“X-RUN-4 Prismatique†reviewed by Jazz.pt
Quando na improvisação o “aqui†é tão importante quanto o “agoraâ€, natural será que algumas das práticas desta área valorizem especialmente o factor “site specificâ€, ou seja, as situações em que o ambiente da actuação musical influencia a própria caracterização desta e os desenvolvimentos efectuados. É esse o caso, precisamente, deste trabalho a solo do violoncelista alemão Ulrich Mitzlaff, há uma quinzena de anos radicado no nosso paÃs e hoje parte especialmente dinâmica da cena nacional.
As gravações foram realizadas num espaço ressoante e de grandes dimensões do Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil, em Lisboa, situado nas proximidades da auto-estrada que serve o Aeroporto Humberto Delgado. Ouvem-se o trânsito automóvel e aviões a levantarem voo como parte integrante das peças, seguindo a premissa cageana de que todos os sons são utilizáveis numa criação artÃstica. Para além disso, materiais de construção encontrados no local são manipulados (por Paula Freire) de maneira a funcionarem quase como uma orquestra de acompanhamento, muitas vezes sendo difÃcil distinguir o próprio violoncelo desses objectos de metal não temperados. Fica, assim, a claro o entendimento de que são ténues as fronteiras entre o que é e não é “musicalâ€, sem hierarquias valorativas ou de legitimação estética. Ainda assim, faixas há em que Mitzlaff surge isolado do seu entorno, sendo nessas alturas que mais reconhecemos o quanto deve à s linhagens cruzadas da música erudita contemporânea e do free jazz. MuitÃssimo interessante, para mais vindo de um antigo baterista que tocava Frank Zappa. Rui Eduardo Paes
via Jazz.pt
“Against Nature†reviewed by Dark Entries
De beweging van de natuur vastleggen lijkt wel een menselijke oerdrang: Landschapschilderijtjes, ellendige new age-cd’s met kabbelende riviertjes of ontspannende onweersgeluiden, indrukwekkende waterbeelden van Jacques Cousteau en in het gruwelijkste geval geval een bloederig jachttafereel. De artiesten in kwestie lijken echter meestal te vergeten dat ze vanaf het moment van hun vastleggen van de natuur er ook deel van beginnen uitmaken en vaak niet in positieve zin. Soit, u leest dit vermoedelijk niet om van mijn huis-tuin- en keukenfilosofie te genieten…
Simon Whetham beseft wel degelijk dat hij vanaf het moment van registratie ook een deelnemer is en exploreert ten volle zijn inmenging. Technologie is nooit perfect en de man besloot alle fouten en interupties lekker op de opname te laten staan en uit te vergroten. Nu maak je ons niet wijs dat je als professionele field-recorder constant te maken hebt met slecht gebouwde microfoons, overhitte versterks en crashende software. Simon Whetham helpt het toeval meer dan een beetje en deze muziek klinkt dan ook niet compleet abstract. Conceptueel maakt deze cd zijn titel alleszins helemaal waar. Simon dueleert ‘against nature’ en levert vijf field recordings af van de meest lawaaierige en verontrustende soort. U las het woord noise boven deze recensie? Wees er maar zeker van dat deze term relevant is.
Aan soortgelijke concepten heb je niet veel als je enkel een muzikale weergave van het experiment hebt. Gelukkig heeft deze cd ook heel wat te bieden wanneer we hem puur muzikaal analyseren. Eerst en vooral is er het sterke dynamische spel. Het moet sinds In Shelter van Archon Satani (dus sinds 1994) geleden zijn dat we nog zo schrokken van een extreem bruusk volumeverschil. Een geluidstrauma liepen we net niet op maar dit soort volumeverschillen is bizar genoeg een pak belastender voor onze geest dan zestig minuten onafgebroken Merzbow-noise.
Sfeer is er in overvloed en Simon gunt ons met de vierde track zelfs een relatief typische maar intense veldopname/soundscape zonder verrassingen. Ten slotte is er door het rijke aanbod aan opnames en door de bewust gestoorde manier van opnemen steeds wat te beleven voor de auditieve ontdekkingsreiziger.
