Event info

A Magnificent Concert Experience in Darkness – Autechre in Iceland, August 15th

The electronic music duo Autechre will perform in Iceland on August 15th at Silfurberg, Harpa. This will be a unique concert experience in total darkness.

British musicians Sean Booth and Rob Brown, performing under the name Autechre, have been pioneers of experimental electronic music for decades. They are among the most influential yet enigmatic figures in today’s electronic music scene, having carved out a distinct identity with avant-garde soundscapes, intricate rhythms, and unpredictable composition. Currently, they are on one of their most extensive tours to date, having already performed worldwide before making their way to Iceland.

What makes their concerts truly unique is that they take place in total darkness, allowing the music to shape the space and guide the senses in an immersive journey. This will be a performance to be felt rather than seen—a raw, unpredictable, and intense experience that goes beyond the traditional concert format.

Autechre are touring in support of their latest release, AE_2022–, which features live recordings from concerts around the world between 2022 and 2024. In December, they took over BBC 6 Music’s Artist in Residence slot with a four-part DJ series, showcasing the diversity of their career.

sideproject is an electronic music trio from Reykjavík, Iceland, known for their heavy, fast-paced beats, flowing textured synths, and genre-bending sound. Emerging from Iceland’s vibrant underground scene, sideproject gained early recognition with their 2021 release radio vatican ep, which won Electronic Album of the Year at the Icelandic Music Awards.

In 2024, they followed up with LP sourcepond, released on the acclaimed Manchester-based label SVBKVLT.

Beyond their own releases, Sideproject has collaborated with Lila Tirando a Violeta and Sigrún, contributed beat programming to Björk’s 2022 album Fossora, and produced an official remix of her single “Atopos.” Sideproject’s music is a whirlwind of influences—fast-paced, unpredictable, and deeply immersive—making them one of Iceland’s most compelling and forward-thinking voices in experimental electronic music.

John McCowen’s life has become an obsession with discovering a polyphonic language on a historically monophonic instrument - the clarinet. This has led him to a unique acoustic vocabulary that is similar to a shifting soundscape of electronic feedback. John's multiphonic approach is based in drones, difference tones, and beating harmonics as a means to showcase the compositional potential within a single, acoustic sound source. His work has been described by The New Yorker (Steve Smith) as “the sonic equivalent of microscopic life viewed on a slide” and “an astonishing demonstration of pure sound and human will” by The Wire (Phil Freeman). He began playing in the American DIY circuit in a number of groups. These years led to international rock tours as a saxophone & flute player in his early 20’s. After burning out, he decided to pursue classical clarinet performance with contemporary clarinet pioneer, Eric P. Mandat. John plays the contrabass clarinet, bass clarinet, Bb & A clarinets, as well as recorders (soprano, alto, bass, & garklein). John has collaborated extensively with the composer and instrumentalist, Roscoe Mitchell. He has orchestrated, arranged, and transcribed Mitchell’s works for orchestras and other ensembles as well as performing as a duo of bass saxophone and contrabass clarinet.

John remains stubbornly dedicated to acoustic phenomena. His works do not utilize amplifier feedback or electronically-generated sounds unless specified.

John has been artist-in-residence at Headlands Center for the Arts (Sausalito, CA-2024), ISSUE Project Room (Brooklyn, NY-2020), & Lijiang Studio (Yunnan, China-2017,2019). He has released documents on International Anthem, Edition Wandelweiser, Sound American, Astral Spirits, Dinzu Artefacts, Superpang, Full Spectrum, and others. He currently resides in Reykjavík, Iceland where he teaches Music Improvisation at the Iceland University of the Arts and is artistic director of the experimental arts space, Mengi.He has performed in spaces such as Borealis Festival, Jazzfestival Saalfelden, Cafe OTO, Edition Festival, Sequences Festival, Dark Music Days Festival, Roulette Intermedium, LAMPO, ISSUE Project Room, Q-O2 Oscillation Festival, and others.