Alexander's Annexe @ The Arches

Mira Calix is famous for recording insects. She shares a record label with Maximo Park and her works have been commissioned by museums. Her latest project, Alexander's Annexe is a collaboration with pianist Sarah Nicolls and composer David Sheppard. A shambles of serial cliché and experimental meandering, Push Door To Exit ignores melody, rhythm or anything accessible, preferring to flit between harsh piano and rumbling samples. Towards the end, Sarah Nicolls discovers a shimmering minimalist pattern, evoking Glass or Eno, but the brief respite of beauty is a vague echo of other, more remarkable, performers. Hidden behind technology, Calix is distant and unengaged, churning out noises that bleep or stutter to little effect. Unfortunately, this is neither experimental nor challenging: the awkward space between music and noise has been explored thoroughly by many Glasgow bands, and the intersection between electronic music and classical is occupied by many bands Calix has worked with, including Radiohead and Aphex Twin. This cerebral and abstract work is a joyless failure. (Gareth K Vile)