KAREN GWYER (UK)
NOCTURNE 3 :: ORCHESTRATE TO ELEVATE
Friday, May 29 - Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
Although raised by cellists and weaned on a diet of violins and violas, the disquieting digital psychedelia of Ann Arbor native Karen Gwyer first took root upon watching Detroit house music program The New Dance Show in the early 90s. From there, the now London-based electronic producer began devising off kilter game plans to reshape house and techno traditions as slow burning, intricately layered synth strokes. After a string of ominous and impressively heterogeneous EPs on No Pain In Pop and Kaleidoscope, 2013 saw the release of her equally immersive debut, Needs Continuum. She followed that up with EPs for labels such as Opal Tapes, further honing her idiosyncratic experimentations: kinetic tempos, meandering and moody melodies, undulating synth stabs, and kosmische-like repetition. With long form compositions that frequently surpass the 15 minute threshold, Gwyer gives herself the luxury to see her stuttering musical motifs to completion before snuffing them out. She brought her highly improvisatory, brooding techno template to the festival for her live debut.
Mastered by LANDR.
