What a phenomenal year in music! We recap 2019 with 19 records released by artists performing at Rewire 2020. For more information about all acts announced so far, visit our artists page first announcement postfirst announcement post first announcement postrewirefestival.nl/tickets.
In January, Glasgow-based sound artist Cucina Povera released her second album, ‘Zoom’: “a collection that rewards you for listening carefully to the wonderful sounds that live among the silence,” wrote The Quietus. ‘Zoom’ was also named in the Vinyl Factory’s best albums of 2019 mid-year review.
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In April, The Caretaker (AKA Leyland James Kirby) released the final instalment of his four year project devoted to sonically charting Alzheimer’s disease. “Blurring the boundary between music and sound art, Kirby turns ambient music, amorphous and indistinct, into a wrenching emotional device,” wrote Resident Advisor about ‘Everywhere, An Empty Bliss’.
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In May, Deutsche Grammophon released Hildur Guðnadóttir’s Emmy-winning and Grammy-nominated score for the HBO hit series ‘Chernobyl’. Made from field recordings captured from Ignalina, the decommissioned power plant in Lithuania where the series was filmed, the ‘Chernobyl’ score is haunting as the legacy it soundtracks. Read about the context for the series and the making of the award-winning score on our website.
Also in May, prolific experimental composer and musician James Ferraro self-released the first in a four-part series aurally charting the decline of civilisation. “Like the climate crisis itself, ‘Requiem For Recycled Earth’ is an all-consuming, claustrophobic experience,” wrote Resident Advisor. At Rewire 2020 Ferraro will present a new audiovisual show accompanied by specially arranged digital and woodwind instruments.
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In June, celebrated ambient musician Rafael Anton Irisarri released his critically acclaimed album, ‘Solastalgia’. “Irisarri has been addressing environmental themes in his work over the past decade; Solastalgia feels like a culmination of this journey,” wrote Bandcamp – who also named ‘Solastalgia’ in their best experimental albums of 2019. He’ll perform a new collaboration with Oliver Coates at Rewire 2020.
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In August, Leo Svirsky released ‘River Without Banks’, which will be presented at Rewire 2020 in the form of a special Rewire commission featuring the Russian-American composer performing with a large ensemble of internationally renowned musicians and composers. “From expressive tone clusters to a whimsical frolic to a more percussive staccato style, Svirsky’s piano conjures a picturesque view of nature’s wondrous breadth,” wrote Pitchfork about the album.
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Also in August, explosive duo Gabber Modus Operandi released their second album, ‘HOXXXYA’, which was charted in FACT’s best albums of 2019: “With jack-hammering gabber beats as their driving force, Indonesian duo Gabber Modus Operandi are breathing new life into the maxim ‘Hardcore will never die.’”
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Evocative sitar player and composer Ami Dang released ‘Parted Plains’ in August, which was named the Guardian’s Global album of the month, sounding like “experiencing the glacial lassitude of a one-hour raga compressed into four-minute movements.”
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Australian duo HTRK released their fourth album, ‘Venus In Leo’, also in August.“HTRK have shed the dead weight in their sound even further to expose a fragile, febrile core, shivering with angst and heartache,” wrote Inverted Audio.
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Finally for August, interdisciplinary artist and digipoet YATTA released ‘WAHALA’, prompting Pitchfork to write: “When the album ends after 30 minutes, it’s like you’ve been listening to the therapy session going on inside someone else’s head. The experience is both harrowing and strangely cleansing.”
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In September, punk, noise and jazz duo Blacks’ Myths released their second eponymous album, which was charted by Bandcamp and Pitchfork in their best experimental albums of 2019 features. “Where history and sound meet, the Washington, D.C.-based duo, bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Warren Crudup III, cobbles together an unlikely, thorny recording,” wrote Pitchfork about ‘Blacks’ Myths II’.
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Also in September, rising talent Loraine James released her critically acclaimed album, ‘For You And I’, which has been cited in most end of year charts – and named by DJ Mag and The Quietus as their Album of the Year: “When I listen to it I can sense a complex picture of the times we live in,” wrote The Quietus editor-in-chief John Doran. She’ll be performing live at Rewire 2020.
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In October, Ferocious DJ and producer Dis Fig released ‘Purge’: “an idiosyncratic mash-up of industrial tropes, sunken club beats, and cinematic sound-design histrionics,” wrote The Quietus.
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Activistic live duo Pelada released ‘Movimiento Para Cambio’, also in October, which was highlighted in FACT’s best albums of 2019 as “the perfect selection for both your Saturday morning after hours and your revolution pre-game.”
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Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score for the film ‘Joker’ was also released in October. “It was one of the strongest collaborative moments I’ve ever experienced,” she said to the Guardian about composing for Joaquin Phoenix and his role in Todd Phillips’ divisive blockbuster.
In October, Argentinian singer-songwriter Juana Molina released ‘Forfun’, inspired by an improvised set where Molina and her bandmates had to perform without their instruments. “Molina breaks from her usual style of folk-laced pop in favor of a more punk sensibility,” wrote Pitchfork. She’ll be bringing the artpunk sound of ‘Forfun’ to Rewire 2020.
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In November, hardware musician and experimental techno producer Hiro Kone released ‘A Fossil Begins To Bray’ – “the best thing she’s done,” according to Pitchfork: “the first time that her rage and her dread have been fully harnessed in her music.”
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Mysterious producer John T. Gast released ’5GTOUR’ via his own label in November. “Gast’s music has an impenetrable magnetism,” wrote Resident Advisor. He’ll be performing a beguiling live show at Rewire 2020.
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Finally, November also saw the release of ‘Fibs’, the second studio album from the genre-crossing musician and composer Anna Meredith: “All of it is intense music of supreme control and a designed anarchy,” wrote Pitchfork – who also named ‘Fibs’ in their best experimental albums of 2019.
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More Rewire 2020 acts and special projects to be announced shortly. Stay tuned for updates.