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Nam June Paik

It was so much fun to take part in a performance of Nam June Paik's One for Violin Solo at this years rainy days festival at Philharmonie Luxembourg.

Thanks to Samuel D. Loveless for inviting me to join Jez riley French, Pheobe riley French, Knut Aufermann and Sarah Washington for this!

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October

Icons of Elegance recently released an EP called October to celebrate 20 years as a band!

Following the first single Friday, the songs Pieces and Celebrate have been super well received both on streaming platforms and on state radio in Finland. There's more to come as this EP forms the first part of a full length album due to be released next Spring.

Have a listen below and if you want to know more about it, read this lovely feature over on Joyzine.

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Tom O C Wilson

I've long been a fan of Tom O C Wilson and his truly original and very British take on post-Beatles melodicity, so I was very glad to provide vocals for his latest single Only Listening. Other guest singers for this project include David Brewis from Field Music, so make sure to check it out. Below you can watch a brilliant video for Only Listening that was recently featured on Channel 4's Sunday Brunch.

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Finnish legends

I had the great honour to play acoustic guitar on two recent releases from two Finnish legends - Jonna Tervomaa's Punainen vaate and Ilkka Alanko's Jokaiselle jotakin. Both albums were brilliantly produced by Väinö Wallenius and the former even made it onto Wilco's legendary Summer listening recommendations!

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Christian Wolff

It was an absolute joy to perform Christian Wolff’s "Sveglia" as part of a 7-guitar ensemble put together by James Creed for this year’s music we’d like to hear-series.

The concert was recorded, so if you missed it you can tune in to BBC Radio 3 this Saturday (and for a month on iPlayer) to catch up. 

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Friday

Icons of Elegance are back with new music celebrating the band's 20th anniversary!

The first single from an EP that’s coming out this Autumn is called "Friday" and has been super well received with lots of airtime on Radio Suomi and Yle Vega in Finland. 

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Filip on the radio

Massive thank you to Stuart Maconie on BBC 6Music for playing “Filip” on his Freak Zone-show.

Ambient skronk for the win!

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EP Tre

Henri Utan K [ˈhɛn⟨r⟩ɪ uːtʌn kɒ] is the moniker of London-based experimental guitarist and composer Henri Växby. 

On the fringes of the new music scene since the early 00s, his work moves between part-improvised and fully composed, combining stark dissonance with gently hypnotic soundscapes and drones. This is music that is quiet and loud at the same time.

EP Tre collects a triptych of pieces using the same raw material -three paintings serving as graphic scores and three first takes combined on top of each other - treated in different ways. 

Philip presents the material as is without edits, Filip uses a simple process composition to create a dub version - albeit more Arto Lindsay than King Tubby - whereas  Philippe stretches the sound of a decaying echo leaving a David Lynch-like trace of what went before.

Henri studied composition at Goldsmiths. He is also co-leader of avant pop duo French For Cartridge and post-Beatles outfit Icons of Elegance. He likes Brutalist architecture and Nordic silver lakes.

Photo by Sam Walton

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Filip

Filip follows on the heels of Philip and uses the same building blocks - three paintings used as graphic scores and three first takes combined on top of each other - but this time with a subtle tape treatment. Call it a dub version if you wish, but it’s less King Tubby and more Arto Lindsay. 

This is the second part of EP Tre, out 23 February on Now For Norbert Records, which consists of a triptych of pieces using a similar approach. 

Photo by Sam Walton.

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Philip

My third outing as Henri Utan K is released in the New Year!

"EP Tre" consists of a triptych of pieces using the same material treated in different ways. The first track to be released is called "Philip" and was made using a series of paintings as graphic scores - 3 paintings and 3 first takes put together without edits. Served as is.

Enjoy!

Photo by Sam Walton

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Rainy Days

Just back from an amazing few days at Luxembourg's Rainy Days-festival with lots of great new music, meeting so many interesting new faces as well as catching up with old friends.

