The 'proof of concept' title of Pelvic Friction with Z on the bass and voice. After 'The Stunted' and the 'Youpi Jazz Metal' experiences, back to some rougher sound horizons.

Friction

Icelandic beat maiden Thorgerdur continues to impress, from her outrageous set during our hedonistic weekend in Oslo to her offering to our Free Download series, we are 100% sure there is more to come. Label head of Blossy, her productions sit at the enviable crossroads of introspective electronica and heavy-hitting electro, but this is only part of her narrative. Well-versed in the deeper end of the music spectrum as well as the more peak time shades, her demure outer layer deceptively belies her killer abilities to rock dancefloors from fabric to bürro, CDV to DUQO, as well as the hottest spots around her native Nordics.

An avid digger, Thorgerdur ensures that every time she steps up to the decks she has only the finest cuts in her record bag and her mix for our InSession series is no different. Having scoured the best record stores wherever she travels, her mix is jam-packed with hard-to-find gems and forgotten bangers. If you haven't caught her in action yet, take this as a timely reminder to do so as soon as you possibly can. 

https://www.instagram.com/thorgerdurj_/
https://soundcloud.com/thorgerdur-johanna

Thorgerdur - Trommel InSession 143

"We're pro-AI and we're pro-consent. Those things don't have to be mutually exclusive." The activists and artists talk about the hot button issues facing AI's governance.

The world is deep in the throes of a heightening debate over AI. Just this week, the Vatican published an essay addressing the potential, and risks, of AI in a new high-tech world as well as its intersection with religion and humanity. In politics, figures like Elon Musk are advising citizens that the US government will become increasingly "AI-first," using data about its individuals to make federal decisions. And in the world of culture and the humanities, the alarm has been sounded on AI's ability to both aid in creativity and homogenise the art and music being produced and consumed, raising concerns that much of what's being released is sounding increasingly the same.

There are probably no better experts on this far-ranging topic than Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, two Berlin-based academics and artists who have entrenched themselves in the world of AI ethics, advocacy and art for the past two decades. Now married, they come from DIY punk backgrounds, both having lived in the Bay Area pre-tech bubble while Herndon completed a Ph.D in Computer Music at Stanford. Their work is primarily concerned with how AI is governed as it becomes more ubiquitous in our everyday lives, and what its implications are for ownership of AI-generated artworks. 

In this urgent and timely RA Exchange, the duo talk about their shift closer to the art world following their 2024 exhibition at The Whitney Biennial and their most recent show at Serpentine Gallery in London, The Call, which will close at the end of this month. It's one of many forward-thinking projects they've worked on to move away from the fear narrative dominating dialogue around how AI is influencing art and music, instead showcasing how machine learning can be used to push art forward. They also address their view of socialist democratic values with the rise of the far right, raising a young child and doing work that sits squarely between activism and art. Listen to the episode in full. – Chloe Lula

EX.751 Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst

Mei Lane Revisit

Higher and higher, where the stars don't go

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I climb the stairs made of fire and glass
Each step's a spark that I can't let pass
The wind whispers loud but I won't turn back

My shadow grows long in the twilight's glow
Higher and higher where the stars don't go

When I get higher to that point
The world is at my feet
My feet
I'll burn the sky and break the joint
The world is at my feet
My feet

The air is thin but my lungs don't care
The view's electric it splits the air
A pulse of thunder in my chest somewhere

The moon tries to call but I let it fade
I'm chasing the sun in this escapade

When I get higher to that point
The world is at my feet
My feet
I'll burn the sky and break the joint
The world is at my feet
My feet

To That Point

In a world where AI seems to take over everything, this show recycles / revisits musical experiments from the now 30-year-old zzz.ch website.
I feed fragments of past compositions into AI to generate, remix, and reinterpret them as an infinite stream of slop. I also reverse-play the process, shaping outputs by hand.
As the machine shifts through styles with only a partial grasp of the original, it may offer a glimpse into how we can engage this inevitable technology in a more sensuous and playful way. slop.is

evil number

Hard Stop Revisit

Once Again Nina Tech

Railroad

A closing set is always something special, and here is no exception. Thorgerdur (@thorgerdur-johanna) saw Space out with just over 3 hours of playful progressive wizardry. It’s deep whilst remaining ecstatic, charged; an ode to dancing impulses.

photo by Simon Englyst

Kune Festival 2025: Thorgerdur @ Space Stage

From minimalist-edm to experimental noise, from the jazz-metal bassist Z and DrilX the high-volume-intended experimental-groove electronica + AI-code-bent persona. Split between Reykjavik, Geneva and San Francisco.

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ZDrilX