En Pausa

In a hybrid format—online and in person—the En Pausa festival invites musicians across the planet to put themselves “on pause”. Madrid’s La Casa Encendida has modulated its electronic plans for the month of April and opened a parenthesis with this festival dedicated to horizontal music and deep listening. Three days of reflection, dissidence and connection through listening.

The En Pausa festival underscores the value of listening in this frenetic, fast-paced world, as a response to immediacy, visual overload and divided attention.

On Sunday the 18th, the virtual session, curated by a_mal_gam_a will be broadcast here on 9128.live. Two sessions of 12hrs of non-stop music with DJ sets from Alex Albrecht, Ario, ASIP, Chris SSG, Federico Duránd, Gigi FM, Karim, Klara Vedis and Patricia Wolf, plus a live performance by Jo Johnson & Hilary Robinson - a line-up of performances by artists from around the world to make listening, a communal experience.

Before that, on 16 and 17 April the courtyard of La Casa Encendida will host performances by Parisian master of synthesis Jonathan Fitoussi, clarinet player Paweł Szamburski from Warsaw, the cosmic ambient quarter Mecánica Clásica from Valencia, the presentation of Madrid duo Menhir’s latest project Geomantik Works, and the debut of Dulce Rendición, the new LP by Ylia.

The three days will revolve around three axes: reflection, dissidence and connection through listening. Reflection entails active listening in a state similar to that used in meditation, requiring an effort to block all critical thought. Secondly, En Pausa regards deep listening as an act of dissidence in a frenetic world of short, fragmented attention spans. And finally, it encourages communal, connected listening to achieve collective concentration.

The event is rounded out by the text contributions of Rubén Coll, Marta Echaves and José Luis Maire which serve as a preamble, reflecting on the types of listening proposed each day. To cap it all off, artist Clara Brea will provide a sonic epilogue in the form of Memoria Resonante [Resonant Memory].

The courtyard of La Casa Encendida will be prepared to facilitate an immersive experience and enjoyment, but En Pausa also invites you to pause, unplug and listen from home, as all the concerts will be streamed via La Casa Encendida Radio.

Curated by a_mal_gam_a, consisting of Juan Peralta (Diskoan) and Jose Salas (Josephine’ Soundscapes)

With the support of the Institut Français in Spain and the Polish Cultural Institute in Madrid.

The Schedule / program will repeat over two 12hr sessions, beginning at Sunday 3am PST / 12noon CET.