Episode 108 of Futurónica, a broadcast in Rádio Manobras (91.5 MHz in Porto, 18h30) and Rádio Zero (21h GMT, repeating on Tuesday at 01h) airs tomorrow, February 21st.
The playlist of Futurónica 108 is:
You can follow Rádio Zero’s broadcasts at radiozero.pt/ouvir and Rádio Manobras at radiomanobras.pt.
Miguel Carvalhais & Pedro Tudela began work on this new project edited by Crónica Electronica in May 2012, finishing in July 2013. The composition originates from work by @c for the soundtrack to OVO, a pièce of puppet drama by Oporto, developed between the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012. Starting from an original idea by Eric de Sarria, OVO is the result of a synergic process: after several rehearsals that involved all the performers (actors, puppet masters, musicians and other creators), the show made its debut on 10th February 2012, at the São Bento da Vitória Monastery. 19 compositions were produced, forming the larger part of the soundtrack for the play. These were eventually morphed into six new tracks, which faithfully retain the feeling of the previous works while enlarging the creative process through re-reading, reinterpretation and re-discovering the same “masks†and atmospheres. The sequences performed by the duo are powerfully expressive and the landscapes shine with a great intensity and formal coherence. The new tracks also provide another opportunity to discuss the creative process and its underpinnings. The use of the Latin phrase Ab OVO – which literally means “from the egg†– is no accident: another good reason to keep attention focused on the contemporaneity of similar musical approaches. Aurelio Cianciotta
via Neural
From Crónica Electronica come ten new reinterpretations, reflecting on “the end of vinyl or the end of the worldâ€. Although there is some underlying thematic irony here, the Portuguese label has maintained its customary formal accuracy and clarity of aims with this release, thanks in part to Pure and Miguel Carvalhais. Both have been active on the production side, giving new life to the the.end.of.vinyl release, which was originally recorded by Pure in 1999 and has been out of stock for some time. Hiding behind the monikers of Pure and Current 909 is Peter Votava. The Austrian producer, who currently lives in Berlin, has moved from the analogue domain into digital production. This is the first work in his catalogue where the focus is on pure listening as opposed to functional dance music. The original Pure album was not a manifesto against vinyl records but a reference to the different sources of the music, which arose out of samples that have now become the inspiration for new rarefied audio sequences. We won’t mention anyone in particular, because with names such as @c, Christoph de Babalon, Jorge Sánchez-Chiong, Cindytalk, Goner, Pita, Rashad Becker, Arturas BumÅ¡teinas, Opcion and, last but not least, Pure, we need to mention all of them. The selection of music is fantastic and the album is available on Bandcamp for a symbolic-or-higher-if-you-want price tag. Aurelio Cianciotta
via Neural
Il progetto parte dalla musica per uno spettacolo di burattini. Potrebbe nascere dalla domanda: ma che c’è nella testa di una marionetta? Ma posta non da uno psichiatra, da un fisico esperto in elettromagnetismo. Ne esce un incrocio tra Frankenstein Jr. (ma serio) e Capitan Nemo. Magmatiche maree sonore e derive percussive, con in mezzo una notevole escursione meditativa. Peccato che ci sia solo la musica. G. Dal Maso
via Lia
Neon, prese elettriche, nastri registrati, field recordings: EM ne cava fuori tre suites. A che pro una musica (musica?) del genere? Forse è un modo per riflettere sulla concretezza e sul senso dei suoni che ci circondano. Sarà , purtroppo a me piace. G. Dal Maso
Named after a combination of French words – the word sens (meaning direction) and the French adjective concrescence that the living legend Francois Bayle, who also coined the term “acousmatic” and inventor of “Acousmonium”, used to describe the concrete substance of sounds and its intrinsic impermanence and ruggedness -, this interesting release by Emmanuel Mieville keeps faith with its title as it sounds like an asymptotic approach to the core of musique concrete, as conceptualized by Pierre Schaeffer. While he focused on aural perception of specific environments and sonic “anamnesis” of different urban and wildlife locations on “Four Wanderings in Tropical Lands” that I introduced on this zine a couple of years ago, Emmanuel seems to develop the three sound structures of “Concret-Sens” by coalescing field recordings, other found sounds/objects, pre-recorded stuff and radio snippets without lessening listener’s chance to phase them in possible narrative buildups: the lack of uttermost objectification of sound material is particularly clear on the central structure, “Locus Sonus”, as the combination of field recordings with tapes and radio documentaries seem to evoke personal historical elements and educational memories of the composer, whose first learning steps as apprentice at Groupe de Recherches Musicales in the field of musique concrete got based on creative radio programs and live concerts and the boundaries between objectivity of sound objects and listener’s subjective translation seems to be also quite veiled on the initial “Cillages”, whose almost orchestral concoctions of recordings of neon lights and hums from electrical outlets manages to feed listener’s imagination as the development of the track could let you think about the testing of an unknown Tesla deep fryer. The final piece “Solis Ortus” is an admirable assay of manipulation of field recordings by means of granular synthesis, whose resulting particles crams the sonic sphere by degrees. Vito Camarretta
via Chain D.L.K.
