BERLIN ATONAL x GRAND RIVER x ABUL MOGARD

In the vast industrial cathedral that is Kraftwerk Berlin, Dutch-Italian composer and sound designer, Aimée Portoli, otherwise known as Grand River, performs her newest collaborative LP "In uno spazio immenso", with Italian musician, Abul Mogard. Their performance is part of the project, OPENLESS, from the annual visual and sonic festival, Berlin Atonal. Co-curated by Laurens von Oswald and Harry Glass, Berlin Atonal continues to be the epicenter for experimental and avant-garde music and art since it first took place over 40 years ago in 1982. The re-launch of the festival in 2013, after its shut down in 1990, brought musicians and artists to the stages of the former industrial power plant turned event space, Kraftwerk.

Neena Bui for EXIT Magazine © 2024 

OPENLESS took place over 3 days of this festival, as a series of concerts and performances celebrating transformative electronic music. Grand River and Abul Mogard's album title "In uno spazio immenso" translates to "in an immense space", and what better place for the duo to premier their album live for the first time than here?

Grand River creates within the realm of electronic music, although her music cannot quite be defined by this alone. Electronic tools are the means for creation, (alongside her multi-instrumentalist talent), but beyond that, her sound is ambient and minimal with a classical affection. It has the potential to raise deep rooted emotions from within you. She has managed to captivate melancholic, meditative, and tempestuous emotions all at once, through sound. With a background in linguistics and film scoring, it is no wonder she has mastered music as communication and a way to influence perspectives.

The performance started with a prolonged build-up of synths, while we stood in the pitch darkness of the colossal open space that is Kraftwerk Berlin. A fog gradually emerges over the audience. An introduction of slow-moving white spotlights cut through the fog, highlighting swirling clouds contained within the sharp edges of the light.

The sound continues to build louder and louder and eventually the space is filled with a heavy thunder-like bass that you can physically feel within your body. It feels as if we, the audience, were about to commence our march throughout the galaxy. The whole thing feels cinematic, like we are waiting for something big; maybe for the end of the world to come. The music brings awareness of the grandiose nature of the space we stand in. You feel like you've been lost in outer space and helplessly float towards the edge of a blackhole. The sounds build and become darker and heavier and eventually feels like you're caught in a storm. And you think back to the beginning of the set and you wonder how the music got to this point from where it all started. 

I can see the emotions on people's faces as they listen. Their eyebrows are furrowed together and hands over their head in concentration. Everyone seems to be going through something turbulent internally. But then the calmer moments of mellow ambience feel meditative and erase all thoughts completely. I fluctuate between being deprived of all senses, floating in the nothingness, and being forced to face the dark parts of my mind.

Grand River's performance, alongside Abul Mogard, created a profound sensory experience through minimal sound and light alone. Their ability to communicate the diverse range of reflective emotions under a cohesive melding sound-experience show "In uno spazio immenso" to be a vessel for introspection and transformation. A true demonstration to the emotional power of sound, which is worth experiencing in-person as she departs on her Fall 2024 tour throughout Europe.