labelled Ultramarine, the name of the sound installation that he produced inspired by Theo van Rysselberghe’s Coastal Scene (1982) the viewer is greeted with a whole. An image of a lake side and a piece of music evocative of that. Moving closer towards the painting, this whole becomes fractured, individual beats and sounds becoming distinct – just like the dots which make up this pointillist image. Directional speakers mean that the experience changes as individuals move around the room, encouraging a different perspective. Multiple sources make up the one whole, and this creation of cohesion from disparate pieces is something that Jamie xx is celebrated for.
The exhibition has received praise from the critics, and I’m surprised. It was a vibrant, emotional and profound experience that raises questions of perspective, interpretation and experience.

]]> https://andsoshethinks.co.uk/soundscapes-at-the-national-gallery/feed/ 0 Best of 2014 https://andsoshethinks.co.uk/best-of-2014/ https://andsoshethinks.co.uk/best-of-2014/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2014 18:40:00 +0000 http://andsoshethinks.wordpress.com/?p=4417 SOTY2I’m lucky to be blessed with awesome friends who have equally awesome taste in music. Over the last few weeks the chat about our top tracks, gigs and albums of the year has been filling our conversations, and Jamie has been kind enough to jot down some of his own thoughts on the songs that have made his ‘Best of 2014.’
Cloud Nothings – Pattern Walks
I could really insert any track from Here And Nowhere Else in this spot. All visceral gut punchers and heart kickers boasting colossal sounds with a kinetic spine.
ScHoolboy Q – Man Of The Year 
Boast song of the year and a total celebration of hedonism. Really great work with the sample aswell.
Shabazz Palaces – Dawn In Luxor
Wondrous and unorthodox as ever. Must be a great feeling to be such a unique band in this current climate. What makes it work is that they’re not trying to be different and odd, it just feels so natural.
Real Estate – Talking Backwards
Soft and warming. The guitars float on a message most of us can relate to.
Wild Beasts – Palace
The juxtaposition of both old and new Wild Beasts really shines through. It tiptoes around with all elements in beautiful unison. You feel ties to previous album closer End Come To Soon, but this backs down from the rousing finale that had and yet doesn’t leave you cold.
The War On Drugs – Under The Pressure
The opening song from ‘Lost In The Dream’ sets the tone perfectly. You know what to expect and you get it. A blustery autumnal ride that makes you want to wrap up warm and go for a walk with no set destination.
Caribou – Can’t Do Without You
A lush tune filled with breeze and a great sense of escapism. Dan Snaith is such a safe pair of hands in any of his monikers.
Nao + AK Paul – So Good
In the absence of his brother Jai, AK aka Anup Paul teams up with new girl Nao and utilises the little production quirks that sets them apart. Chock-full of spritely life and buoyancy.
Ben Khan – Youth
In a similar vein the absence of Jai Paul has made space for admirers to step up. This is the best track from the bunch. My song of the summer and delivers such a strong feeling when it kicks in.
EMA – Satellites
Industrial fuzz that paints a bleak picture.
Jamie XX – Sleep Sound
Impossible for him not to conjure magic from his fingers. You can loose yourself in every single one of his songs and this is no different.
The Antlers – Palace
So delicate you think it could crumble in your ears at any moment. The brass adds a wonderfully different texture and the lyrics thick as ever with melancholy play their part and set the scene for what is to come.
Coldplay – Midnight
A fairly brave step at the time and a really interesting standalone piece that gets the right balance of ingredients. From what other new songs i’ve heard sadly this is the only time they get the recipe spot on.
Sylvan Esso – Coffee
Has a slight feel of a one hit wonder, but is perky, fun and sticks in your head.
iLoveMakonnen + Drake – Tuesday
Guilty pleasure and very much a leave your brain at the door (of the club) song. He’s not very good, but has an odd magnetism to him. Great story about how this all came together.
Metronomy – I’m Aquarius
Very poignant and considered. The layers are beautifully crafted and it all really stands out in a rather disappointing album.
Flying Lotus + Kendrick Lamar – Never Catch Me
FlyLo never stops and yet the quality of his output ever declines. The intricate bass play and ferocious sampling and beats are top notch once again. Plenty of mixed responses to Kendrick’s return this year, but this appearance holds out hope of a return to his peak.
Twilight Sad – There’s A Girl In The Corner
The thing that sets them apart from other standard bands is the power and delivery of the lyrics. They rattle inside your brain and form around your current situations.
SOHN – The Wheel
Yet to delve into the new album by How To Dress Well, but this will more than suffice until then. Evokes heavy feelings of wandering down dark city streets.
Hookworms – On Leaving
Modern psych that hits you full in the face with sheer sonic power. It takes you on a ride that goes up, down and through waves of drone and distortion.
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