It was also a joy to fill the vastness of the Philharmonie’s Grand Foyer, first with Yoshi Wada’s “Lament for the Rise and Fall of Handy-Horn” together with Jennifer Lucy Allan, Annea Lockwood and Catherine Kontz, and later Alvin Lucier’s ”(Knuedler) Memory Space” with Angharad Davies, Tim Parkinson and Catherine.

Music really is the best.

📷 Tim Parkinson.

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Joyjoyjoyjoy

French For Cartridge are out of hibernation - at least temporarily.

When Joyzine asked us to contribute something to one of their 20th Anniversary compilation albums we couldn’t say no.

“Joyjoyjoyjoy” with its found-lyrics about maps is our tribute to Joyzine and more specifically Paul Maps - the man behind it all - who is not just a tireless supporter of new independent music, but also one of the nicest people in show business.

Copies in the form of a beautifully designed birthday card + download can be purchased from Bandcamp. If you buy both volumes, you’ll get tracks from the likes of Deerhoof TEKE TEKE A Place To Bury Strangers as well as us.

All proceeds go to HOPE not hate.

Mastered by Andy Baldwin.  Photo by Auwyn. Words, music, noise, mix and everything else by Catherine and Henri.

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Anssi Vaxbys Orkester

My brother Anssi Växby had an excellent idea and ran with it, creating an EP’s worth of seasonal orchestral entertainment in Swedish.

I had the joy of mixing most of the tracks, play guitar on some AND writing Swedish lyrics for the first time in my life on "Året Runt med Anssi Växbys Orkester".

Counterbalance for all the noise guitar releases lately!

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EP Tva

Henri Utan K [ˈhɛn⟨r⟩ɪ uːtʌn kɒ] is the moniker of London-based experimental guitarist and composer Henri Växby.

On the fringes of the new music scene since the early 00s, his work moves between part-improvised and fully composed, combining stark dissonance with gently hypnotic soundscapes and drones. This is music that is quiet and loud at the same time.

EP Två consists of one 30-minute piece titled Two X Two, which develops the simple processes of last year’s EP Ett across a longer stretch of time. Here, two Feldman-esque sets of pitches played on guitar gradually mutate and receive a sonic treatment over its course - a slow-burner that pays off for those who are patient.

Henri studied composition at Goldsmiths. He is also co-leader of avant pop duo French For Cartridge and post-Beatles outfit Icons of Elegance. He likes Brutalist architecture and Nordic silver lakes.

Photo by Sam Walton.

EP Två by Henri Utan K

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Jamws

I had the pleasure of adding some lap steel textures to the title track of the brilliant album Jawms album "Soft".

Beautifully produced by Mikko Gordon and Mathew Keightley.

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2022

In a typically Finnish glass half empty fashion I thought I’d had a fairly mediocre year until I was updating my CV and realised the amount of good music I’ve been part of releasing this past year.  

There was an album of lyrics with Early Signs, my first solo avant guitar outing as Henri Utan K, a bunch of co-writes on Jannike’s latest album, a great Malla Collin single, a mix for the classical debut of my brother Anssi Växby and my Swedish lyric debut for his Vinterorkester’s Christmas single which took at least Svenskfinland’s airwaves by storm.  

Throw in a big French For Cartridge sync for a Belgian TV series, guitar & mix for some jingles, the same for a Finnish TV show, some indie hipster lap steel sessions plus the beginnings of a new Icons of Elegance album, and I’ve actually had a pretty good year. 

So this journeyman is thankful for being able to do what he enjoys the most: choose the good notes, put them in the right order and make some noise along the way.

Photo by Sam Walton.

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Julpapperstunna vaggar

A good day for releases today! Have a listen to this instant Christmas classic by my brother Anssi Växby and his Vinterorkester! Sometimes I surprise even myself with the variety of things I come up with to occupy myself, this time not only mixing this beautiful piece of music, but also writing the lyrics for it - for the first time in Swedish! Enjoy!