As with yesterday's entry, there's connection with the S10 postcode here. Sometime in the winter of 1991/2 I found myself at the Octagon centre, Sheffield University, for a gig by contemporary classical ensemble Icebreaker. What got me there? I can't be sure, but those were the early days of Mixing It, and Mixing It was one of the few places one might have found out about tours by contemporary classical ensembles. I was intrigued partly because they included work by Louis Andriessen in their repertoire (as on this cassette), and I had just discovered Andriessen.
The Octagon is a big space, and as the audience only outnumbered the ensemble by a few fold, we rattled around in it. I felt for them a bit, and wanted to show support. Members of Icebreaker were staffing the merchandise table at the end: they had an Icebreaker t-shirt, an Icebreaker mug, and this cassette. There was a special offer price for all three — let's say it was a tenner; that sounds about right — so I splashed out and made them smile.
The next time I saw Icebreaker was 20 July 2009, when they performed a new arrangement of Eno et al's Apollo at the Science Museum.
As for the music on the cassette, it's fine, but it's a little too radiohead for my tastes. Fiddly, fussy and twiddly. I got a lot of use out the t-shirt and the mug though.
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