South-African born and British-based (since 1991) disc-jockey Mira Calix (Chantal Passamonte)
established her reputation in the IDM ("intelligent dance music") scene with
the singles Ilanga (Warp, 1996) and
Pin Skeeling (Warp, 1998), that combined distorted vocals, glitchy
soundscapes, oneiric ambience and twitching beats.
One on One (Warp, 2000) included the catchy grooves of
Skin With Me and Isabella.
Skimskitta (2003) was an evocative work that shifted the emphasis
away from the dancefloor (Poussou, Six Not 6,
You Open Always)
into the mind of the dancer. The 21 tracks focused on
dissonant (Suffix) or melodic (I May Be Over There,
The Wolf The Sheep and The Door,
I May Be Over There) events (often built up
from the notes of a guitar, a piano or a violin) as well as on field recordings.
The mini-album
Three Commissions (2004) collects high-brow compositions, including
Nunu (2003), originally performed by a symphony orchestra and
live insects.
Push Door To Exit (Warp, 2006) was a new project with pianist Sarah Nicolls and digital sound sculptor David Sheppard.
Eyes Set Against the Sun (Warp, 2006) expanded her ambitions in both
directions: neoclassical and folk. On one hand these pieces incorporated
a greater number of orchestral gestures (and chamber instruments such as
violin, piano, glockenspiel), on the other hand several songs sounded like
a folk song filtered through someone's neurosis. All of this happened against
the usual background of creative beats and field recordings, although the
former were further downplayed and the latter were more finely manipulated.
The highlight was the eleven-minute The Way You Are When.
The Elephant in the Room: 3 Commissions
(2008) collects
excerpts from the opera Elephant And Castle, the cello sonata
Memoryofamoment and Dead Wedding.
Lost Foundling 1999-2004 (2010) was a collaboration with
Seefeel's
Mark Clifford.
Absent Origin (2021) collects 17 sound collages, apparently remixes of old compositions.
Calix died in 2022 at the age of 51.
