Saturday 16 February 2019, 7.30pm
Tough moods.
Live sets from Mette Rasmussen, Teresa Winter, and Still House Plants.
"Experimental songwriting is very rarely this successful or approachable, save perhaps the likes of Robert Wyatt’s ‘Sea Song’ or perhaps more pertinently, the Velvet Underground’s ‘Heroin'". – The Quietus
Very pleased to host a three-day residency with Still House Plants - aka the Glasgow and South London-based collective made up of Finlay Clark, David Kennedy and Jessica Hickie-Kallenbach - as a result of the OTO Projects UK Artists Residency Fund, following the release of their acclaimed new 12" LP on bison records.
Still House Plants continue Glasgow’s tradition of blurring the lines between art and music… Built around the typical rock set-up of drums, guitar and vocals, their music takes cues from free improvisation, and they individually stretch, twist and deconstruct each instrument.” – Claire Biddles, The WIRE
https://glarc.bandcamp.com/album/still-house-plants
http://bisonrecords.co.uk/
This residency is one of three at OTO for UK-based artists/groups at a vital point in their creative development, thanks to the support of Jerwood Charitable Foundation.
STILL HOUSE PLANTS ARE A UK GROUP MADE UP OF JESSICA HICKIE-KALLENBACH, FINLAY CLARK, AND DAVID KENNEDY.
FROM A BARE BONES SET UP OF GUITAR, DRUMS AND VOCALS THEY CREATE FRACTIOUS AND SHARP MUSIC WITH A MELTING POP HEART. BRIDGING ELEMENTS OF SAMPLING, SLOW CORE, AND REPETITION THE TRIO HAVE DEVELOPED A SOUND THAT CONSTANTLY BREAKS APART AND FUSES TOGETHER AGAIN.
THEIR SECOND LP, FAST EDIT, RELEASED ON BLANK FORMS AND BISON, WAS WRITTEN AIDED BY MOBILE PHONES, DICTAPHONES, LAPTOP RECORDINGS, CONVERSATIONS, AND LIVE SHOWS, BLENDING FIDELITIES AND AURAL SPACES. THINGS SIT ON TOP OF EACH OTHER, FALL OVER ONE ANOTHER, OR CLICK INTO PLACE, WITH HEARTS ON SLEEVES AND SPIRITS IN MOTION.
NOTABLE SHOWS INCLUDE EMPTY GALLERY (HONG KONG), HYPERLOCAL FESTIVAL (WITH NTS/BRITISH COUNCIL, BUENOS AIRES), VARIOUS DIY SPACES IN SANTIAGO DE CHILE, AND A SIX-MONTH RESIDENCY AT CAFE OTO AS RECIPIENTS OF THE OTO PROJECTS UK ARTISTS RESIDENCY FUND, (SUPPORTED BY JERWOOD ARTS). 2021-2022 SEES THE TRIO TOURING EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA, AS WELL AS SHOWS IN MEXICO AND JAPAN.
THE GROUP ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON THEIR THIRD STUDIO ALBUM.
Mette Rasmussen is a Danish saxophone player based in Trondheim, Norway. She works in the field of improvised music, drawing from a wide range of influences, spanning free jazz to textural soundwork. Rasmussen works on exploring the natural rawness of her instrument - experimenting on what the saxophone is capable of in sound and expression, with and without preparations. Much in demand, she has performed with the likes of Alan Silva, Chris Corsano, Ståle Liavik Solberg, and with her Trio Riot group with Sam Andreae and David Meier.
"Mette Rasmussen has a remarkably fluid and expressive tone on the alto saxophone. Her playing at times evokes the rich, heavenward clarity of Albert Ayler, at others the throaty roar of Mats Gustafsson. Equally, though, she’s able to sidestep these influences and assert her own individual sound in piercingly high tones and controlled outbursts of free playing." - Viennese Waltz
