"Frozen Angels"

 
We have some very special music for your January listening pleasure. For each of the five Sundays this month, a video from Zoë Keating’s performance at MacWorld in 2011.

Those of you who know me &/or have followed the blog for some time are aware that I hold Zoë Keating’s artistry in very high esteem. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Zoë Keating’s work, a few words, however inadequate, as a brief introduction.

Zoë Keating is a cellist who uses looping software to create richly layered soundscapes with her compositions. This is simple in the telling, but the results are some of the best contemporary music I know. Keating has been described as a “one-woman orchestra”, but recently she has been a bit critical of that term—which makes sense. Her sound is much more about polyphony than symphony in the strict sense of the word. Originally Keating envisioned her compositions as being played by a consort of 16 cellos, but when this proved impractical, she used her technological expertise to perform them as a soloist.

“Frozen Angels” is from her 2005 album One Cello x 16: Natoma. Please do yourselves a favor: visit her website & buy her music. Keating is an independent artist who manages not only to compose & perform all this amazing music, but also to produce & promote it on her own. She deserves a wide audience & wide support. Also: if you ever have a chance to hear her perform live, do not miss it.

Enjoy!



Image links to its source on Wiki Commons:
Zoë Keating performs with Rasputina; Concert at La Sala Rossa, Montreal, Quebec, 26 October 2005.
Photo by Wiki user Simon Law, who generously makes it available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.