“Product 03” reviewed by Vital

Ok.Suitcase is André Goncalves, connected to Grain Of Sound label, has an EP on Stasisfield and also a very quiet track on one of the .microsound mailing list’s mp3-projects (signed as Specimen there). I know I liked Ok.Suitcase’s music I’ve heard before quite alright, and compared to the new pieces here I can say before it was quieter and more calm, which is something I liked, specially ’cause it’s mainly improvised music which can be related to the lap-top improvisers like Fennesz and Vladislav Delay. Here Ok.Suitcase offers 5 pieces. The label’s info says he uses guitar and computer as main instruments. The guitar is recognizable in the first track and sometimes elsewhere, but even when it is it’s treated enough in various ways and there are other sounds too equally present or even more pointed out, like crackles on the surface, rumblings and background atmosphere. I think the general ideas here are very much alright. They’re developed differently in the tracks, sometimes more sometimes less. It would be good though if there are more different sounds, the treated voices in the 4th track are a good surprise. And even more important, the balance of the elements and the intensity of the music could be better, that’s always important for improvised music. In my opinion those things work best in the 5th and in the 2nd track. Although I generally like this music, I’m not as much impressed with everything as I expected.

On the other side of the CD there’s Jorge Cortes who have been making music as Cancer from 1997 to 2002 and now it’s released. His music from 2002 onwards is more minimal click-house. Here we find 6 tracks by him. The rhythm, more obvious or deconstructed, is much more present here. Sometimes it’s like listening to Frank Bretschneider.

Cancer likes those fractured but still rhythmic spaces, like in some abstract dubby tracks from Vladislav Delay. So what’s he doing, improvising with rhythms maybe? Not really, it’s still too fixed. Or maybe this is blurry mutating music that lead Jorge to the click-house sound. Who knows? I hope the house is more alright now.

BR

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