Dit is zelfs voor doorwinterde avant-gardisten een moeilijk schijfje maar het groeit wel bij elke beluistering. Het bleef dan ook een tijdje in onze kast liggen voor we de moed hadden om het te recenseren. Een aanrader? Dat durven we niet stellen, maar het is alleszins een pak spannender dan de meeste veldopnames die u op uw bord krijgt. Peter De Koning
via Dark Entries
Tomorrow: Three-Body Problem video program at Curtas
Three-Body Problem (video program preview) from Miguel Carvalhais on Vimeo.
The “Three-Body Problem†video program will be shown in its entirety at the amazing Curtas, the short film festival in Vila do Conde. With music by @c (Pedro Tudela & Miguel Carvalhais), with guests Susana Santos Silva, Angelica V. Salvi, João Pais Filipe, and Ricardo Jacinto, the program includes videos for all the nine pieces in “Three-Body Problem”, directed by Miguel Leal, Rosi Avelar & Nardran Teluric, Nuno Tudela, Cristina Mateus, LIA, André Rangel, Marc Behrens, Rodrigo Carvalho, and Pedro Tudela & Miguel Carvalhais.
The “Three-Body Problem†session will happen tomorrow, July 11 at 21h45, with several of the artists present. More info at festival.curtas.pt
“X-RUN-4 Prismatique†reviewed by Westzeit
Ulrich Mitzlaffs phänomenale Cello-Etuden erscheinen leider nur als download, aber damit wenigstens überhaupt. “X-RUN-4 Prismatique” zeigt nämlich, was mit diesem Instrument jenseits Lindenbergscher Pubertätsphantasien oder purem Wohlklang möglich ist. Zwischen piccicato und reinem Lärm vermag der Mann seinem bundlosen 4-Saiter alle nur denkbaren Schattierungen in einer derart packenden Dramaturgie zu entlocken, dass einem fassungslos der Mund offen stehen bleibt. Rauh? Intensiv? Alle Adjektive sind zu schwach um auch nur annähernd auszudrücken, mit welcher Gewalt sich Mitzlaff durch sein Werkzeug sägt. Das Ganze wurde live in einer Halle an der Startbahn des Lissaboner Flughafens improvisiert, so daß externe Störgeräusche Teil des Gesamtkonzepts wie -kunstwerks werden. Als Gast: Paula Freire mit/an “footprints and construction steel”. Unglaublich! ***** Karsten Zimalla
via Westzeit
Futurónica 170
Episode 170 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, July 8th.
The playlist of Futurónica 170 is:
- Ulrich Mitzlaff, X-one (2016, X-RUN-4 Prismatique, Crónica)
- Ulrich Mitzlaff, RUN-one (2016, X-RUN-4 Prismatique, Crónica)
- Ulrich Mitzlaff, 4-one (2016, X-RUN-4 Prismatique, Crónica)
- Ulrich Mitzlaff, X-two (2016, X-RUN-4 Prismatique, Crónica)
- Martijn Tellinga, Three Modulators, for basses (2015, Positions, Crónica)
You can follow Rádio Zero’s broadcasts at radiozero.pt/ouvir and Rádio Manobras at radiomanobras.pt.
