Experimental Turntablism at Crackle, University of Leeds

I will be performing at the Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, University of Leeds on the 5th of November 2017. I’d like to thank DJ NikNak for the invitation to perform. Details below..

Archive: Performance at Sonic Arts Network Expo Plymouth 2007

In 2007 I performed two pieces at the Sonic Arts Networks Sonic Picnic event in Plymouth. I was in John Richards (Dirty Electronics) ensemble performing a piece called Lick The Pitch for the electronic instrument the Sudophone. I also performed on turntables in an ensemble called the Semorphonic Orchestra.

Turntablist Performance at Sue Townsend Theatre, Leicester March 2017.

I performed the piece Vinyl Minimalism at the Sue Townsend Theatre, which was a great venue for the work. The Audio-visual piece is a collaboration with The Lab Visuals and the music is created by live manipulation of records which have been cut using a variety of experimental disc cutting techniques. The event was generously supported by Leicester College, De Montfort University and the Biscuit Tin Sound System.

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Photo credit: David Wilson Clark

Gra8755 Ft. I-Mitri – Violence and Crime -Vinyl Release

Gra8775’s Dub version of Violence and Crime voiced by I-mitri is now available on 7″ vinyl on the Dreadwise label. The track has been well received in the sound system scene and it had DJ support from Reggae luminary David Rodigan who played the track at Glastonbury and on BBC Radio.

Violence and Crime was originally a Pure Phase Dubstep track which we used to play in sets. It did the rounds as a dubplate, with DJ support from Mungo’s Hi Fi, but was never released. Later, Gra’s Dub version became an anthem on the Biscuit Tin Sound System, so it’s great to see it getting a vinyl release.

Gra8755 Ft. I-Mitri – Violence and Crime (Dub Version)

Pure Phase and Pandacub Ft. I-Mitri – Violence and Crime (Original Dubstep Version)

More Pure Phase on this blog.

Ola Szmidt – Moja – First Play by Gilles Peterson on 6 Music.

I had a nice surprise on Saturday when Gilles Peterson dropped one of my tracks on his 6 Music show. The track Moja was written with the Polish vocalist Ola Szmidt and it will feature on Ola’s debut vinyl EP which is due to be released with support from the PRS Foundation for New Music and the Steve Reid InNOVAtion Award. Moja features Corey Mwamba on Vibes, Dave Dhono on Cello and Cyriel Diels and saxophone. It was mixed by Chris Cousin and myself at the Bathysphere studio.

More info and sounds from my collaboration with Ola:

James Kelly Ft. Ola Szmidt: Transformation Remix EP

James Kelly Ft. Ola Szmidt: The Healing Remix EP

Muted Fnord, Poisk and James Kelly Ft. Ola Szmidt

Pleq and James Kelly Ft. Ola Szmidt

SoundKitchen Performance with Pleq and Mark Harris

UK Young Artists Performance with Ola Szmidt

Experimental Turntablism on Tour. James Kelly + Robert Curgenven

I’m organising a three day tour with the composer and sound artist Robert Curgenven. Robert will be presenting his audio visual work Speculative Pataphysics created using three turntables, custom-made oscillators, 1930s acetates and custom-cut dubplates. I will be presenting an AV piece called Vinyl Minimalism in collaboration with The Lab Visuals. The concerts will be the final performances before the submission of my PhD which is focused on the creative application of a disc cutting lathe. I have been collaborating with the cellist Audrey Riley  and have cut records with Audrey’s improvisations using a variety of disc cutting techniques. The records will be remixed in performance using turntablist techniques.

Robert and I will be presenting two concerts in Leicester and Milton Keynes, with a workshop at Goldsmiths University, London. The concert at the Sue Townsend Theatre, Leicester is being generously supported by the music program at Leicester College and the Music Technology and Innovation Research Centre at De Montfort University, Leicester. The second concert is with the the guitarist Norberto Lobo at the MK Gallery Milton Keynes and we finish the tour with a workshop discussing how we use vinyl as part of our compositional process and in performance.

