A Musical Interlude

The work of W.G. Sebald seems to find its way into the work of a wide variety of artists.  The latest connection I have run across is a smart British musical duo – Andrew Phillips and Marcus O’Dair – who call themselves grasscut.  They have been described as “a kind of Gilbert and George of electronic music,” which, as a huge fan of Gilbert and George, was a great recommendation to me.   grasscut’s debut CD High Down (Ninja Tune ZENDNLS243) begins with a lyric that quotes Sebald:  “These forms exist. They simply have fallen into disrepair.”  Here is a description of the CD from the musical website parisdjs.com:

a transcendental journey from the Sussex South Downs of High Down to the Nintendo cathedral of Muppet. On its way it encounters both string quartets and casio keyboards, as well as a cast of voices including a 1920s tenor (The Tin Man), a Victorian singing poet (In Her Pride), gossiping mums and the Massed Voices of St Helier Choir (Muppet), a woman reminiscing about post-war rationing (1946), and two American property developers (Old Machines). The contemporary song cycle also features original vocals on several tracks.

Samples from High Down can be heard on grasscut’s MySpace page.  The Sebald quote can be heard at the beginning of the title song High Down (currently, this song starts playing automatically as you open page, or you can click on it to listen).  They’re playing in Brighton, London and other venues later this summer.