Wikipedia

Simon Bookish

Simon Bookish is the stage name of Leo Chadburn,[1][2] a British musician and composer known for his work in experimental, electronic, pop, and classical music. His music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 1,[2] BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 6 Music,[3] and Resonance FM.[4] Originally from Coalville, Leicestershire,[5] he moved to London and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1997 to 2001.[6]

Simon Bookish
Background information
Birth nameLeo Chadburn
Born1978 (age 45–46)
Coalville, United Kingdom
Genresclassical, art rock, electronic music
Occupationsvocalist, composer, producer, recording artist
LabelsTomlab
Websitewww.simonbookish.com

Work as Simon Bookish

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To date, Chadburn has released three solo albums under the name Simon Bookish. The first two, Unfair/Funfair (2006) and Trainwreck/Raincheck (2007), combined his voice with synthesizers and laptop computers. His use of spoken word on Trainwreck/Raincheck and in live performances drew comparisons with "Bowie and Baudrillard, Burroughs and Byrne".[7] His third album, Everything/Everything (2008) featured an ensemble of brass instruments, saxophones, Farfisa organ, piano, and harp. Chadburn describes this album as "a big band song cycle about science and information".[8][9]

Chadburn's most recent release as Simon Bookish was Red and Blue EP (2015), an experimental piece based on correspondence between Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.[10]

He has provided remixes of songs for bands and artists such as Grizzly Bear, Franz Ferdinand, The Organ, Owen Pallett, Seb Rochford, and Late of the Pier.[11] He has also contributed tracks to the compilation albums Worried Noodles (2007),[12] a compilation of songs with lyrics by artist David Shrigley,[13] and The Wall Re-built! (2010), which celebrated the 30th anniversary of Pink Floyd's The Wall, for Mojo Magazine.[14]

Work as Leo Chadburn

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Classical works

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Chadburn has written a number of works for classical music groups. These include Unison: Things Are Getting Worse for a large ensemble of pianists,[15][16] X Chairman Maos, written for the ensemble Apartment House and performed at the De La Warr Pavilion to coincide with their Andy Warhol exhibition in 2011,[15][17] and Five Loops for the Bathyscaphe (2018), commissioned by the Britten Sinfonia.[18]

His string quartet, The Indistinguishables was written for the Canadian quartet Quatuor Bozzini and performed at the 2014 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.[19] A performance by the quartet at Milton Court (Guildhall School of Music) in March 2019 with Gemma Saunders as narrator was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in September 2019.[20] His piece for chamber ensemble, Freezywater, commissioned by the Wigmore Hall, won a 2016 British Composer Award.[21] Chadburn was nominated for a second British Composer Award the following year, for his choral piece Affix Stamp Here,[22] written for the vocal ensemble EXAUDI.[23]

Chadburn is currently an associate composer of the London Symphony Orchestra,[24] who performed his piece Brown Leather Sofa in 2013.[25]

Chadburn received an Ivor Novello Award nomination at The Ivors Classical Awards 2024. English Dancing Master, for pre-recorded voices and string quartet, was nominated for Best Small Chamber Composition.[26]

Albums (as Leo Chadburn)

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Chadburn has released two albums under his own name, Epigram / Microgram (2013),[27] an instrumental album which utilises the Casio CZ-101 synthesizer as its only sound source, and The Subject / The Object (2020), which comprises two 20-minute long tracks of spoken word stream of consciousness and drone music.[28]

Collaborations

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Chadburn has collaborated on a number of projects with visual artists.[15] In 2009, he wrote the score for Richard Grayson's video installation The Golden Space City of God (exhibited at Matt's Gallery, London and Artpace, San Antonio), which featured a choir shot on location in Texas singing cult religious texts.[29][30]

In 2012, he collaborated with the artist Tanya Axford on a piece entitled The Path Made by a Boat in Sound (Three Down) for the Whitstable Biennale,[31] and with video artist Jennet Thomas, on her work School of Change, a "sci-fi musical film", again exhibited at Matt's Gallery.[32]

He went on to work with the conceptual artist Cerith Wyn Evans on a choral work for performance at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in 2013, based on Samuel Beckett's prose text Imagination Dead Imagine.[33]

Chadburn has also written music for the theatre, working with the Royal National Theatre on a new musical score for their 2007 production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle, in which he also played the part of "The Singer".[34]

As a performer, he has contributed to the albums of Leafcutter John, Max de Wardener, Patrick Wolf, Serafina Steer and Saint Etienne, credited with recorders, bass clarinet and vocals.[35] He is also credited as a producer on classical percussionist Joby Burgess' album 24 Lies Per Second (2013).[36]

He has occasionally performed works by other experimental composers, including John Cage,[37] Gavin Bryars,[38] Christopher Fox,[39] Frederic Rzewski (whose piece Coming Together he presented at the first London Contemporary Music Festival in 2013)[40] and Jennifer Walshe (whose work he performed at the 2017 London Contemporary Music Festival).[41] Alongside actor Gemma Saunders, Chadburn recorded a spoken word version of artist On Kawara's twenty volume book, One Million Years [Past and Future], which was released as a limited edition four CD set.[42]

Writing and curation

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In addition to his work as a musician, Chadburn has written reviews and articles about classical and pop music for The Quietus, Frieze, the New Statesman, and The Wire.[43] He is the curator of the public concert series and the Summer festival at City, University of London.[44]

Discography

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Albums as Simon Bookish

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  • Unfair / Funfair (2006, Use Your Teeth)
  • Trainwreck / Raincheck (2007, Use Your Teeth)
  • Everything / Everything (2008, Tomlab)

