Galina Juritz - One Weird Trick

British South African composer and producer Galina Juritz presents '𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒅 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌', her debut solo album, on London's home for interdisciplinary oddballs, Kit Records.

As a classically trained violinist, Galina has worked in bands and ensembles such as 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐡𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞, and in various combinations featuring leading musicians from Cape Town and Johannesburg's celebrated classical and jazz scenes.

Galina composed the music for '𝑴𝒂𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔: 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑶𝒇 𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓', a cantata made in collaboration with 𝐃𝐢𝐳𝐮 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐚𝐭𝐣𝐢𝐞𝐬, with a libretto by psychiatrist 𝐃𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧. '𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴' debuted at the World Psychiatry International Congress in 2016, and had a two week run at Cape Town's Baxter Theatre in 2017. As a composer, she frequently writes for film, animation and ensemble.

Galina has collaborated with the likes of 𝐍𝐞𝐨 𝐌𝐮𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐚, 𝐌𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤, 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐲, 𝐊𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞, 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐕𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐚 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚, Kit Records head 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧, and more. She has been remixed by artists including 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐲, 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 and 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 (𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐊𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐭, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞).

'𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒅 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌' is the culmination of Galina's solo material. Still rooted in the ornate, technical world of string composition and arrangement, the album is stubbornly unclassifiable.

Opening with time-dilated ambient ('𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴') before segueing into rippling, florid techno ('𝘚𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘳'), Galina twists again and again, shifting gears through stoned, jazz-inflected r'n'b ('𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘐 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘦'), string-led widescreen songcraft ('𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘤𝘬') and orchestral minimalism for standing on vast shorelines ('𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦').

On the B side, Galina flexes her composition chops with the storming jazz of '𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭', recorded by Cape Town-based musicians 𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐲 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲, 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐨 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐧 and 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐳𝐚. Galina is then joined by 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐦 𝐒𝐚𝐱 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐭 on '𝘐𝘯 𝘙𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦', a stately Reichian revelation that moves from solemn ballet to ecstatic multiharmonic denouement. To close, Galina retrieves oozing electronics and smeared journal entries from the guts of a black hole - a fitting conclusion to a truly unique, unpredictable, delightful, sad, infectious, and bizarre record.

Influences / sounds like: 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐞, 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭, 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐭, 𝐄𝐢𝐤𝐨 𝐈𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢, 𝐄𝐂𝐌, 𝐎𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.