“Bittersweet Melodies†reviewed by Rockerilla
Le colonne sonore sono parte fondamentale di un lm e spesso hanno decretato il successo della pellicola. Poi c’è chi scrive colonne sonore per lm immaginari come fa Barry Adamson e c’è chi estrae frammenti di queste musiche, le scompone e intorno crea un’atmosfera destrutturata fatta di una dark ambient dagli echi quasi jazz noir in formula del tutto sperimentale. L’israeliano Ran Slavin si distingue proprio per questo approccio e nel suo nuovo undicesimo capitolo trascina l’ascoltatore in un mondo parallelo ipnagogico, dove un’elettronica mai lineare si apre poi ad estratti di chissà quali lm di culto, magari anni 50, per creare un suggestivo percorso assolutamente poco convenzionale e proprio per questo convincente, soprattutto perché ben realizzato. INGEGNOSO. Gianluca Polverari
“Three-Body Problem†reviewed by Rockerilla
La sempre splendida terra del Portogallo viene associata al Fado come principale stile musicale. In realtà anche in queste lande ci sono i più svariati generi e c’è anche chi destruttura completamente la musica, asciugandola del tutto e da lì estrapola qualche suono per nuove forme di contemporanea. In questo sono maestri gli @C, due professori universitari e sound artist di Porto che sono poi coadiuvati dalla video artist austriaca Lia. Attivi su più fronti, in questo nuovo lavoro gli @C hanno musicato uno spettacolo intitolato Agapornis, incentrato su due personaggi femminili e la loro diversità di carattere e portato in scena dal Teatro De Marionetas De Porto. L’esibizione si è mossa partendo da impalpabili suoni di arpa e tromba per poi essere trattati digitalmente dai due artisti, realizzando così una colonna sonora in tempo reale tra concreta sperimentale e microsuoni. Alcuni passaggi di quella performance sono stati rimodellati in studio successivamente per l’incisione di questo nuovo capitolo, ultimo di una lunga discogra a, intitolato Three-Body Problem. L’album non è a atto di semplice fruizione, in molti passaggi è decisamente ostico nella sua impalpabilità ma allo stesso tempo è ammaliante anche nei suoi momenti di cili. Può dar fastidio, può tendenzialmente annoiare ma alla ne riesce a sedurre, a patto di riservargli un ascolto concentrato. Il mondo degli @C È TUTTO DA SCOPRIRE. Gianluca Polverari
Now on preorder, Vitor Joaquim’s “Geography”
Yes, it’s been a while (10 years), too long you may say (TEN years!), but Vitor Joaquim will be back with a new album in Crónica next September! “Geography†is ready and available for preorders through Crónica’s bandcamp!
New in the Corollaries series: John Grzinich’s “Prevailing Wind, Tangled Underâ€
This is the sixth release in the series Corollaries, that compiles works resulting from Active Crossover: Mooste, a cross-cultural collaborative residency curated by Simon Whetham and hosted by MoKS, in April and May 2015. All works are composed from material compiled in a collective archive during the project.
Anyone who has followed my work over the years knows of my interest in several key themes related to sound; resonance, tectonic acoustics and incidental installations. I have often treated these independently either as actual subjects or conceptual studies, but my passion lies in the possibility of fusing these together. This is the special case of one such object which has been the focus of many experiments for over a decade, an unused water tower I call the “cactus†because of its shape and surface covered by spiky metal protrusions. While the tower looks impressive as a solitary monument standing about 4 stories tall, it is its hollow volumetric character that offers possible intervention and acoustic exploration.
With the steady rotation of artists visiting for Active Crossover: Mooste, the water tower became a site for revisitation, to be observed and recorded in different weather conditions and modes of interaction with each visit. What I noticed over time was how the magnetic character of the tower affected people, first with its monumental stature when seen from a distance, then how people are pulled inward upon hearing the depth of the reverberations from within. In numerous instances time seemed to stop as we gathered around, crawling about, climbing, plucking, bowing, striking, howling, stringing and generally playing in and around the great structure. In a matter of minutes the tower becomes a subject of transformation, from relic of Soviet industrial agriculture, to an acoustic temple for ritual intervention. All the while we lend our ears to the moment.
Prevailing Wind, Tangled Under brings together two independent recording sessions at the tower, carried out a month apart. The first was a dialogue of sorts between three artists carried out through sporadic sounds and the second was a solo follow-up to meditate on how the various artifacts attached in the previous months were affected by the windy conditions on a particular afternoon one day just before the solstice. Both sessions were durational in nature which I have left unbroken to give the tower the attention it deserves and to convey in part, the monumental scale in which the tower itself exists in relation to the surrounding environment. Here the reverberant character and material qualities are not merely used for effect but allow one to hear the tower live and breathe in its own element.
Composed by John Grzinich.
Assembled from two durational single-take recordings, one made during Active Crossover: Mooste with Simon Whetham, Arlene Tucker and myself in May 2015 and a second solitary session in June.
Mastered by Miguel Carvalhais.
Cover photo by John Grzinich.
Prevailing Wind, Tangled Under is a free download from Crónica or Bandcamp.