Read More"The success of the performance at St John’s Smith Square is palpable, and Feshareki and Bulley’s achievement is huge, but whether ‘Still Point’ becomes canonical is anyone’s guess. The material is certainly there – the duo have been meticulous in their documentation, collating notation, Oram’s and Davies’ writing and orchestral instruction onto a single score – but it remains singular, without clear successors. The muffled, hypnagogic records of Indignant Senility or The Caretaker might be the closest in actual sound, but certainly not in spirit. Both have incorporated repurposed and anaesthetised classical passages in their music – Wagner for the former, myriad Romantic piano pieces for the latter – but these are used for textural and nostalgic effect. Oram’s score, on the other hand, was entirely original, and her specific manipulations tied into a loftier artistic ethos.
Interview on composing with Tom Richards' Mini-Oramics on BBC World at One
Tom Richards' Mini-Oramics project was featured on BBC Radio 4's World at One yesterday, with Jo Thomas and I discussing our experiences of composing with it.
You can hear the piece in full here
'Still Point' on BBC Woman's Hour
Shiva Feshareki and I’s work on Daphne Oram’s extraordinary composition Still Point was featured on Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4 today: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07h2vns
'Still Point' in the Financial Times
Here’s a piece on Friday night’s Daphne Oram Still Point performance, that followed mine and Shiva Feshareki’s work on the piece with the London Contemporary Orchestra: https://www.ft.com/content/4ca76a2c-3c4c-11e6-8716-a4a71e8140b0?siteedition=uk
Daphne Oram at the BBC
'The Original Turntablist' - Daphne Oram by Shiva Feshareki
Daphne Oram, courtesy of Oram Trust and Fred Wood
"I then noticed a small, hand written piece of paper written by Oram which stated “Still Point: For Double Orchestra, Microphones and Three pre-recorded 78 RPM discs (1949)” and I was stunned to realise this piece was for turntables and orchestra! It is likely that had it been performed in 1949, it would have transformed the development of electroacoustic music as we know it today.
At the moment, it is a stand-alone piece, that doesn’t fit into any known medium of the time. For me, it was particularly stunning, as my compositional practice is centred around concert music for turntables and orchestra, and I have always seen the turntable as a classical instrument. All of a sudden, the way I had developed my turntabling practice for the past decade, made sense to me. It all felt very surreal and destined."
Read the full article here
Mini-Oramics at Goldsmiths E.M.S
Experiments with Tom Richards' nearly finished version of Daphne Oram's 'Mini-Oramics' in Goldsmiths Electronic Music studios.
Video extracts from the session:
Matmos Talk at Goldsmiths Sound Practice Research
A recording of Matmos talking at Goldsmiths Sound Practice Research, where I am currently a research associate.
A Conversation with Dan Richards - The Beechwood Airships Interviews (2016)
Dan Richards' Beechwood Airships has just been published by Harper Collins and its epilogue features a short conversation between Dan and I. There's an interview with Dan discussing the book up on the Guardian today.
'Living Symphonies' in the Guardian
Read More“The unique sound installation that will play out between the trees of Bedgebury until 31 August is the work of artist duo James Bulley and Daniel Jones. The piece, Living Symphonies, is a composition that reflects and responds to the very ecosystem of the wood where it is played, from the photosynthesis of the trees, to a spider weaving its web and the flitting of a butterfly.
Through 24 speakers installed in different levels among the roots and canopy of the trees, ramblers stumbling upon this small patch of wood will encounter a haunting cacophony of musical sounds dictated by the interactions and movements of the ecosystem they stand in.”