UGLY PUG: CROSSROADS

KTC 1921 . 1CD . 8711801019215 . 06/06/2021 . ETC Olive Music

UGLY PUG: CROSSROADS

Composer(s):
  • Tera Lanu
  • Wilma Pistorius
  • Carlo Diaz
  • Timo Kittilä
  • Eetu Lehtonen
  • Pawe? Mykietyn
Artist(s):

UGLY PUG
Ugly Pug was founded in 2014 with the single objective of commissioning and performing new music. While the trio would have been a fairly standard formation from 400 years ago, the recorder (Juho Myllyl?), viola da gamba (Miron Andres) and harpsichord (Wesley Shen) are in this contemporary music context, an exception to the norm.

By treating their instruments completely detached from their past and ‘standard’ repertoire, the trio and the composers they work with have freedom to explore new sounds and possibilities not found in traditional chamber music formations of our time. The ensemble has performed at festivals in The Netherlands and Finland and has been mentored by the top specialists in the field, such as recorder player Jorge Isaac and harpsichordist Goska Isphording. They have also expanded their ensemble in various collaborations with harpsichordists Andro Lourenho and Ere Lievonen, violinist Kirsti Apajalahti, visual artist Jean-Marie Stash, step dance artist Marije Nie and the Trash Panda Collective.

The name of the ensemble often elicits strong reactions: “What do you mean by ‘Ugly Pug’? Pugs are not ugly!” The group is named after a very special pug, Sabba, and the endless and still unresolved debates over his supposed ugliness or attractiveness. Ugly Pug reflects this very problem of aesthetic judgement and the contradictions in the concepts of beauty versus ugliness. The dichotomy in Ugly Pug’s fusion of divergent instruments and style, allows us to break away from all traditional expectations and standards of beauty to explore something different.

Ugly Pug is based in Amsterdam. Crossroads is their debut album.
Juho Myllylä - blockflutes, electric guitar, live electronics
Miron Andres - viols, vihuela
Wesley Shen - harpsichord

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Track listing

1 Introduction and Dance (2017) 08:05
artists: 'Ugly Pug '
composers: 'Tera Lanu'
2 rossroads I (2019) - Blood/Moon/Water -The Star 04:07
artists: 'Ugly Pug '
composers: 'Wilma Pistorius'
3 Crossroads II - Celestial/Feminine 05:11
artists: 'Ugly Pug '
composers: 'Wilma Pistorius'
4 Reuse Music I (2017) - The Artifact Cleared 00:55
artists: 'Ugly Pug '
composers: 'Carlo Diaz'
5 Crossroads III - Rain/Desire 01:05
artists: 'Ugly Pug '
composers: 'Wilma Pistorius'
6 Crossroads IV - Playful/Comfortably Dark 06:57
artists: 'Ugly Pug '
composers: 'Wilma Pistorius'
7 Odds and Ends (2017) 07:33
artists: 'Ugly Pug '
composers: 'Timo Kittilä'
8 Crossroads V - Really elegant, and ever so slightly dangerous 03:07
artists: 'Ugly Pug '
composers: 'Wilma Pistorius'
9 Crossroads VI - Downright nasty 01:14
artists: 'Ugly Pug '
composers: 'Wilma Pistorius'
10 Reuse Music II - The Artifact Cleared 03:28
artists: 'Ugly Pug '
composers: 'Carlo Diaz'
11 Crossroads VII - Humorous/Creepy 04:02
artists: 'Ugly Pug '
composers: 'Wilma Pistorius'
12 Crossroads VIII - Fragile/Cheeky 01:28
artists: 'Ugly Pug '
composers: 'Wilma Pistorius'
13 Wormhole (2017) 09:01
artists: 'Ugly Pug '
composers: 'Eetu Lehtonen'
14 La Strada (1991) 09:41
artists: 'Ugly Pug '
composers: 'Pawe? Mykietyn'