Zeena Parkins: "Between the Whiles"

One of the world's most creative harpists, Zeena Parkins has contributed her inimitable playing style to the work of artists like Bjork, John Zorn, Yoko Ono,Sonic Youth and Matmos, whilst also recording a number of wonderful solo albums (including the timeless Nightmare Alley) and a couple of Phantom Orchard collaborations with electronics guru Ikue Mori. What most immediately sets Parkins apart from her peers is a roving appetite to look beyond the ordinary constraints of her instrument. While she's an accomplished classical musician, Parkins tends to treat her harp as a sound generating machine with near limitless possibilities, intertwining its natural timbres with amplification, heavy effects and electronic processing.