Podcast 198: Ariadne (Christine Papania and Benjamin Forest)

When I first got the pointer to the band Ariadne, I did a drive by - and then a double-take. They describe themselves as an "experimental sacred music duo"; while that resonates, it was also a little bizarre. Sacred music is very seldom experimental, and vice versa. But a quick tour through their Soundcloud and Bandcamp sites helped me understand better - they create a haunting mix of ambient, industrial, noise, drone and operatic sounds that don't necessarily sit in any particular category, but still sound approachable and lovely. When we spoke, I learned that, rather than through-composed, this work is the result of improvisational practice using prepared texts. That sort of rattled my imagination about how something like this could be created; I always think of the 'song' and the 'tracks' coming first, but Ariadne finds a way to weave it together in the process of practice. They also implement the work as WebGL visual works, which you can experience at their main website (http://www.ariadnedigital.net/). The images match the music in both its depth and the touch of the disturbed, and it totally sucks me in. Enjoy this discussion with a couple of choir kids turned into performing media arts adrenaline junkies, and imagine the sounds of massive renderings in the background as we speak! Enjoy!