Alexander Peterhans
I'm not always a fan of the combination of performance poetry and music - a lot of times it sounds like two pieces of music slathered over eachother, fighting for attention. Silva's record is not that - the specificity that's already in her poetry, is matched equally with taut electronica.
Art Fin
Experimental poetry and sputtering vocalizations over minimalist, avant-garde music. It wasn't an easy listen on first listen but on second try I understood this grower much better.
Favorite track: Blank.
Gavin Hellyer
Hannah's been a writer and sound poet for quite some time. She has received awards for her work in these fields, and now we have this extraordinary cross-over recording. She uses spoken word language uniquely and works with and against a soundtrack of electronics, drums and a cello. But it is both an awesome clash and brilliantly cohesive all at once. Buy this, you won't believe it.
Favorite track: Bone Ladder.
"Silva's texts are concentrated interventions in the exercise of social and cultural power" - Julian Cowley, The Wire - July 2018
“The vocal acrobatics of musician and writer Hannah Silva test the physical limits of language” - The Wire
“She uses techniques like cut-up and collage, sound poetry and physical theatre to create something that’s unique but nods to older forms like shamanism, pre-religious ceremonies, Dadaism, and the kind of games that children play with language” - Ian McMillan, The Verb, BBC Radio 3
“I’m really quite blown away by what I’m hearing of this woman’s work...”
- Verity Sharp, Late Junction BBC Radio 3
"Un lavoro di grande interesse e grande fascino"
"Un album splendido"
- BATTITI Radio Rai Tre
“Utterly confident and incredibly accomplished. Amazing debut.”
FBi Radio - Sydney
“Storming noise-fuelled rendition, impossible to ignore!”
Eastern Daily Press - UK
Talk in a bit is the debut record by Hannah Silva, an award-winning writer and sound poet known for her innovative and virtuosic vocal performances. One year ago, Swiss producer Alan Alpenfelt saw Silva perform at the Edinburgh Book Festival, and, inspired by her rhythmical energy and vocal skills, invited her to be the flagship artist on his new label. Talk in a bit was recorded during a week of free improvisation at the beautiful La Sauna Recording Studio on Lake Varese, Italy. Silva’s lyrical tapestries are woven together with the acrobatic drummery of Swiss percussionist Julian Sartorius, the electro-acoustic virtuosity of Italian composer Luca Martegani and the noise distortions of Swiss cellist Zeno Gabaglio.
Silva’s words explore the female body, sexuality, power and pain. The tracks move from a rhythmic cacophony of articulations to lyrics inscribed on a breath: “your air is my suitcase, I fill you with the sounds that hang behind, the fingertips that touch, only to leave no marks in the air between us”.
The result is a raw and powerful album, where drums, vocals, electronics and cello are treated as liberated objects smashing and weaving into each other with tremendous yet elegant force, transforming the semantic tapestries of Silva’s poetry. A truly original sound, experimental yet accessible: a marriage of music and words, atmospheres and grooves, technology and grit. Talk in a bit is an electric, deeply rhythmical and at times melancholic album.
credits
released May 9, 2018
All tracks written and performed by Hannah Silva
Julian Sartorius: drums, beats and percussions.
Luca Xelius Martegani: Korg MS20, Memory Moog, Doepfer A100 modular, Rhodes mark II, Sintetika Musika Makina custom modular system, Disciple one synthesizer by Riccardo Monti
Zeno Gabaglio: electric five strings cello.
Additional production by Luca Xelius Martegani
Recorded and Mixed by Enrico Mangione - La Sauna New Recording Studio, Varese (I)
Mastering: Henning Schmitz (member of Kraftwerk) at X Punkte 1 Studio, Köln (D)
Artwork: Alfio Mazzei
Project curated by Alan Alpenfelt
HK001
(P) & (C) Human Kind Records 2018
Supported by The Arts Council England.
Development supported by the Artists’ International Development Fund.
Human Kind Records focuses on the two human miracles of music and poetry which give us the possibility to delve down deep
into things we have difficulty in understanding and help us comprehend the world from other perspectives. At Human Kind, we aim to amplify these perspectives through the sounds and words of highly talented poetic musicians....more
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