The Warp Records producer and composer, who has died at 51, broke out of the album format to make immersive, haunting, deeply human works of sound art
Artists whose careers began in electronic music are often portrayed – sometimes deliberately – as distant, detached figures. Mira Calix, the artistic moniker of Chantal Passamonte, who died this weekend aged 51, was the absolute opposite of that. She was as warm, generous and humane as her art, which spanned sound installations – some seen by hundreds of thousands – soundtracks, scores and sculptures, as well as studio albums and many collaborations.
Born in Durban, South Africa in 1970, Calix moved to the UK in 1991, becoming a central figure in the then-nascent Sheffield electronic label, Warp Records. She co-compiled two of its agenda-setting early compilations (1995’s Blech and 1996’s Blechsdöttir – the latter named by Calix in tribute to one of her heroines, Björk) before becoming a DJ, then a fascinating experimental composer.
