Listen Club #29: 'Mechanical Music' with Chris Cutler
Schedule
Wed, 12 Nov, 2025 at 07:00 pm
UTC+00:00Location
The Rose Hill | Brighton, EN
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Chris Cutler (Henry Cow, Pere Ubu, Gong) explores the history of mechanical music - music composed for and enacted solely by mechanical devices, a practice can be dated back to at least ninth century Mesopotamia. Listen Club 29 starts from the point where machines began to be used to exceed human possibilities, adding an inhuman dimension to the production of musical sound.--------------
Mechanical Music: Music composed for and enacted solely by mechanical devices, excluding virtual or digital machines, or sounds emerging from loudspeakers. The practice can be dated back to (at least) ninth century Mesopotamia, and from the early eighteenth century, examples have survived intact. Beethoven wrote Wellington's Victory for Nepomuk Malzael's legendary (but lost) Panharmonicon. In the nineteenth century there was a proliferation of such devices, though all still reproducing mechanically what could or had been played manually. Listen Club 29 starts from the point where machines began to be used to exceed human possibilities, adding an inhuman dimension to the production of musical sound.
Chris Cutler is a composer, performer writer and broadcaster. He was in numerous bands, including Henry Cow, Pere Ubu, Gong, Art Bears and Cassiber; has worked with The Residents - as well as in dance, film, Hörspiel, theatre, soundscape, radio and on orchestral projects. H runs the independent label ReR Megacorp and has published three books and numerous articles and essays on music. He is also the author and producer of the long-running ‘probes’ podcast for the Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona.
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About Listen Club
A programme of unusual sound-works, soundscape composition, and music from the present and the past, chosen by Sound Art Brighton artists and invited guests.
Listen club is all about coming together to listen to music with the possibility of sharing impressions and casual discussion afterwards. Listen Club hopes to provide a counterpoint to the quick paced personal consumption of music with a more patient shared experience; a deep listen, together, in order to foster community.
Curators will guide the experience - briefly discussing the details of the selections and providing background on the music and artists chosen. We aim to present a variety of styles and listening experiences that may include anything from long duration singular sound works to a series of work on a particular theme. On average we will listen together for 45min to an hour, with time for discussion and conversation afterwards.
Once a month, 7-9pm, at The Rose Hill
About Sound Art Brighton
Sound Art Brighton is an independent initiative that celebrates the presence of sound art in Brighton, UK. Building on the wide interest this art form has attracted in the city, we promote the diversity of sound in its intrinsic relations with other arts and the everyday. We reach out to all practitioners and facilitators engaged in this hybrid art form and who contribute in their sonic ways to Brighton’s urban environment and communal life. Our activities include city-wide events, a partner network, an interactive website and research projects. https://soundartbrighton.com
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Where is it happening?
The Rose Hill, Rose Hill, 3 Kensington Gardens, Brighton, BN1 4AL, United KingdomEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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