Fish & Fowl is an experimental sound piece by British composer Juliana Hodkinson and danish composer Niels Rønsholdt. A remix of sorts, the piece has been woven together from thousands of disparate audio recordings performed by the music- and art ensemble Scenatet. Given this highly unusual origin story, it is remarkable how balanced and cohesive the aesthetic and the dramaturgy of the piece appears.

Described as a journey through an intimate and violent universe, Fish & Fowl conveys images of decadent eroticism and depraved romance. The soft, aerial beauty of the subtly creepy instrumental arrangement is constantly contrasted with the raw physicality of the cracking of a leather whip, the slapping of skin, the heavy breathing of a woman, moans of pleasure, and high heeled shoes running across asphalt. The mysterious atmosphere is akin to peeping through a keyhole into a room bathed in velvety red light. You know something is going on there even if you can’t really see it.

“The half-hour-long work is a psychological portrait in the form of a sound piece with noir associations of rainy weather, sex, and city-spleen. It is impossible not to imagine a story about this woman while listening to the work”, wrote the daily newspaper Politiken.

Released January 2011 at Dacapo.

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Composed by Juliana Hodkinson and Niels Rønsholdt with text from Ursula Andkjær Olsen
All tracks is performed by Scenatet
Recorded at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Studio 2, in January and February 2010
Mixed and recomposed in Berlin by Juliana Hodkinson and Niels Rønsholdt
Recording producer: Peter Barnow
Sound engineers: Peter Barnow and Martin Gru
Executive producer: Anna Berit Asp Christensen
Editing by Juliana Hodkinson, Niels Rønsholdt and Peter Barnow
Mastering: Peter Barnow