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TueLuke Turner talks to musician, sound artist and curator Lawrence English about 15 years of running Room 40 – Australia’s prime platform for experimental music –, his musical practice, the art of listening, and the thoughts behind his latest album, Wilderness of Mirrors. The album title took inspiration from T.S Eliot’s poem „Gerontion“. During the cold war, this phrase became associated with campaigns of miscommunication carried out by opposing state intelligence agencies. Within the context of the album’s pieces, the phrase acted as a metaphor for a process of iteration that sat at the compositional core, which English describes as a „reflection upon reflection,“ leading to „a pure white out of absolute aurality.“
Luke Turner is a writer and editor based in London. He is one of the founders of The Quietus, an award-winning and influential independent online magazine devoted to music, popular culture and the role of the arts in society.
An artist, curator, and founder of leading avant-garde imprint Room40 based in Brisbane, Lawrence English is one of the most prolific and recognizable figures in contemporary ambient and experimental music. His work undertakes study of perception, memory, and sonic affect across a wide swathe of creative forms.