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CMU Approved
Approved: Roly Porter
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 7 April 2020
For his fourth album ‘Kistvaen’, electronic musician Roly Porter takes influence from Stone Age burial rituals. The title refers to a type of granite tomb found predominantly on Dartmoor. Often covered in a mound of earth and stone, these burial places allow for the deceased to be positioned facing the sun.
By rooting his work in themes from the Neolithic period and then using modern music production, Porter aims to compare and contrast social rituals now and 12,000 years ago. He does this combining field recordings made around Dartmoor with enveloping, often overwhelming, experimental electronic music.
In addition, three vocalists feature across the record: Mary-Anne Roberts from medieval Welsh music duo Bragod, Ellen Southern of Bristol’s Dead Space Chamber Music group, and Phil Owen, a singer and researcher in vocal traditions.
The music on ‘Kristvaen’ was originally developed for an audiovisual performance of the same name with visual artist MFO, and the recorded version was – in part – made during rehearsals for that show. ‘Kristvaen’ is out on 5 Jun.
Listen to a track from it, ‘An Open Door’, here:
