ICE/Xenakis

Three memories stick out whenever I hear Xenakis – which is more than
I can say for many composers. They each have to do with the music’s
effect on listeners, and not the music itself, but that, too, is a
comment on the music, right? Without the music, you don’t get the
effect of it, and, really, it’s that [...]

Paul D. Miller, aka “DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid,” made friends with ICE recently in Helsinki. He came in to our Sunset Park studio and recorded an audio interview, which will be featured on our upcoming March podcast.
He has also generously offered to share some of his own writings on Xenakis with Xi. We’ll be [...]

The percussion music of Iannis Xenakis defines contemporary percussion music just as the Bach Cello Suites defined and reified the classical cello repertoire. But Xenakis himself can seem maddeningly un-definable. In contrasting views, he is painted as either a logician or a magician.