“Musicamorosa” reviewed by Gaz-eta

In the promotional materials surrounding his new release, Jorge Mantas [aka The Beautiful Schizophonic] says: ”Marcel Proust has been one of the main sources of inspiration to me in the last years. His ideas devoted to the affections of the human heart, his approach deeply rooted on the long literary French tradition in which love can only be lived in sadness, is something that goes much beyond pure aesthetic. So it came only natural that somehow I would try to convey this literary and philosophic interest with the sound aesthetic I pursue. The image of a sleepless solitary writer confined to a Parisian soundproof room, has everything to do with the experience of a modern laptop composer, alone in the dark of a room, in a sort of headphone ecstasy with his acoustic fragments of reality. Both experience loneliness. Both are melancholic dreamers creating from an imaginary memory of the world.“

Let‘s face it, Mantas is a true romantic. Along with Proust, erotic photography and French new wave cinema, he§s hornier than a toad on influences that art has to offer. His music is less romantic than his direct surroundings, but nonetheless, there is an air of softness to what he makes. The drones he manufactures on his laptop and minidisc are illusionary. You think you‘re hearing something but in fact it‘s the constant, reinforcement of the drone in your head that makes you think you‘re hearing something else entirely. Two duos with guitarist Jose Luis Merca are more along the lines of field recordings than anything else. In both cases, guitar‘s unique sounds have been masked over quite well. When he collaborates with Paulo Silva, the effect is symphonic and quite uplifting. One of the more moving numbers is “Dans la chambre magique d‘une sibylle” where Tobias Strahl contributes some nicely flowing acoustic guitar loops. Another stunning piece is “La lectrice”, which features Collen [Cecile Schott] reading Proust in Paris [final piece on the record is a long remix of this very same track as done by @c]. Stunning in its singularity of purpose and loveliness of delivery. As with most things, if you try as hard as Mantas, you‘ll find drones too can be made to sound lovely and inspiring.

Tom Sekowski