Áine O'Dwyer is an Irish experimental musician, known for her live performances and recordings, which explore the aesthetics of sound and its relationship to environment, time, audience, and structure. Originally from Pallasgreen, County Limerick,Music Limerick, 17 August 2012 - Wireless Folk: Áine O’Dwyer she studied at the Limerick School of Art and Design (graduating 2006) and in London at the Slade School of Fine Art (graduating 2011).The Irish Times, Mon, 26 January 2015 - Áine O’Dwyer’s music to clean churches by, Rebellion against theory - Ian Maleney She is currently based in London.BOMB Magazine - Áine O’Dwyer by Keith Connolly
As a child, O'Dwyer played the piano, tin whistle, flute, fiddle and harp. She now performs primarily on harp and church organ.The Irish Times, Mon, 26 January 2015 - Áine O’Dwyer’s music to clean churches by, Rebellion against theory - Ian MaleneyPop Matters, 26 February 2015 - Aine O'Dwyer, Music for Church Cleaners Vol. I and II - by Matthew FianderThe Irish Times, Mon, 26 January 2015 - Áine O’Dwyer’s music to clean churches by - Ian Maleney
Live performances Published accounts of O'Dwyer's live appearances include The Music of the Future by Robert Barry, who describes O'Dwyer lying on the floor under a baize cloth, plucking the strings of a harp with her feet, during a performance at the Supernormal Festival in Reading.The Music of the Future, By Robert Barry - - I'm on my way to a music festival near Reading
O'Dwyer's appearance in November 2015 at London's Cafe Oto, in which she dressed as an 18th century scullery maid, backlit with a fan flailing her hair, and played the accordion, was described by The Quietus reviewer Matthew Foster, as "a terrifying sight for the average wuss",The Quietus, December 1st, 2015 - LIVE REPORT: Áine O'Dwyer & Księżyc - Matthew Foster while Chal Ravens of Fact Mag described a performance by O'Dwyer as "like an invisible banshee haunting the pipes of the church’s organ, O'Dwyer pummels us with gothic drama from her concealed lair above the altar"Fact Magazine, 23 Nov 2016 - Le Guess Who? 2016: Why music sounds completely different when the world is ending - Chal Ravens and experimental artist Graham Dunning described her live sets as "always refreshing, often very melancholy but often with deliberately jarring sections or silly interludes".The Attic, February 24, 2016 - Graham Dunning - Mechanical Techno Wizardry - by Robert E. Smith
O'Dwyer has also collaborated with artist Alice Maher on a live show, Visitant, which combined dance, music and visual art, performed at the Project Arts Centre in 2014The Irish Times, Thu, 20 Feb 2014 - Dark collaboration: four artists, four disciplines, one show by Michael Seaver and based performances on her own drawings of mythical creatures.The Herald (Glasgow), 5 July 2017 - Arts News: Aine O'Dwyer at Edge Effects; NYOS Jazz Orchestra tour; Hawaii of the North line-up; drummer's Playtime - Keith Bruce
Albums Her albums include Gallarais (2017), Beast Diaries (2017), Music For Church Cleaners (2012), Locusts (2016) and Gegenschein (2016).
Music For Church Cleaners is an album of pipe organ improvisations, utilising graphic scores, recorded at St Mark’s Church in Islington, while church cleaners continued to go about their duties. The sounds of the cleaners' activities were included on the recordings.Spoonfed.co.uk, Friday, 25 Nov - Áine O'Dwyer, Angharad Davies, Bechir Saade, Anton Lukoszevieze This album was released on cassette and later expanded into a full-length album as Music For Church Cleaners Vol I & II (2015).
Her album Locusts is No 6 on Thump's The 25 Best Experimental Albums of 2016 list.Thump, 14 December 2016 - Best of 2016, The 25 Best Experimental Albums of 2016, Colin Joyce
Discography + Albums Title Release info Year F Notes Music For Church Cleaners Fort Evil Fruit FEF4 2012 Cass Anything Bright Or Startling? Second Language SL022 2013 Cass Safely Adrift Self-released 2014 FLAC, MP3 Meditations On A World Ending 21.12.12. Self-released 2014 CD-R Ltd ed. Music For Church Cleaners Vol. I And II MIE Music MIE 028 2015 2-LP avail in other formats Locusts Fort Evil Fruit FEF50 2016 Cass Ltd ed. Gegenschein Fort Evil Fruit FEF49 2016 Cass Discogs - Aine O'Dwyer Discography, Albums Gallarais MIE Music MIE 045 2017 LP with Digital D/L MIE - Áine O'Dwyer - Gallarais MIE 045Daedalus AirsSelf-released2020FLAC, MP3
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