{"id":2350845,"date":"2026-03-30T01:41:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T01:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2350845"},"modified":"2026-03-30T01:41:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T01:41:36","slug":"new-music-various-artists-pioneers-mercury-kx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/new-music-various-artists-pioneers-mercury-kx\/","title":{"rendered":"New Music \u2013 Various Artists: Pioneers (Mercury KX)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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by Ben Hogwood<\/strong>, with text lifted from the press release<\/p>\n

On Friday, London imprint\u00a0Mercury KX<\/strong>\u00a0announced\u00a0Pioneers<\/em>, a collaborative album honouring the radical women and gender-expansive artists who reshaped the language of electronic music. Inspired by the landmark documentary\u00a0Sisters with Transistors<\/em>, the project brings together a new generation of composers, producers and sonic experimenters to celebrate electronic music\u2019s unsung heroines, not through imitation but through continuation.<\/p>\n

Released across two digital chapters this spring,\u00a0Pioneers<\/em>\u00a0forms a living lineage. Twelve new works respond to figures who transformed tape, voltage, voice and performance into tools of liberation.<\/p>\n

Side A\u00a0arrived on Friday 27th March, opening in a state of expanded awareness. You can listen on YouTube music<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Arushi Jain<\/strong>\u2019s\u00a0No Way Back (for Pauline Oliveros)<\/em>\u00a0draws from the philosophy of Pauline Oliveros and her practice of Deep Listening. Composed in Raga Bhairav and structured around sustained vocal tones and modular synthesis, the piece treats listening itself as irreversible transformation. Once heard deeply, there is no way back.<\/p>\n

Loraine James<\/strong>\u2019\u00a0On Time (for Bj\u00f6rk)<\/em>\u00a0stretches rhythm and atmosphere in tribute to Bj\u00f6rk\u2019s boundary-dissolving approach to composition, where digital texture and emotional intensity coexist in constant motion.<\/p>\n

For\u00a0Hand Movements (for Clara Rockmore)<\/em>,\u00a0Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith<\/strong>\u00a0honours theremin virtuoso Clara Rockmore, whose invisible gestures shaped one of electronic music\u2019s earliest instruments. Smith channels Rockmore\u2019s balance of engineering precision and hypnotic expressiveness through fluid modular synthesis, tracing motion through voltage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

rRoxymore & Leila Adu<\/strong>\u00a0summon the avant-pop authority of Grace Jones on\u00a0I Have Seen That Grace Before<\/em>. Drawing inspiration from the long-form drama of\u00a0Slave to the Rhythm<\/em>, their transcontinental collaboration blurs ambient psychedelia, undulating groove and vocal dualities, reflecting Jones\u2019 fearless negotiation of gender, genre and performance.<\/p>\n

On\u00a0Wind Bathing (for Laurie Anderson)<\/em>,\u00a0Holland Andrews & yuniya edi kwon<\/strong>\u00a0transform intimate ephemera into euphoric devotion. Inspired by the singular world-building of Laurie Anderson, the track began with secret violin recordings and love letters before unfolding into something unexpectedly radiant. Intimacy becomes propulsion.<\/p>\n

Closing Side A,\u00a0TAAHLIAH<\/strong>\u2019s\u00a0Starlight (for Suzanne Ciani)<\/em>\u00a0refracts the shimmering architectures of Suzanne Ciani, particularly the romantic synthesiser classic\u00a0Velocity of Love<\/em>, into a contemporary meditation where new-age luminosity meets modern electronic form.<\/p>\n

Side B<\/strong>, released Friday 17th April, moves deeper into electronic architecture and sonic myth.<\/p>\n

Hinako Omori<\/strong>\u2019s\u00a0You found the allotment (for Delia Derbyshire)<\/em>\u00a0pays tribute to Delia Derbyshire\u2019s tape-loop alchemy and mathematical imagination. Built from Moog synthesisers, granulated vocals and analogue tape recording, the track mirrors Derbyshire\u2019s meticulous collage techniques, plotting sound with careful intention.<\/p>\n

