Dopo aver raggiunto nel decennio scorso una buona notorietà nel mondo dell’elettronica sperimentale (con pure un passaggio a casa Raster-Noton) e aver sviluppato usa salda collaborazione con l’amico Uwe Schmidt, Marc Behrens ha negli ultimi due anni abbandonato gran parte delle sue attivitè — comprese quelle legate alle art performative — per dedicarsi in toto alla ricerca sulle field recordings. Queendom Maybe Rise segue questo filone incorporando samples i microsequenze in un tappeto disturbato di 40 minuti abbondanti, in grado di ricordade da vicino il Richard Chartier più isolazionista. Meno interessante la coda cacofonica com la partecipazione vocale di Yoko Higashi. Matteo Meda
Gintas K interviewed by Chain D.L.K.
Gintas K has recently been interviewed about his most recent release “Slow” by the Chain D.L.K. website.
Soon in Crónica: “Half-Life, Still Lifeâ€
“untitled#305 [seven nights]â€, a new release by Francisco López
Francisco López has just announced the release of “untitled#305 [seven nights]â€, a new self-released numbered unlimited edition distributed in SD cards containing 8 pieces that run for a total of a whopping 56 hours!
The first run of 100 copies is currently available through Metamkine.
“eins bis sechzehn†reviewed by Liability
Où comment passer d’un statut de Dj à celui d’artiste expérimental. Ephraim Wegner est un de ceux-là . Ils ne sont pas forcément nombreux dans son cas et il aurait été sans doute été plus aisé pour lui de continuer sur ses premières amours afin de connaître un tant soit peu de célébrité. Et pourtant, ce sont bien les paysages complexes de la musique concrète, de l’électroacoustique et des musiques cérébrales qu’il a choisi de visiter. Tant mieux pour nous car Ephraim Wegner est assez doué dans ce domaine. Pour ce court album, il s’associe à Julia Weinmann d’une manière un peu particulière. En effet, Weinmann est photographe et elle participe à cet album à sa façon. En fait, le principe de Eins Bis Sechzehn est que le musique et les photos qui l’accompagne dans le boîtier ont été conçues dans des hôtels en ruine. Le but est alors de regarder ces photos tout en écoutant la musique, l’auditeur s’incarnant en une sorte de « touriste » qui contemple des ensembles architecturaux délabrés du passé comme si ils étaient encore pétri de vie. Ainsi, de spectateur nous passons à acteur grâce à l’imprégnation des images et des sons. Pour autant, si l’auditeur devient touriste, il explore des espaces fantomatiques, forcément post-industriels et qui n’ont rien de commun avec le tourisme de masse. C’est le genre de voyage que l’on ne fait pas en groupe mais bien seul, avec une sorte de repli sur soi qui nous oblige à intérioriser nos émotions. On contemple, on écoute, on change de paysage sans avoir l’impression de bouger de la place où l’on s’est placé initialement. C’est comme si on défiait l’espace et le temps. Malgré sa courte durée, Eins Bis Sechzehn exploite parfaitement le temps qui lui est imparti et on en ressort forcément chamboulé. Fabien
via Liability
“Five Years on Cold Asphalt†reviewed by Liability
A l’initiale, Quarz était un projet mené de front par Alexandr Vatagin et Lukas Scholler, deux transfuges de Tupolev. Scholler quitte assez rapidement le projet laissant Vatagin mener seul la barque. Il ne restera pas seul très longtemps puisqu’il sera rejoint par des figures montantes des musiques nouvelles et aventureuses que sont Nicolas Bernier, Martin Siewert, Stefan Németh et Alexander Schubert. Pour ce disque, qui ne comporte qu’une seule et longue pièce, ils seront rejoint par Bernhard Breuer (Métalycée) et David Schweighart (Tupolev). Ici, le but est clair. C’est bien d’une aventure sonore dont il est question, une rencontre où chacun apporte de multiples nuances qui se nourrissent d’éléments électroniques, de field recordings, de samples, de guitares et de percussions. L’improvisation prend également une part prépondérante dans le processus de création de la formation. On enregistre dans les conditions du live mais c’est bien une expérience studio qui nous fait face. Comme d’habitude dans ce genre d’exercice, Vatagin et ses compagnons d’arme ne se donne pas de limites spéciales. Mais ce n’est pas une raison pour faire forcément n’importe quoi. Ils prennent alors une direction et l’exploitent au maximum de