Saturday night’s BNM programme at Arnolfini comprises elemental Nordic saxophone and sound design, konnakol syllables and Karnatic rhythms, and entrancing ensemble improv set to sound responsive projections
Bendik Giske (NO/DE) is an artist and saxophonist whose expressive use of physicality, vulnerability and endurance have already won him much critical acclaim, courtesy of two album releases on Norwegian label Smalltown Supersound – Surrender (2019) and Cracks (2021) and some captivating live performances featuring just his body, breath, the saxophone and a resonant physical space
Conservatory trained composer, vocalist, and pianist Marina Herlop has been releasing music since 2016. With miu, her much-hyped first release with PAN, her production applies the same approach of channeling her environment but with an expanded set of tools, extruding and reconfiguring new uncanny dimensions. Experimenting for the first time with konnakol syllables and Karnatic rhythms harnessing the processed human voice and electronics, miu can be treated as a hazy mirror reflecting contorted desires.
Viridian is an ensemble of interdisciplinary instrumentalists based in Bristol, who advocate for Womxn in experimental arts from eclectic specialisms and backgrounds. Its members are: Dali de Saint Paul (Vocal), Tina Hitchens (flute), Caitlin Alais Callahan (double bass), Esme Betamax (percussion) and Laura Phillips (16mm films, sound responsive projections, waterphone).
**sadly due to unforeseen cuircumstances, Nazar and Rob Heppell will not be performing at Bristol New Music**
Nazar is an Angolan producer who grew up in Belgium, returning to Angola after the civil war before coming back once again to Europe. On his 2020 album Guerrilla on Hyperdub, Nazar uses Rough Kuduro, a personal interpretation of the Angolan music and dance style, to sensitively examine and digitalise his family’s collective memory and country’s past, threading together oral histories, political realities and most significantly re-imaginings of direct horrors. His Bristol New Music show is a collaboration with the London video artist Rob Heppell.
