Pantha du Prince rings a bell

Remember 1997? While techno was taking off worldwide, Jeff Mills released his Kat Moda EP and with this his track ‘The Bells’ started to make clubbers around the world dizzy. In 2006 Mills re-recorded the piece together with the Montpellier Philharmonic Orchestra, moving the bell samples of his original even further into the foreground. And now with news of Pantha du Prince working as ‘The Bell Laboratory‘ on an orchestrated bell piece, the sublime sound of the instrument comes back to shine again.

In a collaborative effort with Norwegian composer Lars Petter Hagen, the German producer behind the Pantha-alias; Hendrik Weber will be performing the piece of melodic and rhythmic percussion on a carillon consisting of 64 bells. The first piece of this ongoing series of collaborations in contemporary electronic and classical music between Weber and Hagen will premier on August 11th at Øya Festival in Oslo, where Weber, Hagen and Oslo City Hall carillonist Vegar Sandholt will be accompanied by four drummers – who themselves are no strangers to experimental music.

Norwegian drummer Martin Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist), Erland Dahlen (Madrugada), Håkon Stene (Norwegian Academy of Music) and Heming Valebjørg (Oslo Philharmonic) will be joining the piece which is fittingly titled ‘The Bell Laboratory’. We are not yet sure how the piece will sound or work excactly – but if you recall Pantha du Prince’s 2010 album Black Noise and tracks like ‘Bohemian Forest’ or ‘Stick to My Side’ you might get a first impression of ‘The Bell Laboratory’.

Rumors around the ongoing collaboration between Weber / Pantha du Prince and Lars Petter Hagen have it that ‘The Bell Laboratory’ will see a full audio release as well as an European tour later this year. Seems as if 2011 might become a very busy year for Pantha du Prince.

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Published June 08, 2011.