ce qu’ils pensent pouvoir faire. Subtile, fatalement abstrait, presque en dehors du réel, Quarz franchit les portes de la fantasmagorie et prend son temps pour faire peser chaque détail sonore afin qu’ils parviennent tous consciemment à notre appareil auditif. Five Years on Cold Asphalt est donc une Å“uvre lente qui ne connaît pas de lignes droites, de formes raisonnées ou une conduite musicale cartésienne. Quarz est en quête de vérité, alors le groupe cherche profondément, scrute, calmement, sachant par moment hausser le ton mais sans jamais s’affoler outre mesure. Quarz c’est aussi une question de maîtrise. Et cette maîtrise elle se ressent tout au long de ces trente quatre minutes où le groupe ne cesse de se réinventer et de créer de nouveaux espaces au fur et à mesure qu’il avance. Une aventure, disions nous… Fabien
via Liability
“Queendom Maybe Rise†reviewed by A Closer Listen
It’s been a while since we’ve heard a new full-length work from Marc Behrens, so it’s great to hear him back in action. Queendom Maybe Rise is an album of two pieces, one long enough to be an album of its own (“Maybe Riseâ€) and a second, shorter piece whose nature is completely distinct (“Queendomâ€). While the two don’t relate well, having them both in one place is a bonus for Behrens fans, who might otherwise need to purchase an album and a CD3″ in order to add them both to their collections.
“Maybe Rise†is the clear entry point to the disc, a thoughtful mediation on the contrast between human and natural elements in the “coastal rainforest, table lands and outback of Tropical North Queensland, Australiaâ€. The locational blending creates an otherworldly sheen, especially when sound samples crash. In the sixth minute, static rushes perform a soft duet with monkeys and birds, who continue their mating cries despite what seems to be a sonic indicator of impending threat. In the ninth minute, the electronic carpet is yanked from the bottom of the recording field, briefly exposing the animal cries before edging its way back to the foreground. This abruptness exposes the fact that an animal observed in the wild is not necessarily doing what it would without us; the presence of an observer changes things, even if it is only the grass, the insects and the scent. The 26th minute provides a mirror image of the ninth, as lightning strikes loudly on a seemingly clear day and eerie chords sprout from the ether. To put it another way: don’t fall asleep.
“Queendom†is a different beast, only tangentially related (“Queendom/Queenslandâ€) in that it was recorded for a German consulate’s inauguration ceremony and is comprised of the layered tentacles of Yôko Higashi’s voice. While the vocal element provides a shock after 41 minutes of soundscape, one eventually appreciates the experimental nature of the piece. After all, Behrens is working with sound in each instance, attempting to be objective as to the sources; a good sound is a good sound, no matter where it comes from. If the first piece is preferred, it may be due more to the length and order of the pieces rather than their quality; each holds its own distinct appeal. (Richard Allen)
via A Closer Listen
New podcast: Cem Güney + Ephraim Wegner
The acceleration of technological progess has been the central feature of this century. Predictions are that the pattern of exponential growth (Moore’s Law being the most prominent example) that technology follows will lead to change comparable to the rise of human life on earth, or change so rapid and profound that it will represent a rupture in the fabric of human history. The precise cause of this change is the imminent creation by technology of entities with greater than human intelligence; this change is the hypothetical event defined as “Technological Singularityâ€. When technological progress becomes so rapid and the growth of artificial intelligence so great, the future after the singularity will become qualitatively different and harder to predict. Utopian predictions offer a gradual ascent with enormous benefits to mankind, contrasted starkly with other darker visions of the singularity with rapidly self-improving superhuman intelligences creating paradigm shifts that would represent a breakdown in the ability of humans to model the future thereafter, leading to the end of the human era.
