Author Archives: Miguel Carvalhais

New release: Francisco López’s “DSB”

This is not music? Says who? Try to imagine an astonishing reversal of the traditional widespread subservience of sound to storytelling: instead of sound effects providing realism to a narrative, the open shell of an apparent narrative becoming sound work… or perhaps even a new form of weird experimental music that only requires a willingness …

Continue reading “New release: Francisco López’s “DSB””

Francisco López’s “DSB” reviewed by Aural Aggravation

From the very opening seconds, Francisco López’s latest offering assails the ears and scorches the brain: the first track – which hits the magical running time of twenty-three minutes – is nothing short of explosive – literally. Opening with a roaring blast of brutal harsh noise, it soon separates into a series of samples and …

Continue reading “Francisco López’s “DSB” reviewed by Aural Aggravation”

Pedro Rebelo’s “Listen to me” reviewed by Neural

What do nanotechnologies, innovative industrial food safety processes and experimental music have in common? Is the ‘charm’ of certain sound environments alone enough to inspire an entire album of contemporary experimentation? Yes, if the formal result is so rich that it almost conceals the fact that its essence is simple field recordings. A residency in …

Continue reading “Pedro Rebelo’s “Listen to me” reviewed by Neural”

“GML Variations” reviewed by Vital Weekly

The Robotic Gamelan of Casa de Musica is just as cool as you’d imagine it is. In fact, Google it right now. Check out some photos of the thing, then meet me back here… see, isn’t that a neat thing? Gamelans are cool… robots are cool… and so a robotic gamelan is very cool. Pedro Tudela and …

Continue reading ““GML Variations” reviewed by Vital Weekly”

“Submerge-Emerge” reviewed by Vital Weekly

Jos Smolders was inspired to write “Submerge- Emerge” by a teenage encounter with an 1897 poem called “Un Coup de des Jamais N’Abolira le Hasard” by Stephane Mallarme. As art tends to do when a receptive kid encounters it for the first time, the poem stuck with Smolders for decades afterwards. He continued to think …

Continue reading ““Submerge-Emerge” reviewed by Vital Weekly”

Pedro Rebelo’s “Listen to me” reviewed by The Sound Projector

We last heard Portuguese composer Pedro Rebelo in 2011, when he played stiff classical piano on Faint for the School of Music and Sonic Arts of Queen’s University in Belfast. He’s here today with Listen To Me(CRONICA 161-2020), a process based electro-acoustic thing which seems to continue the academic lineage to some degree. The starting point is scientific research conducted at …

Continue reading “Pedro Rebelo’s “Listen to me” reviewed by The Sound Projector”