Zephyr Quartet present Exquisite Corpse at Adelaide Festival

11220094_10153534627321622_960036991076526987_nJG Thirlwell is composing  a new piece for the Australian new music string quartet Zephyr Quartet. Zephyr are commissioning a series of string works that will premiere at the Adelaide Festival in March 2016. Collectively entitled Exquisite Corpse, the suite of compositions are created in a style based on the Surrealist game, where each composer starts their composition from a short section of the previous composer’s piece. The composers involved include Zoe Barry, Jherek Bischoff, Jason Sweeney, Adam Page and others, with live projected art created by Luku Kukuku and Jo Kerlogue. Performances will take place on March 7 and 8 at the Space Theatre in the Adelaide Festival Center. In 2013, Zephyr Quartet performed with JG as members of his chamber ensemble Manorexia at the Adelaide Festival with Kronos Quartet.

JGT on Kavus Torabi's Exquisite Corpse album

1108The Exquisite Corpse Game is a unique musical collaboration based on the rules of the Exquisite Corpse, invented by the Surrealists : each artist was given only the last 20 seconds of the previous composition and had to continue by recording instrumental music in any way they saw fit. The album, conceived and curated by Kavus Torabi (Knifeworld/ Cardiacs/ Guapo) features a piece JG Thirlwell as well as contributions from Torabi, Khyam Allami, Karda Estra, British Theatre (Oceansize/ Biffy Clyro), Bob Drake (Thinking Plague/ 5uu’s/ The Science Group etc) Weasel Walter (The Flying Luttenbachers/ Behold The Arctopus/ Cellular Chaos etc) Dominique Leone, Appleblim, Katharine Blake (Mediaeval Baebes/ Miranda Sex Garden) Max Tundra, Mikrokosmos (Levitation/ Dark Star/ Cardiacs) and Craig Fortnam (North Sea Radio Orchestra/ Arch Garrison).

Taken individually, The Exquisite Corpse Game represents thirteen brand new, original compositions by thirteen innovative musical artists but taken as a whole the entire album has a kaleidoscopic, dream-like yet homogenous quality. Themes and ideas seem to repeat and reoccur throughout in a way that could not have been known to the contributors. There is an ebb and flow throughout that sounds both pre-conceived and deliberate.
The Exquisite Corpse Game will be released on September 2, 2013 but pre-orders will be shipped at least one month ahead of this date.