MICHELLE HELENE MACKENZIE 038 STEFAN MAIER OLIVIA BLOCK 8211 Orchid Mantis Breach 8211 LP 8211 Vinyl MAY 2

LP – Black Vinyl. Collaborative piece between Michelle Helene Mackenzie and Stefan MaierNew electroacoustic piece by Olivia BlockDesign by Stephen OMalley SIDE AMICHELLE HELENE MACKENZIE & STEFAN MAIERORCHID MANTIS (24:32) Orchid Mantis, by Michelle Helene Mackenzie and Stefan Maier, is a work that draws its inspiration from the history of the Sanzhi Pod City, in northern Taiwan. Sanzhi Pod City was built from 1978 onwards, made up of buildings constructed from assemblages of pods inspired by the futuro houses of Finnish architect Matti Suuronen. The project was abandoned in 1980, following a number of accidents during construction and persistent rumours that the site was haunted. However, this wasteland of a city has allowed insects to proliferate, in particular five species of orchid mantis. It is this strange environment, made up of utopian buildings, proliferating insects and vegetation reclaiming the site, that serves as the imaginary space for Michelle Helene Mackenzie and Stefan Maiers music, a music of carefully designed pace and progression, drawing, through resonance and stridulation, subtle sonic materials that guide and accompany us into multiple worlds with admirable ease and grace. SIDE BOLIVIA BLOCK BREACH (15:54) Breach, by American composer Olivia Block, engages in a dialogue between fieldrecordings and synthesised sounds, creating a vibrant plea for wild spaces that facean ever-growing threat to their survival from human activities. The work is basedon recordings collected in the San Ignacio lagoon in the Mexican part of SouthernCalifornia. This lagoon is known as a breeding ground for eastern Pacific grey whales.With the help of precise electronics, the music unfolds like a drift, depicting thesubjective soundscape of whales caught up in the noise of the Anthropocene. Thecomposer uses otoacoustic emissions in particular, representing the sound saturationcaused by humans in the habitat of these large marine mammals. Going beyond amerely descriptive dimension, Olivia Block manages to transcend her subject to offera fascinating musical form that engages the listener in a constantly renewed way.