This afternoon, @c (Miguel Carvalhais and Pedro Tudela) lecture at the Gakerija JakopiÄ in Ljubljana, in the Sonica:Post program. Next thursday, in the same venue, they will present a sound performance developed during their residency at MoTA.
From @c: Ljubljana, day two
From @c: Ljubljana, day one (part two)
“Compilation Works 1996-2005†reviewed by The Sound Projector
From same label, Compilation Works 1996-2005 (CRÓNICA ELECTRONICA 041) is an astonishing compilation of music by the great Marc Behrens, one of the most severe and dessicated electronic minimalists working in this area and one for whom I have a lot of time. This 19-track collection amounts to two CDs’ worth of music, and it rounds up a number of cuts released as parts of compilations, collaborations, or submissions to galleries and audio journals. You can find here, for example, his excellent interpretation of Disinformation’s music from the 1997 double-CD Antiphony, now pretty tough to find. Plus there’s his contributions to Tulpas (the RLW sampler), sul (the Chris Marker tribute CD), and one piece which was inspired by Stockhausen’s Gesange Des Jungliche. Although very conceptual in nature, this is a set which restores my faith in the power of the mixing desk and reprocessed electronic noise. What’s more, you can download it all for free from the Crónica website. Ed Pinsent
From @c: Ljubljana, day one
“Lovely Banalities†reviewed by The Sound Projector
From the Portuguese Crónica label, there’s the Lithuanian player Gintas K with Lovely Banalities (CRÓNICA ELECTRONICA 040), an appealing collection of minimal electronica; what I like about it is that Gintas keeps most of his pieces quite short (nothing over five minutes), and each one explores a single idea relentlessly, despite temptations to widen out the sonic horizons. Through observing these two simple disciplines, he makes good and realises his intention to celebrate ordinary, everyday things. The remote and abstracted cover art by David Muth slightly undercuts this intention, but no matter. Ed Pinsent
“Ification†reviewed by STNT
Ification est le plus récent des travaux de Peter Votava / Pure (actif, précisons-le, depuis presque vingt ans et qui a réalisé des albums sur des labels aussi prestigieux que Mego et Staalplaat (et pour mon plaisir, un split avec Ultra Milkmaids)). Globalement, cet album apparaît comme moins aquatique que Noonbugs, sorti sur Mego, plus nébuleux aussi. Mais toujours et plus organique, dronisant, sombre, fantomatique, fortement résonnant.
Qu’on ne s’y trompe pas. Si la dominante de ces compos, c’est avant tout le drone, les drones, Ification n’en est pas moins et paradoxalement un album très rythmique. Évidemment grâce au rythme percussif, qui, s’il est mixé au second plan, n’en est pas moins méticuleusement composé ; il insuffle beaucoup de relief – de vie – aux compositions. On est ici loin des répétitions binaires, si faciles, si lassantes, si décoratives…. Sont au contraire privilégiées l’asymétrie et la liberté. Atypique dans cet album, le morceau d’ouverture Fire, illustre pourtant parfaitement cette approche du rythme (les silences qui entrecoupent les modulations de samples de guitares ne sont jamais les mêmes, ni en terme durée, ni en terme de résonance). Après, les drones eux-mêmes, outre évidemment qu’ils jouent sur les textures, les harmoniques, etc., jouissent de la même recherche rythmique. Il ne s’agit pas de pulsations répétitives, mais bien de MOUVEMENTS.
Un des points forts de cet album, Approximation , rappelle nettement par ses sonorités classico-contemporaines le Giacinto Scelsi de Quattro pezzi su una nota sola. Pour les reste, et malgré sa cohérence, Ification ne cesse le jeu des références (plus qu’incartades) aux musiques actuelles, intégrant samples de guitares électriques, batterie (free, of course!), vocaux, sonorités noise, indus, concrètes, contemporaines, etc., histoire peut-être de montrer que son identité se trouve bien au delà des étiquettes. La musique de Pure -et Ification plus que jamais – est dédiée au mouvement, à la progression, toujours à travers des textures et des contours organiques, tout en variations, développements et métamorphoses, jamais par des ruptures. Et ce n’est pas autre chose que traduit l’excellent packaging de cet album. Fave. Yann
via STNT
New sampler from Le Son du Grisli is now online, featuring Gilles Aubry et. al.
Le Son du Grisli — Lignes 2, a sampler produced and distributed by the Le Son du Grisli blog, is now online. This compilation features pieces by John Eckhardt, Daniel Levin, Gunter Hampel, Martin Archer and Gilles Aubry, among others. You can download it for free at Le Son du Grisli.
“Lovely Banalities†reviewed by Vital Weekly
Following many MP3 releases and a double CD on Cronica Electronica before, Gintas K from Lithuania now returns to Cronica with a strange album called ‘Lovely Banalities’. Not that we shouldn’t take this seriously, but ‘banalities’ may sound a bit odd. One windy summer Sunday afternoon, Gintas K went out to do field recordings in the city where he lives, Marijampole, which he then transformed into fourteen little sketch like sound pieces. Whatever those field recordings were is hard to say, but they are surely sketch like. Often employing a few sounds per track, set to ‘loop’, he creates a very light album – which is were the ‘banalities’ come in I guess. I wouldn’t say that Gintas K isn’t serious about what he does, I am pretty sure he is serious. But for this occasion he set out to do some nice microsound work which hasn’t have that ultimate serious approach, but nice tinkling cracks ‘n cuts and it’s a rather refined album. Nothing perhaps that we haven’t heard before, but not often in such light hearted way. (FdW)
New Crónicaster: “The Lone Drone†by The Beautiful Schizophonic
The Beautiful Schizophonic live at Casa da Música, Porto, on the 4th April 2009. Post-tropical ambiences at dusk, imaginary scenic drives through inner vistas and a special version of Aysha, a soundscape from the forthcoming album “Erotikonâ€. All beautifully captured live by Marc Behrens.