Quantum Cello

(Photograph by Zoë Keating)

So, Zoë Keating is pretty much amazing. Making impossibly lush and beautiful soundscapes with nothing but a single cello looped through a laptop controlled via foot pedal, her's is the kind of music that makes one think of gorgeous summer sunsets, rays of light peaking through broken clouds, long car journeys at dusk, autumn trees, thunderstorms during the summer, etc. There's something incredibly elemental and pure about it. I've quite simply never experienced music like this before.



I first heard Zoë's music only a couple of days ago, after this post at Heartache with Hard Work turned me on to an interview and performance she did for WNYC's Radio Lab podcast/radio show. You can download that episode here:

WNYC Radio Lab - August 25 2008 - Quantum Cello (zShare)

It's about 36 minutes long and features some informal interviewing/discussion of the creative process, during which she talks about how she sees shapes in the sounds when she's composing, as well as performances of a few songs, including an improv piece that closes the show. I can't recommend that you listen to this highly enough; it's truly breath-taking. (I downloaded a couple other episodes of the podcast as well, which is available from iTunes, and it seems like a great show, kind of in general about theoretical science, life, exploring mysteries - interesting stuff.)


(Photograph by Lane Hartwell)

You can stream some more of Zoë's music at her site, where you can also buy CDs and watch some live performances. Her two albums are also available on iTunes.