Live Sessions 0-20 / Live Sessions 20-40 / Live Sessions 40-60
Icarus Live Session #41: Music Of Benares (Pandit Shivnath Mishra-Deobrat Mishra- Prashant Mishra)
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We are very proud to introduce you to some legends in Indian traditional classical music for this Live Session. This set was recorded during their European Tour in Soulpath Gent, Belgium. From their home city of Benares (North-India), an ancient spiritual centre of traditional music and Indian culture, “The Mishras” are bringing classical North Indian Ragas and meditative music to the world audience, gifting the audience with a fabulous performance and a spiritual experience. Pandit Shivnath Mishra, also known as “Legend of the Sitar” is the 6th generation of the prominent Benares Gharana lineage of top class singers including Pandit Bade Ramdas Mishra. He has performed with several international jazz artists such as John Handy, Paul Horn, David Freezen and received many awards. he plays here with his son Deobrat and nephew Prashant.
Pandit Shivnath Mishra, Sitar
Deobrat Mishra, Sitar
Prashant Mishra, Tabla
Icarus Live Session #42: Kevin Verwijmeren
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Since 2013, he creates musical patterns and melodies, which he combines into contemplative landscapes of sound.
Inspired by the sound and emotion of Loscil, Tim Hecker and Pan American, Verwijmeren constructs a musical cocoon to imagine a vision of a different world. Through his dark but beautiful soundscapes, he tries to break daily routine and accept the dark side of life.
His debut album ‘Those Glorious Heights’ will be released on (date) in a limited edition on Icarus Records/Vynilla Vinyl, with artwork by Jan Van Der Kleijn. The album was mastered by Stephan Mathieu (Schwebung Mastering).
Icarus Live Session #43: Isaac
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In the '90s, Pol Isaac was one of the driving forces in several undeground projects in Kortrijk, Belgium. He worked live with Galatasaray and Ozark Henry. In 2000, he started making music for dance & theatre and playing solo livesets. In 2007 he released a first record, 'Godelieve' on Radical Pigeon, followed in 2010 by a record on Usain Bolt Records.
Isaac prefers to perform live and we were happy to get him in our studio for a live session.
Icarus Live Session #44: Innerwoud
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Constantly shifting between contemporary classical music, moody drones, and haunting soundscapes, he captivates his audience across genres and conventions.
Innerwoud's debut on Consouling Sounds captures the essence of his live shows, augmented with sparse and well-aimed arrangements, resulting in an album that crawls deeply under the skin.
The same overwhelming spirit took us far away during this live session.
Icarus Live Session #45: Gabi Sultana
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Gabi Sultana, who hails from the island of Malta, is a highly acclaimed soloist and chamber musician, especially within the contemporary music scene.
She won a lot of piano competitions, toured around the globe and got a post masters degree in contemporary music. As an active chamber musician, she is currently working with SPECTRA Ensemble and is experimenting with electronica.
We were very happy to record her set at Gentsche Festspiele in July 2016.
Icarus Live Session #46: Anus Nocturnum
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Nolf Kaka aka Anus Nocturnum is a music freak, underground dj, record collector and makes music with modular synths since the nineties.
His releases appeared on Vlas Vegas, Usain Bolt Records and Wool-E Tapes. His legendary performances took place in regular venues in Kortrijk (BE) such as De Kreun, Cinépalace but also in a monasatry, bunkers, on a floating house etc.
Icarus Live Session #47: Bear Bones, Lay Low
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Bear Bones, Lay Low is the power drone project of Brussels-based Venezuelan Ernesto Gonzalez. He builds an energetic wall of sound with guitar fuzz, vocals, tapes and a bunch of effects.
Rabih Beaini (Morphine Records):
"Played Lightning Eyelids from his latest album in the middle of a set, and the whole place came down!!"
Releases on KRAAK, Rush Hour, Oaken Palace etc.
Talking about music, his roots, politics and Blink 182.
Icarus Live Session #48: Sylvain Chauveau
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Sylvain has made solo records on labels such as FatCat, Type, Les Disques du Soleil et de l'Acier, and Brocoli: very minimal compositions for acoustic instruments, electronics and vocals. His music has been played in John Peel’s show on the BBC and was reviewed in The Wire, Pitchfork, Mojo, Les Inrocks, Libération, The Washington Post and many others. He co-runs with Florent Garnier the label I Will Play This Song Once Again Records where musicians have to re-record their songs for each buyer: www.iwillplaythissongonceagainrecords.co.
He has composed a piece titled You Will Leave No Mark on the Winter Snow whose duration is seven years, with extremely long silences inside. One can listen to the streaming here: www.7yearsofsilence.com.
He makes soundtracks for films and dance shows.
Sylvain Chauveau is also a founding member of the ensemble 0 (with Joël Merah and Stéphane Garin). He was born in 1971 in Bayonne (France) and lives in Brussels, Belgium.
