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Micachu & The Shapes and London Sinfonietta present: CHOPPED & SCREWED
Released 28th March 2011
Micachu & The Shapes have collaborated with the London Sinfonietta, one of the world’s leading contemporary orchestras, to create ‘Chopped & Screwed’. Recorded live in front of an audience at Kings Place, London in May 2010 the album will be released by Rough Trade on 28th March 2011 in CD (UK only), digital and limited edition vinyl format. It will be both Rough Trade and Micachu & The Shapes’ first ever classical release.
The London Sinfonietta invited Mica, Micachu & The Shapes’ frontwoman, to compose a series of pieces that would reflect her interests and influences, whilst giving the Sinfonietta an opportunity to develop a relationship with a young and exciting composer. She then presented the ideas of Raisa, Marc and herself to the London Sinfonietta's players, who then helped the trio to expand and enhance their ideas during a series of workshops prior to the concert.
The concept behind the album was inspired by the popular “chopping and screwing” technique in American hip-hop which was developed in Houston in the 1990s. The technique involves halving tempo, skipping beats and affecting portions of the original music. The approach was thought to have been developed by DJ Screw and largely influenced by Purple Drank, a codeine-based cough syrup which creates the effect of slowing down the brain, giving mellow music its appeal.
For this exciting, innovative project Mica Levi and David Sylvester handmade the instruments played by Micachu & The Shapes on this recording. Mica explains: “Our own instruments sound a bit percussive, a bit like samples, a bit different. When I write songs on a guitar I find my hands falling into the same bar chords all the time, but if you have something new in front of you there are no rules. No one else has ever played one before so you can approach music differently just make it up as you go along.” She adds, “Doing a project with the London Sinfonietta is an amazing opportunity for us.”
As part of Southbank Centre’s Ether, the collective musicians will perform the album in full again at a one-off live show at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall (London) on 5th April 2011.
Mixtape
Accompanying the album is a mixtape which, featuring the artist Brother May, repeats and extends the concept further by “chopping and screwing” the original album into grime tracks. It will be available online nearer the time of album release, and will accompany all formats at retail.
‘Chopped & Screwed’ and its mixtape precede Micachu & The Shapes’ second studio album, the follow up to 2009’s ‘Jewellery’, which is set for release later this year.
LONDON SINFONIETTA WINS PRESTIGIOUS RPS MUSIC AWARD FOR ENSEMBLE
London Sinfonietta has won the Ensemble category at this year’s RPS Music Awards, the UK’s most prestigious accolade for live classical music.
The Ensemble Award goes to London Sinfonietta for the consistent excellence of its music-making, the diverse range and imaginative quality of its programming, the variety of its ground-breaking projects including the first London Sinfonietta Academy in 2009, and its encouragement of young creators of new music combined with its championing of established composers – all of which puts it in a class if its own. – Rosemary Johnson, Executive Director, The Royal Philharmonic Society
I'm pleased and proud for the organisation that London Sinfonietta has won this important award - a testament to the extraordinary performances by the musicians and the role they have to play in nurturing the next generation of composers and performers. We have great plans for the future - and all this work is supported by a great Board and an outstanding management team. I'm grateful to the Royal Philharmonic Society for this recognition, and to The Yellow Car Charitable Trust who donated the award. – Andrew Burke, Chief Executive, London Sinfonietta
For more information on this please download the press release at the bottom of this page.