In respect to the aforementioned subject, our projects primary concern is to simulate conceptual modeling techniques implemented in the design, learning and production processes of an Artificially Intelligent Digital Signal Processor. In this case our simulation is realized via sound generation and in direct connection is the abstraction that, an AI-DSP could be acknowledged as an extension of it’s creator and would be designed in this respect. Although sensitive and concerned with the implications of the singularity in general, there is great potential that leads us to have positive and even utopian thoughts of a human-equivalent machine designed to generate sound autonomously for the benefit of mankind.
Musically the topic was implemented in various ways: The composition is divided into three parts: Design, Test and Launch. Design begins with pure sine waves which generate different interferences. Thereafter, a more complicated structure, consisting of voice, feedback and bit errors develops. Test starts with processed voice recordings played in the form of a canon. Different tones and words simulate sounds already existing in our surroundings. Bit by bit the machine takes over the action of the musicians and manipulates the voice recordings by means of a logical defined structure. Launch is based on Christian Wolff’s techniques for structured improvisation. Digital noise processed with different filter settings is played according to a call & response scheme. Lastly, sounds are generated with spatial movement according to a score.
How to Survive in the Post−Human Era was performed live as an 8 channel version and debuted at the Festival for Applied Acoustics, Köln-Germany, 11.06.2011. Ephraim Wegner: Laptop & Midi Controller; Cem Güney: Laptop & Midi Controller.
Futurónica 84
Episode 84 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, March 22nd.
The playlist of Futurónica 84 is:
- KTL, Last Spring: A Prequel (2012, KTL V, Editions Mego)
- Eleh, Spring Mornings 2012 (2012, Weight of Accumulation, Important Records)
- Morton Subotnick, Beginning (1976, Until Spring, Odyssey)
- Coil, Under an Unquiet Skull (1998, Spring Equinox, Eskaton)
You can follow Rádio Zero’s broadcasts at radiozero.pt/ouvir.
“Queendom Maybe Rise†reviewed by Vital Weekly
It’s been a while since I last heard about Elgaland/Vargaland and I kinda hoped it would all been have passed by now, the kingdom was overthrown by The People’s Republic Of Elga/Varga, but here the ministry of not knowing what to be a ministry of, also known as Marc Behrens, offers a piece that was composed for the opening of yet another gallery, sorry consulate in Karben, Germany. The good thing is that it uses the (female) voice of Yoko Higashi, so we may have a Queendom here. Which ties it nicely to the much longer first piece here, ‘Maybe Rise’, which deals entirely with recordings from Tropical North Queensland. Queendom, queensland, kingdom, you get the royal flush , right? Marc Behrens is a man, not unlike Yiorgis Sakellariou (reviewed elsewhere), who uses a lot of field recordings to compose his work, but unlike Sakellariou, he may use all sorts of computer techniques (read: plug ins) to alter his sounds – but perhaps I am all wrong. In ‘Maybe Rise’ however I think I am not wrong, and there is some form of sound manipulation going on. It’s a very minimal piece of music, with long parts of similar sounds, heavily layered and sounding great. From the tropical moves of the opening ten minutes via some highly processed part in the middle to the percussive bits and then the more tropical sounds again at the end, it gives us the sense of a journey, and one hell of a trip it has been. Nowhere does the sound ‘sink’ away in sheer silence, but it makes effective use of dynamics. ‘Queendom’ is much shorter and uses Higashi’s voice as source material, stretched a bit, humming and ultimately very much a piece of musique concrete. Quite nice, but not his best and sounds perhaps as a disc filler, whereas the previous piece of forty-one minutes already showed us, we didn’t need a piece filling this up. Unless of course it’s placed here out of conceptual reasoning, in which case I didn’t say anything. (FdW)