Icarus Live Session #49: Ben Bertrand
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Ben Bertrand is a Brussels-based bass clarinetist who evolved in the Belgian contemporary/classical scene. He imagined a device that enables him to transform thenatural sound of his instrument into electronic ones, allowing him to create loops and orchestrations for solo performance.
For his first EP, Era/Area (Off Records, February 2017), he arranged a collection of themes drawn from a wide range of places and ages– from a pygmy song to an ancient crusaders' melody dedicated to the lost Jerusalem passing by a Gavin Bryars's piece – merging them into a subtle, fascinating and hypnotic musical object.
His new album is coming out early 2018.
Icarus Live Session #50: Karen Willems & Jean DL
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Karen Willems has become an integral part of the Belgian avant-garde, improv and rock scene – in which she enters into collaborations with artists like Zita Swoon Group, Jan Swerts, Novastar, Pascal Deweze, Mauro, Aidan Baker and Dirk Serries. She's also successfull with her own band, Inwolves, and is collaborating with Ultima Vez on a dance performance.
Jean DL works solo, but is also known for his collaborations with the likes of Mauro Pawlowski & Teun Verbruggen and Jozef Van Wissem Besides his music he's also known for his video work. Together they released one of the best albums of 2017, Lyra, and here in our session they played three long improvised pieces, which became one of our best sessions ever.
A new release of Inwolves is planned early 2018.
Icarus Live Session #51: Dominique Lawalrée
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Dominique Lawalrée, probably one of the most unknown contemporary composers in Belgium. For this live session, Icarus works together with IPEM institute. They measured, for scientific purposes, the movement of his finger while playing with sensors on his body, something they did before for the Canvas show 'Thomas Speelt Het Hard'.
Lawalrée (°1954) released more than 20 cd's (on his own Editions Walrus) and composed more than 400 pieces. He wrote a big book about the music of The Beatles and even reveiled a recording mistake in the Sgt Pepper album.
Last year, the first archival release of his work was brought to us by CatchWaveltd, called 'First Meeting'.
Icarus Live Session #52: Varkenshond
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With hard to identify instruments Varkenshond creates ritual and tribal madness in the veins of early Silvester Afang and Zero Kama. Varkenshond was founded in 2006 in Antwerp, Belgium while the to-be members were studying Maggergergorian spiritual philosophy with Wim Vanaeghe, Thomas “Gergeti” Kreuzfeld and Koera Mönggüm Sorgan.
They released a cd in 2007, the result of a series of therapeutic music sessions led by G. Karkaronga, and a cassette in 2013, a selection of songs and meditations recorded with local musicians in Brasil, Belarus, China, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, and Russia.
Their new album Hargawaan Por Shail is a collaboration with an animal communicator, flute player, and percussionist Yori Yoki. It consists of Támoldut and Maggergorian vocal and instrumental traditional music from Asia, Africa, South America and Europe. The album includes the first recording ever of the instrument “Life Hooter” and an atmospheric electric version of Qéfelni.
Icarus Live Session #53: Karen Willems, Barkin Engin, Nils Gröndahl
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With hard to identify instruments Varkenshond creates ritual and tribal madness in the veins of early Silvester Afang and Zero Kama. Varkenshond was founded in 2006 in Antwerp, Belgium while the to-be members were studying Maggergergorian spiritual philosophy with Wim Vanaeghe, Thomas “Gergeti” Kreuzfeld and Koera Mönggüm Sorgan.
They released a cd in 2007, the result of a series of therapeutic music sessions led by G. Karkaronga, and a cassette in 2013, a selection of songs and meditations recorded with local musicians in Brasil, Belarus, China, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, and Russia.
Their new album Hargawaan Por Shail is a collaboration with an animal communicator, flute player, and percussionist Yori Yoki. It consists of Támoldut and Maggergorian vocal and instrumental traditional music from Asia, Africa, South America and Europe. The album includes the first recording ever of the instrument “Life Hooter” and an atmospheric electric version of Qéfelni.
Icarus Live Session #54: Ensemble Economique
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The latest long-player of devotional noir by Humboldt County romantic Brian Pyle aka Ensemble Economique was originally titled Music Saves Lives, in response to the misguided backlash directed at underground artists in the wake of the tragic Ghost Ship fire in Oakland.
Since Pyle’s career threads through a decade and a half of Northern California’s independent experimental music community, the blow struck a uniquely deep and personal chord.
As a way to process, he began recording at his coastal home studio in Manila, California, channeling inner states of mind, seeking something “more personal and intimate, the idea of love, and shining through.”
Icarus Live Session #55: Ōgon Batto
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Ōgon Batto is Bent Von Bent from Antwerp, Belgium. Besides working as a visual artist around archiving systems and collections, he is also the co-runner of the Hare Akedod label, together with David Edren aka DSR Lines. Following his debut release, Ōgon Batto secretly started working on a second album Hedoro, meaning “slime” or “chemical ooze”.