Kate Simko & Lara Somogyi<\/strong>\u00a0turn toward the ambient universe of Wendy Carlos on\u00a0Analog Season<\/em>. Inspired by\u00a0Sonic Seasonings<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Digital Moonscapes<\/em>, harp recordings are processed, sampled and re-synthesised into a shared landscape of analogue warmth and microtonal drift, entering into dialogue with Carlos\u2019 expansive and often overlooked ambient work beyond\u00a0Switched-On Bach<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Footwork innovator\u00a0Jlin<\/strong>\u00a0invokes the defiant glamour and rhythmic magnetism of Eartha Kitt on\u00a0Earth A God<\/em>, a tribute to performance as power and presence as percussion.<\/p>\n

Laurel Halo<\/strong>\u2019s\u00a0Les Sir\u00e8nes (for \u00c9liane Radigue)<\/em>\u00a0echoes the slow-burning minimalism of \u00c9liane Radigue, embracing sustained tone and psychoacoustic depth where sound becomes environment rather than event.<\/p>\n

The album closes with\u00a0AFRODEUTSCHE<\/strong>\u2019s\u00a0I See You (for Daphne Oram & Gertrud Grunow)<\/em>, drawing on the philosophies of Daphne Oram and Bauhaus theorist Gertrud Grunow. Created using the Mini Oramics system, the track blends subtle electronics with childlike wonder, offering a meditation on visibility, care and the unseen.<\/p>\n

Celebrated for championing boundary-breaking artists,\u00a0Mercury KX<\/strong>\u00a0is home to acclaimed composers and innovative musicians such as DJ ANNA, Isobel Waller-Bridge, \u00d3lafur Arnalds, LUXE and Erland Cooper, among many others. The label champions genre-defying, multi-disciplinary artists and curates immersive audio-visual worlds spanning electronic, modern classical, cinematic, alternative and ambient music. With\u00a0Pioneers<\/em>, Mercury KX continues that vision, foregrounding work that expands both form and perception.<\/p>\n

From early theremin stages to tape machines, from Bauhaus theory to the San Francisco Tape Music Center, from ambient\u2019s outer edges to contemporary club futurism,\u00a0Pioneers<\/em>\u00a0reframes influence as active transmission.<\/p>\n

These works do not simply honour the past: they extend its circuitry. Electronic music has always been shaped by women whose innovations were foundational yet often overlooked.\u00a0Pioneers<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0makes that lineage audible as living voltage.<\/p>\n

Tracklisting:<\/p>\n

Friday 27th March [Side A \u2013 Digital Release]<\/p>\n

Side A
A1 Arushi Jain: No Way Back (for Pauline Oliveros)
A2 Loraine James: On Time (for Bjork)
A3 Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: Hand Movements (for Clara Rockmore)
A4 rRoxymore & Leila Adu: I Have Seen That Grace Before (for Grace Jones)
A5 Holland Andrews & yuniya edi kwon: Wind Bathing (for Laurie Anderson)
A6 TAAHLIAH: Starlight (for Suzanne Ciani)<\/p>\n

Friday 17th April [Side B \u2013 Digital Release]<\/p>\n

Side B
B1 \u2013 Hinako Omori: You found the allotment (for Delia Derbyshire)
B2 \u2013 Kate Simko & Lara Somogyi: Analog Season (for Wendy Carlos)
B3 \u2013 JLin: Earth A God (for Eartha Kitt)
B4 \u2013 Laurel Halo: Les Sir\u00e8nes (for \u00c9liane Radigue)
B5 \u2013 AFRODEUTSCHE: I See you (for Daphne Oram & Gertrud Grunow)<\/p>\n

Published post no.2,841 \u2013 Sunday 29 March 2026<\/em><\/p>\n

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