Albums as Leo Chadburn

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  • Epigram / Microgram (2013, Library of Nothing)
  • The Subject / The Object (2020, Library of Nothing)
  • Slower / Talker (2021, Library of Nothing)
  • The Primordial Pieces (2024, Library of Nothing)

Selected notated works

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  • ANTICLOCK (2019) for ensemble (nine players). Premiered at Cafe OTO, London.[45]
  • Five Loops for the Bathyscaphe (2018) for piano trio and recorded voices[46] for the Britten Sinfonia
  • Affix Stamp Here (2016) for voices, analogue synthesizers and projections[47]
  • Freezywater (2016) for piano, reed organ, strings, percussion and pre-recorded voices[48]
  • The Indistinguishables (2014) for string quartet and pre-recorded voices[48]
  • Vapour Descriptors (2014) for two pianos[48]
  • Brown Leather Sofa (2013) for large orchestra[48]
  • X Chairman Maos (2011) for voice and amplified ensemble[48]

References

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  1. ^ "Simon Bookish Takes on Everything on Third Album". Pitchfork Media. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  2. ^ a b Wyse, Pascal (19 April 2004). "Are school music lessons killing music?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Leo Chadburn - New Songs, Playlists & Latest News - BBC Music". BBC. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Saturday 28th May 2016 - Resonance FM". Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  5. ^ Scott, Neil. "The Mind's Construction Quarterly > Simon Bookish". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  6. ^ Leo Chadburn (16 February 2010). "Guest Blog: Simon Bookish on His Favorite Album of the Decade". Under the Radar. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  7. ^ Brainlove, John. "Review / Simon Bookish @ Nog Gallery, Durham". Archived from the original on 8 March 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  8. ^ Luke Turner (7 November 2008). "Simon Bookish Goes Big Band To Sing Particle Physics And Linguistics". The Quietus. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  9. ^ "tomlab". Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  10. ^ "The Quietus Reviews Simon Bookish". Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  11. ^ "SIMON BOOKISH / LEO CHADBURN – REMIXES". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  12. ^ "Simon Bookish Discography at Discogs". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  13. ^ "BBC – collective". Archived from the original on 13 August 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  14. ^ "Various – The Wall Re-Built! Disc Two (CD) at Discogs". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  15. ^ a b c "SIMON BOOKISH / LEO CHADBURN – PROJECTS". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  16. ^ Cunningham, David. "a lot of pianos..." Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  17. ^ "Apartment House + Simon Bookish". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  18. ^ Maddocks, Fiona (28 January 2018). "The week in classical: London Sinfonietta 50th anniversary concert; Britten Sinfonia - review". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  19. ^ "Leo Chadburn Composer's Kitchen 2014". Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  20. ^ New Music Show, BBC Radio 3, 21 September, 2019
  21. ^ "BRITISH COMPOSER AWARDS". Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  22. ^ "Nominees announced for British Composer Awards 2017 - M Magazine". M magazine: PRS for Music online magazine. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  23. ^ Coghlan, Alexandra. "Prospect recommends: The best classical music this month". Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  24. ^ "Composers – LSO Soundhub". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  25. ^ "Saturday 13 April: 5pm & 7.30pm – London Symphony Orchestra [PDF]". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  26. ^ Taylor, Mark (15 October 2024). "Nominations for The Ivors Classical Awards 2024 announced". The Ivors Academy. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  27. ^ "SIMON BOOKISH / LEO CHADBURN - EPIGRAM / MICROGRAM". www.simonbookish.com. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  28. ^ "The Quietus | Features | Spool's Out | Spool's Out: Cassette Reviews For July By Tristan Bath". The Quietus. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  29. ^ "Matt's Gallery – Richard Grayson: The Golden Space City of God". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  30. ^ Januszczak, Waldemar Januszczak (13 August 2013). "Give credit to the crunch; A rewarding trip to East End galleries proves to Waldemar Januszczak that at least our bad times beget better art". Sunday Times.
  31. ^ "Tanya Axford". Archived from the original on 13 August 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  32. ^ "Matt's Gallery – Jennet Thomas: All Suffering Soon to End". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  33. ^ "An exhibition exploring art and cinema at the Irish Museum of Modern Art". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  34. ^ Sam Marlowe (13 March 2007). "The Caucasian Chalk Circle". The Times. Archived from the original on 16 March 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  35. ^ "Leo Chadburn Discography at Discogs". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  36. ^ "24 Lies Per Second – Joby Burgess, Powerplant | Credits – AllMusic". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  37. ^ "Kammer Klang: Sebastian Roux + Jennifer Walshe + Lucy Railton/Leo Chadburn: 21 May 2013". Archived from the original on 13 August 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  38. ^ Hewett, Ivan (1 June 2014). "London Contemporary Music Festival, review round-up: 'enthralling'". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  39. ^ "the works". fox additions. 24 September 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  40. ^ "LondonJazz: Review: Final Two Days at the London Contemporary Music Festival, Peckham". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  41. ^ Maddocks, Fiona (10 December 2017). "Cavalleria rusticana/ Pagliacci; London contemporary music festival – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  42. ^ "On Kawara : One Million Years (Box set) – Les presses du réel". www.lespressesdureel.com. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  43. ^ "LEO CHADBURN – WRITING". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  44. ^ "Leo Chadburn". City, University of London. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  45. ^ "ANTICLOCK". British Music Collection. 29 April 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  46. ^ Hugill, Robert. "Five Loops for the Bathyscaphe". Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  47. ^ "British Composer Awards". Britten-Pears Foundation. 5 December 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  48. ^ a b c d e "SIMON BOOKISH / LEO CHADBURN - WORKS". www.simonbookish.com. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
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