The over 70 minutes of “Bauteile†(German for “construction partsâ€) were recorded from 1987 through 2013 and edited into a continuous flow over the last three years. Atomâ„¢ and Marc Behrens met during the heyday of the German Techno movement and have since ever pursued extensive research in all areas of contemporary music. Their findings, a sonification of their investigations, which span effectively two centuries of musical development, are now released as an album for the first time by Editions Mego.
Recorded on Earth, 1987–2013. Produced, assembled, edited, mixed and mastered at Bowman Suite, Santiago, Chile. Violin: Carlos Zingaro.
Wie schon mehrmals angedeutet, bewegt sich Ambient gerne in einem Art-Kontext und im Falle von @C wird diese Beziehung besonders deutlich. Das Cover des Albums „Ab Ovo“ zeigen unbearbeitete Puppen, solche die man im Fachhandel für Malerei findet und die angehenden Zeichnern als Grundlage für biomechanische Eigenheiten des Menschen darstellen. Nur sind diese Puppen auf dem Cover mit Schnüren versehen, die ein Puppenspieler braucht um Figuren zu bewegen. Daraus ergibt sich die erste Frage: handelt es sich bei „Ab Ovo“ um den Soundtrack zu einem Figurentheater? Auch die Musik eröffnet diesen Deutungsspielraum. Leise blubbernd gehen Klangflächen mit Geräuschkollagen Hand in Hand, bestens geeignet, menschliche Emotionen aus dem Gleichgewicht zu bringen. Gut vorstellbar, dass dieser hohe Grad klanglicher Abstraktion den Zweck verfolgt, Publikum bei einer Aufführung zerrissene Emotionalität zu verdeutlichen, das bei einem Puppenspiel auf der Bühne gerade aufgeführt wird. Ansonsten handelt es sich um soliden Dark Ambient. Die angesprochenen Klangflächen werden nicht durch die einzelnen Stücke durchgezogen sondern verbiegen oder verschwinden hintern aufgesetzten Klangkollagen, die aus elektronischen Beeps und Blips bestehen, die ergänzt werden durch verfremdete akustische Elemente, wie zum Beispiel eine anklingende Gitarren- oder Celloseite. Diese Komplexität und der Hang zur Verfremdung der üblichen Hörgewohnheiten gibt „Ab Ovo“ eine eher beklemmende Note und dieses Element wird meisterlich vorgeführt, so dass man als Hörer eine Beklommenheit oder Unwohlsein in sich aufsteigen fühlt.
Schwere Kost aber hohe Kunst.
via Black
Crónica is very proud to present the new release by Monty Adkins, “Residual Formsâ€, now available as a free download.
an urban drift
with labyrinthine paths
of intoxicating blissresidual forms
dance on the retina
of one too tired to dream
“Residual Forms†is influenced by the psychogeographical notion of the ‘drift’ – an aimless wondering around the city, exploring its hidden resonances, which lay just beneath the surface. As a runner I often explore new cities by just taking off for a couple of hours, going where I feel or where looks interesting no matter how tired I am or what the time is. Often, at night the city plays tricks with the mind. Running through unknown streets as darkness falls one recalls half remembered places, past memories blur the present experience to create one’s own fiction of place.
Although “Residual Forms†is not a portrait of any one city, it is influenced by the psychogeographical writings of Iain Sinclair and his approach to London, which harks back to the visionary writing of William Blake. Sinclair portrays London as a city inseparable from its history both real and imagined. Merlin Coverley writes that in Sinclair’s work “London’s topography is reconstituted through a superimposition of local and literary history, autobiographical elements and poetic preoccupations to create an idiosyncratic and highly personal vision of the city.â€
“Residual Forms†is a psychosonographic portrait of a city that takes listeners on their own imaginary drift.
“Residual Forms†is now available as a free download directly from Crónica or from Crónica’s Bandcamp page.
