Vanishing Twin + Rural Tapes Concert

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'This is a band that fearlessly floats in the hazy space between the real world and an imagined one, blurring the line between warmly nostalgic and eerily haunted.'  – Pitchfork 

When London-based musician Cathy Lucas was born, she was supposed to have had a twin sister. But during her mother’s pregnancy, the twin embryo was absorbed into Lucas’s own, through a process known as ‘vanishing twin syndrome’. This phenomenon served as inspiration when she formed the psychedelic pop group Vanishing Twin in 2015. 

For more than ten years, London based Vanishing Twin have refined a hypnotic sound at the meeting point of minimalism, kosmische, post-punk, and dream-laden, psychedelic pop. The group is now a tightly honed trio of Lucas, drummer Valentina Magaletti (Holy Tongue, Tomaga, Moin) and bassist Susumu Mukai (Zongamin). 

Pursuing creative openness and an expanded palette of references and sources, Lucas’ left-field song-craft, Magaletti’s experimental percussion, and Mukai’s long history in the production of electronic music form the core of their sound. Around Magaletti’s metronomic, cycling patterns and the pulse of Mukai’s bass lines, the trio collectively create a wide tonal, textural, and structural range. Their latest album, Archives (Fire Records), refines Vanishing Twin’s model of collective music making, where egos are dispelled in playful games of mix and match, and creativity flows between the three multi-instrumentalists.

Rural Tapes (solo)

Rural Tapes is the solo project of norwegian producer/composer Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen. Its music is released on the renowned British label Clay Pipe and has garnered widespread acclaim worldwide. MOJO magazine described Rural Tapes as a hybrid of Kraftwerk, Air, Tortoise and Serge Gainsbourg. Live, the project takes two forms: a four-piece band and a solo version. For this support slot at MUNCH, Kjelsrud Mathisen will perform a solo set using synthesizers, tape machines and dictaphones, presenting music of a more experimental, ambient and drone-like quality. 

Kjelsrud Mathisen’s career spans two decades and, as a producer and performing musician, he has contributed to over 80 releases, as well as composing music for theatre and dance performances. 

 Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen – synthesizers, electronics