Bent is immensly fascinated by Japanese traditional and contemporary culture ever since he first visited the country. Mixing his European background with these Japanese influences, he shifts easily between abstract electronic tracks and pieces with a more classical Japanese tool kit. Think Oneohtrix Point Never or Mica Levi composing a soundtrack to a fantasy game.
With an amazing sense for detail Hedoro's musical story - entirely composed with synthesizers - is reduced to a collection of situations and drama, with space for suggestion and imagination. Every track, how short it may be, is essential to the whole, maximizing the general dramatic effect. The album was mixed in Sapporo, Japan with the typical sounds of cicadas on the background.
Icarus Live Session #56: Poltrock
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Producer and established Belgian keyboard sidekick David POLTROCK spent half a decade experimenting with the impressive range of vintage keyboards and synths in his Brussels’ studio. Growing up listening more to indie rock rather than electronic music, he evolved towards a more organic, humanized sounds by combining these with the mesmerizing textures of a ‘prepared piano’.
Late 2017 however, still seeking the essence, Poltrock bumps into his trusty childhood piano: an old and stubborn Steinway upright. Enchanted by the muted sound created by placing felt in between the hammers and the strings, he spent only three nocturnal sessions improvising on what was to become the ‘Mutes’- series: short and intimate sketches, cutting right to the core.
This five-year-odyssey culminates with the 2018 release of the trilogy ‘Mutes, Moods & Machines’ by Dutch boutique label Excelsior Recordings. Three full albums, released with a pianesque 88-day interval, all highlighting a different approach to the 88 piano keys. Three distinctly versatile albums displaying a genuine affection for keyboard instruments of character – and the prepared piano more specifically. All compositions share melodic and harmonic purity: beauty in all its simplicity.
Icarus Live Session #57: Jeroen Diepenmaat
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Jeroen Diepenmaat is a visual artist with a predilection for sound. In his work, consisting of drawings, sculptures, installations and performances, he explores the cutting edge between image and sound and the transition from one to the other.
Jeroen Diepenmaat's work was shown a.o. in Museum voor Moderne Kunst in Arnhem (NL), Martha Museum in Herford (D), La Casa Encendida in Madrid (SP), Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston (USA), Montevideo - Dutch Institute for Media Art in Amsterdam (NL), Extrapool in Nijmegen (NL), Serralves in Porto (P), Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam (NL).
Icarus Live Session #58: Christina Vantzou
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Christina Vantzou is a Missouri native of Greek descent who resides in Brussels, Belgium. A composer
& experimental filmmaker, she works with space, sound, and image on a level of curiosity and refinement. Over the course of fifteen years she has built an audiovisual language very much her own. Vantzou has composed and released four albums of ambient-classical music on Kranky and has developed a form of graphic musical notation influenced by abstract minimalists. Her many collaborations have included performing with Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse), co-founding The Dead Texan, creating abstract films for renowned musical artists, and performing with ensembles across 4 continents.
Icarus Live Session #59: BOW
BOW is a Belgian string quintet (Margaret Hermant, Marine Horbaczewski, Benoit Leseure, Jean-François Durdu, Cyrille de Haes) who'll release their first album in 2019. Icarus got a sneak preview with this completely improvised set.
BOW celebrates musical freedom. Juggling between their own written music and pure improvisation, the five string players dig into their instruments’ capabilities and blend their large scope of influences.
The quintet recently finished to record its first eponym LP due to be released in spring 2020.
Margaret Hermant – Violin
Benoit Leseure – Violin
Jean-François Durdu – Viola
Marine Horbazweski – Cello
Cyrille de Haes – Double Bass
PA: Chaitanya Bhagwat, Interview: Jeroen De Wandel
Icarus Live Session #60: Bruno Coussée
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Bruno Coussée (BE) is a bass player, know from bands like Rheinzand, Manngold and Eiland.
In this session, Bruno explores new cosmic grounds by experimenting and improvising with his bass guitar and a bunch of effects. Expect ECM, acid, kraut-noise and electronica.
Icarus Live Session #61: Karibu Orchestra
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Belgian fusion jazz quintet, blended with ambient, funk, avant-garde and metal! A real discovery!
Check their album here.
Icarus Live Session #62: Mirek Coutigny
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In recent years, pianist and producer Mirek Coutigny has worked on his own world of sound with electronic and acoustic instruments. He improvised on sketches that he wrote over the last 10 years and reworked them for piano, strings, percussion and electronics.
After the first album, a live set was worked out with Jonathan Bonny (percussion) and Jolien Deley (cello). In this formation they won a few months ago both the audience prize and the jury prize for “Fresh Fish”, a competition for young talent from the Leffingeleuren festival.
Coutigny also worked with Spectra Ensemble and Gabi Sultana and he was with his collective “Headliner” curator as well as organizer of the contemporary music festival “En Avant Mars”.