KLAVIKON ALBUM OUT NOW!
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Available as 2x12" Gatefold vinyl with scores printed on inner sleeves
6 pages DigiPack CD - Digital Download
We’re delighted to present the new album by acclaimed composer-pianist Leon Michener. Klavikon draws on the experimental work of Tudor and Cage to transform the piano into a factory of haunting, percussive textures.
‘Klavikon’ consists of 14 solo pieces performed in real time, with no looping or overdubbing. Leon Michener spent several years honing a super disciplined and mechanical piano technique to create the stunning multi-layered effect heard in the Klavikon project. All sounds are made by the piano, by adding various objects of stone, wood, plastic and metal, and are then amplified. Credit cards provide rasping sub basses, washers hi-hats and rubber wedges kicks. With the use of bolts, screws and assorted electric toys, Klavikon reimagines ‘electronic’ music without the use of conventional processes.
Indebted both to the American experimental tradition and to the postwar European innovations of Stockhausen and Ligeti, the album comprises a suite of brand new and visceral compositions. While tracks such as “Oram Her Toye” and “Kontrapunk’d” recall the delicate, fractured sound palette of Cage’s work for prepared piano, “Croix” echoes the thick, modulating textures of Stockhausen works such as Kontakte and Mantra.
From an early age Michener combined a focus on Western classical music with a deep attachment to club genres as they evolved through the 1990s and beyond, from acid house to minimal techno. It’s this dual mindset that has informed his development of Klavikon, and which finds its explosive realization on this debut album.
The artwork is designed by Michael England and there is special audiophile Vinyl version (Mastered by Grammy-winner Mandy Parnell) with Michener's hyper-detailed Klavikon scores on the inner sleeves.
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Leon Michener studied classical piano and composition at Trinity College and the Royal Academy of Music. His recordings have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and recent performances include Stockholm Museum of Modern Art, The Roundhouse and Kings Place.