Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

5. Olivia BlockMobius Fuse

Olivia Block is a composer from Chicago and she does her stuff quite modestly. She’s not got a big ego but her compositions are strong and she goes quite far with ensemble and orchestral works as she is dealing with quite subtle noise or even elements of glitch.

I think the way she assembles everything has this really fine tension between something that’s accurately composed and arranged and something quite casual. It could be random but you feel it’s not because it’s so carefully constructed. Everything’s the perfect length and the production is beautiful. It’s the art of very fine cooking that she has. Moebius Fuse is a bit like a pop record because it’s the one when some people became aware of her. It’s good because it’s one consistent work but there are a few other good ones – Pure Gaze is amazing and her most recent one. She’s really someone to look out for but she’s not a big mouth so you won’t find her tweeting.

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