Karen Willems & Machinefabriek

1. Volt (25:30)

download, Rewire, August 2021

Available here

After their stunning collaboration for the Rewire 2021 online edition in May, Rewire now presents ‘Volt’, the outcome of Karen Willems & Machinefabriek’s residency at the festival.

Belgian percussionist and composer Karen Willems is a serial collaborator, but hadn’t worked with an electronic artist before her residency with Machinefabriek. Dutch producer Rutger Zuydervelt works with drone, noise, ambient music and field recordings to create glacial soundscapes, eerie electro-acoustic environments and crushing walls of static.

Recorded on site at the Electriciteitsfabriek in The Hague, their collaboration, entitled ‘Volt’, sees the duo’s styles complement each other perfectly. With Willems free-form improvisational drumming wizardry, she utilises a wide range of percussion instruments, adding occasional vocals brimming with intensity. Machinefabriek responds to her dynamic style by crafting a mind-bending array of pulsating synth lines and drones, manipulating field recordings with electronic processing and effects.