Recording: Mira Martin-Gray

Artist: Mira Martin-Gray

Song: Ornithoctopus-in-Boots [excerpt]

Recorded at Burdock Music Hall (Women From Space Festival – Night 3), March 7, 2020.

Mira Martin-Gray - Ornithoctopus-in-Boots [excerpt]

It's generally acknowledged that the key to a successful sequel is in making things bigger and more explosive while staying true whatever it was that made the original feel special and unique. The second annual Women From Space Festival applied that maxim to great effect, cosmically expanding in all directions while nourishing its core ideal of creating Space for a diverse range of women-centred creative expressions. This solo set from Mira Martin-Gray demonstrated how her work as a no-input noise mixist is subject to a steady stream of innovation and switching things up. As has been seen a few times recently, Martin-Gray has been literally finding her voice on stage — here more than ever in a text piece entitled "Just Intonation" that moved from whispers to a voice being absorbed into feedback lurches. (And with the wordplay-friendly lateral thinking of a published crossword puzzle maker, the title isn't about the musical concept as much as a broader concept of "justice".) The second piece, as heard here, concentrated on feedback sonics, moving through several deftly-manipulated zones.

[Mira Martin-Gray has posted this full set over on her bandcamp, so you can check it out there.]