Following Portishead’s spectacular set at Glastonbury last weekend, Adrian Utley has announced his new album to be released on 30th September on Invada Records.
Utley brings together an orchestra of electric guitar players to interpret Terry Riley’s ‘In C’. Written in 1964,‘In C’ is one of the most influential pieces of music from the 20th Century, it established minimalism as a music genre. In C‘s simple musical rules – 53 musical phrases in C and no duration – allow for infinite variations.
Utley’s impressive Guitar Orchestra is augmented by organs and a clarinet making for a mesmeric sound experience. The Guitar Orchestra consists of 24 musicians from Bristol: 19 guitarists including John Parish (PJ Harvey), Thought Forms, and Jim Barr (Portishead live band); 4 organs and a bass clarinet.
“I’ve been exploring the sonic possibilities of massed guitars for a while now in various contexts from pure noise to the sacred choral music of Arvo Part. So it was interesting to see what would happen if we had 20 electric guitars plus organs playing ‘In C’. It is an amazing piece of writing and original thought. A new free idea of organised group playing. The beginnings of what we know as minimalism.” Adrian Utley
The performance was recorded live at St Georges Hall, Bristol, one of Britain’s leading concert halls which is known for its astounding acoustic and unique atmosphere.