Tour Schedule

Wednesday 15th March
Sue Townsend Theatre, Leicester
7.30pm Free Entry. Reserve tickets

Thursday 16th March
MK Gallery, Milton Keynes with Norberto Lobo
7.30pm £7 on door. Further info

Friday 17th March
Workshop at the University of Goldsmiths, London

Mathieu Briand’s Spiral Installation. Tate Modern 2007 (From The Archive)

Another dip into my archive. In 2007 Mathieu Briand ‘s installation The Spiral was installed in the turbine hall at the Tate Modern. The installation had five turntables, a DJ mixer and a vinyl cutting lathe in the centre, with a spiral of seating for the audience. Performances from the turntables could be cut to vinyl and then played back in the space, creating an evolving composition. Briand himself had a 12″ of locked grooves which he used to create an improvised techno piece, similar to the locked groove records of Techno DJ Jeff Mills. I worked with composer Duncan Chapman for the Sonic Arts Network, performing a DJ improvisation on Briand’s installation.

Archive: James Kelly and Adam Weikert + Turntablist Philip Jeck at Summer Sundae 2008

I worked in an ambient electronic duo with Adam Weikert between 2007 and 2008. We recorded three studio improvisations which were released on CDR and performed a handful of concerts in Leicester and Coventry. In 2008, we performed on the Bathysphere stage at Leicester’s Summer Sundae festival alongside turntablist Philip Jeck. I think of this as my crate digger phase where I was remixing obscure records found in charity shops.

Turntable Music Symposium 23rd January 2017, University of Northampton

I’m organising a symposium on Turntable music at The University of Northampton as part of Subject Futures Week. The talks will present unique approaches to music performance and composition using turntables, including the styles of hip hop, minimalism and experimental music.

Our first guest of the day is  Dr Sophy Smith, Reader in Creative Technologies at De Montfort University. Smith will discuss research from her book Hip Hop Turntablism, Creativity and Collaboration, with a particular focus on compositional techniques employed by turntable teams such as the Scratch Perverts. Smith describes the scratch techniques employed by hip-hop DJ’s as the groundbreaking compositional strategies of hip-hop turntablism with incorporates sound manipulation and ‘flexible compositional processes’.

Our second guest is composer Shiva Fashreki who’s work explores concert music for turntables. Fashreki’s recent concerts include a live session for BBC Radio 3 at St John’s in Hackney, as well as the realisation of Daphne Oram’s work ‘Still Point’ for Double Orchestra, 78rpm vinyl discs and microphones at the Southbank Centre, London. Discussing her work with Turntables, Fashreki states:

“My turntabling practise can be described as a manipulation of pre-recorded sound to create new gestural movements and textures not always apparent in the record being manipulated. I often modify and prepare the turntables using sculptures that use the electricity, magnetism and circulation of the turntables to create sound and shapes.”

I will be presenting my PhD research which explores the use of a vinyl disc cutting lathe as a compositional tool for the creation of new music. My talk will discuss recent experiments cutting locked groove records to create minimalist music. In the evening I will present a performance – exhibition creating a turntablist remix of the records accompanied by live video feeds of the records.

 

Both the talks and concert are free.

Schedule

Date: Monday 23rd January 2017

Venue: University of Northampton Avenue Campus, MY89

10am Sophy Smith
Hip Hop Turntablism, Creativity and Collaboration

11am James Kelly
Vinyl Minimalism

1pm Shiva Fashreki
Daphne Oram’s Still Point and Concert Music for Turntables

7pm Jim Frize and James Kelly Concert
Isham Dark, Avenue Campus

James Kelly Experimental Turntablism Interview with Eleven Magazine

Earlier this year I was interviewed by Northampton music magazine Eleven. In the interview I discussed my exhibition at the Avenue Gallery, University of Northampton which presented my experiments with using vinyl record cutting as part of the compositional process. Eleven started by asking about my experience as a turntablist, starting in Hip Hop and later getting into ambient music and dub. I discussed learning to cut vinyl records and why the medium interests me. Click this link to read the interview in Eleven.