I enjoyed my conversation with sound artist Maia Urstad immensely after discovering her work at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse earlier this year. German readers can find our conversation in POSITIONEN issue 145. English readers will have to wait a few months before it appears online

This year has been rich in festival reviews. My next destination: the first weekend of @hcmfuk.bsky.social (for @vanmusicmag.bsky.social). Friends, comrades and enemies—hit me up if you’ll be there too!

An essay from what I now call my prime metamodern phase — on Francesca Fargion’s music, its oscillations, naivety, Romanticism, parental relationships and the evanescent, banal everyday. Have a read! maratology.substack.com/p/happy-sad-...

"Garland showed exactly what the UK new music scene could achieve if funding matched ambition." My review of Oliver Leith's Garland is out via @bachtrack.com.
bachtrack.com/review-leith...

On Friday, I will present my paper ‘The British School of Emotionalism and Metamodernism: Towards a New Expressive Paradigm in Contemporary Music’ at @royalmusical.bsky.social Conference 2025. See you there!

My Darmstadt 25 review is in @vanmusicmag.bsky.social. 'Situations' are audience agency, censorship, David Tudor, distracted listening, Hannes Seidl, healing sounds, hybrid formats, immediacy, instagrammable art, Maryanne Amacher, neoliberalism, spatial arrangements van-magazine.com/mag/darmstad...

Marat Ingeldeev reports from Musik Installationen Nürnberg, where he eats a very good shawarma, gets pedalled around a lake in a hot pink flamingo pedalo by two retirees, and ponders nonlinearity — and much more at @vanmusicmag.bsky.social

van-magazine.com/mag/musik-in...

If you're into Linda Catlin Smith, you might enjoy my review of 'Flowers of Emptiness' (@anothertimbre.bsky.social), featuring @apartment-house.bsky.social's beautiful playing. It's in TEMPO—so you'll need academic access (or an academic friend).
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

‘The performance was simply thrilling. In a way, I found this hyper-dynamic dancing to be even bigger than the music itself, which was unexpected.’ My review of London Sinfonietta and Sasha Waltz & Guests at @southbankcentre.bsky.social is now live on @bachtrack.com.
bachtrack.com/review-riley...

The new CD batch from @anothertimbre.bsky.social is out now, featuring 'Homestead' by @koryreeder.bsky.social. I had the pleasure of speaking with him about the piece, the Homestead Acts, his favourite string quartets and how he names pieces. Read here:
www.anothertimbre.com/reederhomest...

It was a pleasure to chat with Elaine Mitchener about Julius Eastman, art activism, that salty Cage incident, and decolonising music canons ahead of "Moving Eastman" at the Barbican. Read our conversation in @vanmusicmag.bsky.social
van-magazine.com/mag/julius-e...

Sofia Gubaidulina passed away today in Germany, aged 93. RIP.

With Another Timbre's new CDs imminent, I invite you to read my interview with Bryn Harrison. We discussed 'Towards a slowing of the past', disorientation in music, immersive listening and the most important lesson he learnt from pianist @philipthomas.bsky.social.
anothertimbre.com/harrisontowa...

'We simply need more quirky curation-as-art and art-as-curation.' My review of last Friday's highly compelling 'Refracted Sound' event at Southbank is now available via @bachtrack.com.
bachtrack.com/review-refra...

Delve into the British new music scene post-Brexit, with insights from Juliet Fraser, Elaine Mitchener, Mimi Doulton, Aaron Holloway-Nahum, and @mshlom.bsky.social —gathered at the 2023 Darmstadt Summer Course. Read the full piece here! wordsonmusicdarmstadt.wordpress.com/2023/08/31/b...

'British School of Emotionalism' (written in Russian, 2023) delves into how composers Oliver Leith, @robinhaigh.bsky.social and Alex Paxton convey melancholy, nostalgia and playfulness in their music—and what romanticism and sadbois have to do with it. muzlifemagazine.ru/britanskaya-...

Back in May, via @vanmusicmag.bsky.social, I had a lovely chat with @mshlom.bsky.social about co-composition, the role of artistic voice, and his allergic reaction to Romanticism and its values. Enjoy!
van-magazine.com/mag/matthew-...

Back to metamodernism and collaborators! Last month, I had the pleasure of writing the programme note for @robinhaigh.bsky.social's 'Concerto for Orchestra,' premiered in the UK by the RLPO. A fascinating piece that's well worth exploring—listen and read more here: robinhaigh.com/Concerto-for...