Uploaded July 2018 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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Thomas Meadowcroft: Plain Moving Landfill (2003/2011) for mixed percussion and electronics. Performed by Philip Thomas and Colin Frank at Electric Spring 2018.

thomasmeadowcroft.com
colinfranksounding.com
electricspring.co.uk

Electric Spring is an annual festival of sonic exploration of cutting-edge practice in electronic music. The five-day programme of concerts, installations and symposia brings together a collection of people from diverse musical backgrounds to share their knowledge and perform music. The festival is curated by the Music and Music Technology staff of the University of Huddersfield.


/// Credits

Performed by Colin Frank and Philip Thomas at Electric Spring, 21 February 2018, Phipps Recital Hall, University of Huddersfield.

Audio recorded by Alex Harker
Video recorded by Sam Gillies
Audio and video edited by David Velez


/// Program Note

A landfill is a place where rubbish is dumped, buried, lined with plastic and then covered with grass or other light vegetation. As a slow yet dynamic process, the various layers of a landfill are often visible at one time when visiting a site: from piles of fresh garbage to complete rolling country plains. In turn, the piece Plain Moving Landfill was inspired by ‘the layers of construction’ present at landfill sites. The piece is dedicated to the percussionist Christian Dierstein, for whom it was written. The composer would also like the acknowledge the generous help and knowledge of percussionists, Matt Jenkins and Eugene Ughetti in realising this work.


/// Bio

Thomas Meadowcroft is a composer, arranger and musician. His work has been described as 'reaching an inexpressible purity' (Le Monde), 'nerve torture' (Süddeutsche Zeitung), 'dreamy post-rock' (New York Times), 'never-ending, sugar-sweet' (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), and 'between academic schmaltz and avantgarde-pop' (Zitty Magazine, Berlin). His early compositions for European new music ensembles exhibit 'art brut' tendencies such as monotonous harmony, found-objects, feedback and square wave organs. More recent work has focused on aspects of regional Australian culture. The 2016 radiophonic work, Moving Homes, co-commissioned by Deutschlandradio Kultur and ABC Creative Audio Unit, is set on an imaginary stretch of Queensland coastline which is prone to tropical cyclones and the ensuing loss of personal property. Song Buslines (2013), also commissioned by Deutschlandradio Kultur, describes the routes of long-haul bus trips along the east coast of Australia. The engine of a Holden Monaro belonging to Meadowcroft's cousin is the featured sound source in the 2008 installation, Monaro Eden (first exhibited at GOMA, Brisbane).

Colin Frank (CAN/UK) experiments with sound, electronics, theatre, and percussive instruments. In attempting to blur delineations between composer, performer, improviser, and technician his practice perpetually mutates: narrowly focusing then sprawling chaotically. His art investigates excess, pushing the body to physical extremes, barely controllable instruments, and rich, raw noises.