Biography
Wooden Elephant seeks to transform landmark electronic albums into works for string quartet in live concert settings. The group launched this project in 2017 with a reinterpretation of Björk's Homogenic, later extending the approach to Beyoncé's Lemonade. Their debut recording, issued in 2021 and sanctioned by Radiohead, presented LANDSCAPES, KNIVES & GLUE: Radiohead's Kid A Recycled, which incorporated everyday objects alongside compact instruments such as the harmonica, tuning forks, and toy handbells.
Founding violist Ian Anderson drew primary motivation from his earlier tenure with the London Contemporary Orchestra, where he participated in mid-2010s collaborations with Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood on Greenwood's chamber compositions; Anderson subsequently contributed to the band's 2016 release A Moon Shaped Pool. Through an alliance with Germany's experimental PODIUM Festival Esslingen, Anderson assembled the ensemble alongside violinist Hulda Jónsdóttir, cellist Stefan Hadjiev, and double bassist Nikolai Matthews, initiating a three-album cycle that opened with 2017's Björk: Homogenic. The international quartet continued in 2018 with Radiohead: Kid A, then delivered 2019's Beyoncé: Lemonade, which retained the poetry of Warsan Shire from the source visual album. These arrangements subsequently appeared at festivals across Paris, London, Bonn, and additional locations.
Backlash Music released the group's expansive Kid A treatment, LANDSCAPES, KNIVES & GLUE: Radiohead's Kid A Recycled, in 2021. Recorded as their inaugural album with producer Johann Günther at RecPublica Studios in Poland, the project was followed by work on an acoustic adaptation of Aphex Twin's double-album-length Drukqs.
Founding violist Ian Anderson drew primary motivation from his earlier tenure with the London Contemporary Orchestra, where he participated in mid-2010s collaborations with Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood on Greenwood's chamber compositions; Anderson subsequently contributed to the band's 2016 release A Moon Shaped Pool. Through an alliance with Germany's experimental PODIUM Festival Esslingen, Anderson assembled the ensemble alongside violinist Hulda Jónsdóttir, cellist Stefan Hadjiev, and double bassist Nikolai Matthews, initiating a three-album cycle that opened with 2017's Björk: Homogenic. The international quartet continued in 2018 with Radiohead: Kid A, then delivered 2019's Beyoncé: Lemonade, which retained the poetry of Warsan Shire from the source visual album. These arrangements subsequently appeared at festivals across Paris, London, Bonn, and additional locations.
Backlash Music released the group's expansive Kid A treatment, LANDSCAPES, KNIVES & GLUE: Radiohead's Kid A Recycled, in 2021. Recorded as their inaugural album with producer Johann Günther at RecPublica Studios in Poland, the project was followed by work on an acoustic adaptation of Aphex Twin's double-album-length Drukqs.
Singles