Lawrence English

STM 011 is a subtly shifting musical compilation that consists of seventeen diverse records released between 1978 and 2012. This selection expands the perception of compiling and developing in music.

The author of the mix is Lawrence English (born 1976), an Australian contemporary music composer, media artist and curator based in Brisbane. He is purposefully pushing the boundaries of Australian sound art and experimental music – both as a creator and curator. English has founded the respectable Room40 record label which releases works of such artists as Grouper, Tim Hecker, Rafael Anton Irisarri. Lawrence’s musical works are widely published on various respected labels including Touch Music, Crónica, 12k, Experimedia and many others. He shares a stage with other big figures like Tujiko Noriko, Ben Frost, Tenniscoats and Francisco López. Among other things, Lawrence carries an essential store of musical knowledge and diplomacy that makes him an authoritative figure. He curates acclaimed sound art and electronic music series including MONO, Fabrique, Syncretism and NineHoursNorth which are active across Australia, New Zealand and parts of Asia. His conceptually driven sound art exhibitions are commissioned by the Next Wave Festival, University of Tasmania, Airport Symphony (Queensland Music Festival) and others.

In the records

STM 011 is a kaleidoscopic musical selection which consists of 17 peculiar creations obviously mirroring Lawrence’s far-sighted view of music as a phenomenon. There is no specific substructure of the mix and that fact creates progressively growing attention to every track. The whole background is very flexible and full of sparkling rhythmical episodes, traditional archaic musical motives, emotional voices and melodies. It seems that the expansive concept of selection stands on the advanced intuition of Lawrence which enriches selected music with vitality and passion.

+

STM 011 is like Man Ray’s enigmatic painting “The Rope Dancer Accompanies Herself with Her Shadows” where comparing the accidental pattern with shadows cast by an acrobat creates a composition which represents movement, gravity and balance.