Friday, August 5, 2016

LAURA TOXVAERD COMPOSITIONS PART 1 Feat. Carsten Dahl (special guest), Raymond Strid & Jonas Westergaard (2016) ILK MUSIC


Since the release of her debut album No. 1 in 2007 – forming an album trilogy with Do Drugs (2010) and Phone Book (2012) – Toxvaerd’s adventurous, gifted and conceptual compositional works have generated international critical respect. Her composi- tions are released on 12 albums and have been performed in USA, Canada, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. She has been awarded the three-year working scholarship by the Danish Arts Council.

On this album the musicians perform Toxvaerd’s compositions notated as graphic scores.

The graphic scores are shown in Toxvaerd’s book Compositions – 18 Graphic scores by Danish publisher Forlaget Spring. The art book with her reflective texts about her artistic process is the final graphic result of Toxvaerd’s artistic research project as an adjunct lecturer at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory, Copenhagen. The project’s title is “Composition of graphic and sonic works through the improvisers’ co-creation” and was granted by Danish Ministry of Culture’s Committee for Artistic Research.

Together with the album LAURA TOXVAERD COMPOSITIONS PART 1 Feat. Carsten Dahl, Raymond Strid & Jonas Westergaard this album presents the final sonic result of Toxvaerd’s artistic research project.

The album is the 7th album on ILK’s White Label Series released digital & on 45 numbered, handwritten vinyls, for sale at ILK Music’s website.

1. Rawhide
2. Tickled
3. Quarrel
4. Shyster
5. Urnable
6. Vowelly


LAURA TOXVAERD COMPOSITIONS PART 2 With Dødens Garderobe (2016) ILK MUSIC




1. Qua
2. Vow
3. Urn
4. Raw
5. Shy
6. Tic


Laura Toxvaerd with Simon Toldam & Marilyn Mazur - Pladeshop (2016) ILK MUSIC




Since the release of her debut album No. 1 in 2007 – forming an album trilogy with Do Drugs (2010) and Phone Book (2012) – Toxvaerd’s adventurous, gifted and conceptual compositional works have generated international critical respect.

Her compositions are released on 12 albums and have been performed in USA, Canada, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. She has been awarded the three- year working scholarship by the Danish Arts Council. The recording session of this album was the musicians’ first musical meeting.

PLADESHOP is the 5th album on ILK’s White Label Series released digital & on 40 numbered, handwritten vinyls, for sale at ILK Music’s website.

Compositions by Laura Toxvaerd, Simon Toldam & Marilyn Mazur. Except: Waltz for Snorre, Vandet, Pladeshop & Waltz for Oluf composed by Laura Toxvaerd & arranged by Simon Toldam & Marilyn Mazur.

Produced by by Kæv Gliemann, Laura Toxvaerd, Simon Toldam & Marilyn Mazur.




1. Welcome to the Barn
2. Waltz for Snorre
3. Mangrove Fantasy
4. Treasures and Trash
5. China Fantasy
6. Naughty Mirror
7. Vandet
8. The Grotto
9. Very Free Blues
10. A Friday Dream
11. Pladeshop
12. Waltz for Oluf


Agustí Fernández & Yasmine Azaiez - REVELATION (2016) Fundacja Słuchaj


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Agustí Fernández & Yasmine Azaiez - REVELATION (2016)



Free Music demands invention. It is not enough to rely on one’s repertoire or default techniques. Every performance is a confrontation with the undiscovered. Each player expects the challenge to change with every portion of sound or silence. The formulation of a musical duration demands complete attention by each player, who is obligated to interpret and determine the questions and answers with immediate action. 

Focus with one’s artistry, and facility with ones instrument, must combine with an agreement that everything is mutable and therefore unknown until it is heard. Agustí Fernández, a master of improvisation on piano, and Yasmine Azaiez, a virtuoso violinist still in her mid 20s, are two of the most daring musicians I know, virtuosos of the highest order, each comfortable in any musical situation. 

Both are vital, passionate artists who search for new material and areas of expression. As a friend and colleague to both of them, I am not surprised that on this recording they completely embrace the need for invention, and in the process, change the way a piano and violin sound together—no small feat considering the history of this instrumentation. 

We hear massive arcs and varied densities made of the smallest particles of sound, all movable, constantly evolving, implying a narrative and also the elemental, organic configuration where sound needs no more interpretive definition. Our opportunity as listeners is to decipher our own understanding of what this music means to us, how it formulates itself in our experience with it. 

Agustí Fernández and Yasmine Azaiez have done their jobs on this recording with grace and daring. They’ve made an exciting experience for us to examine—one where we can discover ourselves through the surprise of newly invented music. —Joe Morris


1. STATEMENT 06:24
2. REVELATION 11:30
3. SERENA 05:36
4. METAMORPHISM 04:35
5. MONOLITH 03:35
6. DARK DRONE 03:26
7. OPALESCENCE 06:42
8. ALBA 02:56
9. PASSAGE 06:19

Released July 20, 2016 

Agustí Fernández, piano 
Yasmine Azaiez, violin 

All music by Agustí Fernández & Yasmine Azaiez 
Recorded on November 9th, 2015, and April 23rd, 2016 
Recorded at L'Obrador, Sant Pere de Vilamajor, Barcelona, Spain 
Mixed and mastered by Ferran Conangla at FMC Estudis, May 17, 2016 
Photo by Joan Cortès 
Graphic design by Małgorzata Lipińska 
Produced by Agustí Fernández and Maciej Karlowski for Fundacja Słuchaj