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Lawrence English

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Lawrence English
English in 2023
Born1975 or 1976 (age 48–49)[1]
EducationQueensland University of Technology (BA, MA, PhD)
Known forSound
Websitelawrenceenglish.com

Lawrence English (born 1976) is an Australian composer, artist, and curator from Brisbane. His work is broadly concerned with the politics of perception, specifically he is interested in the nature of listening, and sounds' capability to occupy the body.[2] He is the director of the imprint Room40, started in 2000. He and Jamie Stewart from Xiu Xiu have an ongoing collaboration named Hexa.[3]

Sound works

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English's music is recognised as exploring "environmental and musical sources and is highly regarded for its intelligent invocation of perception, memory and space".[4] On his 2014 album Wilderness of Mirrors[5] he outlines his approach to composition "For me it's about a kind of struggle between almost nothing and almost everything. Sometimes one sound can be too much and other times 50 layers seems lacking in the depth you want to convey. I think at the heart of this question is dynamics, and I feel that's very much what this album is about. It's a slow reveal, I want it to be a seduction."[6]

He cites childhood experiences birdwatching for reed warbler with his father as the starting point for his interest in sound in space. He has stated, "If you just looked in the reeds you'd see nothing. If you listened you got an idea of space and a sense of where it might be, then you understood it. That's probably my first experience with these ideas of space and sound, which are basically the fundamental building blocks of what I've been interested in since then."[7] These experiences have led to a long engagement with field recordings, and more recently the development of theoretical approaches to the practice including his Relational Listening theory.[8]

Discography

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Studio albums

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Title Details
Transit
  • Release date: 2004
  • Label: Cajid Media (cajid 003CD)
Happiness Will Befall
  • Release date: 2005
  • Label: Crónica (Crónica 022)
Autumn
  • Release date: 2005
  • Label: Autumn Records (leaf 022)
Plateau
(with Ai Yamamoto)
  • Release date: 2007
  • Label: Phono-Statique Records (P-S 007)
Merola Shoulders
(with Domenico Sciajno)
  • Release date: 2007
  • Label: Phono-Statique Records (P-S 008)
For Varying Degrees of Winter
  • Release date: 2007
  • Label: Baskaru (KARU7)
Kiri No Oto
  • Release date: 2008
  • Label: Touch (Tone 31)
Studies for Stradbroke
  • Release date: 2008
  • Label: Winds Measure (wm11)
Euphonia
(with Tom Hall)
  • Release date: 2008
  • Label: Presto!? (P!?003)
U
(with Tujiko Noriko & John Chantler)
  • Release date: 2008
  • Label: Room40 (RM435)
HB
(with Francisco López)
  • Release date: January 2009
  • Label: Baskaru (KARU:13)
A Colour for Autumn
  • Release date: 2009
  • Label: 12k (12K1052)
It's Up to Us to Live
  • Release date: 2009
  • Label: Sirr (SIRR 0032)
A Path Less Travelled
(with Minamo)
  • Release date: 2010
  • Label: Room40 (RM427)
And the Lived in
  • Release date: 2012
  • Label: Room40 (DRM420)
Songs of the Living
  • Release date: 2012
  • Label: Room40 (DRM420)
For / Not for John Cage
  • Release date: 2012
  • Label: Line (LINE_058)
Lonely Women's Club
  • Release date: 2013
  • Label: Important Records (IMPREC367)
Suikinkutsu No Katawara Ni
  • Release date: 2013
  • Label: Winds Measure Recordings (wm35)
Wilderness of Mirrors
  • Release date: 2014
  • Label: Room40 (RM460)
A Path Less Travelled
(with Stephen Vitiello)
  • Release date: November 2014
  • Label: Dragon's Eye Recordings (der009)
Shadow of the Monolith
(with Werner Dafeldecker)
  • Release date: November 2014
  • Label: Holotype Editions (HOLO2)
Approaching Nothing
  • Release date: 2016
  • Label: Baskaru (karu:40)
Cruel Optimism
  • Release date: 2017
  • Label: Room40 (RM470)
Immediate Horizon
(with Alessandro Cortini)
  • Release date: 2018
  • Label: Important Records (IMPREC466)
Selva Oscura
(with William Basinski)
  • Release date: 2018
  • Label: Temporary Residence Limited (TRR312)
Lassitude
  • Release date: 2020
  • Label: Room40 (RM401)
Field Recordings from the Zone
  • Release date: 2020
  • Label: Boomkat Editions (BKEDITDS011)
Observation of Breath
  • Release date: September 2021
  • Label: Hallow Ground (HG2103)
Viento
  • Release date: 8 April 2022
  • Label: Room40 (RM4190)
Eternal Stalker
(with Merzbow)
Chthonic
  • Release date: 11 August 2023

Awards

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Queensland Music Awards

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The Queensland Music Awards (previously known as Q Song Awards) are annual awards celebrating Queensland, Australia's brightest emerging artists and established legends. They commenced in 2006.[9]

Year Nominee / work Award Result (wins only)
2008[10] "Watching It Unfold" Electronic song of the Year Won

References

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  1. ^ a b "Interview: Lawrence English". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  2. ^ Twells, John (19 August 2014). "I want to do things that have meaning". Fact Magazine. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  3. ^ Loren (24 July 2021). "Hexa returns (Lawrence English + Jamie Stewart)". Scene Point Blank. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  4. ^ Zuvela, Danni. "10 years of room40: privileging the ears". realtime. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  5. ^ howe, brian. "wilderness of mirrors". Pitchfork.
  6. ^ Wallen, Doug. "I want it to be a seduction". Mess And Noise.
  7. ^ Clark, Alistair (8 October 2010). "Lawrence English". Crasier Frane. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  8. ^ english, lawrence (18 November 2014). "A Beginners Guide To Field Recording". Fact Magazine.
  9. ^ "About the Queensland Music Awards". Queensland Music Awards. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Past Winners 2008". Queensland Music Awards. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
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