/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card
    Download available in 24-bit/48kHz.

      €5 EUR  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    • Matt varnish.
    • Black vinyl in poly-lined inner sleeve.
    • First pressing of 500 units

    ♾ Flip side with the piece 'Breach' by Olivia Block ♾

    Includes unlimited streaming of Orchid Mantis via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 24-bit/48kHz.
    ships out within 14 days
    3 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      €22 EUR or more 

     

1.

about

Orchid Mantis, by Michelle Helene Mackenzie and Stefan Maier, is a work that draws its inspiration from the history of the Sanzhi Pod City, in northern Taiwan. Sanzhi Pod City was built from 1978 onwards, made up of buildings constructed from assemblages of ‘pods’ inspired by the futuro houses of Finnish architect Matti Suuronen. The project was abandoned in 1980, following a number of accidents during construction and persistent rumours that the site was haunted. However, this wasteland of a city has allowed insects to proliferate, in particular five species of orchid mantis. It is this strange environment, made up of utopian buildings, proliferating insects and vegetation reclaiming the site, that serves as the imaginary space for Michelle Helene Mackenzie and Stefan Maier’s music, a music of carefully designed pace and progression, drawing, through resonance and stridulation, subtle sonic materials that guide and accompany us into multiple worlds with admirable ease and grace. 



Orchid Mantis, de Michelle Helene Mackenzie et Stefan Maier, est une œuvre qui puise sa genèse dans l’histoire de la ville de Sanzhi Pod, au Nord de Taiwan. Sanzhi Pod est une ville érigée à partir de 1978 et constituée d’immeubles construits en assemblages de « pods » inspirés des maisons futuro de l’architecte finlandais Matti Suuronen. En 1980, le projet est abandonné, suite à de nombreux accidents lors du chantier ainsi qu’à la montée tenace de rumeurs consacrant l’endroit comme hanté. Cette ville en friche a pourtant permis la prolifération d’insectes et notamment de cinq espèces de mantes orchidées. C’est cet environnement étrange, composé d’immeubles utopiques, d’insectes proliférant et de végétation se réappropriant les lieux, qui sert d’espace imaginaire à la musique de Michelle Helene Mackenzie et Stefan Maier, une musique à l’allure et aux progression soigneusement dessinées, puisant, au travers des résonances et des stridulations, des matières sonores subtiles qui nous guident et nous accompagnent dans des mondes multiples avec une aisance et une grâce admirable.

credits

released May 16, 2025

Michelle Helene MACKENZIE & Stefan MAIER « Orchid Mantis » (2020)

Composed and produced by Michelle Helene Mackenzie and Stefan Maier

Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi
Cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle, Berlin, August 2024
Photo by Ryan Ermacora
Sleeve design by Stephen O’Malley

Thanks to Jean Brazeau and Robin Selk at Deep Blue Studios, and to Scott Gailey for additional recording assistance

℗ 2020 INA grm
© 2025 Portraits GRM
Released in association with Shelter Press

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Portraits GRM Paris, France

Portraits GRM is a label operated in collaboration with Shelter Press and INA GRM.

Originally created with Editions MEGO and Peter Rehberg, the label solely focuses on the release of recent musical pieces created for and commissioned by GRM. ... more

contact / help

Contact Portraits GRM

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Orchid Mantis, you may also like: